NAVAL DEFENCE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21296, 24 September 1932, Page 13

NAVAL DEFENCE

RIGID SCRUTINY OF COSTS NO DEVELOPMENT POLICY MINIMUM SUM EXPANDED [by telegraph—special reporter] WELLINGTON, Friday Attention to the fact that New Zealand is not yet in a position to undertake her local naval defence is drawn by Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Blake, who recently relinquished command of the New Zealand station, in the annual report on the New Zealand naval forces, which was tabled in the House of Representatives to-day. Rear-Admiral Blake said that during the whole of his term the need for rigid economy had been paramount and all expenditure had been closely scrutinised, and no provision for development in accordance with approved policy had been made. The Naval Board had accepted the postponement of progressive development which should have taken place under the policy approved at the Imperial Conferences in 1923, 1926 and 1930, and which would have necessitated an annual expenditure of £565,000. The status quo had merely been maintained and the present estimates for 1932-33 (£400,000, approximately) were based on the minimum sum required for the maintenance of the various services. A sum amounting to approximately £320,000 had been reduced from anticipated votes for naval defence over the past two years. TRAINING SHIP PHILOMEL QUESTIONS REGARDING USE MEMBER GIVES NOTICE

[BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] "WELLINGTON, Friday Curiosity regarding the use made of the naval training ship Philomel was shown in the House to-day by Mr. H. M. Rushworth (Country—Bay of Islands) who intimated his intention to ask the following series of questions regarding the vessel which years has been tied up at the wharf at the naval base at Devonport:— , (1) Whether the Philomel is seaworthy . (2) If not, whether it is the intention to make her so ? (3) Whether the officers and crew are domiciled ashore ? (4) What is the total cost per annum of maintaining the ship in commission? (5) Whether the training given on board is regarded as efficient according to modern requirements 7 (6) Whether more economical and more efficient training could be provided bv other methods 1 . , . . Mr Rushworth's question was largely answered by an extract from the annual report on the New Zealand naval forces, which was tabled later in the afternoon. The excerpt reads:—"No further steps have been taken as regards the building of the projected naval barracks to take the place of the Philomel but in view of the age and condition of the Philomel, the erection of the barracks cannot be postponed indefinitely. 4 COALMINING COSTS difficulty of reduction SMALLER STATE OUTPUT [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] "WELLINGTON, Friday

The difficulty of reducing the costs of production of coal is emphasised ini the annual report on the working of the State coal mines, which was tabled in the House of Representatives to-day. " From the trade point of view, states the report, " it would not be out of place to state that the past year has been one of the most difficult in the history of coalmining in New Zealand. Ihe State coal mines, along with other mines in the Dominion, have suffered through lack of trade, in consequence of which the output, together with the days worked, is below those for the previous year. " Although it has been the aim ol the management to keep down the costs o production, frequent stoppages through lack of trade and a consequently reduced output have caused them to be higher than they would have been with a regular and greater output. A reduction in working time has always a serious effect, not only on the output, but also on the general average cost of production, sinco there are many standing charges which cannot be reduced and maintenance of the mines has to be attended to whether full time or otherwise is worked. The output from the Liverpool mine was 120,560 tons, a reduction of 10,541 tons on the 1930 figure. The output of the James colliery was 38,013 tons, a reduction of 4372 tons. SCHOOL TEXT BOOKS i [ SYSTEM OF OPEN TENDER T ' ADVOCACY BY PETITIONERS 5 [BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL REPORTER] f WELLINGTON, Friday k The case of cheaper school text books ' was restated in petitions presented in the 5 House of Representatives to-day. The belief was expressed that the subject matter of text books should be Wiitten and prepared or otherwise acquired by the Education Department in such a manner as to becomo the department's absolute property. It was claimed that if books were produced and distributed under a system of open tender from manuscript or copy owned by the department, a saving to parents of not less than 33 1-3 per cent on present prices could be made. It was accordingly asked that during this session steps should be taken to 8 make such arrangements effective from December 31, 1933, when the giiangfi--6 ment with the present publishers would '' expire.