THE IRONSAND QUESTION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue XXIV, 14 February 1902, Page 2

THE IRONSAND QUESTION.

INTERVIEW WITH HON. A. J. CADMAV. j CJ.M.G. ; The Hon. A. J. Cac man, C.M.G., arrived in New Plymouth yesterday by the Takapuna from Wellington en route for Auckland. Dui ng the day Mr Cadman vt-ry courteiusly allowed himself to be 1 by a representative of the Daily News. Regarding his health, Mr Caduian I said he was very bid on the way Home, and while in London. The damp and fogs he found very trying, and som"times, for days together, he was unab'o to leave the house. This delayed bis mission very considerably. At first ht thought he would see the winter ; through, but found he could not stand i% and his doctor ordered him to get oat of England somewhere. As it was necessary to visit New Zealand b-foro finally concluding the ironsa*d business, he determined to return -.it o ce. During the voyage out here his health steadily improved and he is now nearly a stone heavier thin whi-n he left the colony. Dealing with the ironsand, Mr C.idmsui had practically nothing ta add to what has already appeared in th' so columns, and in the condition of affairs he could give no definite information beyond saying that tbe position was perfectly satisfactory. The suc3e>s of the proj ct is, he considered, assured unless something vety untVr. 1 - seen occurs. With regard to the way j the matter was received at Rome, Mr j Cadman said he could have sold ou" with profit several times, but there w»s a desire, he considered, to load thej company too heavily. It was not lika a gold mine, and as big object was to establish the industry, he was not going to be a party to floating a company purely foe speculative purpose*. With reeardto the commercial success of the »flair, be had quite satisfied himself from what he had seen at Hom<-', thut the scheme was perfectly sound, and would be mid« a commercial success. It must be Dome iu mind, however, that the c >ndi ioas were ver? different here to those at Home. If they confined thems«lve« to the manufacture of pig iron only tbey would glut the market. It was necessary, therefore, for thorn to eatvhlidh very large works with all the depirtm*nt< complete. [A list of the pUng required was published in a recent issue of the Daily News.] If, said Mr Cidman, this was not done, one of the chief sources of profit would be lost, viz., manufacturing the raw material into sheet iron, fencing wire, rails, eto., etc. A Home these were all in the hands of different firms, acd merchants sent their orders to the manufacturer of each article. Here they must be prepared to supply everything required in the trade Regttdiog Mr. E. M. Smith, Mr. Ciaduian said his assistanca had been invaluable, iu fact it would have btea unties* going without him, and atl he had sail about tha value of the ironsand and the methods of working it had bean more than borne out. They had secured the service* of a firm of go d i-tindiog a* Sheffield, one altogether above su-.-picion, so as to insure that the articles were the genuine product of Taranaki ironsand, and tbe result, as would be seen when the articles were exhibited, had been most satisfactory, and the cost of production equally so. Asked if the labour question had any effect on the British capitalist, Mr. Oadman said he was fighting that question all the time; but only till the r<al condition of things was explained. Unfortunately, said Mr. Oadman, the way in which the affairs of this colony are distorted, in some of the cable news, and in letters to the Home p >pers, is deplorable and the way the finances of the co'ony are mis-represented can only be chaiac.erired as disgraceful, one of the Ministers responsible for a great deal of the Labour legislation Mr. Oadman was able to combat these s'atements with the effect of considerably altering the views of those be met. One large financial firm objected . to, . the indebtedness per head, . but when Mr. Cadman explained to- them the system adopted _ by which oyer six millions, of the last ten millions borrowed, wag actually earning its own in'erest and a profit for the colony, it altered their viawi. As a matter of j fact the people at Home haye, says Mr Oadman, a very vagua idea of New Zealand, aud the condition of things I here. Tbey 4inno,t understand the I difference between tfya working man at | Home and the wot king man her®, Th-ty are so U9;d to the msu living r iuod them in thousands, whose vot.es can be bought wholesa'e at i-leotion time*, that they cmnot understand the Jrse and independent worker of New Zealand, often living on his own frvebold, and largely tinged wish conset vati'soi. Pressed on the questiou as to the offset qf his visit Home, oa his mind, as te the ultimate success Qf his scheme, Mr Gasman said he had satisfied himself on thit point, or he would not be going back in six weeks time. There were difficulties, howovcr, some of th«ir options were not as satiffaofcory ai he would like. Tha Harbour Bojrd l« BS e was not altogether sitis'actovy, and he was to meet the Harbour Boird on the subject on Tuesday, though he understood r'rom Mr Berry that tha Beard were disposed to meet rhecft m a reasonable manner. The e was, however, the itself, which was a very difficult quostion. Already it was becoming too restricted for the local trad?, and had an increasing trade to face. It was hardly 'to, be expected that *sy. company woujl , §ink a quarter of a million of money, without soma certainty of the port i being improved to, enable it to do th 9 business of tbe Company. He in- \ tended discussing this with the Board ] on Tuesday. The question was surrounded with difficulties, but h< thought they cjuld be got over. Ir reply to questions, Mr Cadman scoutec the idea of the Government taking the harbour over, as it would mean taking cjYer a number of others. Oa the special circumstances being pointed out, Mr Oadmin said they would all be forgotten in a coup'e of years tim/s; Furthrr, to Government d*ired, £*ee the He use with such a proposal. He lid not tbink'tbe Land Fund could be capitalised as that would he like the Sovcrnmnt huying back their own latil, Preyed furta.-r, Mr G'idraan aaid he pveferre > disewssiug the mattur with the Harb.jU/' EjurJ. If a company took rhe ha< boor over, legis'ation would te ne. essary. The ioteresis of the ratepayers would have to bs fully proceed, and i- wo.uld be neces--3 iry to prevent a monopoly being established, No doubt thetbing could bt>dor.e, what was done would krgaly depsnrt ou the Board. There were reigoni why ae preferred establishing the works at New Plymouth, but he was net a l b.so,-| utely tied to New ?}yn\Q,ut;h.' Ojie' Shing wa.B he' was going; to 3at*bli(,h the works, and their position j would be largely decided byl

ihe success of his negotiations during iho next few weeks. Going back to the ronsand, Mr Cad man said as a specuator no doubt he would like to see the 3overnment bonus iricrejstd ; but as aj New Zealand colonist and an ex-Minis-. ter lie thought the Government pto-! posits were satisfactory. He referred | to the cable from Melbourne in that morning's Daily News, and said no | doubt these were much more liberal terms, and put Nhw Zealand in a more unfavourable position. Still he did not consider an increase of the bonu» on the part of the New Zealand Government essential to. the success of his schema. He preferred, the fixed bonus, and ins'anced Canada as showing that a tonDage rate left you in the position that you did not know howl much you would have to pay. In theciseof Canada, the bounty, which was only 93,896 dollars at two dollars & ton in 1893, was 238,296 dollars in 1900. After some further general conversation, Mr Cadman said one advantage of their scheme was the utilisition of the by-products. This was another thing in which Mr Smith had proved to bs right. At Home it cos 1; immense sums to send their slag out -to sea; here it could ba used in the construction of harbour works. Our readers will be glad to know that Mr Oadman is locking well. He went" to Auckland last night, and returns here' on Tu'-sday.