The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1903.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXVIII, Issue 11955, 2 January 1903, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 1903.

If the speech which the Premier recently delivered at Masterton is to be taken seri- I ously, it is not improbable that the colony will be committed to the development of an industry which should, we think, be left to private enterprise, at all events for some years to come. He is reported to have said that "if private enterprise failed to rise to the occasion, then the State, which hadi already taken over a coalmine, would go in for manufacturing its own. iron, and steel." The Wellington "Evening Post" says that there is an obvious allusion to the attempt*' of Messrs Cadman and Smith to float a company in London or elsewhere to develop the ironore deposits of the colony. As we know of no other such attempts being made at the present time we suppose that our contemporary's suggestion is correct. We do not know how the scheme of Messrs Cadman and Smith stands, but we believe that it has not been abandoned. It may be contended that in case of their succeeding to form the company and to procure the necessary amount of capital, no more will be heard of State iron-works. That, however, is not the way in which we regard the matter. It is true that the Premier used' the word "if," but he, like some others of his party, has a hankering after the absorption of industries, and it would not surprise us were a cut-and-dried scheme for State iron-works to be submitted to Parliament in the course of next session, no matter whether the Cadman-Smith company is then in existence or not. The Premier's reference to the State coal-mine was not a very happy one. It strikes us that coal-owners had risen very well to the occasion when the Government chipped in and became, or threatened to become, their competitors. There was no necessity for the Government embarking in the coal industry, and I so far then- interference has done the country no good, and the experiment is likely to be a costly one for the general tax-payer. The contemplated iron-works experiment would be far more risky, and the initial outlay would be enormous. The general taxpayer would have to find the money for everything, and the gain would be in the highest degree problematical. We have the keenest dislike for the assumption by the State of responsibility in undertakings which are sure sooner or later to attract capital if they offer a fair prospect of reasonable profit. We have no desire to see Mr Seddon or any other Minister " running the country" to the exclusion or detriment of private enterprise. State interference wherever it is practicable suits the Premier's book because it increases the area and volume of his political influence. Men* who procure billets under the Governmnt, whether as inspectors, managers, clerks, or mere manual labourers, naturally have a sneaking regard for the power which made such a pleasant opening for them, and at election time they are likely to vote in the direction in which their personal interests point, without much consideration for the general good of the country. Our firm belief is that the Premier's desire to collar the industries of New Zealand arises from his lust for political power, and the necessity (from his standpoint) of making his hold upon office more secure. Our Wellington contemporary evidently has small faith in the present efforts of Messrs Cadman and Smith. This may be gathered from the following sentences in the article to which we have referred:—"lt has always appeared to us that the promoters of the Taranaki ironsand companies have essayed, as it were, to begin at the wrong end. They want to float a great company to create works in the colony for the.treatment of ore the commercial value of which has yet to be proved. Why may they not prove this value by taking the ore in sufficient quantity to a place where such works exist? Let us suppose a company of £IO,OOO capital, with the following objects:—(i) To procure the concentration and shipment to England or elsewhere of, say, five hundred tons of Taranaki ironsand ; (2) to obtain there the best expert opinion as to treatment; (3) to arrange for such treatment and to deal with the iron or steel resulting therefrom; (4) to ascertain through the best evidence procurable the best uses to which such ( iron or steel could be put in the form of | finished products of machinery, implements, plant, or appliances; (5) to sell such finished products at current values, and thereafter determine whether the results obtained would justify the erection of ironworks with necessary plant, machinery and appliances at Taranaki, New Zealand. These objects, we submit, if carried out, would demonstrate at a comparatively small cost the real value of the iron ore that abounds on the shores of Taranaki, or, for that matter, in the deposits of Parapara. If the ores proved intractable or otherwise non-payable the colony would be a gainer by the knowledge, while if the reverse there would be no difficulty in inducing private enterprise to enter upon the work." Our contemporary concludes with the suggestion that the Government might subsidise the initial company on the condition of the advances being repaid out of profits in the event of the undertaking proving successful. We have no objection to offer to such State assistance, which is a very different thing to establishing State iron-works, or permanently bolstering up the industrv.