The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1910. A PACIFIC ASSET

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 291, 4 September 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 1910. A PACIFIC ASSET

To some people the Nauru Island agreement may seem to be of minor importance in comparison with the great affairs amongst which it figured in the House of Representatives,on Tuesday. It is regarded,as anything but unimportant, however, by farmers and by all ivho have considered how essential it is to a producing country like the Dominion that it should obtain an assured supply of valuable fertilisers at the lowest possible price. v Sir Joseph Ward was at some pains to point out that sole responsibility for the agreement must be assumed by the Prime Minister, but the burden is no doubt one that Mr. Massey will bear very cheerfully. On the facts in sight, it seems already to be very clearly established that tie mado a good bargain for the Dominion,- and one that not only its primary producers but all sections of its population will have reason to thank him for as time goes_ on. An adequate supply',of. fertilisers at moderate cost is, of course, a necessary condition ot expanding production from the land, and>in the schedule of fertilisers phosphatic manures take an important place. Nauru Island owes all the notoriety it has gained in recent times to the fact that it contains rich deposits of phosphate rock which are regarded as ample at present, and for a long time to come., for the requirements of New Zealand and Australia, and also to'mcefc British demands. In the, case of some fertilisers there are poor prospects of the acute shortage which ..arose during the war being ielievqd' for_ years to come. It is stated, for instance, that basic slag (one form of phospatie manure) will no longer be obtainable) from Britain, ami that other sources of supply. have also failed. \ .

But for the arrangement which made the Nauru deposits available, both New Zealand and 1 Australia would probably have found themselves unable to obtain anything like adequate supplies of the phosphates that are essential to a full head of production, and this, of course,' besides hampering farmers in their industry, would have told on general prosperity. ' Owing to the diverse sources from which sup-plies-of fertilisers are drawn there is'some difficulty in presenting, offhand. comprehensive figures which would demonstrate on' a comparative basis the' importance of thfit v share of the 'Nauru output allotted to New Zealand. It may be 'noted, however, that the total value of manures imported into the Dominion in. 1913-14 (the amount and total value of these imports fell away in subsequent years) was in round figures £512,000. The annual output at Nauru before the-war was from 90,000 to 100,000 tons, and the phosphates were valued at £3 per ton on the island wharf, without reckoning ocean, freight and subsequent handling and distribution charges. Me. .Massey is of opinion, however, that., m the space of a few years the. output may be increased to half a million tons, and that of this amount New Zealand may obtain 100,000 tons should the demand warrant importations on this scale. At a moderate estimate the supplies which before, long will be available from Nauru would equal in value that of the manures imported from all sources before the war. iNew Zea land under the agreement is allotted 16 per cent' of the amount produced;. Britain and Australia taking each 42 per cent. The Dominion, however, has prospects of obtaining more owing to the fact that Britain is unlikely to-find shipping for the whole of the 42 per cent, earmo.rked as her share. Nauru Island is located' about eleven hundred miles north-west of -Fiji, and shipment of its valuable product to New Zealand is, of course, a simpler matter than shipment on a voyage many times longer to the United King- ' dom. From the outset . the phosphates obtained by this country from Nauru ought to compensate fully for . the former imports /of such fertilisers as basic slag from Britain and other distant sources of supply. The quantity of high-grade phosphate rock on Nauru .Island has been variously estimated at from 42,500,000 tons to '414,000,000 -tons. Under the minimum estimate there would be supplies' for eighty-five years at the fivefold increase on prewar production predicted by Mr. Massey. Fair compensation is to be paid to the British company which' worked the phosphates while Nauru, was_ a German possession, and this being done the New Zealand farmer will get supplies at a price equal to the cost of producwith freights added, and with possibly "a small charge on account of administration. 1 ' Since the enterprise is cast on fairly simple lines there ought to be little fear of administrative and other charges mounting _ unduly. Whatever amount is paid in compensation will impose a.capit'al charge on the enterprise, but the conditions permit the redemption of this burden being spread over a long term of years, and it ought to bo very light. In its recently-presented report, the Parliamentary Industries Committee comments' on the great value of the Nauru deposits to New Zealand, and recommends that the handling of the output be undertaken by the Government, and that it also, if necessary, should provide the requisite shipping. These proposals seem to be on right lines, as tending to prevent any interference with the supply to farmers of ample quantities of a most valuable fcrtil-

iser at a low pricc. The Prime Minister has certainly done good service to the' Dominion in effectually safeguarding its interests where the Nauru Island deposits are concerned. The fact is now familiar that but for strenuous exertions on his part Australia probably would have secured complete control of Nauru, to the serious detriment of producers in this Dominion and of the national interests which rest on unimpeded production.