OTAGO HYDRO-ELECTRICITY SCHEME.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14043, 28 April 1920, Page 8

OTAGO HYDRO-ELECTRICITY SCHEME.

MEETING AT HAYWARiyS. ' DUNEDFN'S INCLUSION INSISTED . tPOX. • , •• \ The Mayor presided over a large andrrpresentativo gathering' of O.imaru citizens at the meeting at Hqywiird's" Theatre last night to hear Sir George Fen wick. Messrs A. _S. Adams,. and AV. B. Steel, of Dunedin. and Air. K-. D. PoLson. of Mndis. upon the desirability ot tunning a United Otago Power Board for the attainment- of a hydroelectricity , scheme. -M rB. Alilligan was also, upop The Mayor introduced the delegates of the Otago Expansion League. From certain criticisms which had appaared ii might-seem that- these Southern gentlemen were not so ingenuous as they seemed to be: this idea would-be disfelled that evening. Resolutions indorsing the policy of joining up with. the rest of'Otago had been passed by the Oiimani Borough' Council and Chamber of Commerce, whileithe County Council and Harbor Board, as well as the. borough, had already helped financially to promote the inierest of of hvdro-electricitv" in North Otago. There had been adverse criticism of the Otago Power Board scheme, but nothing was yet of value in this direction, as before anything could be done a petition embodying their decisions. | and desires mast be signed by-25 per cent, of ihe ratepayers of the proposed district. He read the petition pro-, posed I v the Otago League; including the contentious clause excluding v the ' Dunedin. West Harbor, St. Kilda, and' other thickly-populated centres already served bv the' Waipori scheme. He quoted from the Otago Expansion League's booklet some of the recognised needs for hydro-electricity in Otago. The realisation of the scheme depended on whether of not farmers, wojild support it. The result _ of a canvastv showed that the majority of farmersand orcbardists would take £2O worth of electricity every year for three years after it was nyide available to them. For the whole of Otago the scheme would realise incalculable benefit.s. Mr R. Alilligan said the meeting was good, considering the bleak evening, and the subject would receive careful attention. .Tt had been a hard matter to stir up the enthusiasm that the North Otago Hydro-Electricity ComI mittee had aroused.- If the statement xhat there -would be a 3s rate had resulted in so good an attendance it. was worth while. The community, must see the necessity of unity; division would nullify the value of the scheme. None of the North Otn«o Hvdro'-Eler-tricity Committee had axes to grind, but it' was composed' of men who wished to «ee a good measure of electrical development. A clause from Mr' Parry's , report, which had been responsible largely for the genesis of the N.O.H.E. Committee was that deprecating the drift from the country to the towns, owing to the drudgery of farming,; which would be lessened by the advent of electricity, helping to more closely settle the.country. There was-no need to emphasise the advantages of' electricity to the district. Mr Birks (Air Parry's successor) said that the work of electric installation was vital qjid urgent. Whether, the Government recognised this or not was a moot point, but they had let Mr Parry go to a £3OOO billet. The Government was starving the P.W.D.; younger and tiood men were leaving it wholesale. The aim of the N.O.H.E. Committee was to give every resident of North Ot-'go electricity at a reasonable ec.st and in a reasonable time. The great question was what methods to adoot to gain those ends. With the aid of large prepared for the purpose. Mr Milligan went on to show what was being done in the North Island and in Southland. The developments proposed in the "North Island comprised the main station ai Mangahno (24.000 h.p.) and stations at Arapr.ni (96.000 h.p.). and Waikareinoana (40.00(1 h.p. to commence with), all linked together and supplying to north of Dar- ; gavilie. The scheme nearly approached. : a perieet K.vsu'in for tile North Island. 'At 29 sub-stations the power would be .broken down and distributed. Thi« . scheme would cost C 7.000,000,.000,000, but it represented the equivalent power of 1.000,000 tons of coal. Southland had arranged to have a. district from Atliol southwards. It proposed a complete scheme at a cost of C 1.100.000. to give £OOO h.pTv £400.000 to lie spent afterwards on future developments. - The financial prospects of this scheme were excellent, and if as satisfactory a, scheme could be initiated for the whole of Otago everyone should go in for it. The following statement of estimated re eipts and. expenditure for the first year after the power had been* made available to Southland would be of interest : • RECEIPTS. Country supply £BB,OOO industrial Jta-ough and Town Suppt_v y ... 43,000 Deficit for the first year ... 12,000 £143,000 . EXPENDITURE. Capital charges, including interest, sinking fund, depreciation, etc., 8-J per . cent. ... ... ..." £93,500 Working .expe-nses, 4>- per cent, (including charges oil; 1750 miles distribution) ... ... . 40,500

£143,000 The reports of the canvassers disclosed" that the above-mentioned revenue from I country consumers Would be exceeded, meaning that' even the small deficit shotvn would be converted into a credit j and making it pretty certain that no rate lvould reqtiire to be collected. It was stated by newspapers, correj spondents that the reticulation of North Otago would lag behind that of Central Otago, but if current were made available to town and country in all districts simultaneously tlijs difficulty wonld be disposed of. The district, was safeguarded in any scheme sought to he adopted, of the voters mustbe absolutely satisfied with it. When j was this contemplated electrical work to be carried' out by the Government ? In 20 years? The North Otago HydroElectricity Committee was of opinion that the Government, should undertake the harnessing and transmission of current. But tne district could not wait 15 or 20 years for that- result. If. then, a power hoard could offer the same result at once, there* could be no voice against it, as any such scheme would lip" safeguarded by a. vote of 3-sths of the ratepayers. They were told by Air Birks that the Waitaki as a. souK'P of power was out of the question at present. The total value of the proposed Otago power district" -was. £17,838,475, or, roughly £18,000,000. while that of the Southland district was £22,000,000. Tlie population of Southland was 65,450, and of Otago 60,944. What was possible to Souths land thep should be possible to Otago.'

Sir George FomncX 'Expressed his pleasure at- addressing an Oamaru aridii nce for the first time. He was pleased with an attendanse so representative of tile district. He thanked Mr R. Finoh for the open letter forwarded to him, ivhich lie read. out. -He took no exception to what ilr Finch safd; he was merely- seeking iivToniiation which "hculd be in the hands of everyone. He would not attempt to traverse all the correspondence published in the | local papers, but the utmost frankness ( on all points was essential. He was j not a member of the Expansion League I Executive, a.s he was endeavoring .to retire from much "onerous work, a course which his years, justified.-He was still however, a'firfn believer'in the bona fides of the League, and anxious to help its good work forward. Details had received admirable exposition already that nighty so; admirably had Mr. Mijligan spbken,, indeed, that he .had relieved the Duncdin delegates of n great deal cf "work. The Lcaguo believed honestly that it was for the benefit of North Of ago to. come into the scheme, which was essentially a country scheme. From his knowledge of the members of the League he knew there'was no personal or ulterior motive behind their-action. Their president, llr Todd, had more interests itt— the country than in Dunedifi, so lie must he absolved-from any ulterior motive. In regard to an article ia-the North Otago Times, that the scheme was too big for the: people affected to. trrapplo with, he did not think that-this was i

y?p?~ the case:, -The population; of->Otago«. was;. '130,000. Oft hat number 70*000 wertr so tnat. there was-a tion left-practically- ot: the' same size.as'' tnat. di- southland. If Southland; could., grapple -with a scheme; ot ;£ 1,100.;000, '-why should not Otajgo, also with its ou.IiOO population, fail to with a scheme costing no more Were the people in North Otago less enterpris- - than those in Southland?. He <W not tluiik it. quite fair for the North Otugo Times to -adopt the attitude that; the- proposals of tne League-were not ingenuous. It was a sound pohcy for editors to suggest nothing save that for which thev had- firm ground®. .; The North Otago Times had- adopted • the theory that the ucheme was gomg to cost £'2..000,00(Jau opinion borrowed from a letter by Mr R. K. Ireland, 'lilt' lull' development of -the HawreaWminka- scheme (94,000 h.p.) was- estimated by Air Hays* to cost £-2,000,000, but. this Hum would not be. required tor verv many vears. , For. years all .that "wnd required was a. scheme providing. 30.000 h.p:, which. >vith electricity earn ing power ..to thejioints ot|retieulation, could not cost ; mora/-than. £1,000,000. The league had communicated with Mr Birks, who bore out fairly well the league's estimate ot the cost'. Mr Birks'had replied by . tele- | szraph as follows: ''Mr Hay's estimate of £2 200,000' was for x 90,000 horsepower' The post, of '30,000 horse-power, allowing for increased prices, i."i. about. , £1 400,000, including duplicate line? to Dunedin and Oamaru Interest charges, at 6 per cent., £84,000; only £2 8s per horse-power, year. The wholesale re- . veneue froni-Laka Coleridgeis nearly £6 per liorse-power year. / The-'work-.. / ing expenses , at Lake.; Coleridge - are £2~ 10s per horse-power imbalance towards interest and capital charges. No rates arc required"in Canterbury. The whole system, both 'wholesale and retail distribution, is now self-supporting." .It . might be anticipated that a result similar to that of' Lake Co'leridge, Waipori, and all ' other developed schemes, that tfiey were self-supporting or allowed a profit, would accrue with- the; fruition of an Otago scheme. ' To Mr Fiiieh's enquiry ' win Dunedin and other districts were; )iot the proposed sclfcme lie could . say that Waipori supplied all their 'requirements.. Waipori • served Dunedin arid all the other districts excluded perfectly well. Before long it must be extended, but- •in the meantime why should-Dunedin go in for something .it wa 5 not. in need of as it had it already ? The Otago Expansion league had never even suggested that Dunedin ho included, but there seemed to be a local idea, that the scheme ■ could not. succeed' if Dunedin remained out. He thought that- they might embark with perfect confidence on the scheme here, but in view of the op- : position he felt in a quandary, as the i opposition was so strong that if Dunedin was not asked to come in the ; scheme would not be adopted here. The modest scheme of the League*(not that of .Mr Ireland and the North Otago Times) would involve no rate to meet a loss. There was no, reason to snppose that it was the desire of Dunedin '■'vor Central Otago at the expense of North Otago, but it was even more essential for drouthy Central to have "electricity than for" prosperous - North ■ Otago. The scheme would'bo a - power for "access in all districts'concerned-. Air R. D, Poison (Lindis) recalled his early associations with. Oamaru: As a country member lie had always found Dunedin members reasonable!and helpful to the country.The way to I arrive at a concliision was for - all to meet and fullv discuss ■ the question. - From Clyde to' tl» Lakes was the couni try with''-'which lie was convers'aift. After going c-arefiillv into the question, it was. "fully recognised that the whole ot i the Hawea-Wanaka power would ulti- • • mately be required-' for the irrigation of the area lie had mentioned. Mhny of the leases fell in within ten years. Bv the time the scheme was going this 100,000 acres would be ripe for the suh-divis\on only possible by its aid. All farmers in that district were convinc- ." ed that there was ifo great risk.

Mr A. S. Adams booed would find themselves a united body \to produce the .results all desired so much. " He also complimented Air Alillignn on lus elucidatory speech. He-would be intensely surprised to find that Otago (including Oamaru) had: so little -of itlie spirit of progress that it would 'stand aside to let. others by in order to see what would, transpire. First of all, it was a great scheme in line with all modern, development, as was the case in all progressive countries, eliminating work done by man. horse, and steam power to - uplift and of the whole community. Tt would solve the labor unrest and difficulties of to-day. But arguments in favor generally of such a scheme were not- needed, r TVtere were only two ways to obtain it—one by nnitiner on the Government (in 20 vears). That j would not. commend itself to an Otago ] audience. Southland had taken their fate in . their own hands and pushed its scheme forward. But independent action was financially bevond any local body: it was only possible by combination undijr the specifically de.signedAct. The area, to be included in thesreheme must first, be determined: outside this area no benefits of tlie scheme would accrue. When the. committee of ilie \ league first considered the scheme, their idea was a more nfodi- J fied one—namely, to take in all of ' Otago except Oamaru and Waitaki. After a conference with the experts, it was found that the only scheme that ' would he sufficient was to tap the waters of Hawea. This scheme was launched to cover the whole of the area, but it could" ortly include districts willing to come in. Neither the Otago Fydro Electricity Committee or Le"K"e \vished to coerce any body of people to come info their scheme against- their

will. But. to obtain the fullest benefits from their own schenie. they ed to include in it North Otago. It was suggested that a rate of 3s jn the £ might . be' imposad. To secure n Board Seaeliff) which would confront its selectors with, such a proposal would be imposs'ble. No had been mooted that- had such attendant possibilities. A "Rbard. a district, and a fully^signed'petition were • pendant in seouence on each other:

nbue.: was possible without the Other. Boards could be elected only nftcr the district- had been defined, and then that Board 'comprised of t-he r(*)rr>'. sentatives of the whole electorate) would naturally have .'to pronose ' •> scheme of which its electors approved. Money, was necessary, and' must- be borrowed. Toans- could only be undertaken by a Board with the full of Its electors after supplying them with full in forma f ion. A i-ite r-onlrl only follow on the approval of the ratepavers of the scheme. It might be that Waitaki. a rich and- district, might be outvoted bv'other districts, but ratepayers were verv much akin one to another, and be had never vet found ratepayers willing to vote, three-fifths of them, for a scheme that did not. return them a satisfactory profit- The same proposals would be su*>miftwUp ratenayers South and' North; and tW/olloftive commori-spnse. of the eeihniunjt-y would accent the scheme They had seen that' in Southland there "° all K° r of any rate! beiiis struck, wns ■ not tho rp.sulf"* of signing to accent ■responsibilities, which now thev would never be called on to i nieet. It was . ungenerous to suggest reasons why,.Dunedin did not, Want to ipnie into the nreserit scheme, Hvhen Dundm ivas the first to initiate, in the face of- risk and- dbsfneles. a. sueces'f"! eleetricity scheme. It had a loan debt of hundred,® of thoupands. Dunedin took un tlie best and biggest thing it could grasp, and shared its benefits with :■■ <si'rro"nd"ig districts: now it- Was ask-' cd why it would not- come: in with a "w soqep'e.. -Tt was not neoessirv for Duneiin to come 171. Tt fminfr fo ]e a good' thingwithout Dunedin. and 1 'rt Avr,s n(> ' •vTnirDunedin.,which bad f-K-cn +b 0 burden i of initiating and nroving-thp of elerfrieit\ 1 n NU ai T aHded IJirde" for.-" timorous; The wav out ' of the- finonr-ial diffienlties ef- Hie- TW : '"inion w-vs 1-v progress, and to-night tbev inu«t choos-e l-c'"'c-n drift, and Or progress. All knew of 1 the dr : ft ,pf :r>nr<«ln+.ioiV t-he Sontb Island .to +be. North Tsl"nd. Th'it- dr'ft. would, inde.'initeb- continu • unless; thev -accepted the aids to Tirogress submitted fo them that ni?bt.

- Mr W. Fine;!n fan old o.v-residejif "pf Central welcomed the attention foeussed on. +he snhemp.■ He knew the area , covered hv the scheme well. , and knew that - there was no better A"heni<v for Otnsro than the FaweaWanaka, scheme; . To tei=t the feelinq of the meeting he moved: "That this

meeting, of .Oamaru residents expresses its conviction that it is imperative that the development ot the South Island in the matter of supplies of electricity be not delayed until the North island schemes are completed and affirms the desirability of ample supplies of electricity for domestic and power purposes being made available to all settlers in North Otago as early as possible, and having this in it endorses the policy of the North Otago Hydro-Electricity "Committee to join the rest of. Otago in the-formation of

ah Electric Power Board in" terms of tile Electric Power Boards Act, 1918, and that a committee be appointed to obtain the necessary signatures ; to a petition praying- that' the Government will -establish such a Power District." Mr W. H. Paterson seconded the motion. . - '

To Mr A. E. Lawrence Sir George Fenwick stud that "the rest of Otago" was specified iii .tlie petition, being all that wis not excluded: Mr li. K-. Ireland moved as an amendment; "Provided the Dunedin districts come into the rating area, this meeting ' approves of the proposal • to form a Hydro-Electric Power District for the whole of Otago."

Air speech, without reply, would be inclined to .carry his point, whereas he would shW that the interests of the- League were opposed to those of the rest of -the ratepayers. The distance from Hnwea-Wanaka to Palmer,ston or Balclutha was- much longer than from Monowai to Inver-i cargill. A £2,000,000 cost was pooh-| poohed, yet with the Southland distance compared with the Otago scheme j I it- was..not. only • possible but probable*". Reticulation alone was an enormous expense. As regarded the 3s ai the £ the rating area ■ improved value was I , £16 3 000,000, which witli 5i cent. I interest and 1 per cent, -sinkiiig- fund was roughly £130,000. The Act said j that- this must be secured by a rate, i 1 which would cost. 3s in the £ for a I £2.000,000 loan. The whole of the rate , might not be collected', but if things did not succeed it would be. The population of Otago was 130,000, of whom 01),000 were; of this area, the balance, 70,000. were included ill the outer area,, which could come into the scheme wt any time on the vote of 25 per cent, of the ratepayers. At-the" end of ten years, when the rate -of the rest of Otago was worked off, -Dunedin could come, in free, to what?—to the Ha-wea-Wanaka scheme. If Sir George Fen-v wick :would allow some of them to go to Dunedin he, would undertake to convert 25 per cent, of- Dunediiu ratepavers to Dunedin's inclusion. Oamaru had started its own scheme, which in -time—pay as- well, in proportion "as Waipori. He could see: no» <clifterence in the positions of Oamaru and. Dun--eclin. Once" Oamaru had signed, bv 25 per cent: of its ratepayers, it'was. m the scheme and could not get out of it. Oamaru did not wish to spoil the scheme, but he did wish to show that the scheme was no- good if Dunedin did not come in. It. was on account of a. possible rate of 3s in the £ that the scheme was dead here to-day.

Mr J. Thomson-asked the meeting to defer decision until other impending rates J were defined. ~ _

Mr :K.\Fincii said that'lie had sent all correspondence to Sir G. Fenwick in' order tliat he might be prepared. Mr Ireland had covered tho ground well;: All were, satisfied that" the electricity . scheme needed all encouragement". It was unfair to efcpect 00,000 to undertake a huge loan while 70,000 stood : out.-• If Dunedin would accept some financial responsibility," the"; scheme would, come in much sooner and pay better, but, if Dunedin remained i out, the North Otago ratepayers would turn the scheme down. He was told by Mr Adafiis that Dunedin was using all tho power of the Waipori scheme to-dav, and must come on some source of supply shortly. Oamaru had enough electricity for ten ..years. yet, and. wai therefore better entitled than Dunedin to startd out. Oamaru should, however, support the scheme and take some responsibility, hut only if Dunedin came in also. Dunedin would ederive no immediate benefit ijoin the people of Central Otago. It should be urged to collie in at once; just now the scheme - was doomed to failure in North Otago. Mr .A. E; Lawrence said, that f)ft. per cent, of' the: people of North Otago were in favor ol a united Otago scheme., including Dunedin ■ Dunedin was one. of the best gainers by the scheme, so why should not • Dunedin come in? - Mr Adams had spoken of •"the burden of,'Dunedin in connection j with Waipori - Where was: the burden ? No •poll of .Dunedin would surely be

-necessary to secure 25 per cent, of the signatures of the Dunediu ratepayers to the of Dunedin in even greater benefits. . Mr A, J. Grave asked if the Leaguehad considered whether Coleridge would am>J' if Christclvurch were not a consumer.

Mr K. K. Ireland said that Coleridge did not pay in 1919, including Christchurch

' Mr It. Milligan said it was more, of a parallel case to cite Southland,'' the valuation and population of which was about the same as the proposed area. Southland had based their •figures on ■-signed, guaranteed orders for power, and tlus showed that no rate would be collected. No power board would, "if elected, bring forth a scheme that would, not pay, when, by securing guaranteed customers, a profit could be assured.. •

Mr Ireland asked Jiow Otago without Dunedin could be expected to pay when Coleridge,' with Christchurch inl eluded,, did not pay until its fourth year P. < Mr Jas..Mitchell said that the failure of Coleridge was due- to the Government having made arraingem-ents with tho Council to supply current at an exceedingly low price. The Council was making a profit. - ' Mr I. Dalmer pointed out. that Coleridge, through shortage of plant, had not been able, to supply half its potential outfit, .through Avar conditions. The extensions of the Oamaru plant would certainly not cope 'with the needs of the town for another 10 years. •The' Mayor reminded -Mr Lawrence that the. possibility of very economically established headworks at Hawea-Wan-aka would help to,offset. Jong transmission costs. ■

Sir G. Femvick said that if this were, turned down it was very likely that North Otago would be shut" completely out of any electricity scheme. The mode scheme of. the would cost riot more than ~Ij000,00(), but. would bring unlimited prosperity. Ho would not say a word*, more on behalf .of the scheme, and ' would not again ask them to accept i r.:■ Mr R. K. Ireland agreed, on the request of Mr Milligan, to. accept tho addition of tho entire preamble of tho motion to his amendment, as he, and those whose opinion he represented, were equally desirous with the movers 01 the ..motion . .to securo, as soon as possible, an Otago electricity scheme, but mM«ted on the inclusion of Dun-I c-dni.

- The Mayor put the amended 'amend-' itu-ni.., ,winch he read, for which there 43 votes, and only two against." . declared the amendment carried. fP 1 ) tile, motion of Mr Ireland - it was lelt to the North Otago Hvdro-Elee-tncity Committee to draw the attention of the Otago Expansion League to Oamania's position. Sir G. Fen wick said that it was very evident, tha.t there, was a. very strong spirit of opposition to the exclrision of Dunedin. That feeling must TT<> con-veyed-totha League, which would considorjifc ahd do what Was right. _A' otes of thanks to.the delegates and the chairman meetino- at 11 p.m. "