The Globe. MONDAY, JULY 17, 1876.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 648, 17 July 1876, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, JULY 17, 1876.

Amongst those questions which will have to be considered by the Lyttelton Harbour Board, should it be appointed, the charge for wharfage will, of course, be one of the most important. Much has been said lately in Lyttelton regarding a new impo-t of of Is 6d per ton which is now charged for haulage, and which brings the cost of landing goods at the port up to 3s 6d per ton, viz., 2a wharfage and Is 6d haulage, exclusive of 6d per ton cranage paid by all vessels requiring steam cranes in discharging. In the old times, la per ton was all that was charged; but of course the conveniences were so few, and freights so high in consequence, that indirectly quite as much or more, was paid by consumers than at present. What appears to have caused the greatest amount of dissatisfaction in port is, that this charge of haulage is confined to Lyttelton alone, Christchurch paying 8s per ton for goods delivered there: viz , 6s railway carriage and 2s wharfarge: but though, apparently, no haulage is charged, we are given to understand that it is merely to simplify the accounts; so that in reality the expenses of delivering a ton of goods in Christchurch are, 2s wharfage, 4s 6d carriage, and la 6d haulage. The mere carrying of goods is not such an expense as the hauling, and of course the is Gd for haulage is really a terminal charge to reimburse the Government for removingthe goods iu the trucks to the sheds and delivering to the owners. In most seaport towns there are some means of access to a wharf or wharves for drays, so that goods can be fetched direct from the vessel to any place the consignee desires, but in Lyttelton the network of rails running round the whole water frontage renders the approach of a dray or cart to one of the wharves an impossibility, and the consequence is that the goods, as landed from the vessels, have to be placed in trucks, laken to the Government sheds where they are unloaded, placed in security under shelter, and delivered to their owners; and it is for this service, ec-

tirely distinct from wharfage, that the Is Gd per ton haulage is charged. At Port Chalmers 3s per ton is paid—2s to the railway and Is to the Harbour Board—but the goods are simply shifted in the trucks two or three hundred yards from the wharf, and no shelter provided; and in other ports, where there is free access, a toll is imposed of 2s Gd on every dray or cart that cornea on the wharf, and, as drays on an average will not carry more than a ton of goods, it will be seen that they are no better off than Lyttelton. There is a road to be made shortly to the Gladstone Pier, by means of which carts will be able to get round there, but as the wharf is a good distance from town, the cost of carriage will be quite as much as the haulage charged by the railway. Much is said from time to time, about a free wharf, it being urged that, as the whole of the water frontage has been taken, some compensation should be given to the town; but a free wharf is not to be hoped for, and even if it were given, what is to keep it in repair, if there were no dues, for surely Government could hardly be expected to do so if they received no revenue from it, and it is quite certain no Harbour Board would. At the same time something is certainly due to the people of Lyttelton, and we do not see why that something should not be given. At present no one can reach the railway station without crossing the narrow gauge lino, and no one can get to the wharves without crossing several lines of rail. Government is put to considerable expense in keeping men to warn people at the crossings, and yet in spite of all this, there is hourly fear of some accident occurring, and there have been many very narrow escapes. Even should the passengers station be removed to the Lyttelton side of the narrow gauge line, people must still cross the lines to reach the vessels at the wharves, without something else is done. The only remedy, therefore, appears to be to erect a bridge from near the new Government Buildings in Oxford street to the wharf known as the Screw Pile Jetty. We are informed that there are no engineering difficulties in the way, but that a bridge could be constructed not only for passengers, but for drays also. By this means the people of Lyttelton would get what they desire —free access to one of the wharves to fetch their goods without paying haulage, and all travellers would be benefilied by being able to reach the steamers without having to wait, or to run the risk of being crushed under one of the trains which are continually passing. From its central position there is little doubt that the Screw Pile Jetty will become, when the harbour has been dredged out, the steamers’ wharf. It could easily be extended, so as to accommodate all our coastal steam fleet, and when the breakwater is finished will be easier to come alongside and get out from, than any other wharf. The passenger traffic across the lines could therefore be almost solely confined to this bridge, which, if erected, would doubtless prove a benefit not only to Lyttelton but to the entire community.