HARBOUR MUDDLES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 728, 29 January 1910, Page 6

HARBOUR MUDDLES.

.'. - — ; ' I ''.. * ■'— -.- .:-- ; WASTE OF MONEY AND INCREASED CHARGES, A SINGLE' RESPONSIBILITY '.'. ■NEEDED. . "A sound and stable finance had been observed."—Mr.' T. M. Wilford. "Thus practically, £32,000 had been provided for interest alone. Imports fell from £5,084,281 in 1907-8 to: £4,003.832 in 1908-9:"—Mr. Wilford. "Ho wonld suggest that the. expenditure ofi the near future outside of commitments"■ should be in tho direction of /providing' increased facilities in and around Lambton Harbour for the : effective and economic handling of cargo."—Mr. Wilford. ■ . ■.-. ■ ■ - : ; ; "Looking over the harbour workß. one first saw the Petone. Wharf—a work which had been muddled from beginning to end. Then there was' the King's Wharf.. At present tho wharf was absolutely useless, and ■ was condemned by every shipmaster. Then came the Clyde.-Quay Wharf. It made one feel sorry even to mention this, and he waß sure no one in Wellington could tell why it had been built. Some £35,000 had been expended on a structure which was going to be absolutely useless." -Mr. '• E. Fletcher; ■"Tho mose ho saw of the- board tho more he-was horrified with the:position. -.The board was saddled with; extravagance of . tho deepest dye, and the life-blood of the harbour was being destroyed."—Dr.' New-, man... ' ..',- '.:- "There 'was too much-log-rolling going on.''—Mr,.G. E, .Daniell..;.'.. '• "Mistakes had been made, but" everyone made mistakes."—Hon. T." K. Ifacdonald., "He thought that; the policy of the lasttwo years' had been a policy of caution, with" due regard to necessary ; expansion." . -Mr. WilfOTd.. ■'■'." 'V' ' ■■':■'.'••' :"The-policy of the board -must be oneof caution."—Mr. J. G. Harkness. "' "We must leave something, to posterity;" -rMr. Cohen. ;"He was.satisfied.the board would regain its - lost" position."—Mr. Cohen. ' r '*-- ;The foregoing are extracts from speeches inade by the chairman and members-of the-Wellington Harbour Board "at Thursday afternoon's' meeting. In ;order that some idea might - be obtained-, as to the queer knot-in .which the Harbour Board appears'to have tied itself, several of Wellington's leading business. people were waited on yesterday for': expressions'' of opinion.- -:.--,' .'■' :..'-""-. An; Indictment, ..' :"If the,-affairs of the 1 Wellington. Har-;. . bouT Board are not handled. firmly, and in a .business-like maimer, it'will, be the laughing-stock of-the-whole of.the country," ■ : said, a- well-known '■ merchant, of the.-.very highest standing to a Dominion representative, yesterday. - "Mistakes,have unquestionably been made, and it is; to bb'dricerely-h'oped'that this will be'Tealised without argument, and as. far as.possible'at once.: Though' it was apparently fired off, on .'the spur of: the moment; I believe- thati-the' suggestion, of Dr. Newman'that a general-, manager, should- be appointed would be a much: better idea than government-by board. There- are - too ■ many, heads' connected with ■ the' Harbour. Board—Mr. ■: Nicholls, . Mr. : MarchbanKs, .Mr. Cachemaille,; and -the chairman -all have certain powers,, with the .result that the responsibility even in'big things is'difficult to locate.' If there -was a- general- manager.;'as .-..-'suggested-.- there . would be nothing -of: the kind, or at least there would besbmedne directly responsible for big' mistakes made. If I had ; my way'there .would;be■ a manager, and any: complaints' should be made to him alone, : I: would have'aslittle, as .possible of servants of,the-board button-holing; individual - membere, of the board, and: voicing their: troubles through him; as advocate.;' This 'would, .not .6tine' complaint;; asVahy 'member : could;express, himself-:Oh:any subject:.when' the':matter' came ,up... for..consideration, .before, board in,committee "orV'in,.open; meeting. 1 . : -'Another .mistake,: ! -1 ■ think,;-: is ..-.the; country- member.''"lt' seems absurd'to ;,me that the' 'Wellington' Board' should;have representatives^from-the.' back. country,■ who cannot possibly be'sb'conversant.with the affairs of the .port'as capable business men in; the city, who have everything: under their'.noses every day ofitheir lives. Yet- these. members' come down •■ once or twice a month to discuss big problems that' puzzle men whoj'aro'.'accustomed.to deal with large affairs' every, day. ■..-. "There is nothing new' to .be said about that great; folly, the dock. Long; before any definite'steps were.taken to erect it, dozens of. correspondents—able men among' them—wrote . to. the'-papers, condemning the scheme, and pointing out in unequivocal terms that the dock would be an incubus. Jt -was-.all very, well to .have a dock, very nice indeed for, any port to have a dock given it. It was a sentiment— the same'as wearing a huia feather in the: hat. But—and there was a--.big- but— when'the 'dock'had to be "constructed at' an-i enormous , outlay, '.withv'.borrowed capital; with.'a- big -annual interest bill to face,':a dock.was iUnwarranted.,. Everyone knew, of the.Polorie Wharf,'the Miramar'undertaking, and the' King's -Wharf. "There is another matter. The'WeUington Harhonr Board should be ' warned that in the matter. of ".charges .'on .exports from the district it: cannot, go ; beyond a:reasonable -limit, because.' directly; it attempts, to;place -ah excessive charge'on exports,: the . board'. will :; find ; that the. goods for export'will make.their exit from, the country from other points'than Wellington.' , Mind you;, I ;do,nbt say', there is not room for a reassessment on, the;.rates on-exports, but there is. a point'beyond which the board cannot go. ■-.. -,-v . : -"Speaking broadly, the;present position of 'thV-'boaTd,is one. for' grave .concern, bub.np't necessarily one! for panic. " .' ; H'-' ; "' '..,'■' A/Member's:: View-'''' .'/.^V; ."One of the'first things the. new board will have to face/' said Mr. B. Fletcher,' "will be- the question '■ of ■. the increased: charges which will have to come.' ■, These; increased charges were: inevitable, said Mr.' Fletcher, and would naturally tend to" make the -port dearer. ,• The . increases would como back on' to the shipping companies and the importers,, who, in, turn, must "hand them on to the consumer ,to the detriment of the port; There was no place-he knew • of,- and he- had seen a good' "many, 'which ljad; been endowed with more natural - facilities -than ■■ Wellington harbour, and it-was a pity that-, the waste of.money.that.hadgoneoni had been' -the , means, of ; .forcing.;increased charges.;' ,-; •'.--. --;■ ',; -.-''';i'.-'.,-.:■ .;-,'.- :>,-..•; ' The'tMng.'to'be: feared ,was .that-addi-; tibial-'!charges might-induce.', shipping companies' to-cast'' about for another;, and cheaper way-for-'their,.business..,The.fair,-, est: way- to meet- an.iricreaso' would-be, for-' the shipping companies; to, pay.'their quota, and..for ;the"goods to; pay; their' share." • Another .'charge 'which .might, be made-was on'all coal transhipped .overside'at ther.wbarf.' At- present-only, .coal' coming' over - the: wharf •: paid .wharfage,, but he did:not see why,coal transhipped to hulks at'the: wharf'should not also be j levied on.' ''Referring;. to:';,.the..::KingV Wharf,' Mr.' 'Flotcher"did' not;see any. way' onf-of--the!present difficulty.The structure.' itself ' was ' all right, • but the wharf was-too "narrow to allow ,of mat-, ters" being righted. - .-.•■ : -' ■ : ' --L ■".-". The new board,-: added Mr.- Fletcher/, would need to be very caTefulin.its management, 'and would, iri-his ■ opinion, need to' thoroughly reorganise the, staff at the earliest, possible' date.; Given.. these, two, things, he thought they would be able , to; pull through .'all'right. ;,;, ' ::;; ' .;■'-.' "An Unfruitful Legaey.';. ; : ' ■ Mr F. G; Bolton spoke .Vol ..theboard's 'constitution.. He .was':Opposed - to 'the. appointment of Government nominees, he I said, and he: wished to .point out that; I under the new Harbours Act, the- number- of members on the board.would be increased from 11 to 13, but'there would: be only three : city representatives instead of four. The Appointments of the Mayor., and the of the Oiamber of. Commerce as members, ex-officio, would be cancellod,"' and' three representatives' would be elected by the ratepayers. The board had agreed to recommend to' the Government that the board shond consist of H members, and .that- another' ratepayers' representative should be bXlowed to, the. city.. .- ~:_: ;,' .'.'■' "In my opinion, 'Mr. , Bolton con-, tinned, "we have an' ■unfruitful legacy from ouT'predecessors," and the'present board is in no way to blame for the mistakes that wore made.. The present board has endeavoured -to cure the. trouble.. I: consider that, most of the works ■ of' the' past twelve months were absolutely unprofitable, but. we were committed to them through the action-of previous boards.' ' The Falcon Shoal improvement is' the- only work'- which can: be said to be reproductive. The \\aterloo Quay reclamation would not have been, necessary if the' King's Wharf had not been, wongly constrnoted.' 'The 'wharf should

have, been .muoh wider, and-should carry one-story sheds. ;.„-.lt is monstrous,'that ships should have been penalised and compelled to work cargo with the board's cranes at the King's Wharf." ; Mr. Bolton; referring to the appointment of an office engineer, expressed the opinion that, although .the board would defer to the advice, of ah" expert, none of the officers should bo called npon toSay whether or not applicants for positions; were' suitable.. He. also remarked that,' although the running track'' -had been erected on the Clyde Quay 'Wharf, no cranes were to be ordered. ... .'Thave nothing to . add ' at. present," said the Hon. T. Kennedy Macdonald, when approached; "when the hew. board has been' elected, ,it will bo desirable that, the future shall, be thoroughly discussed, and a policy determined."/ vThe Chairman in 'Defence. Mr. T. : 'if. Wilford, chairman of the board, said that he wished to contradict the statement of Dr. Newman:and Mr. J. W. 'MT3wan,that. the. revenue had gone down,, while the expenditure -hart increased. The expenditure had' decreased also—in fact, it' had gone down : more than the. revenue/ The expected fall' in' imports had come, and "the cloth of the board, had,-been cut accordingly ''■■■"■ , *?, r. e /ard_ -to the,,. King's Wharf, -.- Mr. Wilfordsaid -.that Mr. .Fletcher ha.| cost' , : and had remarked that it was absolutely useless, and had been by every. ?r to-)'«^-'■ only . :ob i ecti< >n'raised,..said {"& to the class of the sheds and the position of the: cranes. It was an.argnable'/qhestio'n..whether there IS 0 an S hInB V W? ?? 1 V i tt the;style,of the :IS -i A ost of -' W W '■ was!-315.00(1.: The K'-v lfa 4^-'r i3 .^-' hehl K. ; -sat!sf'>etPTY-r' fv«™ be -'' \1 - ."""Plaints' ■a -a i.'P-Sfe- '■'# had now- been .decided;: thai,,, theW'i; rise '■■■ J- :'the cranes would be; optional with contains ?„ 4 companies., The m!l cs-were' be "farad t,W*iF®' ■*** P « Should ■«! i 5-P c L' th^V the „ re : were too many on the ..King's,, Wharf some, could be re?«Z vl Wharf if.necessary. The hoard had decidednot to pur- ■^ s a e rf an y°ew cranes'for the Clyde Quay - Mr. Wilford said that he did not agreewith the suggestion>;.made- by Dr.-' Newman that Mr. Marchbanks should be appointed as.general manager of the:affairs of the Harbour Board. In his capacity, he had, quite, enough' to do, and he could not.possibly control every department of the board. It would' be absurd to suggest that an engineer ought' to be qualified to supervise the wharfingers department,:'for instance. '•'' ■ "Some members of the board ■ consider that too much of the' business is done in committee," said Mr. Wilford, "and a discussion took place as to, whether the ap-, pointment of an office engineer ehonld'be dealt with in open board. ' I would point out, however, that-, the .by-law says that, .'any question'affecting the status, oj; an employee, shall be taken, in '.c'ommittee.matters, troubles between mem-" bers' of ■ the. v staff, complaints ;against .. officers, negotiations between the board-arid private individuals , or corporations, and similar', matters"must'be .dealt .with; in-committee,-and until the by-laws are:repealed the; by-laws, shall rule." -.'■ ,:"Tbe whole'of ;the criticisms.'VMr.' Wilford concluded, "are; criticisms ': levelled ■against wrong estimates' made.iby.--previ-ous engineers., -There.is :no criticism"at' aH; as'far-as administration-is-concerned. In-regard' to the'■Miramar;work," the'engineer said 'that 'the ■ 'co'st\ would" be ■£37,000.:.: The. board,, onvgetting .a; legal undertaking -by - the Miramar Borough - to pay jESOOO and to' -hand over four. acres of land,"agreed:to expend that i£37,000. A new• engineer- was engaged,by the board,' and ho advised : that- the cost would' be hot : £37,000. When' the contract was'let'it'was:taken by responsible peo-' ple_ ; at nearly :• £4000, below', the ■. engineer's, estimate." : ' : "-' : •.'- :.'■': ,'. "•'.■■'...'