HARBOUR MATTERS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18406, 12 June 1925, Page 7

HARBOUR MATTERS.

ANNUAL MEETING OP

BOARD. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT. The annual meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board was held yesterday. Present—Messrs P. Horrell (chairman), H. Holland, H. Monro, W. J. Walter, G. Scott, H. T. Armstrong, M.P., 2. Storry, A. J. Magson, W. K. Me Alpine, R. Galbraith, R. Macartney, M. J. Miller, and Hon. K. Moore, M.L.C. Cliairman' s Report. The chairman, in the course of his report, said that the Board's public debt at the close of the year amounted to £359,750, against which they had credits totalling £236,346 15s Id, leaving a net indebtedness of £123,403 4s lid. The net increase in the Board's credits amounted to £19,472 13s' ; 2d, which must'appeal to.members as high ly satisfactory. Tlio special fund showed increases as follows: —Special renewal and. marine insurance fund, £II,BOO 8s 3d;' special accident insurance fund, £llOO Ida 7d; special firlinsurance fund, £368 Is Bd. The Sinking Fund Commissioners' report fchows that 'that fund had increasedfrom £142,683 18s 3d to £151,286 3s Id, or an'increase of £8602 5s 8d for the year. The net increase in the value of the Board's, property, after making all allowance for depreciation, etc., amounted to £22,894 12s 2d, while it's assets exceeded the liabilities .by £734,299 14s'7.d. ■; Imports and Exports. The value of imports for the year was £6,965,094, as compared with £6,365,373 the previous year, or an increase of £599,721. The exports totalled £6,249,852, as against, £5,169,323, an increase of £1,080,529. While deploring the fact that their imports still exceeded exports by £715,242 (as compared with £1,196,050) last year, it was gratifying .to know the exports show such an appreciable increase, caused, no doubt, to a large extent by the enhanced value of wool and frozen meat. The wharfage returns showed a decrease of £21,130 10s, compared with 1923, owing to a decrease of 61,361 tons in the tonnage of goods paying wharfage. •; With ■ regard to berthage, it was interesting to note the advantages and saving to shippers by the installation of the cranes and capstans, as the following figures will show. . In; 192.3. it took 2166 days, to handle 667,487 tons of cargo, while in 1924, only 1693 days were .occupied in dealing' with .678;817 tons, giving a; saving of 473 days, while 11,330 mdre tons wcro-dealt with. This represents an increased efficiency of about 30 per cent., and a substantial saving.in berthage to shipowners, The actual loss to the Board as compared with. 1923 was. £784. —This loss wa6 not to be: regretted, if. by their up-to-date facilities' they could induce more shipping to thoir port. The duplication of the • tunnel, and electrification of the- line -was still in abeyance,- pending the experts' report to the Minister of Railways.. They sincerely "hope the report would be a favourable ■■'. one, and -that the work would be proceeded with without further delay! .-' Canterbury., people . ;were verjr patient and long-suffering. . ...;'",'... Activitiea of the Port. In no period of the Board's existence had more progressive works been carried out than -during -the' last 'few years, thanks <to .the hearty and earnest' cooperation of -members for the welfare of; the port.. .• The -chairman then; referred to the visit of the special light cruiser squadron and the approaching visit of the United States Navy.''"

The reclamation area of 72 acres was now '■> completed, io mo'ro 'dredgings' being jumped into -it. ; This area would eventually be open for selection and: occupation. --. Indeed,-as they were-aware, enquiries- had already been mado for sites,-and' when, levelled and properly laid off, they should prove a great acquisition to the port and. borough of Lyttelton. .The problem of dealing with future .'dredgings was fully ; £ealt with xri the engineer's: report.: The further of land, as shown in that report, must of necessity; be very costly; and in his nothing further .should- be done, in that direction until they .had some -indication as to. what extent the v present reclaimed land" was sought after. For the present,, there is no: -better proposal than dumping the poil at sea. , . .

Position of the Port.' ;Dtiringits 48 years' existence, the Board, had maintained Lyttelton. as the port of,North. Gattterbury,,and as one ofrtheha'rboure-oith^B.highest;class in the: Dominion. This had been done ,on the smallest amount ,;of borrowed'money of any of the" large harbours,, and without .calling on the: public to pay.. a single copper in.the way:ofrates.. He considered /that was a recprd of ..which the Board-might bo justly proud. . He moved:; w That; the accounts of the Lyttelton Harbour' Board,, as balanced and audited to December 31st, 1924/ and certified by. the Controller and Auditor-General, be- adopted and passed, 'and;certified Under the 5 the -chairman of the Board;. and that the roports'.ahd statements attached thereto' be adopted."' The Discussion. ; The Hon.' R..' Moore •'* seconded the motion, 'and,: referring: to; the '-fin'a neial position, Baid-;'that ; he did 'not ..'think that:there .were; many local bodies.'in a. more, satisfactory position.,, . Mr' H., Holland. offered his sincero congratulations, on the progress .of the port, "and expressed his appreciation of the courtesy extended to him *by the chairman.'.

Mr M.! J. Miller said ; the chairman 'a I report, was a: satisfactory one, and M the financial and. the results of the activities of the Board compared favourably -with -other yea,rs. -MrJ. t Stqrry :saJd that the financial position .disclosed a very satisfactory state^of.affairs. •. Mr B. GalbraithjUqngratulated the cbairman on .bis excellent, report, and said that, he. was- pleased to note that most of-the up-to-date' facilities at port been-installed during, the past-six years. ■ : ' : - - • ■'•.:' " iMr ? W.-:K.vMcAlpine also ebngratuiated"4he chairman, and xeferre4 to the agitation' for -Christchurch.'" The managementof Lyttelton -Harbour had ' been so good of recent years that the people of .North Canterbury, were satisfied with'their port. . said the chairman's, successor;would haw a hard row to hoe. He suggested that an endeavour should: bo -made ;to tissue the annual reportsrof. officers a.month before the ; annual meeting, in order to give members; an opportunity, to stndy them. : ■ The secretary 1 said:the delay in issuing the. annual-report /was due to the: /fact tbatithei-accounts-bad,;just.been !and-thei .annual.-meeting, was"

being held on the last available day to comply with the statute. Mr G. Scott said he regretted that the returns showed that the tonnage at Lyttelton was not increasing. The chairman acknowledged the kind remarks made regarding himself. The motion was agreed to. Special 'Meeting. A special meeting for the election of chairman was then held, the secretary (Mr Cyrus Williams) presiding. Mr Miller moved and Mr Armstrong seconded the appointment of Mr W. J. Walter as chairman. There were no other nominations, and Mr Walter was declared elected. Mr Walter briefly returned thanks and said that one reason he was proud of his election was that he was born at Purau and had seen the progress of the port .develop. Ho then took the chair. On the motion of Mr Moore, seconded by Mr McAlpinc, Mr E. Galbraitli was elected deputy chairman. On the motion of the chairman, seconded by Mr Galbraith, it was decided to place on record the Board's appreciation of Mr Horrell's services as chairman. It was resolved, on the motion of Mr Storry, seconded by Mr Galbraith, that the chairman's honorarium be £2OO. Committees Set Up. The whole Board was appointed a Harbour Improvement Committee. The Finance Committee, it was agreed,

should consist of all the members of the Board. The existing Sailors' Home Committee was "re-elected, with the substitution of Mr'Horrell for Mr Walter, the lastnamed being a member by virtue of being chairman of the Board. Officer's Eeport. The secretary and treasurer's report showed: — . £ b. d. Total credits and balanco in bank at •beginning of year 216,878 111 Ordinary and other receipts during year 134,514 4 0 Total ■ .... £351,388 5 11' Expenditure .. .. 115,041 10 10 Net credit balance ... 236,346 lo 1 Total .. £351,388 5 li

; Tho net credit balance is an increase of £19,472 13s 2d in the Board's credits during the year. The Board's liabilities on account of loans totalled £359,750. ' . Tho sinking fund increased from £142,683 18s 3d to £151,286 3s lid. Average rate of interest being earned is about 5.176 per cent. © ' : Wharfage shows a decrease of £2130 10s. duo to a decrease of 61,361 tons paying wharfage. Value of imports into the port of Lyttelton was £6,965,094, an increase of £599,721: • Exports were valued at £6,249,852, an increase of £1,080,529.Eetiring Chairman's Luncneon. ■• The members, of the Board and somo of the. Board's officers were the guests of the retiring chairman .(Mr F. Horrell) :at luncheon at the Beresford Eoorris. Mr F. Horrell presided and Messrs George Harper (legal adviser to the

Bdard), Cyrus Williams (engineer, secretary and treasurer), C. S. Clibborn : (assistant-secretary), P. W. Fryer : (assistant-engineer) and H. H. Cook (warehouseman) and Captain T. M. iHunter (harbourmaster) were .present in addition to tho members of the Board. Apologies were received from . Messrs :G.-A.-.U. Tapper .(the Board's banker), F. M. Warren (one of the Board's sinking fund ' commissioners), . Geo. Scott (member of the Board) and G. Eiehardsori,(audit inspector). The following toasts were honoured: "The King" (proposed by the chairman); "parliament of New Zealand" (proposed by Mr E. Galbraith. and responded to by the Hon. R. Moore, M.L.C., and Mr H. T. Armstrong, M.P.); '.'The Board' 3 Sinking Fund Commissioners" (proposed by Mr W. K. McAlpine and responded to. by Mr Cyrus Williams); "The.Future, of Our Port" (proposed by Mr H. Holland and responded. to by Messrs Macartney and Miller);; " Our Legal Advisers, our Bankers and Auditor" (proposed by Mr J. Storry and responded to by Mr G. Harper);, "The Board's Staff" (proposed by the chairman and responded to'by Captain-Hunter, Messrs. Fryer, Clibborn, .Cook, and Williams; "The Eetiring Chairman" (proposed by Mr W.;J. Walter and responded to - by Mr F. Horrell); and; "The Press" (proposed by tho chairman). Mr Moore (in responding for the Parliament of New Zealand); paid a! tribute to the. memory of the late Prime Minister He said that he had been a member 'of the Boards for something like 21 years and the present was his last term as member. •

Mr Armstrong expressed the opinion that tho country would, perhaps, be facing a general election earlier than a lot; of people imagined. Mr Cyrus Williams (responding on behalf of the' Sinking Fund Commissioners) said that it had been suggested that a sinking fund should be established in respect of each of the Board's loans. On general principles that was quite sound, but when they considered the value of the Board's assets—somewhere'in the neighbourhood of £BOO,OOO —it was obvious that the Board could carry on as at present and pass it on to the people that were going to get the benefit of • the works that were being provided. It was. suggested that in a few years the.Board could be out of debt. 'He did not think that was wise, as it.would impose a.load on the'people of" to-day' which, in view of the lasting nature ■ of' the works constructed, was not necessary. Every work that they were doing had a life of from 50 to 100 years, and it was not necessary to hand over the harbour free of debt in ten years-or so.■ He made these remarks deliberately, because the Board had before it a certain expenditure which was, inevitable. . , \ .'

Mr H. Holland, in proposing "The Future of Our Port" said that, since the vote-taken on Port Qhristchurch by the Progress League, "when 45. voted for' Lyttelton and five for Port Christchurch, the Board had initiated a progressive policy. After enumerating the up-to-date; appliances installed, Mr Holland said ithat what they' still required was some, improved cutting gear, to deal with the.new ground further out, and a fairly powerful travelling crane (15 to 20 tons) at the-dock so that fairly heavy machinery could be removed to repair Bhops which should be alongside the dock. .'-.

Mr Walter, in proposing "The Betiring Chairman," eulogised the work done by Mr Horrell, who, he saidj was a straightforward man, and one who made a success of anything he took in hand. He, referred to Mr Horrell's lengthy service oh local bodies, including 20 years on the Hospital Board, ten of them as chairman.

Mr Horrell, in responding, said that his first connexion with local body workdated back to 1880. He had been a member of the Lyttelton Harbour Board since 1909.