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I. PATTERSON.

recommendation to the Government in regard to this matter. If you are going to have coal you must have timber to work it. Waltlo-I roes were planted, but they have not proved a success. 1 do not think the Government was well advised in planting wattle-trees here. We also strongly urge the early completion of the Otira Tunnel.

WESTPORT. Thursday, 6th March, 1919. G. H. GOTHARD examined. 1 am here this evening to represent to this Committee the position of the coal industry, or, rather, to speak in reference to that portion of it which is located in the Buller Gorge. You have to-day passed through the area, and from what 1 can gather you are convinced as to the very valuable deposits which exist there. What we chiefly wish to point out to you is that in the development of this industry in that particular locality it is imperative that the railway should be completed. On a portion of the line ,£152,806 has been expended, and the line so far constructed has not been used al. all, and consequently is a tremendous cost to New Zealand, li will require £321,263 to complete tin: two sections. The cost of the two sections between Westport and Recfton is : (1) Westport towards Inangahua, £152,806; (2) Reefton towards Inaugahua, £171,337 : total, ,£324,263. £324,263 has therefore been spent on thirty-one miles of open line, and an additional four miles of gorge formation, all of which is almost non-productive. An extension of eight miles of the Westport Section will tap one of the finest coalfields in the Dominion —as will be seen from the Geological Survey Bulletin No. 18—distant only twenty miles from Westport, the chief coal port of New Zealand. The Public Works Department estimates the cost of completing this railway—Westport to Inangahua Junction, twenty-two miles —at £440,000. What may be termed the Buller Gorge Coalfield consists of a strip of country that stretches from Slug Creek (a tributary of the Pensine Creek) on the north to Nada Creek (a tributary of the Buller-Biackwater) on the south. The extreme coal outcrops are thirteen miles apart, and of this distance eight miles lie within the Recfton Subdivision, the area crossing the northern portion of the Inangahua Survey District diagonally. The width of the possible coal-bearing area is, on the northern boundary of the subdivision, at least a mile and a half. The estimated quantity of coal in this area is approximately 70,000,000 hms-local estimate. The analysis of the Coal Creek Mine, a 16ft. seam, is as follows: Fixed carbon, 4062 per cent.; volatile hydrocarbon, 4326; water, 1352; ash, 260 (vide New Zealand Geological Survey Bulletin No. 18). I have also here a report submitted by Mr. Burley in regard to the outcrops of the Buller Coalfield. There are seventeen outcrops in'all, showing that the coal exists over an area of thirteen miles. A great deal of this coal has been found to be very excellent household coal, and in addition il has been used for steam purposes. Some thousands of tons have been taken from this particular portion of the district, and for a great number of years it has been used for gold-mining dredges working on the Buller River. We particularly feel the position, seeing that the Government policy seems to be the importation of coal from Newcastle; yet there is a great quantity of coal lying idle here—a supply which could be made immediately productive. We have heard it said that the railway-line will not pay. 1 may call your attention to the fact that the best paying line in the Dominion is the Westport Section. There is not the slightest doubt that the conditions will make this line an immensely paying line to the Dominion. It has a gradual grade, falling with the bed of the river. There is no difficult country to open up. The expense of haulage will be considerably reduced, as it will almost gravitate itself along the line to the port, There is another phase : that while a good deal of money has been spent on the Westport Harbour for the development of the harbour, it has been very successful, and without a doubt it has been the most successful harbour of its class in the Dominion. Then there are the coal areas which will be opened up. In support of my statements 1 will quote the opinions of the three ablest geologists New Zealand has produced. Mr. P. G. Morgan, Director of Geological Survey, states : " in 1911 he estimated the total quantity of bituminous coal originally in situ in the Buller Coalfield at 231,000,000 tons. To this estimate might now be added 9,000,000 tons in the Westport-Stocktou lease, and, say, 3,000,000 tons in the Blackburn district. This made a total of _243,000,000 tons. The coal won to date was 12,000,000 tons. This left 231,000,000 tons in the ground at the present time, to which might be added possible but unimproved coal in Ihe Blackburn district and beneath the Westport flats." [Witness handed in to the Committee the report of Mr. Morgan's evidence, also Mr. Burley's report on the outcrops.] We have here the finest coal the world has ever produced—that is, bituminous coal; and the shame is that this coal is being used for household purposes, when we have available an abundance of household that could be got at half the price. The value of the coal produced in this district has been very amply demonstrated in the past, and quite recently it has also played a very great part in the great war. Especially may be mentioned the case of the cruiser " Sydney," which steamed 17 knots under full boiler-pressure with Newcastle coal, but later on, with Westport coal and with half her boiler-capacity, increased her steam-power considerably over 27 knots. She used West-port coal when she overtook and destroyed the " Linden," German cruiser. I may say in conclusion that the whole of the industry in this district will be practically locked up until we can get the Buller-Inangahua railway-line completed. To Mr. Luke: In regard to the route through to Inangahua, there were four different proposals, and the Government have not yet decided which way they will cross the river. In most cases young people have to leave the district; there is no scope for them here at present.