The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1870.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2349, 12 October 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1870.

Although it was decided a long time ago that it was possible to form a dock at Oamaru, wc have ever been of opinion that such an undertaking would be a wanton waste of money that might be much more profitably applied for the benefit of the district, the Province, and the Colony. The Oamaru Times of yesterday contains the following information on the subject : It is rumored, and we have reason to believe with good foundation, that the lowest tender for the dock works was £73,000, viz., £21,000 for the wall at the Point, £22,000 for the protecting walls at the entrance, and £30,000 for the dock proper. If so, why the tender was wholly rejected we cannot understand, unless it be that a majority of the Trust did not wish to see the work carried out. It will be in the memoiy of many of

out* readers how very unwillingly the consent of the Provincial Council was given to the construction of the work ; how very pertinacious the Oamaru people were that a sura of money should be spent for the benefit of that district, and that it should be invested in that way, and in no other. Unfortunately, the pressure brought to bear on the Government at the time, and the strong leaning of the General Government of that day to weakening the power of the Provinces by breaking them up into Counties or other limited self-governed districts, caused the Council to yield to a demand that ought to have been determinately resisted. It is not for the advantage of Oamaru that such a wild experiment should be made. There may be those who hold property there, who imagine that if a dock can be made, Oamaru will become a port of importance ; but while the prospect may dazzle their eyes and blind their judgments, their bewildered vision should not be allowed to override the plain, cool judgment of their fellow-colonists. When the Commissioners reported that it was practicable to make a dock there, they only said what every one acquainted with the engineering capabilities of the day knew to be possible. But it is not what is merely possible that is to bo considered. It would be possible to form a breakwater, and build a fortress and a lighthouse upon it, that should defy the fiercest action of the ocean for centuries of centuries. That is not the question for a community. That which they have to answer to themselves is, “ What common benefit will it be “ when made—what will it add to the “ power of the community, or how will “ it tend to benefit the district itself, “ and to advance the common inte- “ rest ” ] We unhesitatingly answer that to spend money on the construction e>f a dock at Oamaru, is to waste it on works that will be valueless. The report of the Harbor Master in 1868 ought to bo conclusive on this point. He said in respect to the Oamaru roadstead ; Tbe past twelve months at thri port commenced with such prosperity as seemed :o admit of no fear of steady progress being made in making this roadstead a harbor, but towards the close of the year the sad disasters amongst the shipping, &c., that have had to be recorded (ten vessels had been wrecked or damaged) should for ever settle the question of expending money on a breakwater, as contemplated ; and what appears to me to be the only security against a recurrence of such disasters will be to push forward the railway scheme. The Oamaru people have been very strenuous in urging that because of their having purchased largely of land, they are entitled to a proportionate amount to be expended for the benefit of the district, and Hone will more readily admit the truth and fairness of the claim than ourselves. But it is at all times charitable to prevent a person committing suicide, or, during a fit of aberration of mind, throwing his property into the sea; and if it be yet possible to change the current of thought in Oamaru, and to induce the people to act like sane men of business, all generations will have reason to be thankful. Supposing the dock to be constructed, how do they suppose it is to be made to pay 1 Vessels will still prefer Port Chalmers, with its superior safety and increasing facilities for loading and unloading. In a few years the principal lines of railway will concentrate there and upon the Bluff', and the rate of carriage from the interior —nay even from the neighborhood of Oamaru itself—will be less than the difference of freight that will be demanded between loading at Oamaru and either of those fine natural harbors. In order to make Oamaru a port of any importance, a ready communication with the interior is needed, and at the very best it could only command a very limited district, with a very limited class of products; for, in spite of every effort, the natural advantages of Moeraki, at which vessels might be loaded at comparatively light port charges, would offer superior inducements to paying heavy dock dues at Oamaru, The dock after a few years would be comparatively, if not altogether unused : a standing warning of the folly of looking at a project from only one point of view. If our Oamaru fellow-colonists regard their own interests, and really desire to lay out their money to the best advantage, they will lay aside their foolish attempt to rival Port Chalmers, and seek, in concentration of communication upon a point, to add to the general prosperity, by enabling the greatest amount of work to be done at the least possible expense. The same staff of officers will do the work of Oamaru and Port Chalmers at Port Chalmers, as is required there now, thus dispensing with the cost of revenue and dock officials at Oamaru. The vessels that would load at Oamaru, will load at Port Chalmers at a less rate of freight, thus tending to increase the trade of Otago, and saving money to the shippers in the Oamaru district itself, after they have secured the best mode of communication with the Port. A railway connecting the district with the Port

would add to the value of property along the line, induce the settlement of population, and enrich the Province as a whole. The dock scheme at Oamaru is but an attempt at diffusion of power, which must result in comparative isolation of the district, and consequent hindrance to its progress to the extent of the amount of money mis-spent.