FROM WASTE TO WEALTH.

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 231, 5 April 1928, Page 1

FROM WASTE TO WEALTH.

World’s Greatest Tree-Planting Effort

Motives Which Prompted Great Effort

A Company Which Created a National Sense

VII. A superficial examination of history reveals that most great enterprises have been scoffed at when first planned. So many people are conservative and do not relish new ideas. Others again oppose innovations from selfish reasons, while yet others give half-hearted support, and are in many cases more of a hinderance than a help. To take one instance, there is the case of Henry Ford, the sole owner and controller of the biggest business of its kind in the world. His path at the outset was made most difficult by people who jeered, leered, and violently opposed him at every turn. Even financial institutions fought him to the last ditch, but through it all, with several facts in mind, he kept serenely on until to-day he is in the happy financial position of being able to laugh at all his detractors. Now that he is in this position the world also laughs with him instead of at him. Such is human nature. Imitation is Flattery. The path of history is littered with such examples, and it would be idle to deny that nothing but roses has strewn the path along which the re-cently-created N.Z. Perpetual Forests, Ltd., has travelled. A new enterprise which saw clearly where others were blind, it set the pace along a certain direction, and amidst the welter of criticism to which the company whs subjected, there arises the flattering compliment that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Since the N.Z. Perpetual Forests, Ltd., came into being, some 30 or 40 imitators have sprung up like mushrooms.

tent of not less than £2,000,000 annually. She cannot, however, any more than other countries, look with any degree of confidence to a continuation of this policy, but must aim at becoming self-supporting, and for three very sound reasons. The first of these may perhaps be called one of expediency. It is not a wise policy for any country to allow itself to become dependent upon outside sources for its supplies of raw material which are necessary for its national existence. A Moral Obligation. This argument applies with peculiar force to New Zealand on account of her isolated and remote geographical position. The second reason is one of moral obligation. There are in New Zealand exceptionally favourable conditions for the growth of certain classes of softwood timber. There are also large areas, officially estimated at over 5,000,000 acres, of waste and deteriorating lands. There is thus surely a moral obligation upon this generation to strive to put these waste lands to some good use, and to hand them on in a better, and not in a worse, condition than that in which they were inherited. The third reason is one of grim necessity. Indefinite reliance upon imports, however strongly it may be desired, is no longer possible, because the time is already within measurable distance when imports threaten to become prohibitively dear or altogether unobtainable.

Once it is realised that forest products are indispensible, that reliance upon imports is certain to end in disaster, it is natural for any country to ask: Can we grow the necessary forests at home ? A Question Answered.

It is interesting therefore in view of these facts to glance behind the scenes, as it were, and to note some of the main facts which guided the enterprising and far-seeing promoters of this company in their decision to launch out on the scale which has made the N.Z. Perpetual Forests, Ltd., the largest company of its kind in the world.

Officially, New Zealand did not answer this question. Despite the fact that our Forestry Department was in possession of all the available data on the subject it can definitely be said that no attempt was being made to answer this question as it undoubtedly should be answered. The question, however, was answered by one firm, and one firm alone, and that firm is the N.Z. Perpetual Forests, Ltd. Its sponsors saw where others were blind, and it is almost wholly owing to this company’s immense activities, and wonderful success in the tree-planting business, that our Government Departments and others have been spurred out of their lethargy to a sense of their responsibilities, and to a knowledge of the fact that it is a paying proposition and a national asset. Blazing the Trail. The New Zealand Perpetual Forests, Ltd., has blazed the trail, and there are now manifest signs that the courage and optimism displayed by this company has done more than any other one factor to consolidate public opinion, and to create that very desirable forestry sense, which is a national asset to any country. That it is proved as a wise and paying proposition for investors is best judged from the fact already noted, that between 30 to 40 similar companies have sprung into existence, many of which have some of the best known names in the timber industry on their directorate, and also that the Government Forestry Department is now strenuously endeavouring to run its own work on the same commercial lines. Thus all follow the great and mother pioneer company—N.Z. Perpetual Forests, Ltd.

In any examination of the world’s timber problem we start with two incontrovertible propositions: That forest products are essential to modern civilised existence; and that the world supplies, particularly of softwoods, have been so seriously depleted that there is a real danger of a world-wide shortage within the next 20 or 30 years. It is unnecessary to labour these facts. The first is self-evident to any intelligent person who will pause to reflect upon it; the second is only too familiar to students of forestry literature, who have read for instance the presentation of the case which was laid before the Empire Forestry Conference by Messrs. Fraser Story and R. D. Cameron. Dependent on Imports. Forests everywhere have been so diminished by utilisation, by clearing for purposes of agricultural and pastoral settlement, and waste, that areas once deemed inexhaustible are now seen to be inadequate, and there is urgent need to bring all actual or potential forest areas up to their maximum capacity. In common with many other countries, New Zealand is at present relying upon importations to supply her need of forest products. Despite a population still limited, and a forest area originally of extensive dimensions, New Zealand to-day is importing timber, and other forest products such as newsprint, to the ex-