IRONSAND.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1922, Page 6

IRONSAND.

SYSTEMS OF TREATMENT. EXPLAINED BY MR. LEGGATT. INTERESTING OBSERVATIONS. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LUNCHEON. A luncheon tendered by the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce yesterday to Mr. Percy Scott Leggatt, of Darlington, England, was attended by about sixty business men, the President of the Chamber (Mr. T. C. List) presiding. Mr. Leggatt is a principal of the firm of Messrs. Thomas Summerson and Sons, ironfounders, with world-wide interests, and his visit concerns the exploitation of Taranaki ironsand. A hearty welcome was extended to the guest by the chairman on behalf bf the Chamber. He remarked that Mr. Leggatt was the principal of a very important British industry with interests in other large concerns in the Old Country and elsewhere. He assured Mr. Leggatt that they were very pleased to have the opportunity of honoring him. Mr. Leggatt was a very versatile man, and in his sphere as a* metallurgical scientist had evolved a system of successfully treating Taranaki ironsand by electricity; this was one of the reasons why he was in New Plymouth. He could assure Mr. Leggatt, on behalf of the commercial community of the town, that they wished him well in his efforts, and that they would be pleased to support him in any way possible. As he probably knew, they had endeavored to help his firm in respect of the supply of power from the borough hydro-electric undertaking, but apparently, from what had been published that day, Mr. Leggatt had other ideas in this direction. While they would be more pleased if he had been able to use power from the borough hydroelectric scheme, they desired, above all, to see the industry established, no matter whence the power was obtained, and Mr. Leggatt could rely, as heretofore, on the support of the business community and really of the whole of the district The chairman added that Mr. Leggatt was all the more welcome because he had rendered great service during the war, having had a distinguished record in the navy, as well as being commander of one’of His Majesty’s ships. It was because of his trials and hardships in the service that Mr. Leggatt had become interested in Taranaki ironsand, and they could only hope his trip would be Of advantage to the town, and beneficial physically and commercially to Mr. Leggatt. The toast, “Our Guest,” was then proposed, and was heartily received.

GREAT FUTURE FOR IRONSAND. Mr. Leggatt, in replying, said it was a great pleasure and honor to him to address such a meeting of business men from the most fertile province of the Dominion. He wanted to say, firstly, that he was interested in Taranaki ironsand, and he believed there was a great future for the mineral if it were properly handled. It would never be a great industry, however, because the assimilative power of New Zealand was very small. Figures showed that they had a country 1000 miles from north to south, with four cities equi-distant, and no one had more than perhaps 150,000 people. Its total assimilative capacity of pig iron in New Zealand at present was about 14,000 tons per annum. When he had come to New Plymouth two years ago he was extremely interested’, and. if he might say so, somewhat amused by the daring temerity of the initiators of a movement to start the iron industry by putting in a 20-ton blast furnace. In no place to-day could a furnace with a capacity of less than 300 tons be worked on an economical basis. Taranaki ironsand was not suitable for a blast furnace, and he proceeded to deal yvith the technical difficulties to be met with. He. therefore, had advised his friends, the directors, to o-et rid of the furnace to some one who could work it, and in that way they had even raised up for themselves a potential competitor.

ELECTRICAL TREATMENT. Proceeding to review the electrical treatment of the mineral, Mr. I eggatt said he was sorry to say that the skilful impression was created that the experiments in England were conducted at the expanse of the New Zealand Government. This was not the ease, however, and the trials were conducted at the expense of Thomas Summerson and Son. Ltd., at a cost in cash of £7400. “We did it,” said Mr. Leggatt, “to prove what some people said was onlv my bluff. I came here with the best intentions in the world, hoping that I would get what was necessary for the industry, namely, hydro-electric power I haven’t got it. I don’t expect to get it from a local source or from a Government scheme, so I have made my own arrangements to get power. To prove definitely to the world that Taranaki ironsand can be treated commercially at the present, time there is a whole window in the High Commissioner’s office in London devoted to products of ironsand. Negotiations are, therefore, in being whereby I shall get that power, and I am afraid that as a result some puffed-up local pundits will get something of a shock.” CAN CHEAP HYDRO-POWER BE' GENERATED? “I don’t like the worship of false gods, and I don’t think that you will ever get cheap hydro-electric power in thia country.” contipiied Mr. Leggatt. He would even go so far as to say that if there were one country which was unsuited, as far as cheap hydro-electric power was concerned, it was the North Island of New- Zealand. It was the wrong sort of country, with no possibilities of storage, anil no certainty of caehment area.*. There was one thing they could not fight, and that was nature, and it was a mistake to think (that the ordinary course of natural functions could be diverted. Even assuming/that the country was successful in this project, where was the market, he asked? Only from such men as himself, who intended to start an industry. Mr. Leggatt went on to deal with hydro-electric power versus steam generation. his argument being in favor of the latter. He remaked that the Government of New Zealand had stipulated that the maximum price which could be charged waa £l6 per kilowatt. He said

this represented interest on a capital investment of £243, so the test of a hydro-electric venture was whether it was returning the present money rate on £243. REPLY TO CP.ITICISM. Opportunity was taken by Mr. Leggatt to reply to certain criticism. “I ' was once indicted publicly,” he said, “that I was giving airy theories and making all sorts of wi’d offers. I never had a chance to make a firm offer. All I received from New Zealand was a series of lithographic statistics; I have them still, and they are one of my most priceless possessions. (Laughter.) So after having spent a lot of money I have come back to see where I can get electric power.” Mr. Leggatt said he wanted them to help him to get it, and he expected them to assist by putting the “screw” in the right quarter; but whether that particular quarter would respond was another matter.

The question of whether the develop ment of the iron industry would help the town was traversed in interesting fashion by Mr. Leggatt. He drew an | analogy from history by tracing England’s rise from a nation engaged in purely rural occupations to a great industrial country. This country was in pretty well the same position, and one of the biggest things that could happen to any country would be the installation of an iron industry.

IRON FOR HOUSES. The day was coming when iron would be used in the construction of houses. Bound up jn the industry were all sorts of steel casting businesses, and there was a crying need for steel castings in this country. Mr. Leggatt said they were prepared to give their help and the value of years of experience, but they did not want to hear the question: “Who are these people; why are they taking art interest in New Zealand?” He would tell them; they were seeking opportunities for industries in new countries, and had chosen New Zealand, probably the most British of them ail. However, his representatives had reported that they were not looked upon with any amount of respect. It was a pity, because they could not do without England, though they might think so. Voices: No, not at all!

■Continuing, Mr. Leggatt urged his hearers not to be too critical about England; she never succumbed. His message, therefore, was for them to give a square deal, and they would get in return a little more than a square deal. “Give us a free trade in capital; allow us to bring in an industry under our own control,” said Mr. Leggatt, “but don’t ask us to lend money to a Government whose officials may fritter it away. Don’t ask us to take up municipal loans which will be applied by people who don’t really know how to apply them.”

FREEDOM OF -ENTERPRISE AND CAPITAL. Mr. Leggatt’s ensuing remarks constituted a strong appeal for freedom of operation in establishing industries: “We have heaps of people in England,” he remarked, “and you have heaps of room; the whole country is crying out for population.” He added that within the next year there would be fifty million people in England. Mr. leggatt dealt with the influence of credits, 1 which had been described as being the I greatest wealth producing machine that j man had ever devised. After the war lit was taking a long time for the world Ito settle down; and the trend of event® i was described by Mr. Leggatt as putting a pawn ticket on posterity. While there had been a good deal of talk in this country, and everywhere about production there had not beer so mu:h emphasis placed on distribution. Taranaki, the most fertile province of New Zealand, had been getting most excellent prices for its produce, and tnere followed a rise in land values, based on boom prices, causing a lot' of inconvenience in many eases. How could 'thh 'be righted? had arrangements teen made for proper marketing? Mr. Leggatt said there was another competitor looming up in the dairying industry. The country which was now torn by disruption would probably settle down into a semblance of security in the next twelve months, in which case this country would be exporting a lot of butter; it would also attract a large arrount of English capital. Therefore he urged those present as custodians of commercial prosperity not to dig a ditch into which they would fall. Siberia and Denmark were also powerful competitors. Therefore in building their house in the future they should keep in mind that industrial development whereby they could supply less favored countries with commodities which ordinarily would come from Europe, and many of those things would be machinery, involving the use of steel. HUGE DEPOSITS OF IRONSAND

There were 300,000,000 tons of iron sand in sight, representing 100.00G.000 tons of iron, and he thought the realisation of this would be a vital factor whether Taranaki stood or fell in the future competitive race. The chairman expressed thanks to Mr. Leggatt for an interesting and instructive address. He assured Mr. Leggatt that Taranaki was loyal to the Empire and to England, and welcomed her people as immigrants and any capital she had for investment. Further, the district would be pleased to support him in any enterprise which might be started in Taranaki.

The toast of the chairman, proposed by Mr. Leggatt, was honored, after which the gathering dispersed.