HARBOR BOARD.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2440, 31 January 1882, Page 4

HARBOR BOARD.

The adjourned annual meeting of this body was hold yeoterday afternoon at two o’clock. Present—The Hon. E. Richardson (chairman), Messrs O, Turner, E. G. Wright, B, J. S. Harman, Hon. J.T. Peacock, P. Cunningham, H. Sawtoll, J. D. Macpherson, K. Allan.

The following is the important portions o£ tfcfl Booratavy’s report:—

Sir, —I have the honor to submit the fifth annual statement of accounts of tho Lyttelton Harbor Board, duly audited and certified by the Provincial District Auditor;—l. The Board commenced tho year 1881 with a credit balance of £196,245 17s 4d. The total receipts for the year amounted to £45,297 7s Id, and the expenditure to £86,011 7s fid, so that a sum of -£65,431 17s 4d remained to tho Board’s credit on the Ist of January, 1882. 2. It is perhaps hardly necessary that I should hero explain that the amounts just quoted do not represent tho receipts and expenditure which actually belong to tho year 1881, for the reason that, in several oasei, notably in wharfage receipts, there remains at the end of each year an unpaid amount, which comes to hand after the close of the year to which it belongs. 3. In order that the actual earnings and expenditure of the past year may be clearly understood, I have prepared a statement (A), which I attach, showing tho exact position of the Board, so far as relates to its ordinary receipts and expenditure . Tho ordinary revenue amounted to .£34.213 fis 3d, and tho expenditure to .£28,215 4«, leaving a credit balance of £5998 5s 3d for the year 1881. lathis expenditure is included the coet of dredging, which is henceforth chargeable against loan. I would here call attention to tho fact that Bank interest forms no part of the statement just quoted, as (4) I considered that money accruing from that source properly belongs to the loan account, almost the whole of this interest having been earned by placing the balance of the proceeds of the loan to fixed deposit at the Bank from time to time. The Ham realised in this manner amounts for past throe years in all to £15,422 5s 2d. 5. This brings mo to tho expenditure under the Harbor Board loan of 1879, which is fully given ia Table B. also attached. The receipts amount to £324,793 17b Id, and the expenditure and

liabilities on the 3!st December, 1881, to ,£205,802 7s 10d, thus leaving an unexpended balance of £18,996 9s 3d of the Loan of 1879, which together with tho accumulated surplus balances of the ordinary revenue from past years, now amounting to £26.375 4s 3d, makes a total of £45,371 13s 6d available for tho works mentioned at the foot of Table 8., or such other works as tho Board may hereafter decide upon. I may point out that tho Board are not absolutely pledged or committed to carry out the works enumerated, and that many of them may bo very considerably modified, so as to .bring their cast well within tho available balance of £.15,371 13s 6d mentioned above, and which may be further augmented by the additional Bank ntoreat during tho current year, probably to the extent of some £2500. 7. This brings me to the return of dredging, F., for tho past and previous years. It is most satisfactory to observe that a greater amount of dredging work has been done daring tho past year than has been effected in any previous year. The quantity ie 301,140 cubic yards, or 418,250 tons. Tho cost, as compared with the best results of any previous year, being also considerably lower, being 5 1-65 against 5Jd tho highest in any year being 7Jd. Tho total quantity dredged since the commencement in 1876 is 1,486,710 cubic yards, or 2,063,474 tons, at an average coat of 61-10dpor cubicyord, and a think these figures, as regards coat and results, will bear favorable comparison with any dredg ing operations carried out on this side of the line. 8. I will now return to table O, the return of wharfage dues for the past year. It will bo noted that the wharfage receipts for 1831 are some £3307 3s 9d less than they were for 1880. This may bo chiefly accounted for by the fact that in April last the Board reduced their wharfage charges on grain produce, coal minerals, &c., also on timber, by 25 per cent. At the foot of the table just referred to are shown full particulars of quantity and description of the various classes of goods upon which wharfage has been paid during the years 1880 and 1881 respectively,and therates charged. 9.Table D, the return of pilotage and Port charges for 1881, and the four previous years, thows that there has been a falling off of some £637 13s Id in the past year ns against tho year 1880. This may bo explained partly on account of there being a slightly less shipping tonnage visiting the Port, together with the fact that a large number of vessels are exempt from the payment of pilotage, except once a year, as very many of the masters of intercolonial sailing vessels and most of tho masters of steamers now hold pilotage exemption certificates for the Port of Lyttelton, issued by mo, in terms of the Harbors Act of 1873. 10. Towage, return (B) shows the gross earnings of the tug Lyttelton for the year, exclusive of tho value of services rendered in towing tho Minna Bell scoep dredge, amounting to £l5O, to have been £3410 7s 3d, and the expenditure, including her insurance premium of £485 a year,, to have amounted to £2895 10s sd, leaving a credit balance of £513 16s lOd. I think it, however, right to direct your attention to tho fact that this surplus will barely provide for a depreciation fund at 5 per cent., taking the tug’s value at £12,000, and in addition to this, I may point out that her boilers will require renewing at no very distant date, and this should not be lost sight of when the Board take into cocsidorationtho proposed re-arrangement of the towage rates. 11. The next statement (table G) which I have to refer to is the estimate of ordinary revenue r.nd expenditure for the current year, 1832. lu it I have sot down the wharfage receipts at £19,000, and having in view the fact that the 25 per cent, reduction on agricultural produce, &c., made by the Board in April last, added to a further 25 par cent, reduction on the same articles, which came into force on the 2nd of this month (January, 1882), will probably affect the receipts under this head to the extent of some £IO,OOO per annum, and the reduction of the pilotage rates to 3d per ton all round will further reduce our ordinary revenue some £IBOO, making in all a total reduction of, •ay £l‘2,oi'o a year, in round numbers. On the other hand, wo shall have a fresh source of income from tho rent of the new export shod, and also from the reclaimed land to the eastward of the dock, which will probably, for the year, amount to £20 : 0 ; the latter source of revenue should be an increasing one, as a demand for store sites on tho reclaimed land is likely to arise. Tho expenditure side cf the avcount ia relieved of the charge for dredging (£8000), and the result is that a credit balance of some £6625 is shown for the year 1882, 12. Looking to tho largo amount of timber works which the Board have now to maintain, more especially the decking of the wharves, which is subjected to a very serious wear and tear, and a portion of which must shortly require to be renewed, the balance of £6625 is certainly not too much to be funded at the present time for the purpose. In my statement of assets and liabilities on tho 31st of December, 1881, is a full list of tho estimated value of the existing tic-her works belonging to tho Board; and tho estimated yearly depreciation upon them, at 5 per cent., now reaches £6600 per annum. This statement also shows tho estimated value of the Board’s property to be £483.830 11s, and their liabilities to be £223,300 4s 3d, leaving a balance iu the Board’s favor of £265,530 11s. 13. The last return I have attached to my annual statement of accounts is one, tho value of which, 1 think tho Board and the public will appreciate, namely, a statement of the total receipts and expenditure of the Board since its constitution, now just a period of five years. I have separated the ordinary receipts and expenditure from those coming under the bead of loan and harbor works. The ordinary receipts for the fivo years amounted to £151,831 2s 2d, and the expenditure (including £36,000 for dredging, and £32,000 for interest on debentures), to £104,995 19s, and tho loan revenue to £221,798 17a Id, against an expenditure upon harbor works of £206,202 3a 7d, leaving a balance in the bank of £65.431 16a 8d available to meet the existing liabilities and the proposed now works already referred to.

The Chairman raid—The meeting which we hold to-day, in accordance with the terms of the Harbor* Act of 1878, i*. as you are aware, for the purpose of considering and adopting, or otherwise, the accounts of the Board for the past twelve months. The account* and statistics accompanying them have been in your hands sufficiently long for you to have become acquainted with their details, and to make our business in connection with them of an almost formal character. The account* have been audited and certified as correct by the Government Auditor, and I have been requested by Mr Ollivier to state to the Board that he found our books to be kept in a most satisfactory manner, and, further, that of all the accounts which have come before him for audit, none were submitted in more perfect order or so uniformly correct. Mr Williams, in his annus! report to the chairm-in, which is also in your hand*, comments *o fully on all the main features of these accounts that it loaves little for me to say on this occasion, and I will only draw special attention to the otatement, which summarises the action of the Board during the five years it has existed, and I do so because I think this statement will be of especial interest to those whom we directly represent, and who have placed bo largo a trust in our hands, as well as those outside this district who watch the proceeding* of the various forms of local government which obtain throughout the colony. One point may possibly escape the notice of the members of the Board—namely, that the purchase of the Peacock’s Wharf property, coating £22,850, which took place long before the issue of our loan, was paid for out of our ordinary revenue, and therefore does not appear in the loan account. I am glad that Mr Williams has drawn particular attention to the groat reduction the Board has been able to make in its charges during the past year, being a reduction of one-half on all colonial produce and imported coal and timber, a* well as a very appreciable reduction in the rates of pilotage, involving together a diminution of our revenue to the extent of fully £12,000 per annum. While it is a matter for regret that, owing to the serious mishap that has occurred to the ship Pampero, on whioh the caisson for the graving dock has been shipped, the final completion and utilisation of the dock will be retarded for several months, I think it is equally a matter for congratulation that our contractors, Messrs Ware and Jones, have so successfully completed their portion of the work, and I think great credit is due to them for having so honestly and energetically carried on this great work under our engineer, Mr Napier Bell, and his aesistant, without a single hitch or misunderstanding. I still hope that the dock will be ready for use before the next buey season comes round. I think it worth while to draw attention to the fact that although the dock is now only 450 ft long, it will be quite feasible, with a few months’ notice, at any time to lengthen it ouffioiently to take in tho longest and largest merchant steamer now afloat, and this can bo done at a comparatively small expense, and at no risk to tho stability of the present work.

Mr Wright asked how tho sum of £2500 sinking fund was invested, and also why the dock had cost £102,000, when the original estimate was only £80,000? The Chairman explained that the sinking fund in hand amounted to £2OOO, of which £1472 was invested in City bonds. He would presently state what the Commissioners recommended on this subject. With regard to tho dock, the increased cost was owing to the fact that it had been lengthened 50ft beyond the original estimate, and also that additional machinery had been required. When completed, and taking the land reclaimed at a fair average value, the coat of the dock would be about £78,000.

Mr Wright concurred with the auditor as to the accuracy of the accounts, but he would like to know what documents it was intended to be published. The Chairman said that certain documents were required to be published by law, but all other# were handed to the press, who used their discretion in the matter. Mr Wright believed it would not be judicious to publish two or three paragraphs which appeared in. tho letter from tho secretary to the chairman. Those remarks would come more properly from tho chairman, and were rather out of place coming from the secretary. He referred to the statement that the Board must not lose sight of the foot that dredging for tho future must be charged to loan. The other portion to which ho referred was in regard to the dredging operations outside the moles. Ho took most exception to clauses 14 and 15. The former is as follows:— 11 1 cannot conclude this report without taking advantage of the opportunity to express the great obligation I feel I am under to you as chairman of tho Board for the unceasing and constant attention which you have at all times accorded mo on the very frequent occasions on which it has been necessary to refer to you, and which has moot materially aided me in, I have reason to hope satisfactorily, carrying out tho duties appertaining to my office as the Board’s executive officer.” The secretary was, no doubt, a most zealous officer, but ho had been a little bit led away as to what was exactly proper as coming from him. Then, egain, in another part the secretary expressed an opinion on a technical matter, and one which came within the jurisdiction of the engineer.

Mr Turner suggested that the letter should be treated as a private communication for the information of the chairman, and not as belonging to the public. It contained expressions of opinion on the acts and policy of the Board. It was a very valuable document, but it was not necessary that it should all be published. Mr Wright said that it the letter wore to be regarded ns private, he had nothing more to say. But if it were published throughout the colony it would convey tho idea to outsiders that tho secretary was really “ boss ” of the whole concern. Tho Chairman did not think that anything of the sort was meant. The Secretary said he had simply desired to give tho Board the fullest information he could, and he had drawn up the report in as concise a form as possible. Mr Cunningham said nobody gave the secretary credit for more than a swift pen. There was a little more of tho style of a Minister for Public Works in the report than was absolutely necessary in tho case of a body like tho Board. Mr Macpherson thought the secretary was quite right in regarding himself as tho executive officer of tho Board.

Mr Allan agreed that it would be better to treat the letter as confidential. The Chairman said that hitherto all their proceedings had been open to the press, and it had been customary for the secretary to furnish a report similar to the one now in question. It the Board thought that the report should be made by the chairman, perhaps it would be desirable to do so for the future. He was quite euro, however, that no member of the Board attributed to Mr Williams any desire whatever to exceed his duty. Mr Wright said there were portions of the report which it would bo advisable to publish, and ho would suggest that only the parts to which he had taken exception should be omitted. He moved that clause 6be struck out.

The Hon. Mr Peacock did not see why this should be done. The secretary wns only calling their attention to facts already reported on by other officers of the Board. After some farther discussion the clause was struck out.

On the motion of Mr Wright, clauses 14 and 15 and the last part of clause 13 were struck out. With regard to clause 15, it was usual for the chairman to make some acknowledgment of the services of the officers, but it was rather out of place for the secretary to patronise the other officers. Mr Wright moved—“ That the accounts of the Lyttelton Harbor Board as balanced and audited to the 31st December, 1881, having been produced at the annual meeting of the Lyttelton Harbor Board held this 30th day of January, 1882, at Christchurch, also a statement of the assets and liabilities of the Lyttelton Harbor Board on the 31st December, 1881, the Board resolved that the accounts us submitted ha allowed and passed by them, and certified accordingly under the hand of tho Chairman of the Board.” He repeated that he quite agreed with the opinion expressed by the auditor in regard to the manner in which the accounts were kept. Mr Harman seconded tho motion. Ho wished to add his testimony to the manner in which the secretary had discharged his duties. He bed never seen the accounts of any Board with which he had been connected presented in such an intelligible form as was the case with the Harbor Board. A new member coming upon the Board could see at a glance the position of affairs. Mr Macpherson, as a member of the finance committee who had gone over the accounts, could endorse what Mr Harman had just said. As an expert, he could say that the accounts reflected the greatest credit upon Mr Williams.

Motion agreed to. Mr Turner thought it would be proper for the Board to mako some recognition of tho services of its officers during the past year. The report of the secretary as amended would go forth as one of the moat valuable documents that had ever been issued at the port, and would be useful to other ports in New Zealand. He would move that the Board expresses its thanks not only to Mr Williams but to the staff generally. The motion was seconded and agreed to.

This concluded the adjourned annual meeting, and the ordinary meeting of tho Board was then hold.

The Chairman reported that tho following sums had been paid in to the Board’s account since the last ordinary meeting—Wharfage, £1779 10s ; pilotage and port charges, £490 4j 2d; towage, rents, &0., £370 12s; interest on fixed deposits, £IBOO ; and amount transferred from fixed deposit to current account, £8000; total, £12,430 6s 2d. The penalty of £l6O for non-completion of the caisson in contract time had been paid by Messrs Arrol and Co., and he could not recommend that it should be remitted. As the vessel that was bringing cut tho caisson was not likely to arrive before tho beginning of July next, he thought the harbour improvement committee might be empowered to arrange with the contractors to take over the dock directly tho dock and pumping machinery wore fully completed. The committee appointed for the purpose want fully into the tenders for stores and ironwork, and found that W. B. Forbes’ was the lowest for stores, and Mr John Pope's for ordinary wrought iron work and boiler work castings, and these tenders had been accepted. A report had been laid on the table from Messrs Bell and Miller relative to lighting the harbour with electricity ; but the system proposed was far beyond the present requirements of the Port, and consequently the cost proportionately in excess of what the Board would be prepared to pay. Several matters of minor importance mentioned in the chairman’s statement were referred to the harbour improvement committee.

It was resolved—“ That the engineer should bo authorised to arrange for a water supply for the dock.”

On the motion of Mr Allan, seconded by Mr All wright, it was resolved—“ That the Board refuse to remit the penalty for the non-delivery of the caisson.” Accounts to the amount of £8634 16s wore passed for payment.

Mr Harman moved —“ That the harbor improvement committee bo authorised to make arrangements with the dock contractors for taking over the dock as soon as the works depending on the arrival of the caisson are completed, subject to the confirmation of tho Board.” Mr Wright seconded tho motion, whioh was put and carried.

On the motion of Mr Harman, it was resolved —“That tho (inking fund commissioner* be authorised to invest the tmn of £2OOO for twelve months in the Permanent Investment and Loan Association at not leas than 5 per cent, per annum.” The Board confirmed the acceptance of tenders by Iho committee, and ordered that the seal should be affixed thereto. On the motion of Mr Cunningham it was resolved—“ That a message be sent to the Dunedin Harbor Board, congratulating it upon the safe arrival of the new dredge.” Two notices of motion were postponed nntil nest meeting, and the Board adjourned until the 16th February.