The Dominion THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 1919. WEALTH PROM WATER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 138, 6 March 1919, Page 6

The Dominion THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 1919. WEALTH PROM WATER

Illustrated matter which appears , in our news coll.umns to-day will " give some idea of the scope of the | great scheme of hydro-electrical de- , velopment planned by Mr. Evan Parry for the North Island, and of 1 the_ benefits it will bring in its train. Some detail particulars are given, also, of the enterprise which is now in its inaugural stage at Mangahao, the source from which Wellington and all the southern districts of the North Island are to be ( supplied with hydro-electric power. , The benefits in. prospect are un- j doubtedly very great. Sir Joseph , Ward perhaps rather over-stated , them. He at all events looked a j long, way ahead, when he _ said in ( the House of - Representatives'last' ( session: "I am not a prophet, but I ; will prophesy that when the water j forces throughout Zealand are ] harnessed for use we will become one ■ ■ of the greatest manufacturing coun- , tries of the world." Although, j hoyever, the Minister's prophecy ■ cahnot be regarded as capable of j /early f/ulfilment, it finds a measure ] ■ of justification in the fact that New , Zealand is endowed with water- : power resources which will com- i pare favourably with those of any country in the world. The generation of cheap power capable of . being readily transmitted into J eveVy part of the country will 'un- ( doubtedly serve to powerfully , stimulate the growth of existing industries and to encoiurage the establishment of new industries. It j will do a great' deal also to add to i the comfort and convenience of life ] in,_ town, and country. Hydro-clec- j 'trie development is not merely a ''matter of substituting one form of power for another for the sake of , the margin of to be j secured in this way. Carried out ; on right lines, it will open new ■ fields of enterprise, and will in a j highly important degree facilitate ( the' settlement of the Dominion, notably in affording a ready means of extending and perfecting trans- ( port services, besides assisting the ] rapid expansion of secondary indus- , tries in suitable localities and the extension of municipal services. j In successive reports Mr. Parry , has conclusively demonstrated that i ,in this country, as in many others, , the harnessing of water-power offers ! a means of generating cheap _ and . easily transmissible power which is j obtainable in no other wky. He ( points out in one report that al- , though the cost of development at . Lake Coleridge is low considering ( the amount of power developed, it ; is nearly twice as much per horse- ( •power as the estimated cost of some . of the North Island schemes when . fully developed. Then again, in another report, he institutes a, striking comparison between the cost of hydro-electric power and steampower. Referring to the estimated ' capital expenditure of £45.63 per horse-power of plant for the full North Island scheme, he observes that this figure is not at all an uncommon one for the cost of a steamplant when all the expenditure incidental to its installation is included. The tremendous saving effected by turning to water-power appears when it is considered that the whole cost of the coal or alternative 'fuel required to 'keep a steam plant going is saved. _ In addition mucn of the expenditure on hydro-electrical development goes into works which for practical purposes are of a permanent character. Mr. Parry has been careful to point out that there are some demands for power that hydro-electric energy cannot be expected to supply. For instance lie does not anticipate that the electrification of the railways of thcDomiiym will be carried out in a comprehensive way for a long time to come. But he maintains that the electrification of . some difficult sections is essential to the efficient working of the railway system as a whole, In regard to domestic heating, while pointing out that electricity has advantages in special cases, he admits that in general gas is able, at present, to claim this field for its own. Making necessary reservations, however, he affirms that the full development' of the hydro-electric, scheme he has planned for the North Island and the application in its proper sphere of the power' thus generated will lead to a saving of at least one million tons of coal per annum. Estimating the coal to be worth no more than £l per ton, nearly onp-seventh of the whole capital cost "of the "hydro-electric scheme would be* saved every year in coal alone. Bearing in mind the difficulty now experienced in securing adequate and regular supplies of coal, and the fact that the total available supplies are not inexhaustible, there are evident and great advantages in reducing our present dependence on this commodity for industrial and household j jurposes. Mangahao has its place in the total scheme planned for the North Island as a source in close touch with a much greater market for power than it nan hope to fullv supply. Mr, Parky has stated that "to make the arrangement of the generating plant ideal we would need to have a source of 50,000 horse-power in place of the present limited one of 24,000 at Mangahao." ■ This_ means, of course, _ that there is an assured market in sight for twice as much power as can be generated at Mangahao when its water-power is completely harnessed. ■ Every justification thus appears for pushing on the work with all possible speed. The extent to which demands under this head are satisfied will depend .largely "upon the enterprise shown by the Pfublic Works Department in securing labour. The financial outlay involved _ is not of serious magnitude in view of the benefits within reach. In Parliament last session Sir William Fraser stated that head works at Mangahao were estimated to cost £438,834. The cost of the main transmission lines needed to convey the power bus apparently not been stated as a separate item, but may be inferred from the Minister's statement on the same occasion that an expenditure of about two millions (this apparently in addition to expenditure on head works) should make it possible to supply power to Wellington, Auckland, and surrcjunding districts. For the time being the Public Works Department ista'aking roads at Mangahao, so that, as the, Minister put it, "when the time comes to put men on there no delay in conveying stores and

plant on to the site." Studying their own interests, people in town and country all over the scjuthcrn part of the North Island will combine in demanding and securing the earliest possible beginning upon the main works to bo carried out at Mangahao. Last year Sir William Phaser intimated that he intended during the coming session to bring down a Bill making comprehensive provision for hydro-elec-tric works in the North Island. This is one of a number of steps necessary in order that the mighty body of wealth represented by water-power may be_ brrjught as speedily as possible into profitable use.