OUR FUTURE IRON INDUSTRY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 210, 9 October 1909, Page 3

OUR FUTURE IRON INDUSTRY.

INK I'AKAPARA DEPOSITS. There are enormous deposits of iron ore of very excellent quality in the Dominion. 0f these, mo6t- is known of the deposits at Parapara, In the Karani a' district of XeUon. not far from Collingwood. A vigorous attempt nas bccu made to >tart the iron industry there, and it has been assisted by siibfitantiil , cncouragcm -nt by (iovcriiiuent and Pa r- | liamont. Apparently (says ••Progress'' | in the July number) the attempt lias not succeeded; but the.* deposits are still to the fore, and publie opinion is very eager about seeing the industry eataTi- I lished. Of course, the ouly question foj I the practical man is, Will the industry , 'pay when it is established? Naturally his first question is as to the consumption of the Dominion. In the year I'JOO the Dominion used iron, of all kinds - pig and manufactured iron, in all shapes —some 131,000 tons, for which its paid ihe import value of .C.1,330.500. That does not mean that the industry, when established, can hope to handle the whole . 'of that million and a third of sterling value. There is, indeed, an opinion to the effect that we should eonline ourselves to the production of pig iron. Well, the import of pig iron in the year named was 10,024 tons, of the import .value of .U43.073. In view of that ('figure, it becomes necessary to consider what other openings tliero may be iu the long list of the inru the Dominion. Bars, bolls, and an ile ( iron total up to the respectable tig.re of nearly ClOO.OOO; pipes and tiw. loom substantially at 153,000; rails, with the necessary accompaniments, come up to no less than .£250,000; sheet 1 and plate, galvanised, plain and corrugated, .reach the high figure of nearly £400,000. Other manufactures there are, but the whole weight of everything in tons (without the pig iron) comes no higher than some 120.000 tons. There is something for industry to hope for, but it i« limited by the total weight, and by the fact that the diJlictilties in Lite way of establishing the iron indus- | try outside of the limits of the produc- ' tion of the raw material of manufacture. namely, the pig iron of commerce, are somewhat large. It is clearly a case for the assistance of tbt State through the bouu* system—a fact the .State ha? practically admitted for many years past, and* is admitting to-day. with the same practical earnestness.

At this stage of tho discussion one is reminded i»f the-statement of an importers ajjeut that the smallest blast furnace conceivable would turn out all the iron required by the Dominion in a few week*, and then fail economically by running down. Here, however, looms up the recent statement of the President of the United States, warning his people that the end <»f the magnificent resources of their territory is in sight, and that the iron supply in particular is on tlie borders of extinction, and must be conserved in some scientific drastic way. This gives a new shape to the fact that the world's consumption is great and is increasing by leaps and Ijouihß In the last century (it has been computed) the world consumed ol'.a) million tons <>£ iron: hut at the r.;tc of the present consumption the century now current will require to be supplied with fifteen thousand million, tons, and the general cry is, where will it come from?

Mr. Carnegie, who knows what he is talking about whenever he has to do with iron, has stated that the Cleveland ironstone will be practically exhausted in twenty-five years, and the high-grade supplies of iron ore in the United States by the middle of the present century, or about twenty years later. Mr. Hadfield, the English authority, estimate? that by the year 2000 the United Kingdom alone will require a supply of 450 million tons of iron oie per annum. We read, moreover, in the Karamea Parapara Bulletin of Mr. Bell, that "the world's supply of high-grade iron ores is rapidly decreasing, owing to the enor* I nious annual production of iron necessitated by modern methods of construction.'' adding that "it ha* been estimated by very good authorities that, at the present rate of iron consumption, within fifty years the world's visible supply of ores now considered sufficiently high-grade to be employed for manufacture will be exhausted." It follows, therefore, that any country possessing a valuable asset of iron ore may find it difficult to go wrong »n any attempt it may make to turn tie same into money, and as soon as it lik.*s to try. This note was iu Mr. Bell's mm-! when he was stating the conclusion- ■■» the experts. "In view," said he, -of these considerations, tile value of tlie immense deposits of iron ore at Par.ipara cannot be doubted, and the day j does not seem far distant when this igreat «tore o e material wealth will be' ; utilised." In plain English, there is a j market, and a growing market, for every I ton of ore that can be converted ft'parapara. The world's markets an hilly stretching out their hands to the Dominion of New Zealand, eager io take all we can give. We have at Parapara enormous quantities of high-class ore in position most accessible, close to the sea, with no difficulties of embarkation. Abundances -if fluxes are on the spot, and the coal for the smelting presents no difficulty. The mine-field is marked, quoted, and sign .'d by nature for the establishment of a valuable iron industry; it is now countersigned' by opportunity; and the opportunity is growing witlj rushing rapidity.

i The late Sir A. Cud inn n secured a : lea-se with the late Mr. E. M. Smith ;it ; Para para, and, after many attempts to [ float a company for working it (which , necessitated repeated visits to London on their part), they died as the project came apparently within reach of success. Work had been done on the property, according to the conditions of the : lease, and after their deaths the project ■ was underwritten on condition of sub- , stantial subscription within the Dominion. This condition was satisfied . during the session of 11)07, but for some reason the underwriting was not followed by the desired result. Had it I>ecn po followed, the underwriting syndicate . would haw made very large profits and loaded the industry proportionally. It is a bad system for the industry, though , good for the underwriting syndicates In the opinion of ''Progress/' i| would be better for the State to develop the industry. The State has accepted the responsibility of giving aid. for there , are sonic attractive bonuses under oll'er with Parliamentary sanction. The State has also accepted thp extension to the iron industry of tile principle of Stale ownership already in force in the r;ii'ways, the telegraphs, the insurance department—fire, life, and accident—and in coal mining, li has further done so by a provision, in the lease of the Par ipara property, for the purchase .by the Government, on certain specified term*.. at the end of ten years: a term extended substantially in l!)0t>. This is einl- ! nently right, because the State can gH the necessary money cheaper, and for longer terms, than any private firm, and does not.have to pay profits to und 1 ; 1 writers. .Moreover, the State, as the greatest user of iron in the Dominion, stands in the front rank of possible exploiters. State ownership and working would, therefore, be decidedly better foi the industry and for the interest of th * public which owns the property; and the State has the additional advantage of the indirect advantages. The State, moreover, ha* demonstrated its capacity for carrying on large businesses economically and safely. Lastly, in the vent of more capital being required at any tune—a thing very likely in tin* iron industry—the State will not have, ip getting it, the dilliculty that blocks private enterprise. On the whole, then, if the State were to determine to set aside half a million for the great work of establishing the pig iron industry at Parapara, that would be the bestVay out. Time presses for decision. Tiie American President has warned the world that il> known resources are near their end, and the announcement lias been made by cable that the biggest trust, ever formed—''The International I Steel Trust"—has been floated, with a ! capital of l">n millions sterling, to "corner*' the whole. The Dominion must protect, bv Staie working, the property that may make Xew Zealand the richest countrv on earth.