POWER FROM WATER

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 9954, 25 April 1918, Page 8

POWER FROM WATER

HYDRO-ELECTRIC SCHEME .. IMPORTANT VISIT TO MANGAHAO. GOVERNMENT AGAIN TJEGED TO ACT. In connection -with the forward more that is being made in regard to hydroelectric development in New Zealand the claims of the Mangahao river have, coma lately into prominence. The two schemes which interest Wellington are Lake Waikaremoana and Mangahao, and it is strongly contended in some quarters that the latter is the mostsuitable from a local standpoint. While local bodies have time. and again discussed Mangahao and its advantages they have had little or no practical knowledge to go upon. This decided 1 drawback wag realised by the- Palmerston \ort'h Chamber of Commerce, and that body eventually decided to invite all iocal bodies in the Wellington district, as far as Wanganui on tho west coast, to meet m conference at the headworks and site. The event, which took place yesterday, -was undistinguished oy any special incident, the programme "being of a rather casual charactsr. Tills was hardly surprising considering therough nature or the country and the many natural difficulties that had to he overcome. , The major portion oi the party set out from Paimerston in tne early morning and journey by motor vehicles as far a 3 it was considered expedient to go. The remainder of the journey to Mr A. SiSiert's property, the site of the proposed headworks and dams, was made on. horsobaok, -waggon and kkk, the procession into rugged, broken j country grsatiy resembling a pilgrimage into "pastures now." After a four | uules journey in this fashion the party arrived at the site of the large dam whoro several handy men were seen to te busily engaged preparing lunch. Ims ■was served in the approved open-air style and those who possessed horses were given the opportunity of going right as far as the headworks. Horses were not a plentiful commodity, however, and many would-be signseers, includin o Councillor J. E. Fitzgerald and the Wellington press representatives, were unabfe to see much of the mer itselt. Later in the day the delegates returned to the site of the proposed poww station, which is two miles irom Shannon, and were entertained by toe ladies of Shannon prior to the holding of. the conference. The follows bodies were represented :-Orouo, County Council. Pohangina County Council. tik>i County Council, Feilding Borough Council and Chamber of Marten Borough Council and Chamber of Commerce, Wanganui Borough Coun : oil and Chamber of Commerce Otaki Town Board. Foxton BoroughCounoil, Eairanga County Council, Wellington Otr Council, Chamber of Commerce, Central Chamber of Commerce, and Industrial Association, Bgnsoteff Town Board, Paimerston North Borough Council and Clamber of C*™™. and the Eketabuna Borough Council. Several apologies for .absence were Wceived, includin<r the Hon. T. M.Wxlford. the Hon. D. H. .Guthrie, Dr. A. K. Newman. K-P., »r S>. Buick, M.P., the Mayor of Wellington (Mr J. P£uke, CiM.G.), th« city engineer (Mr w H. Morton), and the oovernment electrical engineer (Mr \ Pa"g- ** iwelooming the delegate*. Mr L. H. GoiUneon, president of the Paimerston North Chamber of Commerce, said he was extremely pleased, by the manner in which other bodies had responded to the invitation. He referred to the ereat public demand made for the harnessing of /suitable rivers for hydroelectric purposes. The ory was even greater now that they were faced with a. shortage of coal, and the saving to the country by the development of the natural resources could not be questioned. Th?v were there to pass a resolution -urging the Government to push on with the preliminary work of the ■undertaking. . Cr B. A. Wright. M.P. (Wellington) said they were all determined that the Government should bo stirred into activity As far as Wellington wns concerned they had com© to the end of their tether as far as electrical enorgv was ©unearned. Wellington could not place any more fcraamears in the service, ana if they purchased new .plant in order to meet the requirements of the city, what did they know other'than that thawverament would come alone with a hydroekctrio scheme? He was not an engineer, but ne could see the advantage of the Mangahao scheme. The speaker considered that the Government should be hammered at until it promised to make a start with the preliminary work. As far as he, as & member of Parliament could influence the authorities, he would do so. It might be said, and had been said, that war matters should be considered, first, and he believed that the Government should attend to the war expenditure before *nv other It had to be remembered, however that this scheme would pay for itself. The fact that private companies were anxious to do the work went to prove that contenU Mr W H Field, M.P.. drew the attention of tho conference to the fact that the first man to suggest the ****£**> scheme was the late Mr James Wallace, general manager of the Manawatu Railway Company, wiho brought it under the notice of the member for^ the district,the jkteMr John St«rens. He did: not thmk they should in «ny ««T Waikaremoana scheme, but the Mangahao scheme should be undertaken first. •Hvhy" said Mr Field, "enough money has been thrown away bv the ssstemot TMenoe expenditure to pay for tho whole scheme." (Applause). r „ XT , rPV>I- ! At this stage Councillor Crabb (Falmerstwn North) moved, and Mr J. J»Evans (Wellington) seconded the follow'""ThaVtbie meeting representative. of local bodies and boroughs between Wellington and W»nganui, calls upon the Government to take immediate stops to with the preliminary »orta and wading necessary for the mstallation of the Mangahao hydro-electric scheme, and that the vigilance committee of the associated Chambers of Commerce he authorSSdto «rt 'or thi * conference » bringing the matter before the Minister for Public Works." , . . ~ Several speakers strongly supported the motion. Councillor Fitzgerald remarked that Mr Parry had pronounced m very Btron- terms the necessity for developing the hvdro-eleotric services. The outlook for c";l supplies now came as additional evidence. Why should the adopt a "dog in the manger', attitude by refusing to allow private enterprise to do something which it (the Government) hesitated to do? Speaking for Wellington he could say that the people wanted cheaper electricity, and it was the Government's duty *o supply it. In any ncheme which might be instituted in Wellington he thought it would be a mistake to impose restrictions similar to those in force in Christchurch._ The motion was carried unanimously.