GENERAL

Otago Witness, Issue 2649, 21 December 1904, Page 66

GENERAL

As mentioned a few days ago, the conditions laid down aa necessary in coal for use at sea by the Commissioners appointed by the Admiralty to inquire into the merits of the several kinds of steam coal in use in the Royal Navy, are, shortly — (1) That the coal should be of quick action in raising steam ; (2) have high evaporative power, and should not be bituminous on account of the smoke generated ; (3) should possess considerable cohesion of its particles, so as to stand shipment; (4) should have considerable density, and be of such mechanical structure as to slow in small space ; (6) should be free from any considerable quantity of sulphur, and not progressively decay, both of which circumstances render it liable to spontaneous combustion. From the numerous analyses made it is apparenirfhat the Paparoa coal possesses these qualities in a considerable degree, and it should therefore be most valuable for use in the navy. "At the present time a large quantity of coal is exported from New Zealand for the Admiralty, and it may fairly be assumed that the demand will be considerably greater when the anthracite ooal is put on the market.

In connection with this discovery it is interesting xo recall some of the remarks made by Lord Ranfurly in thp course of his farewell speech at Dunedin on April 13. On that occasion his Excellency said : "In my opinion New Zealand is not half opened up. There are large areas of back country not yet roaded, and as far as the minerals of this county are concerned, in my opinion, the surface has not yet been, scratched. I have heard of coal deposits in many directions that have not yet been worked. I do not know what their value may be, bur. I have seen coal that seemed to me to be very good coal, but there was only a limited demand. What is wanted in these colonies is more steam coal suitable for our navy. We have a really good coal in the Westport coal in ce-rtain scams, but it does vary, and that cannot be. contradicted. The coal we want is an invariable smokeless ooal, and that does not appear at the present moment to have been discovered. And why is it to your interests that everything should be done to provide coal for the navy/ Yaur very existence, ladies and gentlemen, depends on your navy.- Our whole Empire depends on the navy being second to none, and so long as our colonies are -"dependent on the ocean for their .highway, so long must our navy be kept for the protection of our ever-increasing commerce " New Zealand to-day occupies an important geographical position- as far as shipping and- commerce "are concerned, but" as time rolls on it is almost certain that'- its position will be infinitely more important than it is at present. The completion of the Panama Canal will practically revolutionise the skipping -trade" of the world, and New Zealand, with its i valuable deposits oi coal, will occupy the most impovtant position in the Pacific Ocean, to which an exceedingly large proportion of., commerce will be diverted. By the Panama Canal -route the distance between England or any European port and any port in tbo Australasian; colonies will be shortened by more than 1500 knots than by the Suez Canal route, 2500 knots than by the Cape of Good Hope route, and 3500 knots less than by the Cape Horn route. The saving of time and f-he freedom from dangers that must be run in the cold latitudes will be of inestimable value, and for those reasons alone it will be practically compulsory for steamers, especially passenger ones.,, to use the Panama Canal in preference to the other routes. If our readers will take a glance at the map the position of New Zealand on the route via the Panama Canal will strike them with great force, and will show tho importance of the canal to Australasian, and especially to New Zealand, trade. New Zealand will then dominate to a great extent the trade of Japan and China and the East generally, and also largely the trade of the whole of the West coast of North and South America, »nd Australia on account of its being the first place of call in Oeeana. The possesion of good steaming coal, such as antnracitous ooal, will be a very important factor in the development of trade. Other oonditions being equal ? steamers will require the best coal "procurable, and there can be little doubt that the Paparoa Company's coal is amongst the best the world produces. It will be readily seen that all the shipping from Great Britain and Europe to Australia must make New Zealand a port of call for coaling purposes. When communication is established by way of Panama, no douhl steamers trading from the Old Country will load sufficient of the best coal in Great Britain to carry them to the Panama Canal, where they can refill their bunkers with American, or possibly New Zealand, anthracitous coal and come on to this colony. On arrival in New Zealand the steamers can get further supplies of anthracite coal, then go to Australia and back, and afterwards take in sufficient to carry them to Panama, and so on. By this means a very large amount of bunker space will be saved, and the cargo-oarrving capacity and passenger accommodation will b© proportionately increased.