LYTTELTON HARBOR BOARD.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 1087, 22 December 1877, Page 3

LYTTELTON HARBOR BOARD.

The Lyttelton Harbor Board held a meeting in the Government Buildings on Friday afternoon. Present —The Hon. E. Richardson (chairman), Hon. J. Hall, and Messrs J. Anderson, Wright, B. Craig, C. W. Turner, Harman, and Allwright. chairman's observations. Before proceeding to business, the Chairman took the opportunity of thanking Mr Harman for the time and trouble he had expended in his duties as deputy-chairman during the chairman’s absence in Wellington at Parliament, and to congratulate the Board on its having successfully negotiated the purchase of Peacock’s ■wharf. It had been notified by the secretary to the Chamber of Commerce that Mr C. W. Turner had been elected a member of the Board in the place of Mr Cunningham, retired ; and Mr Allwright, the newly-elected Mayor for Lyttelton, would take his seat as member for that borough ex officio. The chairman then read the following statement, which had been drawn up by Mr Harman, the deputy-chairman: — A declaration has been received from the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce advising the election of Mr C. W. Turner as a member of this Board in the place of Mr P. Cunningham, resigned. On the 14th instant the purchase of all the lessee’s rights and interests in the|Peacock’s wharf property was concluded, and the purchase money, £20,750, was paid to the lessee, £750 of this sum was for the purchase of the two steam cranes and nine coal buckets; their value being determined by the sub-committee appointed by you for the purpose. In order to complete the deed of transfer it became necessary to affix the seal of the Board to it, and the acting chairman, being of opinion that, in the absence of a specific resolution ordering it to be affixed, the resolution authorising the purchase of this property to be made was sufficient, he had the deed duly sealed in the presence of three members of the Board, as provided for in by-law Ho. 38. In order to set at rest any doubt on this point he thinks it would be well that the Board should confirm the action which lie took in the matter, and it would be desirable that the Board should say what course is to be taken should a similar case occur in future. It is proposed to take delivery of the Peacock’s wharf and property at the close of this month. There are two vessels now berthed at it, which will remain there till then, and in the meantime no further vessels will be berthed there. The lessee waived his right to a full month’s notice. The sub-committee appointed by you to consider the advisableness of purchasing the two sections 313 and 314, abutting on the Peacock’s wharf property, met in Lyttelton on the 12th instant and inspected the sections in question, but as the members of the committee were unable to come to a unanimous decision upon the matter, they agreed to leave it to the decision of the Board at their meeting to-day. The acting chairman deferred taking action in the matter of handing over the two steam cranes on Peacock’s wharf to the railway at the price paid for them by the Board, as it was reported to him that the Board would require a steam crane |of their own specially geared to work the scoop dredge. He, however, thinks it would hardly be wise, in view of the fact that the steam crane-power now available in Lvttelton for the use of the shipping is insufficient, to reduce it further by the withdrawal of one of the cranes for the use of the scoop dredge. I tbink the matter could be met by handing over these two cranes, upon an understanding that the Railway department would furnish the Board with a suitable one for the scoop dredging operations when required, charging them a fixed daily rate for the use of it. I may say that before the scoop dredge can be properly utilised it will be necessary to have a temporary line of rails laid along the outer edge of the Breastwork, {0 connect with the line running down to the

point where the reclamation work is now eoing on. The Board have several trollies in stock which might be employed to convey the spoil to that point. A letter, which will be read, was received from the Government on the Bth instant, referring to the proposal to charge the Harbor Board 5 per cent, for collecting their wharfage dues. As the letter stated that Mr Conyers, the superintending engineer, was authorised to furnish the Board with any information in I ns power as to the cost of collecting it by the railway, an application was made to him for it by our secretary, and it was furnished accordingly. As drawn it shows the cost to be 3-14 per cent., but the basis upon which the statement is framed fixes the proportion chargeable to the Harbor Board at an extreme limit. For instance, one-fourth of the railway collector’s salary is proposed to be “charged the Board. A comparison between the wharfage receipts and the receipts from the Christchurch section of the Canterbury railways shows this to be unreasonable—Total wharfage receipts for six months ending 30th June, 1877, £7917; total railway traffic receipts, merchandise only (exclusive of passengers, parcels, and live stock), for six months ending 30th June, 1877, £94,659. It will be seen that the amount of the wharfage dues is but about a I twelfth part of the railway receipts. Some decision on this question will have to be come to by the Board to-day, as the letter from the Government intimates that it is intended to charge 5 per cent, from January Ist, if the railway continues to collect the wharfages. It is now, however, quite clear, by the statement of costs furnished by the railway authorities, that the collection of the wharfage by the railway does not cost anything like 5 per cent. The cost is shown by it to be about 3 l-7th per cent., the proportion of the cost chargeable against the Harbor Board, as I have before stated, being placed at an extreme limit. There can be no doubt that it is a great convenience to the public to have their wharfages charged for and collected at the same time as the railway charges, and it must be admitted that it is a great convenience to the railway department also, as it will be remembered that the proposal that they should collect the wharfage for the Board emanated from the Engineer-in-Chief, who stated, through the Minister for Public Works, on February 22nd last, “That with respect to the arrangements for working the traffic of the wharves, that the railway could not be advantageously worked unless the railway authorities have entire management of the traffic,” and it was for that reason the Government proposed that the railway should collect, as agents for the Board, “ all rates levied by their authority. There is no doubt that the Harbour Board can arrange for the collection of the wharfages at a considerably less cost than 5 per cent. The Harbour Board would simply take up the position on the wharves occupied by the railway department when they acted as the Board’s agents, but the public would have to deal with two bodies instead of one. I cannot believe that the railway department will, in the event of the Harbour Board undertaking the collection of the wharfage dues, be able to reduce their present stuff and thereby effect any saving of expenditure. The dredge stopped work during the past few days, in consequence of her bow winch giving way. The new one supplied by Messrs Scott Bros, under contract is now being put in. The dredge will be at work again either to-morrow or on Monday. Upon further inquiry as to placing the dredge on the slip, it was considered better not to run any risk of damage by raising her on a slip which it was not perfectly certain would carry her. It is now proposed that I should meet Mr Turpin in Lyttelton next week for the purpose of examining the various slips, and determining whether it would be safe to place her on any of them. The other alteranatives would be, either to send her to Dunedin (which would be a very expensive undertaking, as she would have to be made fit for steaming down there), or to have her beached in Dampier’s Bay. I am of opinion that with proper appliances this could safely and effectively be done. Two reports from the Harbor Master will be read —the first relating to the necessity of removing the bridge-way on Naval Point Breakwater, for the purpose of allowing small vessels to enter and depart through that outlet. The second report refers to the desirableness of continuing to allow the breastwork at Peacock’s Wharf to be used by carts carrying goods between there and the town of Lyttelton. Both recommendations, I am of opinion, deserve the favorable consideration of the Board. A copy of The Lyttelton Harbor Board Land Act, 1877, together with the plan, was received from the Government last week, and this will complete the information required in connection with the issuing the Harbor Board debentures. The following amount has been paid to the Board’s credit since our last meeting:—Wharfages for two weeks ending Dec. Bth, 1877, £515 15s Id. Tenders for coal and stores will be opened today. ACCOUNTS. Several accounts having been ratified wore ordered for payment. While the accounts were under consideration it was stated that the stamp duty on the Peacock’s wharf deed amounted to £IOO. Mr Craig facetiously suggested that the Chairman or Mr Hall should endeavor to get the Government to release the Board from payment. committee’s report. Mr Harman handed in the report of the committee appointed to negotiate the purchase of sections 313 and 314, Lyttelton. The committee had agreed to relegate the matter to the Board. The Board went into committee to consider the question. On the Board’s resuming it was reported that a resolution, moved by Mr Harman and seconded by Mr Allwright, had been carried to the effect—“ That Mr Cunningham’s offer to sell sections 313 and 314, Lyttelton, be accepted, and that the chairman be authorised to complete the purchase and affix the seal if necessary.” The Board approved of the resolution, Mr Wright dissenting. AFFIXING THE SEAL. Mr Harman, in pursuance of an opinion given by the Board’s solicitor, moved—“ That m the cases of contracts approved of by the Board, and for the completion of which the affixing of the seal is necessary, the order for the affixing thereof shall be deemed to be included in the approval of the contracts, Mr Anderson seconded this. After some conversation it was agreed to withdraw the resolution, and it was resolved to confirm the action of those members who had signed the cheque and affixed the seal for the purchase of Peacock’s Wharf, CRANES The Chairman suggested that an arrangement should bo made with the General

Manager of Railways for the use of a steam crane at a fixed price. The matter was left to t he chairman. WHARFAGE DUES. A letter was received from the Govern - ment regarding the collection of wharfage dues, the Q-overnment stating that while desirous of considering the mutual feeling of the Board and the public, it could not consent to bear charges which should be borne by the local body chiefly interested. The Chairman said that in the only other case in the colony (Bluff Harbor), where a similar arrangement existed, objections had been taken to the proposed Government charge of 5 per cent., and a compromise had been come to, the Government agreeing to do the work for 21 per cent. Why should a similar arrangement not be made with Lyttelton, where the business was much greater ? The Hon. Mr Hall moved—“ That the Board has no wish to pay a smaller commission to the Government for the collection of wharfages than would afford a fair remuneration for the services rendered, but that the information received by the Board from the Railway Department shows that a commission of 2.)- per cent, would be an ample payment, and that unless, therefore, the Government are prepared to accept such payment the Board will take the necessary steps for collecting the wharfages itself.” His opinion was that the Board was being unfairly dealt with ; 2k [per cent, was {sufficient to pay the Government, but he would sooner pay 5 per cent, for private collection than submit to imposition. [Hear, hear.] Mr Wright had much pleasure in seconding the resolution. The charge proposed would entail an extra outlay on the part of the Board of £IOOO annually. The Chairman entirely approved of the resolution. He had expressed similar views personally to the Minister for Public Works, who had been strongly advised by the Railway Department that 5 per cent was necessary. Mr Conyers should be made acquainted with the resolution, if it was carried, and if no satisfactory arrangement could after that be come to, a carefully prepared letter on the subject should be forwarded to the Government. The resolution was carried unanimously. THE DREDGE. The Chairman referred to overhauling the harbor dredge, and the matter 4 was left to himself and the Harbormaster. SCARCITY OF TRUCKS. Mr Turner remarked that masters of vessels still indulged in complaints about the scarcity of trucks at the port. He had been written to to the effect that two vessels had been starved out of the Lyttelton trade, owing to the nonsupply of trucks, and the same correspondent stated that it would be cheaper to take goods to any other port in New Zealand for 14s per ton, than to Lyttelton for 18s per ton, all on account of the want of trucks. The Board recognised the matter as one of grave importance, and would give it serious consideration. TENDERS. Tenders were received for the supply of coals and stores. The tender of Wood and Co. for coals was accepted; those for stores were referred to the Chairman and the Harbormaster. The Board then adjourned till the 11th of January in Christchurch.