The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1914.. THE PORT OF WELLINSTON.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2009, 17 March 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1914.. THE PORT OF WELLINSTON.

The statement of the_ year's work-' injj of the Port of Wellington placed '. bciore the Harbour Board by its chairman, Mk. Fletcher, yesterday, covers so much grotincK that we cannot pretend at the irtomcnit to discuss it in any detail. The officers of the Board have, as usual, gone to a great deal of pains in the prcp&ru- '. tion of statistics and other useful in-. formation for the benefit qf members of the Board and the public, and the chairman's review of these .appears to be much on the lines of previous efforts of the kind. The transactions of the Board are now so large and important that the fliiancial administration calls for the closest scrutiny and the fullest discussion. So far as can be gathered from the figures placed before yesterday's meeting by Mk. Fletcher, the year's operations have been in iuost respects satisfactory. There is ti record of progress which if not. startling affords evidence of that development which the growth of the trade of the country would lead oflc to expect. Later on we shall examine the position more closely as to the. particular lines upon which that development has proceeded. In order to remove any possibility of. ciuappfcheiiEisg.,

it should be pointed out that tho ■financial year of the Wellington Harbour Board ends on September lit), so that the year's working as reviewed by Mr. Fletchek was in no way affected by the waterside workers' strike. The period including and subsequent to the strike was also covered by the Chairman of the Board, but separately. As was to be expected the operations of the Board for the five months from October to February, inclusive, do not by any means show such satisfactory results. It was inevitable that the hokl-up of shipping and the consequent stoppage of trade and industry would directly affect the revenues of the Board. In the circumstances the amount of tho faliing-off for the fits months as compared with the corresponding period of the previous year is not at all surprising, and with the country so prosperous it may be expected that during.the remaining months of the financial year the losses so far incurred will bo substantially reduced.. Mn. Fletcher coold not refrain from again discoursing on his owa attitude during the strike. It would be wiser on his part to allow the public to forget, if it can do so, the view I he took at that critical time of what was due from him as Chairman of ' the Board. It ill becomes either Mr. Fletcher or Mb. Hildreth to now accuse the public of hysteria in connection with the strike. To pretend that the strictures passed on the Chairman of the Board for his attitude during the period of rioting and disorder were due to hysteria is a little too thin altogether. Mji. Fletcher may find consolation as ha says ho does in having carried out his duty as he conceived it should be done-, but it would be to his advantage to allow the matter to rest there. The only other matter calling for .attention at the- moment was the indication given by the. Chairman of the possibility of requiring to add to the Board's- revenue by way of increased charges. . This we arc told would depend oh whether the revenue grew in proportion to the capital cxpen-' diture; but Mr. Hildreth appears to have made up his mind that increased charges are inevitable. He. and the Chairman, also plainly; intimated that, such charges would have to go on wool, which meiiris that the farmer is to be colled on to : pay the piper. No doubt the members of the Board before deciding on any increase will go. carefully into ■the nuestion and determine whether the circumstances warrant them pil-j ing iip the port charges any further.