The Grey River Argus FRIDAY, August 11, 1944. WEST COAST COAL PORTS.

Grey River Argus, 11 August 1944, Page 4

The Grey River Argus FRIDAY, August 11, 1944. WEST COAST COAL PORTS.

Parliamentary and Chamber or Commerce propaganda by the Nationalists aims to discredit the Government both on the economic and ilhe military front. When the House resumed the Government’s coal policy was made a chopping block, following the lead of the Associated Chambers of Commerce President. When the Minister of Mines disclosed that the open cast method of production promised an adequate supply in the near future, the Opposition cry was varied to imply that it actually would reduce output per underground miner, or, at anyrate, that the Minister’s intention to give miners the same reduction of hours as other work ers would handicap the war effort, or would prevent an increased output. It is rather a significant contrast when North Island public bodies are urging that facilities for sea transport from the West Coast should be improved, because such advocacy surely shows those local bodies apprehend no such fall in production. Hilt the Nationalists have still another string to their bow. namely, an allegation that in taking over collieries the Government has paid the private owners either too little or else too much. The public is thus given a pretty varied choice, so long as it can be induced to imagine that the Government has been at fault, whether ‘by excess or defect. It is as significant, on the other hand, as the North Island support for adequate shipping facilities in the vicinity of the State mines when a legislator not in the Governmeht ranks, Hon W. H. Mclntyre, concedes that the Minister has radically restored the coal industry from its position of inefficiency and insecurity when the Government took office to one in which it has now excellent prospects. The Associated Chambers of Commerce executive has asserted that the seven-hour day for miners is going to shorten the coal supply during the war, whereas the, Minister has explicitly stated this reform 'is not taking effect until Hie war-time demand has ceased, but it.may be anticipated that some other attempt will presently be made to show the Government in the wrong. The Associated Chambers indeed, indicate as much in alleging that the coal workable by open cast in the North Island is only small patches, and that in this island the deposits thus workable are confined to the Reef ton, Charleston and Stockton localities. Mr. Webb, in reply points out that in the North Island alone over one million tons of coal is obtainable by open cast working, and other areas are yet to be examined there. The Minister declares that in the South Island or rather upon the West Coast alone, at a conservative estimate, the coal that can be won with open cast operations exceeds twentyfive million tons. He also calls attention to the fact that, rather than State operation reducing, it actually has augmented production in all of the West Coast State mines this year, except the Liverpool colliery. At Stockton mine the output went up twelve per cent, on the first twenty-two days of State operation. From the local standpoint, State enterprise in the coal industry has made it imperative that harbour facilities shall be improved. The Auckland City Council has just given this conclusion marked emphasis in its recommendation that Westland should be provided with an all-weather harbour, the obvious meaning of which resolution is that the country not only needs such means to ensure regular coal and timber supplies, but needs to finance those means. Westport already has a Ministerial assurance that its port is to be developed and improved, and when the Minister of Marine next Mon day evening reviews the whole matter in his address here, ' the ease for a more adequate and reliable port also for Westland, will be reviewed in .the light of the Minister’s investigations into the matter during his recent tour of Australia. The local Progress League has drawn the attention of interests oubside the district to the urgency of the matter, and the abnormal demand for coal

especially of the bituminous variety, has illustrated that urg enc-y. It is a moral certainty that, with new uses and new industries, coal will for the future experience a demand beyond the supply The Gisborne Harbour Board doubtless realises this in supporting the case for more reliable shipping facilities here Moreover, our deposits should prove ere long a magnet for other industries, and these would bd advantaged 'by uninterrupted sea transport. The question is simply one of economics rather than politics, and to the extent that solution can be afforded with certainty, the Government can be trusted to adopt that solution in the fullest degree that financial resources will permit.