C—3a

Invitation to World Wood Pulp Conference (3) Just previous to this the Government had received an invitation from the DirectorGeneral of FAO for the attendance of a New Zealand delegation at a " Preparatory Conference on World Pulp Problems " to be held from 25th April to 4th May, 1949, at Montreal, Canada. The text of the official invitation and accompanying memoranda are published as Exhibit Ato this report (see pages 74-76). As the adequacy or otherwise of both pulping and newsprint-manufacturing facilities to meet world demands over the period 1949-60 was to be the main theme of the Conference, the Government decided that before finally confirming its decision to proceed with the Murupara project it should send a representative New Zealand delegation, led by the Ministerial Head of the Forest Service, to-North America. The delegation, however, was instructed not only to attend the Montreal Conference, but to make such other investigations as would assist the Government in arriving at a final decision on the Murupara project. Composition of Delegation (4) The delegates appointed were— Hon. C. F. Skinner, Commissioner of State Forests, Chief Delegate. Mr. S. J. Robinson, Managing Director, B. J. Ball (N.Z.), Ltd., Auckland, Delegate. Mr. A. R. Entrican, Director of Forestry, Delegate. The selection of Mr. S. J. Robinson as a member of the delegation was made not merely as a result of the suggestion by the Director-General of FAO that each delegation should, if at all practicable, include representation of trade interests, but because Mr. Robinson has been the outstanding authority for many years on pulp and paper importations and their use in New Zealand. It was felt that he, more than any other individual in the Dominion, was best qualified to advise the Hon. C. F. Skinner as Chief Delegate regarding consumer markets and trends. The Director of Forestry was likewise appointed as adviser on local economic factors affecting the proposed production of pulp and paper in New Zealand. Itinerary En Route to Montreal (5) The delegation left Auckland on 12th April by British Commonwealth Pacific Airways aeroplane and proceeded to Portland, Oregon, where conferences were held with Mr. W. H. Rambo and visits paid to various sawmill and pulp and paper-making plants in the vicinity. Thence the delegation proceeded to Eastern Texas, where it visited the operations of the Southland Paper-mills at Lufkin, this being the only newsprint plant in the world to be successfully producing a high-quality sheet entirely from pine. A brief stop was made at Washington, D.C., in order to discuss with Mr. Charles A. Brannon, the Secretary of Agriculture, under whom the United States Forest Service functions, the practicability of organizing an exchange of New Zealand and United States forestry officers ; and with the officials of the National Park Service the organization and development of recreational facilities in national park and other reserved areas. At Pittsburgh the delegation conferred with the Rust Engineering Co. in order to clarify various issues raised by its report on the pulp and paper section of the Murupara project. Return Itinerary En Route to New Zealand (6) The Conference itself comprised most of the days and some of the evenings between 25th April and 4th May inclusive, at the conclusion of which the delegation returned to Pittsburgh for further discussions with the Rust Engineering Co., also revisiting the Southland Paper-mills at Lufkin, Texas. From Texas the Hon. C. F. Skinner and Mr. S. J. Robinson returned to Portland for further conferences with Mr. W. H. Rambo and inspections of various logging and sawmilling and pulp and papermaking operations before returning to New Zealand on 17th May. The Director of

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