Wellington Independent MONDAY, 28th JULY.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3868, 28 July 1873, Page 2

Wellington Independent MONDAY, 28th JULY.

Considering the admittedly enormous importance to this colony of its coalfields, it is to be not only hoped but expected that the Government will this session come down with large proposals, having for their object the development and utilisation of these valuable sources of national .wealth. To a certain extent the Government has already recognised the necessity of making it possible that the absurd anomaly of importing coal whilst we have plenty of the mineral within our own boundaries should be terminated. The Legislature has affirmed its opinion of this necessity by voting considerable sums of money for the construction of railways to connect the two principal coalfields with a shipping port — one being the railway already commenced to connect the extensive coalfields on the Grey River with Greymouth, and the other a line, the route of which has not been as yet decided, to render available the large coal deposits in the neighborhood of the Buller River. In Canterbury and Auckland also, the expenditure of public money has been authorised for similar purposes. A return was presented to Parliament the other day which showed that coals representing a value of £162,549 were imported into this colony from Australia during the ! year 1872. In all probability the importation is increasing, and it has be- ! come a most momentous question for New Zealand whether this state of things is to be continued. Every one I admits that it is a reproach to the | colony that it should depend so ! largely upon its neighbours for the supply of a material which exists in vast quantities in many parts of both Islands. Let anyone read the reports of the Geological Department for the last year and he will at once be forced to admit that, with the grand coal measures there described, New Zealand ought not only to be able to absolutely free itself from foreign importations, but to largely supply foreign countries. There is a remarkable difference between New Zealand and the Australian colonies with respect to the anxiety to develop their coalfields. If Victoria could hit upon such coalfields as those of the Grey and the Buller, the whole energies of the Government would be at once directed to their development, and no difficulties would be allowed to stand in the way. The Victorian Legislature would take this view: "Here we have a most valuable source of national wealth — the key to the progress of our manufacturing industry, and it must be made available at any reasonable cost. If the coal is proved to be of good quality and in great quantity, we must not allow any paltry questions to stand iv the way of using it. If railway com-, munication or the improvement of ports adjacent to the fields are neceesary, they must be made at any cost within the means ot the colony." That, we think, would be the policy pursued by our Victorian neighbors : they would make up their minds to do the work and would not be guided by the question of whether it would cost a few thousands or scores of thousands, so long as the object was attained. This coal question is daily becoming more and more important. In England it is already overshadowing every other manufacturing interest, for the reason that coal is absolutely necessary to the production of those articles which have made England so prosperous, and it should be regarded as relatively important here, where we are entering also upon a scheme of railways and hoping to establish factories for the production of many things for which we are at present dependent upon other places. There is another view to be taken. Not only is it desirable and necessary that we should develop our coalfields for domestic consumption, but it is equally desirable that we should enter into competition with New South Wales for the foreign trade. It is admitted by the best authority in England that there is no probability of any important reduction in the price of coal in that country. Many of the British coalfields have exhausted their most easily worked coal, and the cost of production has been increased by the necessity of deeper shafts, and the great advance in the rate of wages, in many places of eighty to a hundred per cent. Added to these immediate causes is the enormous increase in the demand occasioned by the rapid general extension of industries of all kinds, more particularly the manufacture of, iron.

Already England is importing coal from Belgium, and a recent writer of authority predicts that before long it will pay to import coal from America, although England has hitherto been a large exporter thence. As more affecting ourselves, we may point out that the growing scarcity and dearness of coal at home will largely affect exports to foreign countries from the United Kingdom. For instance, with regard to foreign markets it is stated that the Indian railways which have been mainly dependent upon British coal are paying close upon £4 per ton for their fuel. Then let us look at the vast supplies needed for the great steam fleets that now traverse the Eastern and Southern seas, most of which are de rived from either G-reat Britain or Australian coalfields. Many of the coaling stations now largely supplied from other countries are quite as accessible to New Zealand as to Newcastle or any English port ; our coal is probably superior to that of New South Wales, and if the Government and the Legislature only determine that our coalfields shall be thoroughly developed, much of this trade could become our own. In regard to this question there should be no hesitation in the expenditure of any amount of money that may secure the object in view. We hope that the Government will recognise the importance of this question in a practical manner.