STATE FOREST SERVICE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19762, 8 October 1927, Page 13

STATE FOREST SERVICE.

COST OF OPERATIONS. i "STARTLING DISCREPANCY." AN INVESTIGATION ADVOCATED. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON. Friday. A saarching investigation into the operations of the St.ate Forest Service, which ho affirmed was overdue, was advocated to-day by the president of the New Zealand Timber Growers' Association, Mr. W. McArthur, who said grave dissatisfaction with the conduct of this branch of the Government's service was general throughout the forestry and timber-milling industry of the Dominion. Mr. McArthur contended that, according to the forest service accounts, there was a startling discrepancy between the actual cost of establishing one acre of plantation and the statements made in its annual report. When the report was recently presented to Parliament, said Mr. McArthur, a considerable amount of prominence was given by the press to the statement made by the Director o! Forestry, that the cost of establishing one acre of State forest plantations fell from a little under £l9, in 1921, to £1 15s in 1927 The basis of the press reports was apparently a graph in the report, which showed the average cost of establishing one acre at £1 19s, for the four-year period, 1924-1927. " To members of our association, who have a knowledge of forestry costs," said Mr. McArthur, "and who are, to some extent, acquainted with the operations of the State Forest Service, such low planting costs appeared to be almost incredible. The report for 1927 has now been circulated, and an examination of the audited accounts reveals a most startling discrepancy between the actual cost, according to the accounts, and the statement made in the report as to the average cost per acre. "The audited statement shows the actual cost of establishing one acre of State forest, for the four-year period, 1924-27, to be £6 2s. This cost, of course, does not include the price of land, interest, taxation, etc. It might be contended that the whole of the operating salaries are not chargeable to afforestation. It is impossible, however, to conceive of any other heading under which such salaries should be charged. "At. first it would appear that this item, or a portion, at least, might come under the heading of management of indigenous forests, but I find, on closer Examination, _ that for the four-year period under review, the sum ot £74,368 was spent by the service in collecting £401,473 of capital from the sale of our native forests. In other words, to collect £1 of this capital it has cost 3s Bd. "For the year ending March 31, 1927, the cost of collecting £1 of forest capital was 4s lid, or nearly 25 per cent. These are already excessive figures, so that further charges would be beyond the bounds of reason. It will thus be seen that the audited statement of accounts shows the average cost of establishing one acre of forest, exclusive of the cost of land, interest, etc., for the four-year period, 1924-27, to be £6 2s, and not £1 19s, as shown by the graph appearing in the report. Thus there is apparently a total discrepancy for the period of £224,975." Mr. McArthur said when the forestry report for 1924-25 was presented to Parliament, members referred to it by such expressions as "hot air." Subsequent reports appeared to substantiate those observations. In fact, while the most recent report was being discussed in Parliament, a member made the assertion that: —"lf there is one department in New Zealand that requires overhauling it is the State Forest Service.