ELECTRICITY V. COAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 74, 20 December 1919, Page 9

ELECTRICITY V. COAL

' WHAT. AMERICA IS DOING. . ■ (To the Editor.) . Sir—l understand New Zealand has i been .suffering from a. shortage of coal, tind whilst travqlling in. the United States I have been making inquiries which have made me think, and i am sending you Some of iny thoughts. Koine years ago I .often-said that New Zealand . would never be a largo manufacturing country as she. had an insufficient supply of eoal, and it was not mined where the factories were likely to be. I have changed ioy ideas and say now that New Zealand, or at any rate the South Island, which I know the most about, can bo for its size and situation one of the largest; manufacturing countries. Theco is no known power so cheap as electric if it is properly installed at a reasonable cost. At l<os Angeles wo had a flat consisting of a hall and sis rooms with a. total of 23 electric lights and an electric range. They told mo the average cost' for lighting and cooking would be ISOdol. '. per month.: It cost us 2.G3d01., equal to 11s. per month, but we had no dinner cooked, only breakfast and often luncheon. The Goodyear Tyre Company have just decided to establish a largo factory at Los Angeles costing 2,500,000 dol,, because electricity is a cheaper: power than they can get in the liaet,_ where coal is used. I doubt, if there is another country so well supplied with nearly unlimited water nowtr as New Zealand, and the country should be able to manufacture, every ounce of wool she produces and get a great deal from Australia. It is not necessary to generate power at; the front hills, as it can be carried at a. small cost great distances. Los Angeles brings electricity from tho Kern River 210 miles away. From Christcluirch there would be no necessity to go so far'as this even if the power wns taken from tho liigli mountains in tho dividing 'rajigo where I know' there aro innumerable waterfalls that could be used fo generate unlimited water-power- Only a limited supply of coal should bo required in Now I Zealand,- and llie possibilities of eleci tricity' are hard to imagine at present If New Zealand continues her present policy and the politicians and Labour Party refuse to allow private capital to harness tho hnmense water powers going to waste she will never bo tho great .-country she should. If these people could oiily go to America they wtfild see how population and enterprise witK sufhcieut capital make the best of a new country. Perfect roads aro made Which are a pleasure to. travel on; everything is more, up-to-date and convenient and life is made more worth living. N Tp " ; Zealand, which fe one of the most p. me' countries in the world, has becn\;ept backby tho prevention of this capital and enterprise and it is a, pity those who are at fault do not realise how they are hutting themselves as well as others. A gentleman travelled with me on my way to •\merica who had been to Australasia with the intention of in-.csting money..in local industries, but wlion lie saw the stand tho Labour Party were making he passed on, and his money, that meant work to many, was lost. Great Britain, the wealthiest nation in the world before the war. invested immense sums that helped to make America ?o prosperous, instead of investing in Australasia./'C'npitalists will not invest and risk a loss unless Ult-y can see a fanrate of interest on their -Millny, and Labour should te prepare-, to i'ecept this fact as fair. In California and many other States in the. 'Union they control, and at. the snmr time encourage, (he use of capital to harness power for electricity and other purposes by I heir Public Utilities Act, under which a board cf wellpaid, above-suspicion -bjisiiuss men are ap-pointed.-ami ho public utility <"» be adopted without their sanction. If any company wishes to harness any waterpower, 'or, in fact, do a.ny work for a public purpose, such as for a railway, I tram service, irrigation, etc.. they must first, apply to the board, who publicly hold a h'earin? so that all objections can be lodged. They then KWil rermission, if deemed advisable, .-.nd fix Hie price to lie charged in the nublic. If. at i' later date the, public object to this price, or vice veivn. the company do not tlunlc It.enough.' another "unolie mooting is .■ailed and a-further decision is arrived at: The hoard have «o far ntlendei) to all public interests and Jhcd rates so that the nublic utilities complies make an interest, on Iheir capital of 7 per cent, to 8 per cent. This prevents profiteering and may. be worth the New Zealand voters' consideration. I have brought over with" me a copy of Hip Public .L'tiljtiea Act and other information. It is not likely or possible that the Government for many years i.ould find '■Hip lanre capital that i= necessary to do. volop the immense power _ [•yaUnblo. Everything depends "P OTI t!l ° mstnllntion of electric power being done by the. best and latent methods at llie lowest cost, en that the rliniw for lighting, heating, and power is small. 'Hie poor man is particularly interested in Hiis. as it would make his bonio so much plon=nntpr, and what a ravine to thp limiscmo to have no coal to parry or *tov»s and lamps to clem and ttero aro so many electric, appliances for swpopine. cleaning, washing, etc thnt flic drudgery of housework is alfdonc away with. The manufacturer must have his power ar a small cost. f( that lie M» employ la'cour at a rrnon ware. Tf Hie instalment of power is done so Hint everyone m:\kn? an excessive profit (the contractor too high a wim and Hip - workmen too h'lii a working slio',% hours on the "go-slow" principle), Hi.scheme -would lw liandicippeil from I.lm, start, and.to pay interest on the- enpilal . expended the-cost to llie users, botb llie : public mid Hip liiiinuf'iohirpr. mi-jht be prohibitive. A Public Utilities Act. properly constituted, would make electric < power successful, provided we had the hearty, co-operation of all parties. I append electric statistics and rates. : in effect in American cities:— Con- ; Approximate nectod , population . load served, kilowatts. TSuffnlo '■ 175,000 . 203,000 Lns Angeles and Southern California 1,">OO.M)O 300,001) : Portland : MMM W. 570 Son Francisco 500,000 10D.732 Kesidenoe Co.innicreial lighting. power, minimum rate, minimum rate. Cents. Cents. Buffalo 1.50 (15d.) .SG (about M). Txis Angeles and. S. California ...... 2.1 1 Portland 2 . .SO .. . ' ■•■■/:; San Francisco 3.3 ■■ 1 ; - "" —I am, etc., ' ' P.DGAI! .IONEP. p.g,_T fin,] on my rot urn to New Zealand that a large sum lw« been voted for liydro-cleelrie power. When and how , judiciously will this money be spent?