HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 46, 19 November 1918, Page 8

HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER

(To the .Editor.)

Sir—Although the exigencies of the situation make it necessary, that the Prime Minister and" the Minister of, Finance- should, leave for England with | as little delnc as possible, it seems to us | there is no reason why the necessary j work of reconstruction and the measures necessary to nicct the after-war situation should not lieu proceeded with. Especially is the 'Mangahao Hydro-Electric League anxious that the importance tit immediate stops being taken to provide the North Island with the same industrial facilities, as the South Island now enjoys in the shape of a cheap electrical poiver generated through an up-to-date and comprehensive hydro-electric scheme should not be overlooked. YVe are not moving in a parochial spirit in this -matter. 'We recc'grise the just claims of all parts of this island, and consider the •matter should be treated from a national standpoint by the National Government. We certitinlv know more of the needs ot this* end of the, island, ami T would crave your indulgence and liberality for space to call to the publi.: attention tie urgency of the need. We consider tie Government should immediately take steps to urovido. hydroelectric power for the North Island, and we justify our demand bv the following reasons :- Tustio;.—AVhen Lake Coleridge was installed it. was understood that a scheme for tho North Island would immediately follow. At present an undue industria handicap is placed on the, North Island in this respect, and new industries especially will tend to centralise where chea,p 'flexible power is abundant. Neod.-The situation in Wellington is we'll known to all ;,'onr readers and the saroo situation exists in the.other towns of the orovince. There is not a town ;n this islsind, and scarcely a.portion t.t tiie rural community, that does not waiit impatiently for the greater ties that -in up-to-date scheme- will bestow. Mangahao will supply 25,000 b.li.p. calculated on a 50 per cent, load factor, and it is estimated the whole of this can be absorbed in five wears, leaving us to dravt on the larger ■."IVnwato scheme or fntu>e developments. Within a radius of 70 miles from Mangahao there are nearly a quarter of a million pooplenearlv one-fourth of.the whole population of the colony-sad that alone goes to show the profitable- .nature of tne undertakiiitf. ' . ~' . <.„„ Eecenstruction.-Diii.ins the past ten years the. trend of the population to the towns ins been great and accentuated. This may be deplorabh? or not. but facts have to-be. faced. During, the .same period fiho uianiifnctu'Bng industries of the colony have languished, and the. census sliowsthat apart; from such rural industries as meat-freezing, flax-working, etc., there has been a full in the-niunber of male liawls employrid. And our industries in that condition .have now lo face the com'Dotition, coining . >rom Britain and otlier sources, from indiis.fries based on factories'reconstructed, and fitted with the latest machinery and-to be organised nn.olans already thought out. and laid down. And,in connection with this, miriit T quote a few paragraphs from Ihe report of one of the British -reconstruction committees, that on electric power supply? ..,,,, "It should bw fully 'recognised 'that cheap electrical power is a matter, ot first-class importance, and will in tho future be essential to tho industrial progross of (his country. Concentration of larger generating units in larger and fewer power : stations wherever practicable is urgently required in order to reduco the cost of industrial powei to a minimum and to conservo coal and get) tho fullest value from every ton consumed. . ~,.,,, , , ■ "Where power is distributed electrically from central stations, the capital required for starving new industries will bo considerably low than where such power docs not exist. Intending ninnui'aoturers need not expend capital', on a separate prime-mover. They can at much less expense jnstal an e.ectric motor or motors, and can add further motors as the business develops. Available building space wn be better utilised, and where individual electric drives aro employed lighter and cheaper buildings may,be erected. ; 'il'ho Coal . Conservation Sub-Commit-tee's investigations have shown that in the United States of America the amountof power used hi industries expressed in terms of tho number of operatives employed is greater than.in (his country. In practically all our industries, the horse power per operative could be increased with advantage both to Capital and to Labour, as is shown by the results obtained in tho United States of America, where .both the 'net output' per. operative employed «nd the standard rates of wages are. higher. The greater speed of machine tools and their control during ylTeetive and ineffective parly of any particular, operation enable not only a larger return to be obtained upon the capital invested, but also enable the operator to produce mora in a given time. Electric power, has a jrent advantage in its facility of application, range of speed, eto., possessed by no other form of power. The provision and utilisation of cheap power is one of the best methods for ennblirig increased wages to be earned, while its more extended use, assuming it to be produced cheaply, assists the manufacturer to meet the in- , creased cost of labour." The above shows the importance at- • tached to this subject by the, captains of industry in Britain-.

But "frpni tlie rural standpoint and tho heed of wettloniput of land the importance of cheap electrical power cannot be overestimated. One reason always alleged for the flocking to .towns is the poverty and sameness of country life, and it has been Droved in Canterbury and elsewhere that the provision of cheap electrical power does more than anvthin? else to remove this. Now. fiir, this is a national wort, and should lie undertaken .by tho Government and kept in' Government hands. If local bodies can film funds and labour to .carry out hydro-electric sell nines the Government can »l«o carry them out: And in this as v in other similar matters the. country is better served by having a "thoroughly co-ordinated scheme supplyinsr the whole island from a few Wet» main sources than by a number of smaller uneconomical fchemes, put in as t.iiev would be only too often, from pure|v local influences or fo iirnvide immediately for purely local needs. Let flic Government, apnroach this' villi n wide vision of the needs of the whole "Dominion. a"d we ar" finite <wp the T>> minion wi'l supnovt them, Tcco"nisin<j as w.i must that sncli a rcheme is jus!- as much a national matter as (he matter of national trar'portaHnn through our railroad svstein is, and like should •>ot be allowed lo go out of l» itional hands.—l am, etc., TI. F. President Ma""ahi>o Hydro-Electric league. November IG.