The Daily Telegraph. MONDAY, MAY 26, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4007, 26 May 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. MONDAY, MAY 26, 1884.

The question of all pthers that the people o* this provincial district should steadily keep before them is this:—Do wewantahaborat Napier? Is a harbor wanted to facilitate pur trade and commerce, or shoiild we be 'content with what nature has given us? Is an artificial harbor a fanciful idea, to carry out which would involve an enormous outlay, would lay upon us additional taxation, L and give us nothing in return ? These auestions have been asked repeatedly for 'the last twenty six years), and have always been answered in the one. way. _ We do want a harbor, arid without one neither the town nor the'country canprosper, as both should with the extraordinary advantages with which this part of the colony has been endowed by nature. And the result of this conviction has been that, for the last twentyfive'years; efforts have been made to improve the mouth of the Tutaekiiri river, and very considerable sums from time to time, hare •been expended Jα that direction. It is needless to say that so far as providing a harbor for this port is concerned the expenditure has been in vain. The mistake frotn irrst to last has been the prevalence of the opinion that great results can bo secured from a,

crining outlay. Those -who have had the direction, and the most to Say of theSQ matters have never been able to free themselves from the thraldom of a penny -wise and pound foolish control that, in the assumption of a character for wisdom, has succeded in cloaking stupendous ignorance and wondrous shallow-patedness. Had this unseen force controlled the destinies of the colony, a score or two ruuholders would have occupied the country, and a port worthy of the name, or a town fit to reside in, would not now have been in existence. Some sixteen years ago it was foreseen that if the most were to be made" out of the Canterbury plains a harbor at Lyttelton was necessary. Ignorance and timidity combined would have been well satisfied with the natural outlet that nature had provided ; or shortsightedness with pressure might havo been induced to spend a hundred pounds where a thousand were wanted. But it was a fortunate circumstance not only for Canterbury, but for the colony at large, that Lyttelton , s destiny was in the hands of far-seeing, courageous, and able men. Sixteen years ago, the first load of stones was tumbled into the harbor, and a commencement was made of those works that have only lately been completed, which have made Lyttelton one of the four great ports of New Zealand. Turning to the old countiy, there are men living, some now in Napier, who as lads could hop-skip-and-jump across that part of the Clyde where now lie vessels of over 2000 tons burthen. A harbor is not made in a day or in a year; its cost cannot bo estimated to a penny; it is a work that is not intended merely for present requirements, but it should be designed to fulfil those of the future. Therefore, in the consideration of the construction of a harbor for this or any other port, neither the time nor the cost of its construction is a vital question. Does this part of the colony require a harbor ? This question being answered in the affirmative, the only matter of real moment is the design. After a considerable loss of time, and no small outlay, a design has been furnished that, as far as can be seen, promises to provide the port with a first-class harbor. But, in deference to short-sight-edness and false economy, the condition imposed on the designer was that a certain depth of water was to be obtained at a cost not exceeding two hundred thousand pounds. A coat must be cut according to

the cloth supplied, and it is net the fault of the tailor should the coat not realise every expectation. Similarly, Mr Goodall myst have found his chief difficulty in designing what was wanted for a sum. insufficient for the purpose. This, however, was not taken, into consideration by his critics, and the enemies of Hawke's Bay sought to ruin the prospects of the place by ridiculing his estimates. The result of the hostile criticism to which Mr Goodall's plans were subjected was, as we all know, the appointment of Mr Bell and Mr Scott as a commission to enquire into and report on the feasibility of the design. We published the.report en Saturday, and there can be no doubt left in the minds of any one, after giving it a careful perusal, that Mr Goodallhas vindicated the trust reposed in him by the. Harbor Board. The main points of the report with -which we are concerned are the choice of the site, the strength of the works, the accommodation they will provide, and the probable effect of travelling shingle. Turning to the report we find the Commissioners say:— "We consider the site well chosen. It is • easily accessible, and would occupy a very similar position as regards the present port as the breakwater does to the town of Oamaru." With regard to the strength of the works, the Commissionere say :— " The structure also appears to us sufficiently solid to resist any storms that are likely to occur in this locality. The experiment of placing the concrete on a foundation of rubble stone, where the water is over 18 feet deep, has been practised successfully in Europe and elsewhere." Now for the accommodation the harbor will givo to the shipping. The Commissioners say :— '• The berfchage which this work will provide is, approximately, for six ordinary ships or large coasting steamers, and one large steamer of say 400 feet in fength, besides affording anchorage for five or six under the shelter, of the works." Lastly wo como to the travelling shingle bug-bear, and the pith of the Commissioners' report on this part of the subject is contained in the following paragraph: —"In the uncertainty that prevails on this subject it would be very rash to offer decided opinions on the subject of the durability of the harbor at Napier from the fact of the travelling shingle, and all that we can venture to say is that it will probably take much long to accumulate to the extent of endangering the works than is generally supposed." In an addendum to the report the Commissioners further state " the conclusions we arrivo at are as follows: that there is sufficient evidence, so far as its goes, at present to conclude that it will take many years before the shingle will accumulate so as to' endanger the works, and that, by removing the shingle by dredging, the danger may be delayed indefinitely." As we said before, the chief points with which we are concerned, and which the Board and Parliament require to be enlightened upon, were those of the site of the works, their strength to resist storms, the accommodation they would provide, and their durability in connection with travelling shingle. Each of these points has been closely investigated by two of the ablest engineers in the colony, and their opinion, which we have just quoted, must be as gratifying to Mr Goodall, as it will prove satisfactory to the Board.