ONEKAKA IRONWORKS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18848, 10 April 1931, Page 4

ONEKAKA IRONWORKS

CHAIRMAN’S PLEA FOR ASSISTANCE. By Teltgraph—Presr As^oci^ti^n NELSON, April 9. Mr John Leggo, chairman of the Onekaka Iron and Steel Company, referring to the question whether the works have been and are worthy of Government support, says that the best part, £250.000 in cash, has been found by shareholders and debenture holders. These people for nine years struggled against tremendous odds in an attempt to establish the iron industry in New Zealand. The opposition took the form of cutting prices, even to the extent of dumping. Who then were the gainers through Onekaka? Most certainly the users of iron, and consequently New Zealand purchasers of articles made from iron. When Onekaka commenced, iron was £lO per ton; to-day it was £5, f.0.b., Onekaka. The same conditions applied to cast iron pipes. Eighteen months ago imported pipes were costing New Zealand £l3/10/- a ton; today Onekaka was selling at £lO/10/delivered. The benefits were widely enjoyed by users and consumers certainly not by shareholders. Anything from 150 to 200 men had been constantly employed. Wages up to £IOOO and over were paid a week, plus thousands of pounds spent among trades people for supplies. Onekaka had been producing in the vicinity of £90.000 of saleable products a year, all purchased in New Zealand. That money had been circulating and not going out to India and other places. It was quite a respectable amount to keep within our own shores. The iron ore was obtained from the poorest land in the whole Dominion. The wealth extracted equalled that of many farms. It w T as therefore so much added wealth to New Zealand. From a purely national standpoint, he maintained that it would have paid the Government to have helped the company in its present financial difficulties, as the amount they were asking for would be eaten up in doles many times over before the men thrown out of work can find employment. Most of the men are skilled and semi-skilled, receiving £50,000 a year. The request to the Government did not amount to 1/li ' per head of population. With such assistance they could have carried on indefinitely. It would have allowed them to meet all liabilities excepting coal; in fact would have gone quite a little way towards that principal. The contributing cause to the present failure was the prevailing depression. There was scarcely a foundry running full time, while some were not working even third-time. This meant that Onekaka had accumulated iron at the works amounting approximately to 2000 tons. Sales for the past five months had fallen to a little over 150 tons per month, while in normal times they were 500 tons and over. The depression would lift, and all would regret that the Onekaka ironworks were not then operating.