PAPER FROM WOOD PULP

Hokitika Guardian, 14 June 1929, Page 3

PAPER FROM WOOD PULP

WESTLAND SCHEME

The possibility off establishing an industry on the West Coast for the manufacture of newsprint from wood pulp was ‘explained to Canterbury members of Parliament on Wednesday afternoon at Christchurch by a deputation from the Westland Wood Pulp and Paper Syndicate. Mr J. O’Brien, M.P. for Westland, said that the object of the syndicate was to exploit wood pulp by the man - facture of paper. He explained that just prior to the war the cost olf newsprint in New Zealand was £l2 a ton At that time Mr P. Selig, of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, investigated the possibilities of producing newsprint in New Zealand, and he ascertained that it could ho produced at £l2 a ton. The war then intervened and nothing could bo done in the matter, but after the war the price of newsprint rose to £7B and up to £IOO a ton. The syndicate had proved that good paper could be produced from any New Zealand timber. . It would use waste timber which was now being burned. It proposed to deal with areas at the same time as the snwmillcrwere taking the heavy timber out. Mr O’Brien said that it seemed to him n very fine idea, as New Zealand wanted more secondary industries.' Mr F. G Dunn, the secretary df the syndicate, had told him that it. had applied 1Cabinet for rights p.ver an area of seventy-five miles by tyventy-five miles hut the application ,had been refused' and no reason had been advanced for this decision.

Mr Dunn outlined tile history df the syndicate and stated that'the negotiations with the Government were com menced in January, 1927. The syndicate had brought an expert from Canada, but owing to the refusal of th" Government to grant its application it was unable to get'goilig. It bad been unable to obtain any statement whatever of the Government’s reasons for refusing its application. It bad been reported in an American trade journal that the New • Zealand Government proposed to manufacture newsprint itself, but confirmation df that report could not be obtained. Mr Dunn said that the report of the expert .brought from America had cost the syndicate over £IOOO. The syndicate was asking the Government for the right.to utilise timber which to-day was being ruthlessly destroyed, but it had not been told what were the reasons Ifor its application being refused. Furthermore, ,it was willing to pay for the timber it-would use. There were several probable, reasons for the refusal of permission by the Government. One c.lf those was that the syndicate might be working against tlu Department’s policy in the conserving of State forests, but it bad been encouraged. by; the Government to bring cut nn expert: at an .enormous cost. One Canadian had been, so imrre*s r 'd by the expert's.report that be h-d beer willing’ to pnv £409,000 to establish a mill on the West Coast* The Govern ment had not given the syndicate r case to answ.er. but had dodged the issue and shuffled and shelved it a’ the time. It might be that the G"v eminent had sound reasons for ref us ing permission hut it had not been nr - pared to state them. The svndicaL now wished to ask the members of Parliament to help them in finding out where they were ill the wrong.

Replying to questions. Mr Dunn sat’ that the consumption of newsprint in the Dominion was 100 tons a day. TV mill which the syndicate proposed to construct , would provide employment for 124 men, exclusive of the sales and clerical staffs'. The Government appeared to be afraid to say why it would not lot the syndicate go ahead. He was inclined to believe that the reason was H< >’ the Government proposed t establish mills of its own.

Sir Heaton Rhodes, M.L.C., in thanking Mr Dunn for the manner in which lie lmd stated bis case, said that be had given them a good deal to think about.

The above matter was before the Westland Progress League last evening when it was resolved to support the representations of the syndicate tc have the matter of the application for a suitable area for the project deal! with as early as possible.