GOING TOO FAST.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 883, 1 August 1910, Page 5

GOING TOO FAST.

WATER POWER FOR EUECTRfOIfV.' ;j v ■■ a word'of caution.;:■;,: ; ; i , -..' TheGovernment's'proposal to borrotf;■;■ ■'.;, half a million a year for the "\, tion of our', rivers and lakes as... the .; means'; of ■ generating' electricity ; Was.-. • ■ brought under the "notice" of on'o of .the ' leading electrical' 'engineer's resident in ■• ;__ Wellington, and who. represents in,., the. : . Dominion one of. the largest 1 firms of • -.• ; electrical-machinery- manufacturers in England. Ho;had made a study of ' water power for 'electricity, '.;and *' his .;•'- opinion .must be., conceded jas .well con-!■.,:;; sidercd "and .weighty;' : : ':-. ....■.'.:■■■■.■_:■',. ■■■•.. . . "I've looked at the proposal this way, ";■;■' that way, aiid all round'it," he said to '.■'■'• a: Dominion representative, "butforthe •life. of. ,mo. I cannot understand "this , ( "; crazo -in! New Zealand for, tapping at ; . the rivdrs, lakes, and falls in the coun- ; .!.y try. ':.I,know that tho Government has ■■■'._". sufficient data before it on'the question •:• ■to prove absolutely^how. grossly. ;iiijudicious aiid extravagant it would be ( ,;', to go into .the business .at all. .oxteu-, sively. . ' : ' . _ ' "Have they considered this—that ;.;• Mr. .Hay, tho'Engineor-in-Chief for the v; Dominion, and one of the fow who have gone at all .thoroughly into the ques-. tion,-reported that it would cost about./. £700,000 —I forget the exact figures—,;; to harness Coleridge; and.in view : ;.; ; of that,' is there enough, business." in '.. l . Christchurch to cover the inte'rest, sink- ■; ■ ing fund, etc., as well as the working; ,; expenses?. Then .on ton of ; such con- .;;, siderations'they talk vapidly of cheap"; power. The time for tho utilisation,of '"■- our water power, iri a big way has not,'•;. . arrived, and. may not arrive for another,".; twenty or thirty' years; but to-read all the bosh in the papers about the power .-.. that is going to waste, one would thinkwe bad a population of millions.; ~,;. The people who stand ~: on ■~ a '-, river...'; i; '.'. :bank and sigh .' over the ', "waste';.;.,,. need..not worry. : The., chances;,:are' v 'there will bo, just'.as, much water, in.'-,'.' ; "■ jtho river a quarter, of aceutury hence.;.,. • !At present- .we have, not, got, anything ,■;"■ like tho. population required to warrant, '■' .-'■■; ■'■this, wholesale utilisation of -our. won-';., 'derful water forces. A little" scheme-.-. i. tiero.'and there .might pay,' and pay. ! y weii,. but the time for, turning to', Wai- :; karc-Moaua and; Lake Coleridge,,' is ''■"'■■■ many, many .years away, ; and if ,'the,";..,;. Bill is made law, and the money; is , ; raised under it as'proposed, there will', ... be a great.wrong doneto this country; ■;■';;"•-, ■ "People'say. in mild' generalities— .'::•,' 'Look 'at what America is 'doing P''-/ Quite so; look at America; : consider her ;.; teeming millions, her marvellous'..indiis- ,' ; '< v .try, and great productiveness.... There';", , is tho call for electricity, however ,ii is J V. developed, and if a shade of cost can " bo saved in generation the American • is, after it.! , They utilise water-powor '/'\ ; bccauso there is an ample demand for. '] : .it, but in the , more sparsely : settled •!,''". parts, of .the country' yon do not find ;.'",-. them, harnessing rivers if there is .coal'■'"'■:.. -in tho .district.., Where there is v no]';., coal you might.. ■ There are_ only ;two','.• things to he. seriously" ';considered '■ in- ; talking water-power-—(1) ' what will bo- ■"■■ tho-cost (capital and working), and (2), : what is tho demand. ' :;- '■';,['.';-. . "New" Zealand dees not, even, give' promise' of being an industrial' country "' V —the laws prohibit such, 'anticipation'. .'.;, Then. .why. make provision ages, before' ;: : '. its time m'any'caso for what'gives no '■ -■ present indication of development? Iri '■' this' and in', regard' to ; the;. Tramways':''.: ; Bill it looks as if the Government-is'"' riding for, a'fall, '■'.' Whom thd'GocU'"'.'■' •destroy they, first mako mad!',' ■' .■''.,' •"; :'-;■