MUNITIONS MANUFACTURE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2582, 2 October 1915, Page 12

MUNITIONS MANUFACTURE

Sir, —I have read Mr. Alfred It. Senhett's letter in your issue of . September 25 with much; interbst. Of course shells could bo mado in New. Zealand, i.e.. that part known as the shell case, provided suitable material could be obtained, but before a start could ba made the full R.L. specilication would be required! A shell caso' could not is «iwthsf slisll Man fcstatt put of fitflfik,. tausa m om bore wulu

say if it has been mado to tho mean, or to high or low limit of manufacture. If tho shell-case'taken as a sample happened to bo mado to high limit the bulk of the shell cases mado would bo .over gauge and useless. Just tho ;Samo applies to a.shell case mado to low limit, -because the greater portion, if not all, would be under gauge. Tho Federal Minister of Defence made tho ioHowiug statement: on August 27: — "A* great deal of preliminary organising work had already been done _in anticipation of <ui order for shell bodies, but until specifications, drawings for shell and gauges, and instructions for manufacture and inspection, were available, it was not possible to complete, even the preliminary arrangements. It is of paramount importance that the quality of shell supplied by Australian manufacturers should ho assured as far as possible. The result of large rejections of first supplies would be disastrous, and would certainly eeriously prejudice Australian-made material in the eyes of the War Office. The committee was aware, and its knowledge was confirmed by strongly-worded warning and advice in cables from the High Commissioner/that large rejections were certain -if work were started-without thorough preparation in all details. Information as to changes in design and method of manufacture, dictated by experience gained in the field during the last few- months, is still coming to naud from the War Office. _ Some of these changes. are of vital _ importance, arid have involved , alterations in drawings, specifications, and gauges which had already been completed It is known that Canada's experience in the early states, of manufacture, was anything but satisfactory. Notwithstanding the fact that they had an arsenal, expert staffs, Imperial inspectors, and material and skilled labour in abundance, wholesale injections of material resulted... Cabled reports from Canada state that without; the' above advantages it would have taken eighteen months to accomplish what has been done in nine months." '' The. Melbourne "Age" of August 27 states:- "Engineering firms are still waiting,. with the remnants of their patience; for officially sanctioned""* opportunity to commence the construction, of ,shell 'bodies.. Everything has been prepared, iri some instances .at considerable.'expense, .and nearly, a score ,of £ .factories are "reported to, .be ready .; to start work within half an hour of the l receipt of steel and orders. The orders-have, yet-to come from - the Defence ,'Department." What-applied fco Canada also applied to tho-Uiiited States of America.' Great' quantities pf-. shells ;wero rejected-, as useless;- '.owing to want of - experience in manufacture, and oven those firms who -jverb conversant with: the 'ufanufacturo of shells in all their parts,-and had' all necessary guages and appliances available;' had' rejections.: The military experts who havo to "pass shells- beforesfendirig them to the front will not take .'any chances,-particularly,- iiv regard to, high and! low dimensions of -'the shells and; quality .-of material employed ,in manufacture, because - of the- ssj'ious casualties such faults Would be sure; to bringiabouti '' I agree with Mr. Sennett that New, Zealand should. develop its mineral resources;: by erecting ;iron and -steel smelting worts, also smelting works for treatmg; coppev , spelter, lead ores, etc., but these"'.work's ca!unot be erected or established in -a day.' They take' time and au unlimited supply of money during -the first seven or eight years of, estabUshm-aut.—l «m, etc., « CECIL A. , WHITNEY. Auckland, Septembor 27, 1915.

WHEAT AND FLOUR. Sir, —A paragraph appeared in your columns on tho morning of September 21. instant, in reference to wheat and flour, which/'I think is apt to give the, public a very erroneous "idea of the reason for the high price for flour and wheat during the past six months, and as an observer of tho position, and ono with a knowledge of'tho actual facts of tlie < position, I would be glad if you would favour 1110 with.spaco to correct the opinion which may havo been obtained from the paragraph referred to above. ■ _ ■ It would'- appear to . anyone reading tliEit'.articlO' that the millers and merchants in, tho south havo actually forced up' tlio price of wheat and flour to the general public, but I think this is not quite the actual position, and it, is fair to the millers and'merchants in tho south, who stand to lose, many thousands of pounds on their present, stocks "that the real position should bo made Known.

On March 4, 1915, the' Government Statistician issued a return of. the estimated yields of wheat for 1914-1915 showing a total of 4,921,000 bushels. The actual requirements of the colony for seed and wheat until, the, next harvest in March, 1 1915, would total between 6,C00,000 and 7,000,000 bushels, and it could only be assumed from these figures | that the country was faced with a serious shortage, which could bo put right by importations of wheat and flour from oversea. : These facts were widely published throughout _ the Pi;ess in tho Dominion, and tno Prime Minister, recognised the position to be apparently so serious that he secured the option over a very large quantity of wheat for shipment, June-July, from Ameriici. . '. The outcome of this published shortage was that millers were forced to pay farmers 7s. and over-per bushel for whea't, and the prica_ of flour rose in sympathy to £17 10s. in the south. Many.' a cautious - and experienced miller faced up to these high prices, and secured his season's supplies in order to keep his mill going and his trade together until March, next', and the Government imported wheat and enoouraged the importation, of flour iin' largo quantities.' Assuming that the statistics given on March 4 wero correct, there is no doubt that this was a prudent policy., However, to-day the reverse is tho position', When tho statistics of March 4 wero issued the crop had not been gathered, and copious rains in the growing district .improved the yield in some districts fully ten bushels per acre, and on-June 30 the Government return of the stocks of wheat, and -flour showed that the actual yield of wheat for 19141915 had been under-estimated by fully 2,000,000 bushels. 1 ' The New Zealand miller is now faced with the problem of how to dispose, of his wheat, bought at high prices before tho new crop is on the market, and before the bumper Australian crop, which is now assured, is available. From information which has como to hand, I know that we shall bo ablo to land primo milling wheat from-Australia in about two months'at us. to ss. 3d. per bushel duty paid, and ou tho 2,000,000 bushels of surplus'wheat in Now Zealand the country will lose, roughly, £200,000. '. ' . I ain not concerned with thoso who are losing this large amount of money, but what is lost to millers and merchants is a loss to the country, and 1 would suggest that the Government could -purely fl'om economic reasons stop in and relievo the very serious position of the millers without advancing the price of flour to the Now Zealand consumer to tho slightest l degree. The price of flour is now £13 to £13.105. per ton,.which shows tho miller a loss, of from £3 to £4 per ton. In December; Australian* flour will be available lioro at about £13 per ton, so that tho Government has only to conserve tho interests of the public until December by insuring that- sufficient wheat and flour remains in the country to meet requirements until that time. Now Zealand can afford to export to Australia, say, 1,000,000 bushels of wheat without inflating the prico of flour to consumers hero. This will k.ty? tkn dwiMe eSml, o,f bc-ti'fHittti bofcii biw New Zsalfliwl .ASPRMS- wu ins Auj'

tralian consumer. Furthermore, it will ensure to Australia a largo trade with New Zealand from December to March, when our jiew crop is available, than they could otherwise hope for. This, to my mind, is a caso where reciprocity is decidedly called for. I, for one, hope that those in power will see the common-sense view of tho position, and take it upon themselves to sell Australia 1,000,000 bushels of wheat, and 'distribute the sale amongst those holding heavy stocks which they cannot possibly absorb prior to the arrival of tho new Australian wheat and Hour. By so doing wo shall bo assisting Australia (who, it must bo remembered, carno to our assistance when there was a serious shortage of wheat prior to our own crop being harvested), and at tile same time will , benefit tho Dominion to the extent of probably, £100,000,- without the public being called on to contribute a single penny piece. The Government pre-harvest estimates were no doubt as correct as it ivas possible to make- them, and the position thai) has arisen seems to be entirely duo to the extraordinary recovery of the wheat made between the time these statistics were compiled and the actual harvest. ■' We have probably over 2,000,000 bushels surplus wheat available over and above requirements to JanuaryKerbniar.y or February-March next', and if immediate advantage is not taken of the opportunity which now presents itself of shipping to Australia before the new crop is available there, one section of the community is going ' to lose £200,000 in hard cash . without the slightest benefit' to the consumer here — I' am, etc., ECONOMIST.