WATER POWER.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 948, 15 October 1910, Page 3

WATER POWER.

: HIGH-SOUNDING PHRASES. OPINION OF AN EXPERT. ' THE COMMERCIAL ASPECT. Among those who look with a sceptical ©ye oil the Government's proposals in regard ,to the conservation and utilisation of water power, may he reckoned Mr. Frederick Black," A.M. Inst.E.E. Mr. Black is well qualified' to hold decided opinions on this. subject, for he is consulting engineer, to the Waihi Gold-mining Co., one of the largest users of hydronelectrical power in the DQmimon; Questioned yesterday by a Dominion reporter, Mr. Black did not offer any comprehensive criticism of the . Government proposals, for the reason, as he frankly , stated, that he thought it scarcely worth while.;' He had nevertheless some pointed things to say about the proposals, and the manlier in which they have been advanced. .'■'./■ /;. .. ( At the outset . Mr. Black made it clear'that ho is by no .means opposed to the . extended, utilisation of hydroelectrical energy, but ho holds that in the Government, scheme an "'enormously expensive;; undertaking is proposed, which . the available; or probablo demand for electrical energy in no way : warrants, j - ' ' / / . ■-/ / I . "The Veriest Platitudes." : "The statements ■ which ... have' been made in' the House by members -when dealing with the Government 1 . proposals," ,Mi\ Black declared,, "are simply the; veriest platitudes. ;. .Men who are nqt experts cannot be expected to criticise these proposals from.the expert point 1 of view, but they should be able to gauge the position from' the commercial standpoint., /Yet,- none of them have attempted to show in what ■respect 'there is , going' to be a sale for such amounts of power as are involved. The .'air is - filled / .with,; high-sounding phrases, such, as:: 'Thousands' of. horsepower going to waste,' 'Universal power of the future,' .'Cheap power, for our'industries,' 'New Zealand destined to be/the industrial centre of the .Pacif fic,'.. and/ 'Electricity ; supplied not'only to the cities, .but to the farmers.' " ~

- Dealing, with. the . : . last suggestion, Mr. Black stated emphatically'that a scheme for distributing ..'electrical, power over; any large'area;in"; New Zealand, was absolutely impracticable',. regarded' as a .commercial undertaking.; . ..'"My contention has. been',":, 'ho saidj "tha| there are a curtain, limited . number of sources' 1 of water power which could profitably be . developed. But they; are very limited in mjmber, and present; ; none of the grand features which appeal to the imagination of the,people generally. ; Pots and Pans. '"The height' of the ridiculous -; was. surely .'.never before' at such an elevar tion," continued Mr. Black, "as, when some members of Parliament '/borrowed a selection .-of pots and paas and: set them down, within the legislative walls" .in order to impress on; their fellows the importance of supporting the State in the development of. 1 hydro-electrical energy.;; One is at a loss ' wKether to admire most the /engineer; who con-, ■fceived .the display or - the; ingenuous-; ness .of these' honourable ./memberswhose;?votes for an expenditure of half a million .'a year./ were' decided by 'the, sight , of an electrical egg-boiler or a table frying-pan.- //„'.„. •' ; ' "It would not be fair to expect from members of the House, a full appreciation of the big engineering problems involved in suoh'' schemes as those upon which, the Government ; so gaily r proposes to embark,'.' was Mr. Black's next remark, "but the . commercial /'aspect .should be- within, tho-grasp of;. every member. -' Mr. vT. ;. E.',. Taylor's.;. ■ impassioned / advocacy of the Govern-, ment policy,'his well-known fondness for the i Waimakariri; River, '. and' • his personal, investigation '; ,of . various streams and ■ valleys /throughout: ' the. countryr like his ; skill, in/the 'pots; and pans exhibitions, ' entitle ' him..to. credit. But in his engineering.'aspirations he has neglected to studyv;t-he commercial details, which- should-be the-foundation of every work. ■' ->.-;/ ■ - ; -

A Strange' Feature. .• "The. support'', given' -. to~tfie Government proposals/by .--the' Hon. C. M. Luke and Mr. J. P. Luke, M.P., is, in ;my' 'humble / opinion/' the.' -strangest feature.of this/ strange business,"/confessed Mr. Black;; "Both; these gentlemen must realise, if' they .only , follow out ordinary engineering reasoning/that their votes, though' sincerely given to help on the country I 's-. manufacturing. interests, will really assist to fasten on manufacturers a. still heavier burden than .they ,bear-.at present-. I sliaJl look with".' much/interest,!for,- further speeches from /them in/ the * later; discussions on the Bill, and if . I may respectfully offer, a suggestion it is- this, that they take;any, one' of the developments mentioned in Mr., Hay's report to the Government and,bn the. figures and' cost' there given,. proceed to show that such a scheme j can'-obtain' a -market, that is a sale of : energy, that will suffice, in competition with,', full-pro-duced power, to pay capital , charges" and working/expenses on the plant: not' only-from water to. city, but over the' distributing system ,to .-the consumer's terminals. Will t-hey point out how little _of the- power demand • generally in this country .lasts; for .' more', than' eight.'hours;|daily;?j/:They might then attempt a; simple calculation, designed to_ show what' sales must.be made .in 'this."limited time'to/earn annual'cost., The result would not be encouraging."

STATEMENT BY THE PREMIER.

. THE FINANCIAL . ASPECT: ' . (By Tdegraph.—Press ■ Association.).: ' Chrlstchiirch, October 14; ' Speaking to a newspaper. represented tive' regarding • the Lake Coleridge hydrorelectric power scheme, ■ the Prime Minister to-day, stated that it was esti-. mated that the • power that could be developed, would be sufficient to supply all the 'requirements of Canterbury "as far south- as .Timaru, and ■ includig ; the amount'likely to be needed for consumption in Christchurch and for tlie electri-. iication of the railway through theLyttelton tunnel. 1 In addition' the installation would -be. able. toy generate 3000 horse-power, of which 1 1000 : horse-power would be'required 'to operate the traffic" in ArtliurY Pass tuimel, and 2000 to meet requirements, of ; mining l and other industries on the. West .Coast .between Reefton and' Hokitika. ■ For ; Canterbury and Christchurchj including the power for operating'the traffic through Lyttelton tunnel, it .was estimated that 10,000 horse-power would be more than sufficient. ! Sir Joseph. said, that he. had noted Mr. Massey's reference in the debate on the' second reading of the Bill dealing with, the Government's hydrorelectric schemes; to the. loans authorised this session, and also his suggestion that ;the Dominion should make haste slowly ; to which he (Sir. Joseph) 1 wished to remark that, so far as the loans-are concerned, they, are all for legitimate purposes,' and not for expenditure on assets that are not going to give an immediate return, exoept such portions of loans authorised to be expended on the erection, of public buildings. In" all other instances loan money .would .be directly reproductive. In such circumstances it would be, in his bad.

policy to defer the carrying out of the water-power schemes proposed ,by the Government.,/ Of tho'four loans authorised ■ this session, the principal ono was. for. public works. Two were for railway duplication works, authorised some years ago, and the other was for water-power schemes. 'He was as cognisant of the responsibility attached to such large /public i operations as' , anyone in the Dominion, but so long as they could _ satisfy . themselves before embarking on .great national undertakings that the expenditure is oil sound lines; that there is proper provision made for depreciation \ and sinking fund; .and ' that there ..was certanty; as ' far as human beings -could calculate in this world of being certain , of a large ■- return. from • expenditure over and iabove depreciation and sinking ■-fund,--then they -were surely : entitled to give. the .people of the Dominion the enormous, advantages of cheap and everlasting motive power. The cheap rate : at . which this power will be made available, he felt sure would result in an increase to the present number of consumers of; light and power,- an increase of" which he thought tho opponents of . the Government's proposals had very little conception. Ho anticipated a repetition of' the Government's experience when penny postage : was • introduced when, owing ■ to ; the cheapening of : the ' rate, there was. a large 1 increase in the number whoused the ; .post' ' office. \ .The figures given by. him- in the. House—2d. per uhit.ifor light' and jld. per unitfor power—were i about- double tliose of carefully-estimated results based on the experiences of other countries where , similar . installations .were, in. operation;'; In view of these ■ facts, and .despite. the fact that the undertaking' was admit- , tedly a; big one, he considered that the country wasentitled to ■: courageously: put it .into: effective operation. ' iHis firm conviction was .'that it . would ■ revolutionise the industrial capacity of the Dominion, ;that: it.lwould": be the means of giving .employment to/larger numbers than" were employed at present j: and that it would, help the manufacturers of ■■ the:..- Dominion ; to - produce their..goods'' upon terms" and under con■ditioins as favourable' as any existing in any country in the world.' New Zea-' land could not afford - to lag behind, and as far as, the . Government were concerned they proposed to actively prosecute ' their -hydro-electric • -pro-" posals- as outlined, which. : proposals they believed to' - be 11 in , the I best interests of the country. -