HON. C. F. SKINNER

Grey River Argus, 16 March 1945, Page 3

HON. C. F. SKINNER

VISIT TO GREYMOUTH Deputation Met On his first visit to Greymouth since he became Minister of Rehabilitation and Lands and Commissioner of State Forests, Hon. C. F. Skinner was welcomed by the Mayor of Greymouth (Mr. F. A. Kitchingham) at the Borough Council Chambers last evening and afterwards received a deputation from the Westland District Progress League. Mr. Skinner was accompanied by his secretary, Mr. R. E. Coury. The Mayor extending a welcome, said that Major Skinner’s portfolios were particularly important to the West Coast, the only other really important ones being mining, agriculture, and industry and tourist. He hoped the Minister’s stay on the Coast would be fruitful. Mr. R. Clark, chairman of the Grey County Council, extended a welcome on- behalf of. the County and said he hoped the Minister’s visit would be beneficial to all concerned. Major Skinner returned thanks for the welcome and remarked that his asociations with the Coast were pleasant one. The setting up of an organisation to handle one of the biggest jobs undertaken by the Gov-ernment-had kept them very busy in Wellington, and he thought they had an organisation now that would do the job. The Minister referred to some of the difficulties faced in .setting up a rehabilitation organisation, saying that when he was appointed Minister of Rehabilitation practically nothing had been done in other British countries or in the United States by which they could be guided, they -had found it necessary to work outside the act and amend it according to their decisions. They had been kept busy and he had not had time to go round the country. There had been a good deal of centralisation, at first, but to have decentralised a year ago would have been fatal. Now they had secured uniformity and were able to decentralise. Because of that much work had been taken away from Wellington and he was now able to meet the various branches of the rehabilitation organisation. From now on he hopea to see more of the country than m the past. ,

PROGRESS LEAGUE’S REPRESENTATIONS

Mr W. D. Taylor, President of tne Westland District Progress League, welcomed the Minister. He referred to the vast spaces of waste land on the Coast which were at present producing nothing and said, that . something should be done to bring in these lands. Much had been taken from the Coast in revenue in the past and little had been returnea. The matter which the League wished to bring before the Minister were the Cobden lime works proposals, clearing of waste land, and the advisability of considering the establishment on the Coast of State Forest nurseries.- Many thousands of acres I of lands were unsuitable for farming purposes, but these areas could be tested for the purposes of timber growing- The use of these . lands should help to’ solve the rehabilitation problem. - ■ . . Mr. W R. Millier asked that earnest' consideration be given to the establishment of a lime works at Cobden. It was not the intention of the company to crush out eixsting companies.' It would employ between 14 and 18 hands, and could supply lime at a much cheaper price . Mr. Skinner said that Mr. McLeod had approached him and said that through a liberal application of 'it would be possibe to deveop pakihi lands; Anyone who could develop that land had his blessing and could have : the land in any quantity lie wanted, and he did. not think anyone should do anything at afi to hold up sucli developments. There were ample lime deposits . on the Coast, and he was not concerned with the question of where the works was situated. From his experience there was not nearly enough lime available to develop such lands, and the’present works could not produce enough without considerable extension. If people on the Coast felt that the proposal was a good thing for the Coast they should get behind and assist. "Personally lie .thought n would be a wonderful thing. People here, should be able to decide where the works should go without heartburning. As he understood it practically alii the lime was to go o>v the pakihi lands, and it would not affect other lime works. The Minister, remarking on the need to use more lime, said that there was, an economic reason why more was not used and that was that the cost was too high. If it were handled in bulk something could be saved. Mr Millier drew attention to tne fact that the quarry which the hme company proposed to use was under the control of the Land Board. Mr. Skinner said he would like to see the people concerned locally discuss the matter. He would be happy to take the recommendation of the Land Board in the matter. He was quite sure that if more lime . were produced, apart from the question or pakihi land, it would be of benefit to the Coast. x r .. Mr. J. Saunders, secretary of the Progress League, said the members of the Westland District Progress League, have banded together to work in an unselfish way for the advancement of Westland. The district’s gold, coal and timber, over the past decades have, put millions of pounds into New Zealand’s coffers, but no large sums had been expended here. After referring to taxation on gold produced in Westland ana to royalties on timber, he said that in 21 years up to 1943 the State Forest Service had planted only 3,090 acres of land in the district, while m the same period close on a billion and a half super feet of timber had been removed. With the rapid growth that was possible with beeches would it not be possible for intensive work with them to be undertaken on a scale on all suitable areas, as a rehabilitation work? It was understood that it was possible to deal with all wood waste in the production of power alcohol, which in turn could be used in producing many by-pro-ducts, and he asked if the West Coast could not produce the power alcohol for New Zealand use. The League also suggested that after the war an intensive clearing up of lands should be undertaken by the use of bulldozers and other machinery, so that West Coast farmlands could be extended. Contending that the West Coast could be turned into a second Taranaki, Mr. Saunders quoted comparative figures of rainfall and sunshine in Taranaki and Westland and details of farm land acreages and number of dairy cows carried in the two provinces. These figures he said, showed two important features: (1) The paucity in numbers of dairy cows in the district, and only a very small increase over 15’ years, and (2) the intensive farming of Taranaki as compared with the large areas which were not carrying stock that they probably could if steps were taken to help in clearing up many thousands of acres waiting for attention. It was felt that some hundreds of | soldier-farmers could be set up in business in Westland and become mca'essful producers. New Zealand wanted production and here was an opportunity to extract something more from the lands of Westland <

FUTURE OF, FORESTS Major Skinner congratulated the Progress League bn the case it had' presented but said that a tremendous number of obstacles wouldlhave to be faced before the things they visualised could be brought about. Gold, he knew' little of, though it was stifi of considerable value, as was illustrated by the fact that U.N.R.A.A. members were allowed to pay a part of their subscriptions with it. So far as timber was concerned, New were the luckiest people in the world. Nature had given them many chances. They had burned the bushagain and gam—but they still had timber. He was sure that that, was where the real wealth lay in this part of the country. AH they had to do was to give naturea fair chance) and she would clothe the hillsides again and again—but they still had done more harm tuan anything else. The changes that had taken place in the last 20 years were almost unbelievable; creeks that could once he stepped across were now great shingle slides, as the result of the higher country being denuded by fire, rabbits and sheep. The position-on the Coast was not quite so bad as elsewhere as there was an adequate and well-distributed rainfall. That day he had seen fine regenerating birch stands near ikamatua and had counted as many as thirty rimus to an acre. Similarly in the Auckland district where fire areas had been declared he had seen kauri 100 feet high which were only 35 years old, while on Great Barrier Island kauri bush was regenerating only seven years after cutting. It was only necessary to keep fire out and give nature a chance, and he was convinced that they could have millable? kauri in 70 years. There must be a change in methods of working’ bush, however. It was understandable that millers should want to get logs out by the shortest way, but it was necessary to log more carefully than in the past if saplings were to get a chance. The establishment of nurseries had not been lost sight of, the Minister continued. Two areas had recently heen purchased for this purpose. One nursery had already been established at Reefton and the other was to be established further south. In .. this birch trees would be’grown to-assist in areas where regeneration was slow. The interplanting of cut-over areas with exotics was also meetinp- with success, and in ary area near Masterlon shade-tolerant exotics were grow-' ing well with indigenous timber comin o- away. Referring to the erosion problem, Major Skinner said that the burning which had. been carried on in the past in.order to add to grazing lands was being paid for now. Had there been.an erosion conscious-

ness 25 years ago the problem would not be a tenth of what it was today. . ' Some of the land affected would never be saved, and in any case millions of pounds would be spent on the work. The Minister said that departmental experts had told him that the production of petrol from wood could not be looked on as an economic proposition. However it was something that could be kept in mind. The dairy produce of the Coast was equal to any that could be produced in New Zealand. More land for farms would be developed by the use of heavy machinery as soon as> this was available; indeed, the chief function flf the Lands Department for years to come would be land development. The Mayor said that Major Skinner' was the one personal messenger of hope who had come to the Coast. He had showed that if only the West Coast would play the game and keep the fires out the timber industry would be not merely extended but’ perpetrated and would be here, along with agriculture and the Coast’s scenic treasures, centuries after all the gold and coal had been taken from the land. He thanked the Minister for what he had told of present de•■clopment and future prospects and said, that he felt that in the present Commissioner of State Forests they had a man witn enthusiasm for th? job, who would not let any ultraconservative officers stand’ in the way of what he thought was the right thing to do. . This morning the Minister v.ll l ye-, ccive deputations from the Timber Workers' Union and the Returned Services’ Association, and will meet the District Rehabilitation Committee. He will leave this afternoon for Hokitika and during the next few days will visit South including Waiho and ' Weheka, before going north to Westport. Mrs Skinner is accompanying the Minister on his present visit.