THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 12, 1919. HYDRO-ELECTRIC ENERGY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17728, 12 September 1919, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 12, 1919. HYDRO-ELECTRIC ENERGY.

The deputation' representative of leagues concerned in the progress of the South Island which interviewed members of the Cabinet yesterday, and urged various claims to consideration cm the part of the- Government, received from the Minister for Public Works a promising assurance respecting perhaps the most important matter that was raised, that of hydro-electric development. It is satisfactory to have Sir William Eraser's disclaimer on behalf of the Government of any intention of waiting for the completion of the North Island hydro-electric scheme before prosecuting any further development of the water-power resources of the South Island. The- present Government, we are told, is desirous of encouraging any hydro-elbctric undertaking which will not interfere with its own general scheme The time has certainly come when whatever Government may happen to be in offico should recognise-. tha importance and indeed the need of adopting a strong policy of hydro-electrical development. The coal shortage and the- serious effect of that shortago upon important industries are forcing the question of hydro-electrical development and the possibilities attending it into a prominence which might not otherwise have been given to it despite the fact that it has long merited • more practical consideration iu New

Zealand thau it has received. Very apposite in this relation nro tho opinions expressed by Sir Charles Parsons at tho meeting of the British Association, as summarised in the cablegrams. In default of unexpected discoveries, says Sir Charles Parsons, the great position of England cannot bo indefinitely maintained, and long before her eoal is exhausted it may be expected that her population will gradually migrate* to countries where- natural sources of energy—ehiclly water power—aro most abundant. The significance for us of this prediction lies in tho great stress which has been laid by a competent authority upon the advantageous position that will bo occupied, in tho years to come, by countries that aro so fortunate as to possass abundant sources of natural and therefore- economical energy. New Zealand is pre-eminently one of these countries. Sho Las scarcely a river that is not a torrent and her waterfalls aro inexhaustible. On the other hand New Zealand is certainly no better off than Great Britain in respect of her ability to rely indefinitely on her coal measures as a factor in her material progress. She may indeed be much worse off. In any case the development of hydro-electric energy is of great and increasing interest not to business men oidy but to tho public as a whole. We have tho raw material, so to speak, at our doors and running to waste, and it is important that this great natural asset of tho dominion should be brought as early as possible into profitable use^