The Grey River Argus MONDAY, APRIL 19, 1948. FUTURE OF MAIN INDUSTRIES

Grey River Argus, 19 April 1948, Page 4

The Grey River Argus MONDAY, APRIL 19, 1948. FUTURE OF MAIN INDUSTRIES

the importance of coal, perhaps more than that of electricity, is to-day better appreciated than ever by everybody, was a point which the Minister of Minees on Saturday could easily make in his address when opening at Reefton the hostel for coal producers in that locality. In proportion to its resources this country may, moreover, be said, incidentally, to have a supply comparable with that in any other country. The fact may reasonably be credited in a large degree to

the progress of State enterprise in the industry. Dependence upon coal increases along with the enlargement of our manufacturing enterprises. Did the press compare the present value of the output from the secondary industries with that even of say fifteen years ago, instead of harping upon im-

porters’ wishes to increase the use of imported manufactures, the public would have a more adequate realisation of New Zealand’s growing capacity to maintain in good conditions a larger population. The Government’s intention of providing more

hostels of the type of that in Reefton exemplifies an aspect of economic policy which has come to the fore only since the worki .g class began to possess influence in the moulding of that policy. The days when coal used to bo regarded as an unlimited adjunct of industrialism have gone. Apart

from its intrinsic virtues, coal is obtainable only by means of „a large expenditure of manual energy, under somewhat adverse conditions. With diversification of other industries and a greater call for labour, the supply for mining can be assured only through good conditions, so that the whole community to-day will regard such amenities, quite aside from their justification in the worker’s case, as a good national investment. The Minister was able to.record increasing production, even allowing for the formal establishment of the seven-hour day in the mines, whilst his anticipation that in the Reefton field we have one of the greatest in New Zealand must be regarded throughout the district as auspicious one indeed. Already the field is approaching a point where its output will have been quadrupled in not much, more than a decade. There evidently is no question of setting a limit to the probable demand for coal relatively to the possible supply. I Therefore the natural course is, in this manner, to make sure of supply to the extent at least of available labour with a more congenial environment for the miner. While coal mining as a calling has historically no record , of which its entrepreneurs could be proud, it has had, on the part of the actual workers a tradition of sustained endeavour for the emancipation of labour. A more enlightened era may be forecast with the Government’s intention to make this calling one more worthy of its vital place in' the public weal by educating the sons of miners in all that goes with a scientific and humane scheme of coal production. New Zealand is now embarking, in spite of any fond affection for its early rural type of economy, upon a wider and. more industrial scheme of production. Those who would like to see the clock put back are the fewer from year to year, but all recognise that industrialism means power, whether steam or electrical power. Coal may be still the base of Britain’s staple industries, but with resources for hydro generation the Dominion in time may utilise electricity to an extent not yet contemplated. Even then, it will have a still greater use for coal. The South Island thus must be destined for a relatively larger industrial role than it plays at present. The Minister of Works on Saturday in Otago alluded to flue hydro potentialities of the lakes and rivers there. The Roxborough Gorge project is calculated to add 320,000’ kilowatts to South Island power resources, or nearly twice the present output, while there are ultimate plans to obtain 900,000 kilowatts from the Clutha River and 600,000 from the Waitaki River. In the case of the Roxborough scheme, the Clutha River is to be regulated by damming the outlets of three lakes, Wanaka, Hawea and Wakatipu, providing storage of thousands of millions of heads of water for the gorge powerhouse. The Minister states that the Clutha dam, 150. feet in height, will create a big lake, and as Hawea’s level is 150 feet above Wanaka’s, with but half a mile between the lakes, a tunnel is ’•projected to take water from the

former to the latter, and to generate incidentally 30,000 kilowatts, similar to the 25,000 kilowatt plant which the outlet of Lake Tekapo is being tunnelled to operate. If all goes according to plan another decade would mean 770,000 kilowatts of an output from Otago and Waitaki sources. In addition there are the possibilities of Lakes Te Anau and Manopouri, which might be capable of anything up to a million kilowatts. It may be that the foresight and enterprise of the Government would raise extravagant hopes of an immediate industrial transformation, whereas the future must be estimated with a due regard for the past. There undoubtedly has been great industrial progress, despite the war, during its term, and that record is a justifiable reason for expecting still greater development.