SOUTH ISLAND NEEDS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 298, 12 September 1919, Page 9

SOUTH ISLAND NEEDS

HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER

MORE SETTLERS

Several matters of interest to the South bland were discussed with Ministers by l deputation from progress leagues' of mo South Island yesterday. Mr. J. Craigie, introducing tho deputa.ion, said that it was representative of (no .Southland League, the North Otago taguo, the Otago Expansion League, the South Canterbury Development League, and tho Canterbury Progress League. People in the South Island thought that they were not advancing as. rapidly as they should be, and they thought that tho time had come when they should stand together and do something to stimulate progress in this great Part of .New Zealand. Whilo in the Noilh Island the number of occupiers of land was increasing by hundreds yearly, tho figures-for tho South Island showed an actual .decrensol A great deal of the land in the South Island was being held by largo land owners, and was going on. They recognised that tho basis of everything was increases) produc- . tibn, and tho wish- of the deputation was that returned soldiers should be given an opportunity of settling in the districts from which they had come. Kvery time there had teen a ballot for land in tho south thero hart been many applicants, as many a« a hundred for each section. No doubt tho Land Purchase Board was doing its best, but he would suggest that the t board might do letter work if it wcii'ld call to its assistance local helpers ■who knew local, conditions. Tho South Island wanted experimental farjns. There vere four of these in the North'.lsland, and not yet one in the South Island, 'although ono.would shortly bo establish-. Ed, ho understood, on the West Coast. The wholo of the South Island was interested in hydro-electric power, just as the wholo of the country was interested. This power was needed to increase the production of the country, as well as to servo the convenience of the people in the towns. The availability of electric power ■would make life in the country easier, olid this would te?id to increase the population in the country, which was a condition very much, to be desired. Tho South- Island did not wisli to wait until the schemes in the North Island had been completed before any work was done in connection with hydro-electric power in the south. Schemes were now being undertaken to supply Auckland and Wellington., The South Canterbury people did not want to wait' until those schemes were finished before getting their power from Lake Coleridge. Time was a most, important factor. The system they advocated was that the Government should set up the head works in every case, and leave it to the local bodies to provide for the reticulation and distribution and retail safe of the power. Tho Govern* ment would produce the current and sell to'the local bodies. Another request was that the Government should subsidise the .progress leagues, which- were doing good 'patriotic wort for their districts. Some, of the local bodies had been empowered to subsidise the leagues i), their districts. They would like the Government to subsidise the contributions of . the local bodies. Help for Rural Industries. . Mr. A. W. Bodger, chairman of the Southland League, said that southern People were concerned about the loss of copulation in the country districts of the South Island. The towns were growing, but tho country population was declining, and that was not a desirable state of affairs. Tho development of hydroelectric Dower was going to improve matters. The Southland people felt that the development of -power should, be carried out throughout the country simultaneouslv. Tho South Island would be preiudiced materially if tho North Island Rot -power while the southern districts, outside Canterbury, were left unprovided for. The reduction of the train services was-another serious niatter for the'l)onth ; Island. .. He' urged ' ,ihat the through trains should bo restored at the earliest possible moment. Mr. Rodger also sugcested that local, authorities in Southland should be.empowered to subscribe to The funds of progress leagues,. which, would thus bo enabled to extend their 6Dhere'of usefulness.

Mr. W. Stuart Wilson, representing the' Otago Expansion League, emphasised the importance of hydro-electric power. There was more'water-power''in Otngo than in the whole of the rest" of New Zealand put together, and development 'ought to be hastened. Mr. Wilson rel'e'r;id to the scheme fo? the institution of Hoys' agricultural competitions. The '.scheme had been tried in Otngo, he said, .'and it bad proved a wonderful success. The Otaso League had asked the Government for a sum of .-£SOO for the development of this scheme, which was poiiiK to bo of enormous benefit to tho Dominion when it was fully developed. The scheme had been fully 'endorsed by Cabinet Ministers and by many prominent men throughout New Zealand. Ho (hoped the Government would make the Brant as quickly as possible, aud so ussist Otaso to provide an object-lesson for the. rest of New Zealand. In the United States at the present time there were over 5,(100.000 boys working in the agricultural clubs under competitive conditions, and if the scheme were adopted by New Zealand it would have a wonderful effect on tho productivity of the soil in this country. The Otago League had Bhown the rest of the country already iwhat could bo done, and it. required a ■grant from tho Government in order that its work should be Riven full effect. Tho Director of Agriculture was sending an aericnltural instructor to Otago, and had stated that the services of this officer would be available for Hie promotion of the scheme.

Other speakers were Mi. MacPherson (Oamaru). Mr. S. G. Raymond (Mavor of Timnru). Mr. Gtimiion (Mayor of Temuka). and the Hen. A. Moore, M.L.C. (North Canterbury). Motto of the Government, The Prime Minister, in reply, said that he welcomed the movement represented by the deputation. The country wanted progress, and the country would get it. The motto of tho Government was "Progress and prosperity," and tho Ministers were going to act up to that motto. Tho country would see- tho results presently. He remembered that when ho visited Timaru some time ago Mr. Craigio remarked that tho Government which increased the exports of the country to .(3,000,000 would bo worthy of support. Well, the exports for the last twelve months had been worth £11,000,000. What about supporting thoGovernment now? Mr. Craigie: The volume is not increasing. It is only the price. Mr. Massoy: No,"that is- not the role factor. Tho price has gone up, and I admit that we were .very successful in obtaining shipping during the period. But tho volume has increased and is increasing. I hope you will act up to your promises as I ' act up to mine, i (Laughter.) j Tho Prime Minister, continuing, s:r'-' ho admitted the necessity for the si>' division of the land. Land settlemr> .- was more necessary now than at ni'.v other time in the history of the country, on account of the enormous liabilities incurred during the war. There, had been a great deal of subdivision already, more than most people realised, and more was contemplated. Ho bnd received a report covering the seven years ended- March 81, li) 19. The return showed tint tiie number of private freeholds subdivided during the pcriwl bad -been 13,418. Willi {in area, of 2,t!l0.101 acres; the number of sections of ordinary Crown land selected under settlement conditions bad been 5531, with an area of 1,2(13.031 acres: the number of sections of Native la"d disposed of for settlement hud been 375, wn'tli an area of 152,(i18. The grand, total for the seven years wiw'lfl.TlS subdivisions, covering an area of 3,851.810 acres. The Drift Northwards. The movement of population from tho South Island to the North was easily explained. There was more bind available f'»' settlement in the' north than in the south, mid the climat;- wa« milder I and ' more attmctive from the wiinl :,'i j view of the sclller. Persntaliy V wislicd to we an ii-crcase of iv ii'iifiim i't J both island:. When tho soldiers 'wen- I tlL.biteJc. the : Dominion .would have to)

New Zealand must havo more population. Ho believed that many of tlio men who had been engaged in the war were looking forward to settling iu New Zealand and they must got the opportunity. The more population the Dominion had, the lighter would be the burdens placed upon individual citizens. Mr. Massoy said that a good deal of land hod recently been subdivided in Otago and mauy sections had been niado available for tho returned soldier*.

Experimental Farms, 110 had no objection to tho South Island' having experimental farms if it wanted them. His impression had been that the southerner's were such good farmers that they did not need assistance of that kind.

Mr. C. J. Talbot (Temufoi): Plant breeding and seed selection are what ww want.

Mr. Mnssey: I agree with that. That is scientific agriculture. Mr. J. Anstey (U'aitaki): That is all wo want. There are tilings the individual farmers cannot do.

Mr. Wilson: The Agricultural instructors in Otago do not agree that thero is such high-class farming there. Mr. T. K. Sidey (Dunedin South): They want to learn more about the growing of lucerne. Hon. W. Nosworthy: We have, got a man in America now learning all about lucerne. Train and Shipping Services. Mr. Massey said with regard to train BDivices that ho did not think the time was iur uisrauc wnen the lull servicus would bJ restored. The through trains in tlio bourn Jsland could not bo iisrorcd uiutil full services were resumed. Tho services would have been restored in the very near future but for tho fact that there va* uncertainty atom tlio supply of coal from tlio New Zealand ntiuai. Tlie snipping skortaga luvU been a direct result ui the war.- and Jib believed that New Zealand would have been in a very much worse position than it actually occupied if )J>o .Government had not made viie purchasing arrangements with tins Imperial authorilits, who thou took responsibility for the transport of produce. Tlie iiiet that the Imperial aumorities were paying a million a year lor tlio storage in iNew Zealand or produco urgently required on the omer siuo of the world was proof that the- shortage of shipping was a reality. Tne coijiti uction ot cupping at tne present lime,"owing to exceedingly high prices, wits out of the question. He was in constant communication with tho Imperial authorities regarding shipping, ami ho hoped that the improvement .which was now talcing place would continue until all theptoduee now in store had been lilted.

In conclusion Mr. Massey mentioned land aggregation. It was exceedingly difficult to prevent this process, lie said. Cases had ueen brought tinder his notice, apparently, bad cases, and he had found on investigation that the fanner charged with aggregating had bought the additional land in filename oi a sou or .daughter. What was'to be dono in 6iich cases? . Legislation dealing with the subject would be introduced during the present session, and he thought the new provisions against aggregation were likely to be more effective than anything that had been attempted in the past.

The Water Power Schemes, Sir WiEiiain Eraser said that he had gathered from the speakers that they did not. like the prospect of having to wait until, tho North Island schemes were completed batoro getting their own power. He did not know that there ever had been any i'.tention of asking the Canterbury people to trait until tne Auckland and Wellington schemes were completed. All that ha had said was that it would be impossible to begin all the works everywhere at the' same time, A promise bad been made that if the Lake Coleridge scheme proved to be a success, Auckland and Wellington should be the next cities to have power-supplied to them. He had endeavoured to give effect to that pro-' mise, but there was no reason why these works should- be finished before n' beginning was made with any other works. But there would bo difficulty about finding- the labour for nil the works. Just now the, position was that he was about 1600 men short.-of the number of men ho"would normally havo'on roads andbridges, and, as there was more than a normal'amount of work to be done, he could quite easily find work for a eouplo of thousand more men than the normal number.- If he had the men he believed that lie would be able to got the works through, because he did not think the money won'.d lie 'difficult to get. Owing to the lack of men it would not be possible to start all the works at once, but this did not moan that until the two North Island were completed nil works in other parts' of the country would be blocked. But ho hoped' that I'aiOia-uieirt would recognise that we could not make the rapid progress we should make in this country until we had more population. We must have immigration. Tenders for the supply of pu.es for the transmission lines from Lake Coleridge to Tininru had been let. Tho survey to Tiniai'il had been completed, and was going on to Witimate. He sincerely hoped that the contractor would 'be able to get his poles across from Australia, for'nt present this was no easy matter. As soon as tho poles arrived they would bo erected, and the South Canterbury people need have no fears about tliem being diverted for any other works. Tho delay in putting up the lines had rea'lly not hurt the South Island people, because lie had not nt present the power at Lake Cft'eridgo to sell to them. It had not been possible in the war time to extend the works at Lake Coleridge, because tho material could not be obtained from England. In any case, he did not think it would ever be possible to lake tho power beyond the Wnitaki, because it would all be absorbed in Canterbury. He assured the deputation that, ho was in earnest about the development of water power, resources, aud that delays that 'had occurred had not been due lu liny fa Litt on his part

Government in Earnest. Some refereucc had been made to tho harnessing of the Waitaki. It bad been claimed that this river would he a good sourco of power. This had not at all been Mr. Parry's opinion. In Dunedin, whero they had already a hydro-electric scheme, there was a proposal to double the power available. This would lie a good thing, and he could give the assurance that no difficulties would bo made by his Department. The desire of the Government was to get these enlerprises established as soon as possible. In Southhind he understood that the people were satisfied to go on with their own scheme. Mr. Rodger: So we are, sir. We aro going right ahead. We hope the Governn.ent wilt 1 purchase our headworks whoa we have completed them. Sir William Eraser: "I believe they will." The Minister explained the great difficultiesi under which the Department had bpen working during the war owing to lncld, of men, aud tack of skilled engineer.". The Government was as fully convinced as anybody in the country about the development of hydro-electric nowe.r. Some, people were alarmed because these schemes were going to 'cost mi'llions. What if they did? The interest on those millions would be no burden at all on Ibis Dominion. He had a few days ago signed an authority for <-ho payment of .£2.5.(100 interest on the lake Coleridge .forks, but this interest was not costing the country a single penny. If these en--I'iprisps were conducted on business lines, then the interest on the borrowed millions would ho no burden, and the works would .bo the best asset in the country, helping the industries of the country. But it w:;; his linn belief that to carry through this hydro-electric business there mV-u.W be a board established to work wjth the Minister, because no Minister rould po;;sib'y devote sufficient time to it. Of course the whole business should bo under tho control of the '.Minister. Mr. Craigio thanked the Ministers on behalf of the deputation for their eutiiuraging replies. \ Liverpool shipowner is fo impressed j with the work of St. Dunston's Hint, in sending a substantial chrtiiie to Sir Arthur. Pearson he stated that he hns named h\» latest vessel SI. Dii.nslnn's. Every prudent man carries "NAZOL" in his vest pocket. ?\ T nl!ii'i" so irmid tor :i::'vn liiit- and rrlir.M'i* c-iiujlis and. uilds. Sixty doses Is. Grl.-Advf \'a more grindi'nr nf teeth w : lh W.-MMv'S WORM FIGS. I'ric:- 1-. (id • Arfvt. l'ov Children's Hacking rougi... [