REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON COLONIAL INDUSTRIES.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 84, 12 November 1872, Page 2

REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON COLONIAL INDUSTRIES.

Coal Fields.Your Committee" h&ve" taken a large amount of evidence on the'preSent cbndftion anft prospects of the vaHous known coal flelds of the colony,-more particularly the Kawa Kawa, ihe Brunner, the Mount Rbchfprt aud IJgakawau. and the Waikato coal field. They find, with reference to the Kawa Kawa mine, that the working of this mine has been expended for two reasons, —the occurrence of a fault and tha flooding of 1 the present workings', atod the fact that the construction of the proposed railway has been suspended till it' is ascertained reliably that the profitable production can bfr continued on'a' large" sdale) dVefa number of years. Tine , ComMttee recominead that & moderate amount of assistance should W afforded in the shape of a money grant to procure practical 1 evidence the , subject above alluded to by boiingv Thk BRtfiWEit MMi;—Yonr 1 Committee find that unt :, the railway ie made to the port of shipment this mine must continue in the unsatisfactory utate it is now irt; and they r&so. iend ! that the earliest steps'should' be taken to construct the prbposed railway.and also'that further exploration should be made'to'aafcertainthe amount of coal that is likely ..obtf carried 6Vef this railway at » profit. . T. a- Mount RookpofcT as© NQA&AvftAtf Committee have satisfactory evidence that the coal iff this district is fully equal in quality to that of- the Brnnner. They recomtaend that in this case also further explorations be made before any considerable expenditure is incurred in improving means of shipment, as it appears at present doubtful whether it would be expedient to adopt , Weetport or the Ngakawau river as the place of export. Withregard to other coal fields, your Committee recommend' generally that wherever there-is reason , to believe thafrgood coal seams exist,-practical exploration as , to the vatiief and extent of these seams should be i.rAe as soou as thV Government , find it possible, '..'he evidence taken by ydtor Committee on this subject leads them to the belief thai New Zealand' ought, in a very short time, to supply its own wants and also become an exporter of coal. Iron. Your Committee have received' Sufficient evidence to convince' thetnthatpayable ironstone and ore , exist in Various parts of the Colony ; and in , view of the great increase of price of manufactured iron in Europe, and the prospect of high prices, together with a constantly increasing demand continuing, they consider that they are fully justified in recommending that a bonus be offered of £5090 on-the pro* duction of 1000 tons'of pig-iron of marketable quality, in quantities of ribt'less than 100 tons, and under such regulations as may appear necessary to"the Government to m , sure a permanent establishment of the £ dustry. The Committee also recommend that the bonus which the Committee of last year proposed of £1000 for the pnv duction of the first 100 tons of steel from the Taranaki iron-sand should be continued;

Beetroot Your Coinmittee, whilst recognising the valuable efforts made by Mr Krttll; the Consul of the Germab Eihpire, towards the establishment of a company to manufacture beetroot sugar in this colony, regret to find that there is no ]9Pobability of such a company being established at an early date ; but they repeat tn& ! reWmmefidatidfi of thfe' Joint Committee of last year, that a bonus of £2000' be offered for the productibn of ; the first 260 tons'of' sugar produced from beetroot manufactured within the colony. In- compliance with the recommendation of the Com- 1 mittee of last year, a quantity- of seed of the best varieties of sugar beet, has been procured from Germany, through St? Kriill, and distributed in different districts of the colony, witli'a cf testing' the capability of those districts to grow beetroot of a quality sufficiently good to enable the productibn of sdgar from this root to'be ptofitably carried onh

Manufacture of Woollen (foods. Your Committee have had their attentibr drawn to the several' samples' of manufactured woollen • ods from the lHlihufactory recently established, at Mosagiel, Otago, by Messrs Burns and Company, and consider ij; a source of much; congratulation to the colony that this; industry ia now thoroughly established. They think it right to'draw attention to the fafct tbkt, in the case of Otago, this success' is, in a measure, owing to 1 the judicious application of the system-of' bonuses by the Provincial authorities). Paper Manufacture. The Committee recommend that the bonus at pfesent? dSergd for themanufstctare of paper should be continued, s,y. they feel convinced that within a short timre ; advantage will be taken- of the bonus; looking especially to'the great demand for paper, and the increasing scarcity of raw material in Europe for paper-making. Sericulture. Thtt Committee' of last' session recommended that the further sum of £100 shoald be applied to assist in the cultivation of mulberry trees.- ThiSsum has been expended by a C nittee,' consisting■ Of the Hon. 1 - Br Renwick, Mr Curtis, and Mr Lightband, and resulted in an arrangement with Mr Batchelor to supply 2000 trees at Is each. The greater part of these have alrea4y been distributed, and the balance can be had on application next season.- The introduction of this industry must be gradual, but the Committee have, reason to believe that th- • possibility of producing silk is thoroughly established. The best means of producing this valuable industry ap : " pears to your Committee to be the encouragement of the gcnferal giWth of mulberry trefea. They have no doubt that when this growth has tacome general throughout the colony, the cultivation of riilk will be entered on by a considerable of the to : whdib it is lidely to afford useful and profitable employment. Fish Curing. Your Committee are glad to fipd that the offering of bonuses, as recommebded' by the Committee of last year, has led to" this industry beiSg successfully initiated, and' recommend that provision be made for meeting all claims for the 4s per c#t. on-all exported' fish cured in accordance with the recommendation made last year. The Committee also consider that efforts should' be made to obtain such data as' will enable the Legislature clearly to define the description of nets which should be used, and akofthft iflason. of tbe year during whuai : iheir tise'Should be allowed. Flax. Your Coriumttiee' find that the Flax ConffiSssion has virtually expired, and. that all ihe work connected with this subject -is s l»eing ./performed by Dr Hector,'who wis ehairman of the Flax Commission. .. . Your Committee point out the necessity for providing fundsfo complete the investigations now being earned on by Dr Church, of the Royal Agricultural College of Ciren-

ceater, England; also thai a sufficient luta 1 be provided to' * Insure the success oiiii competitive exhibltioa of flax*' ! dressing maoMnes to beheld during-the next twelve mouths , within'the colony. That such, conditions be insisted upoa as will render it certain thafc the prizes will be given for Such machines only as combine the .capability of dressing the Jargest quantity of flax&witbftta given time, of beet quality, and'at the lowest cost' df 1 production. Your Committee recommend thfct thd experiment con« earning tfcfc growth of cultivated flax be oontiued in Wellington and'Taranaki. and that a email grant be made to meet part of th 6 expense- Systematic experiments are nbw beifab'catried on in this direction; free of ooat tothe'oolouy, by the Canterbnr/Flax\AW)6iation in Christohurch, aad' with vVy Buoe39ful results.- * Your Committee deplore the wholesale destruction, by burning of'flax growing on the crown lands of the colony; and are of opinion that, such destruction should be prevented", if'neoeseary, by legislation: They also recommend that official approximate estimates' should be procured of flax lands in various parts of the colony, and suggest that this may easily be done through tho survey department; such statistics wottid'be 6i very grdat value. ;©• Timber. , Your Committee regret to find that so little really information is procurable as to the-strength and durability of the various descriptions of timber growing in and recommend that the experiments which M ve b oen initiated be continued'.- The want of accurate, knowledge on this subject cannot fail to lead to'very serious results in connection with- the large public njvfr being undertaken throughout the colony, and your Committee consider that ariy moderate amOfltit of mone^- spent in this directionwill be'of to the ptlblio interest. Minefdl ' ' * Your Committee have hjjju theinthe subject of the manufacture of hojaa*vtte paints, by a firm in Nelson and have every reason tj believe that this industry is de serving of encouragement. JPienna' Exhibition', Your glad to find that 1 the . Colonial Go vernment havjar , availed themselves of the opportunitj afforded by che proposed Exhibition at Vienna next ye»i to exhibit various .woductiohir of New Zealand, add hope that the public in;all parts of the coloriy will- exert themselves to assietthe General ,<GoVernment in gathering together srfdh a" cb^ectWri , at exhibits tb be forwarded to Vienna as wiJl insure the colony being, fully represented ''there'.'' • . The rpreliminar/ 'Exhibrtibfl' lioV 'HeMg' Arranged in ChrisicKurch'witl afftfrd Bri dxcelferit of eeleetinf the best specimens' of , colonial prodittd • aHd'if the other parts of' New , Zealand respond td.' the invitation of the Committee of the Canterbury Exhibition, there is little doubt that a most übeful collection wi'l be tent to' Vienna Your Committee beg id'<Sall attention'te the' valuable correspondence and evidence attached to this Repbrt, and in particular to communications from Captain Mclntyre as to thef Of establishing a remunerative line of screw colliets to work the West , Coast bar harbours • also to that of MrKrull in refereiltfeto Beetroot Sugar; and that of , Mr Tatttta, L - of' NelsoWj <m the sdbject of Mineral Productions of'thel Province 1 of Nelson. • Edwakd Richardson, Wih October, 1872; Chairman.