WORKING THE PORT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2410, 16 March 1915, Page 7

WORKING THE PORT

CHAIRMAN'S REVIEW OF A VERY BAD YEAR DEFICIT £3549 ■ MORE INCOME A NECESSITY • INCREASING COST OF WORKING The annual meeting o£ the Wellington Harbour Board was held at . noon yesterday. There were present: ..Messrs. E. Fletcher (chairman), C. W. Jones,' H. L. Nathan, j. Q.' Harkness, B. A. Wright, . ; - *•*«. C. E. Daniel,, j. W, MTpron, A. ] o ;®ndmawh, ILP.'i and Captain 'D, J. :! ' ' - •-i'he annual statement of accounts, and , the annual reports of the chief exeoutive 'officers were presented ae required by eta- i tu'"), and the ohairman moved that the " 7 ba be signed by the ohainnan as required by the Harbours Act. ■ ChairmanV Comprehensive Review. , . ''It is customary at the annual meetr*i? which is being held to-day for the 1 0.-esentation of (the board's accounts," 1 said Mr. Fletcher, "to take the opportun- 1 • ' ity of making a fewv brief remarks in regard to % the year's urork, and at the ■ b? Tie ifcime to indicate. , the policy that, in r ' opinion, should be followed by the 1 .' >ard during the coming year. /'Goods passing inwards and tranship- ! 1:1 totalled 502,589 - tons, as against ■ 535,040 tone, a deorease of 82,451 tons, \ equal 't0.6.06 per cent. -.- j "For. the period under review—that is .., up to September 30, 1914—the general .-, cargo transhipments- amounted to 160,048 tons, a , falling-off | of 8786 tons or 6.21). . per cent, from the previous year, which { was a record year, and the figures quoted - are the next best by some 8000 tons, if 1913 yeai is eliminated. "The coastal and intercolonial imports have practically equalled the previous year's figures, the totals being 176,523 tohi as . against ; 176,618 tons. • I > Serious Decreases. , '"i'he totalehipment of wool, skins, 1 hemp/ and tow over the wharves, exclud- ' : ing transhipment overside from vessel to ■ vessel, amounted to 261,556 bales, as com- 1 . pared -with • 301,050 baie3 for the precede f jng year, a decrease of 39,484 bales or 1 13.11 per cent. - . .. . "The number of bales of wool and : skins shipped during the twelve months ended September 30, 1914, excluding trailshipments, was 162,875 bales as against .165,955 bales, a decrease of 3080 bales behind the previous year. : ; "A serious fall-off in the shipments of ■ hemp as compared with the previous year : was exhibited, the figures being 98,681 - bales, as against 135,095 bales, but that ' year was a record one for hemp, and ' last year's, figures wire practically the ■ same', as 1911-12. ; v Coal. •. "The coal handled at the port amounted (»■ 546,480 tons, as against 543,862 tons, 2382 tcms'iesa than the-previous year. . Coal passing, over the wharves and paying wharfage was 166,651 tons,' 'as against , .168,758 tons m 1912-13, a decrease of 2104 ; tons. Coal for - Government use exempt • from wharfage was 46,713 tons,'a decreaseof 19,622 tons. Coal transhipped over- -' side from 1 yeesel to vessel at wharves -increased from 292,710 tons to 301,379 tons. . an inofease of 8669 tons.' , . '.'Due to the Strike and. the War." J cargo-imports from English and foreign ports, decreased -by.-23,569 tons--due to. the . strike aDd .war. .- Tne exports of general •' goods over the wharves forrolowarand coastal ports ' , totalled 118,403 tons, a decrease of 6826 1 '. . tons—due to-' the-'strike. ' 1 "The" exports of frozen meat,' butteT ; sand cheese'exceeded allprevioub records. ' 1913-14. 1912-13. - 1 ' Tons.' Tons. ' Butter «;«< , 16,483 Cheese 37,776 35,851 1 1 Meat 38,358 32,078 ■ 87,548 .. 84,417 : "Tonnage .of. vessels entering the Port for the year amounted to 3,059,073, ;as against 3,148,687—a decrease of 87,614. This large volume of. shipping, handled without mishap by the Harbourmaster and his staff, beara excellent testimony to the efiicienoy of that department of the board's service. Growing Assets, "Comtag to,the balance-sheet' and ac- . fcounts, 'the assets of the board as at September 30, 1914, are. estimated at 41,407,2j3, as against 41,385,872 19s. Tha 1 liabilities" of the board. at that. date metalled- 4858,684. ■ The. estimated balance of'assets;over liabilities at September 30, ; 1914, was 4548,559, as compared' with 1£530,303 the year' before, an increase of .-•413,258. Fall in Revenue. ". "Inward wharfage fell from .£53,232 to 'v£50,774—a decrease of 42455. Outward wharfage from 515,557 to ,£12,281—a decline of 41276. Transhipment wharfage amounted to 430,966, as. against 432,682— a difference of The total gross revewie decreased from .£237,293 to ■ 4226,744, due to the dislocation of trade ' and shrinkage of traffic "during the strike period at the beginning of the financial' year. "The profit and loss Statement shows' a 'deficit-on the working account for the year of .£3549, as against a oredit balance of the previous year of J513.571 7s. 3d. ■Tho.decrease in the revenue is easily explained, due to theloss of trade caused by the strike, the decline in the' hemp market, the competition in the dumping of - wool and hemp, the extra cost of working cargo by inexperienced labour .during the waterside trouble,; exemption . from harbour dues of vessels engaged as Government transports, and other causes. Under the extraordinary circumstances, .when duly considered the board has come through -the storm fairly well.' "The Special Eeserve Fund amounts to '.£24,139 4s. 3d., against 416,367 193. 4d. at ■the previous year, and I would suggest that the sum of ,£3549, being the amount of the deficit on the year's working, be transferred from ithe Special Eeserve Fund to the General Fund. Miscellaneous. "The 'Sinking '.Fund . at. September 30, 1914, amounted to .£161,886 16s. 9d., as" compared with <£149,870 19s. 4d. in 1913. (The average rate of interest was 44 13s. 9d. por cent., as against £i 12a. 2d. per cent. • The Sinking Fund Commissioners lars to be commended on the "prompt manner in which they secure investments.. "The-amount'paid in claims by the board during the . year was unusually heavy, being 4585 os. Bd., as against 4208 •Is. 6d. and 4190 for the two preceding years. Of the total .of 4585 os. Bd., JCOB 7s. Bd. 'was due to accidents, 429 7s. 7d. fto pillaging, 4422 16s. 7d. to loss of goods. :Thn latter amount was mainly incurred "during tho strike period. Comparison of Statistics. Following is a comparison of statistics for.the five months ended February 28, 1014' and 1915:— ... 1914. 1915. Tons. .Tons. Inwards— | (a) General cargo: From English and foreign ports ... 67,480 60,988 From coastal and intercolonial ports 63,254 74,371 130,734 135,353 Sup. ft. Sup. ft, (b) Timber: City wharves 4,102,952 3,371,068 Suburban wharves 523,366 407,770 _i 5 4,626,318 3,778,838 '(c) Coal: . Over wharves paying. wharfage ... 50,635 66,179 Over .wharves (Government) exempt from wharfage.... 15,357 22,112 overside at wharves .78,147 148,251 s"^.owsidein stream' 26,365 . 2,242 I 170,504 238,784.

Transhipments: Tons, Tons. General cargo—All - ports 62,777 70,825 Outwards— To English and ' - foreign ports (tallow, frozen meat, etc'.) 26,455 28,545 To coastal and intercolonial ports (general cargo) ... . 41,563 45,907 71,048 74,452 Sup. ft. Sup. ft. Timber-All 'ports ... 475,754 461,903 ' Bales. Bales. Wool and hemp: ' T.s. over wharves ... 48,006 56,396 T.s. oversido 1,375 961 From shore and. rail 104,143 110,830 : 156,524 168,187 , . Tons. Tons. ButteT. and cheese: From shore and rail 14,532 9,961 Transhipped over wharves 15,534 18,306 Transhipped over side ' 3,852 8,032 33,918 36,299 Beg. E eg. . . . , - • Tons. Tons. Arrivals: Net tonnage, mer ; cantile arrivals 1,190,087 1,388,363 4 4 Wharves and quays department, book- - ings , 75,582 87,665 Pilotage, port oharges, and harbour mas- . tor's fees 7,908 8,437 Works in Prospect. • In thd opinion of the executive and myself the following - works should be . carried out. if the necessary financial ar-, rangements can be made -.— ... - ; 4 Additions to Wool Jetty to berth ' the ferry steamers 9,700 Offices and luggage rooms at L shed 1,500 Completion of concrete breastwork 18,500 Pile beacon at harbour fentrance . 500 Boat Harbour staging at Petone... 2,300 Reconstruction of part of Queen's Wharf ....:. 3,500 .Waterloo.Quay reclamation (part) 4,000 Te'Aro reclamation, loading, etc. (part) 2,500 Latrines, King's Wharf 500 Pipitea Wharf and shed, etc. (about) , 200,000 Te Ai'o Wharf and shed 72,000 4315,000 V. "When the Time Is Opportune." The above works havo been authorised, and when the time is opportune for borrowing they can be carried- out. The board has authority to raise 41,000,000 by way of loan' for the prosecution of those and . other works, but I again strongly recommend careful consideration before any large expenditure is entered upon.- The standing charges have to be met- out of revenue, and the volume of trade has to increase very largely to enable this to be done. . r The accommodation at times,. it is true, has been perhaps a little short, but under normal conditions quite adequate. I believe that with careful and judicious administration we have nothing to fear, and the set back can only be considered of a temporary nature, taking all the extraordinary oircumstances into account; and when the disastrous war ... is finished, . . . the trade will become normal again, and this port and city will he.- and is destined to be, a great shipping and commercial centre with the facilities provided and the .gifts that Nature has endowed it with. In conclusion, the ohairman placed on record his appreciation of the valuable assistance rendered by the executive officers of; the board,.speoial reference being made to Mr. H. E. Nicholls, secretary; Mr. 'Marchbanks, engineer; Captain Johnson, harbour-master; Mr. Monro, wharfinger; Mr.Vßa'rnett, treasurer; Mr. Gamble, accountant! On behalf of the boaTd Mr.' Fletcher thanked the staff for the good service rendered during the year. 6eneVal; Approv'3l." ; Mr, C. W. Jones seconded the resolution to adopt the report. He endorsed the opinion expressed by .the. chairman that-the boaTd had come through a bad year with very much smaller losses than Were anticipated. He also congratulated the chairman on having sotne years ago established a- special reserve fund to provide against .and.to make.good losses in a bad year. _ Mr. C. E. Daniell expressed satisfaction with the thoroughly comprehensive character of the reports presented to' the board, and also expressed his peat grati-i fication that the loss sustained m the yea' would not be more than 43500. Mr. J. G. Harkness, after expressing approval of the reports, proceeded to discuss. the accounts. _ It was regrettable, he skid, that the board was not in possession of the accounts, until five months after the year had closed. Mr. Fletcher: I quite agree with you. Mr. Harkness said that if circumstances- should arise requiring the boardto take 'darstic-action in the way of organising the work of the port, it . could not under the. present arrangement be done for almost .a-year after the need arose. Ho was sorry, the board had not before it the special expenditure which it had to incur at strike time, for he thought the board should have this in* formation. He was glad the loss would not be more than 43500; but this was not the worst feature of the accouats and reports presented. Heavy Increase In Cost.: The general expenditure had increased by 41100, on repairs and maintenance .£'4612,' on interest 4661, on employers' liability and other insuranoe funds 4429, making a gross increase of 46809 in general expenditure. Depreciation allowed was 423,112 as against 423,429, a decrease of A comparison of the profits for the past four years showed the following results:—ln 1911, a profit of 414,177; In 1912, 410,815; in 1913, 413,571; in 1914, nil. He argued that the board had really lost by diminished revenue and increased expenditure not only 43500 in the past year, but a total of 417,120, ' which with interest at the rate of 5 per cent, would pay the yearly 'charge on 4342,433. In 1911 the total quantity of goods handled over the wharves' was 1,341,703 tons. It had cost to handle that quantity of goods 473,047, which worked out at 13.07 d. por ton. In the year 1912 the total cargo was 1,390,744, and the' co6t of handling it was 480,773, or 13,95 d. per ton. This was tho year in which the new award for waterside workers came into opera-: tion, and it did not operate for the whole of the year. Assuming that the new award had been _ in force for the full twelve months—this for the purpoae of making a true comparison with subsequent years—the wages bill would have to be increased by 43000,. making the cost of working cargo 14,45 d. per ton. In the next year, 1913, there was no increase in wages, except to the permanent hands. The total cargo worked in this year was 1,525,772 tons, and the cost was or- 1'4.88d. per ton. In the year under review (closing in September, 1914) 1,486,379 tons of cargo were worked at a cost of 495,649, and every ton of cargo had cost 15.44 d. to handle. If his calculations were correct, then the board was paying Is. 3}d. for handling outward cargo, and were only getting Is. 4d. wharfage _ for- it. That meant tho board was losing money. They were charging 2s. Bd. per ton on imported cargo, makimr out of it only Is. 4Jdprofit. Insufficient Income? ' The board had heavy obligations in respect of contracts and works in prospect, and even if the trade of.the port returned at once to normal, how were they to carry on with their present income? ... Mr. Fletcher: Wo can't do it. Mr. Harkness: I am glad you rccoznis' that. Mr. Fletchor: I recognised that was the position long ago, and I have been trying to remedy it. Sir. Harkness: In my opinion we can enly do one of two things. You will have to get more work dons for the expenditure, or you will have to increaao 'the rates of your pvosent tariff. Mr. Fletchor: We'll have to do that in any ease. Whether you oan g«t any more labour for your money is another matter. Mr.- Harkness: The position, in my opinion, is a somewhat serious one. and I can't, endorse the view that, w# have come through thn storm remarkably well. I think the management of the affairs of the nort will r«atiir« ill the .wisdom

of the board and the executive officers to make things go well in the future. Money Spent During tho Strike. Mr. J. W. M'Ewan said that Mr. Harkness was naturally a. pessimist, and .in dealing with his criticism ons had to bear that in mind. In comparing lust year with previous years, it ■ was unfair to say it was a bad year, unless all itho facts conduoing to make it a bad year wore considered. ' A mere comparison of results was unfair, and Mr. Harkness had' simply made such a comparison. It Was suroly somewhat late to ask for expenditure incurred in tho strike. Sir. Harkness: We've asked for it before. Mr. M'Ewan saiid he thought if it had beon asked for it would have been supplied. ... The secretary: As far. as possible. Mr. M'Ewan said a great deal of extra K.cney had no doubt been spent during the strike, and he would support a motion to have a return of it supplied to tho board. Until that cstra amount was known no fair comparison oould be made. Bearing everything in mind, he. thought a fair critic, must come to the conclusion that during a bad year the board had done very well indeod. Personally he could see no chance of reducing expenditure, If might be possible to increaso charges, and if . the board decided to do so, he would like to see the increases lmptsed upon those best able to bear them. Mr. Jonea: Ships? (Laughter.) Where to Get Income. Mr. Fletcher, in reply, said the reason for Ithe delay in presenting the accounts wa3_ due to the fact that they had to be audited by the Government Auditor, who did hot finish the task until Friday or Saturday last. He contended that the board was in'a "good financial position, and one of the proofs of that was the fact that .£24,000 was held in reserve to meet such losses as might occur in any lean year.. If Mi. Harkness could, tell the board how to reduce expenditure the board.would be very much obliged to him. They must increase profits, and he contended that they could do this by increasing the charges on certain goods. Especially he would refer to wool. In 1881, when wool was worth from' 4£d. to sd. a pound the wharfage was 6d. a bale. Now- ithe value of wool was about three time 3 as "high, and the wharfage was still 6d. a bale. The people who were escaping a great deal of thoir obligations were the wool kings of thi9 country. The same applied to cheese and butter, out of which huge profits were being made, and the people' concerned should be required to pay more for ithe port services. Their farmer, friends would presently be calling out for increased cool storage for dairy produce, and no doubt it would have to be provided. But -who was going to ,pay for the increased facilities? Surely the people who benefited by them. The board had no endowments, and every increased charge had to be mat out of revenue. In view of this ho considered that the board had done exceedingly well. . The motion was agreed to. A further resolution was agreed to, on the motion of the ohairman, that it be a recomme'ndaition to tho next regular meeting of the board that the sum of 43549 be transferred from the special reserve to the general account.