THE HARBOUR BOARD.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 410, 20 January 1909, Page 11

THE HARBOUR BOARD.

/■ ' « ANNUAL REPORT. PROPOSED INCREASE OF HARBOUR , , >j DUES. Messrs. T. M. Wilford (chairman), J. G. Harkness, R. Fletcher, V. W. Jones,'C. E. Daniel, and tho Hon. T. K. Macdonald wore present f.t the annual meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board, held on Monday afternoon. ' .The chairman (Mr. T. M. Wilford) moved— "That the balance-shoet, statements of assets Bitd liabilities, and statement of 'contracts jo by tho chairman as examined and'allowed as required by tho Harbours Act, 1608." Ho stated that the remarks usually made, by tho chairman on tho information supplied' in the animal roports would bo the next meeting of-tho boaid. Ho had-paid a visit to Auckland recently, and had' made tho most of his time there investigating the use of ferro-concreto, upon ■B'hich ha would submit a statement later on. After the motion was adopted, ho moved that tho reports of tho acting-secretary, actiugengineor, .".ud harbourmaster be published, which was also agreed to. ■ ; ' ; INCREASED DUES. ' . ,' " After a lengthy note dealing with, the Patent Slip Co., tho Evans 3ky reclamation scheme, and the £1,000,000, Joan, the repoit notes th.-.i tho increased, 4arilr of harbour ■ into opeiation ,on April 1. It eays:—"Taking the accommodation and dispatCh'provided, and tho amount of work dono for tho charges lovicd, Wellington is still the cheapest port in the Dominion. Ihe increases yielded, for tHe first sis months ended September 30, a> gross additional revenue of £7866. That tho increased charges were "not made prematurely is proved by the fact that despite the very largo growth of revenue, and tb.6. care taken to keep)down working expeftsea, the profit and loss account for tho year only shows a credit balance of £4614. In view of the inevitable growth of tho standing 'charges for 'ntero3t, sinking fund, and depreciation, consequent upon the dock and the' many-other important harbour works in progress or in.contemplation, and having regard a}so to tho upward trend of the ratio x of, working expenses resulting from tho spreading out of,,the board's wharves and premises,'it seems quite certain tha.t further additional increases in the charges will sooner of.later have to be made. But, rememberfafg the' competition of other ports, these increases must be made cautiously, and it 1 tfouldbo well to an ait tli3< experience of the year/just beginning before deciding on any material increase'of taxation." i'■ FOR ACCIDENT AND SICKNESS. " The board is. insured at 25 per cent, of ' wages against accidents to its casual staff, ana.tho amount paid for nceident pay to tho casual employees was £676 12s. 4d.; to the constant staff £67 19s. sd. j and for sick piy, to tho permaueiit hands. £197 9s. 3d.; in, all £042, as compared .with £848 and £550 ins the two previous,years. Tkq accident pay again shows a decided increase, being £744 llsV9d. as compared with £659 in the previous year, whioh was itself a large advance on,.the previous maximum of £514 Tn 1903-4. The permanent stail, numbering 801 employees', 'is covered by tho board direct, a eum equal to ordinary premiums being set'aside. This* fund at September 30 amounted ,to £3023 Ist 4d. The board rontinuee to pay itit'employees, both permanent and casual, half, pay from the time of accident, although legally the employee is not entitled to wo first' week's .payment where the incapacity does not last longer, than a,fortnight. ,>'* '; -EXPORTS AND*IMPORTS.' '' ", _,The,report shows that" there" has been an the,number of bales of wool and skifls shipped during' the " L twelve hs ended September 30, 1908,Jh0 figures bring 139,793 bales as compared with 129,666 baits for , * the preceding year.'- The of 'hemp and tow decreased "by 9549 baiis, to , 10.9, per cent. _ The,-ijotal shipment ofi wcol; skins, hemp, -and tow amounts, however, to 218,094 bales, which record.i r Coal- transhipped overside from vessel to vessel nmounted to 255,163 tons, a~rcco-d foir, tho port, and an increase' of 22,096 tons, dr , over 9.4 per cent, over tho previoue year's total of 233,067 'tons. Coal transferred , from vessel to vessel when lying at tho wharves accounted for 187,239 tons (as compared with 18,1,335, -137,751, and 100,272 in tho thrco previous years), tho balance of 67,924 tons, representing ooal transhipped from vessel to vessel in the stream. The comparative figures for coal overside vessel to vessel in stream for , - the three previous years were 51,732, 65,167, and 74,206 tons. Tho largo increase in. transhipment overside at wharves means . additional congestion at the berths, and eeems to warrant the imposition of a small wharfage charge on coal so handled, and nlso the levying of a borthago rate on hulks when lying at a wharf or alongside a vessel *at,a wharf. • - ■ ■ Another record was made .in regard *o tonnage of goods received from British -red fWeign ports during 1907-B', amounting to 169,238 tons, an increase of 13,183 tons, or B.4vper cent, over the' preceding twelve months. Comparing these figures with these of,/ten years back, the increase is fdund to have averaged over 11. per cent, per annum. Tonnage of general goods received from colonial and coastwise ports amounted to 187,828 tons, as compared with 163,942 tons for s the preceding year, an. increase of 23,886' to'ns, <ff 14.6 per cent. <The average increase for tho past ten years has been 124 pw cen t. per annum. 'General transhipments have also largely increased during tho ycfar just ended, the figures being 129,690 tons, as compared with 112,935 tons for .'the preceding year, an' increase of 16,755 rtons, or 14,8 per cent: In 1898 tho transhipments amounted to 75,681 , to'he' I .the' l avera£o increase for the ten years ' being 7 per cent, pet annum. , -I "Combining the inward and transhipment figures,"" in" order to arrive at the total iinpoHs handled over the wharves, they aggre-' gate 486.75Q tons. Comparing the figures for the past thirty years, the report sWs' that there .has been an average annual growth of 20 per cent, on the -tonnage candied. In tho acting-secretary's opinion, the board, ought to provide, as the late secretary, contended it should, year by year, an average additional storage ' accommodation for" goods, to the oxt€ut of at least 7J por cent, on tho facilities at present existing.