The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 14. TARANAKI PETROLEUM CO.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 338, 14 March 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 14. TARANAKI PETROLEUM CO.

The announcement made last week that the Taranaki Petroleum Company had been approached per cable from London on the question of "selling out" has' naturally awakened a new interest m local oil ventures'. There is no doubt j that the decision of the Admiralty to utilise to a much greater extent than | heretofore oil for fuel is directing the , attention of capitalists to possible fields! for exploration within the Empire. It is, of course, imperative that Britain 1 should have her own sources of supply, j for it would be national Suicide to de-. pend for fuel on a foreign country | with which in time of stress relations J might not be friendly. However much one might wish that the full reward of the oil .industry in New Zealand should be conserved for the benefit of those whose confidence in the possibilities of i the field have gradually overcome scepticism, this outstanding fact remains: that the extent and' capacity of. vne field cannot be said to be yet proved beyond the shadow of a doubt, and. it is a moot point whether the capital will 'be' forthcoming locally to (sarry operations to a successful issue if the permanent supplies are not tapped witn the expenditure of the funds still in hand. Of the ultimate success oi tne industry we .have no doubt. The point to be decided is whether it is not desirable that English capital .should be welcomed to hasten the prospectmg operations. It is the establishment of the industry that counts, and to our mind, so long as the interests of tho (present shareholders in the company are fairly conserved, the time has arrived when no obstacle should be placed in the way of the thorough exploration of the oil resources by 'English capital. The directors, in the conduct of the negotiations now under way, ■ may be safely trusted to see that nothing is done that will prejudice New Zealand and this district and prevent their ( reaping the full reward of an invalu- j able possession, while at the same time i the requirements of the British Navy I are permanently protected 1 . The only! other alternative is nationalisation, and rather than that the capitalists of a foreign country should be allowed to secure control ofi the oil fields, we think the country would, despite the opponents of State enterprise, welcome the extension of the principle to this important industry. However, the Taranaki Petroleum Company is l still far from the end of its resources, and with present prospects so encouraging, there is no immediate 'hurry to fall into the arms of prospective buyers. No one can say what any day maj\ bring forth at Moturoa, and it is quite possible that the culmination of years of patient labour, and the ample the trusting shareholders, is almost at hand. No one disputes that .payable oil (has already been struck, but it is in- the lower levels that we look to tap the petroleum El Dorado. , '

IMMIGRANT IRRIGATIONISTS. It has long been held that the best policy for the development of the resources of Australia is to give water to the thirsty land. Much has been done in Victoria in pursuance of that policy, the 00-wernment, emboldened by the success of the Mildura experiment, having entered upon an exhaustive and costly irrigation scheme. The work already carried out renders 350,000 acres of land in northern Victoria capable of being well-watered, and this, with other schemes known to be feasible, renders' possible the fertilisation of not less than one million acres oi otherwise more or less sterile country. Settled as it should be to secure the full benefits of irrigation, this area would, it is officially estimated, support 200,000 more people than now live upon it, and thus contribute very materially to the enhancement of prosperity in the southern State. The Government's efforts, however, to populate and transform the country are seriously threatened with failure through the apathy of the public towards irrigation, and the Government have found it necessary in order to "make good" upon their bold progressive settlement policy to institute a vigorous immigration campaign. The State is in urgent need of 80,000 new settlers during the next two years to use the water which the present irrigation schemes, either completed or in hand, will provide. And to get them it has been decided to send abroad into Western America and Europe where experienced irrigationists, versed in the principles of intense culture, abound. The fact that Mr. El wood Mead, chairman of the Victoria Water Commission, is to go forth as the chief missioner in this quest for settlers presages success. He is an irrigation expert of the highest standing. He knows the American irrigator well, and they know him. Before being imported by Victoria he had charge of the State irrigation schemes in Wyoming (U.S.A.) Having applied his Western American experience to Victorian conditions, lie is convinced that Victoria, fully understood by such rrrigationists, would be very attractive to .them. They would have freer access to •markets and "fairer market conditions. An American farmer who could be sure

of fair treatment oil the railways, .-;k! had not to face trusts in marketing his produce, would, according to Mr. Mead, consider his road to fortune cleared of all obstacles. The position 'which has arisen in Victoria in connection with the irrigation works and policy affords a most interesting study. Tlie policy has been a .progressive one in the sense that money has been spent freely; but it is now more apparent than ever that it has been developed upon wrong lines. In the first place the land to be benefited by the provision of water has not been resumed. It is still in private hands and much of it in lai'sre holdings. Then, as Mr. Mead says, "The absence of a compulsory irrigation charge has made

the situation in every northern district -agriculturally unsound and financially indefensible." Being absolutely free to use water, or let it alone, the large landowner has most of his land in native grass, and follows grain growing and lamb fattening exactly as men are compelled to do in districts 'without irrigation. "It is true," says the Age, "that an immense amount of money lias been poured out in constructing irrigation works and building channels; but beyond that—nothing. No effort has been made to teach the farmers how to utilise the irrigated holdings properly. The water was brought to their lands, and they were left in their primeval ignorance to do with it as they pleased. Naturally, in the great majority of cases the farmer-; pursued the even tenor of their ancient habits. They found Hie water a useful stand-by in droughty seasons for their stock, but it never occurred to them that it might earn them incomparably larger profits by applying it to the purposes of intense culture all the year round. The consequence is that irrigation in Victoria has been a colossal failure. The irrigation districts, with scarcely an exception, instead of being split up into a large number of small, intensely cultivated farms; prosperously supporting, as they might, a densely settled population, are divided into a few broad holdings, whose owners do no cultivation worthy of the name. And the only tangible effect of our lavish expenditure in irrigating those districts has been to increase the value of land, and thereby to stimulate the vicious process of land aggregation." There seems to be little reason to doubt that Victoria will be able to obtain the class and number of immigrant settlers she requires if only she can make the land available for them. The director of the Immigration Bureau in New South Wales, where extensive immigration projects are also under way, stated last week that there are any number of men o'i the right stamp to be got in the Western States of America, ( ind if they can make them a practical proposition and offer them sufficiently cheap land, they will get them without much trouble. They could also get men of the stamp required, experienced in irrigation, in Holland, where there is a big population anxious to improve their position. Thousands of men have been leaving the irrigation settlements in America and going to Canada, where the land is cheaper, but Australia should be able to offer them cheaper land and a much better climate.