THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1868.

Grey River Argus, Volume VI, Issue 439, 5 November 1868, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1868.

The vital question of all the West Coast ports appears at the present moment to be that of protection from the erratic changes of the rivers, and the best plan to be adopted to preserve the towns on their sites, and save the wharves and protective works from being carried out to sea. In many instances during the last few years the measures which have been adopted have failed ; and at Hokitika, Westport, and Greymouth works which have cost many thousands of pounds have been destroyed in a few hours. Among skilled men, opinions differ as to the best means to be adopted to stay the destruction caused by the flooded rivers — how to break the force of their current or divert their course; and the want of any positive knowledge on these points has cost the inhabitants of Westland the largest portion of their ' income, even during its best and palmiest days. Opinions have been offered and experiments made upon many systems; and now, after more than three years of experimenting, we are very little nearer the desired result than when we commenced. Year by year the inhabitants of Greymouth h,ave, in common with the residents in the other towns, been throwing thousands upon thousands of pounds into the river, iv the vain attempt to protect their property from floods, and still we are not protected. If we were to enquire into the cause of this, we might find that it arose from a want of experience or engineering skill on the part of those who devissd the works, or a want of the means to carry them out as they ought to be, to be of real service. Perhaps there is some truth in both of these reasons. We have frequently heard it argued that the plan upon which it was proposed to carry out the works here was wrong in principle, and never could be more thau " a temporary ience" against the force of the current; j and it has as often been urged, and, perhaps, with more truth, that the only system which was wrong was that of frittering away the money as we have been doing on small portions of the work, and not carrying them out in their integrity at once, and thereby giving them a fair trial. There is much truth contained iv this latter proposition, and every day we see the disastrous results of the principle of procrastination upon which the protective works have been carried on. The delays which took place in the driving of the piles in the work as it now stands, and in fixing the planking are well known, and can be accounted for by the various local bodies through, whose hands the work had to pass, and the difficulty which always stood in their way of

raisiug a sufficient sum of money to carry on the works with some show of energy. But when these works passed into the hands of a legally constituted body, it was anticipated that they would be vigorously carried on to completion. In this the residents have again been disappointed, and for months, during which five floods occurred, these unfinished works have been left at the mercy of the river. By the fact that the piling has stood the force of five heavy floods, we may argue that it was strongly built, and that if it had been filled in behind iv a proper and substantial manner, so as to prevent the washing away of the bank and increasing the scour in the region of the piles, the additional works, which have now to be undertaken for its safety, would not have been required, But the changes .which have taken place in our local form of government have caused many delays — some of which could have been overcome, others could not— but all of which have proved highly dangerous to the very existence of the town. Now, we have arrived at that stage when the work is under the charge of the Borough Council. The members of that body have on all occasions shown their anxiety to carry on the works in a business-like manner, but they have been hedged round with difficulties, some of which have been made for them by the Act aud the Government, others have been made by themselves, by an over-anxiety to keep strictly, too strictly, within the letter of the Act, and to disregard its spirit. We have often thought that if a little more liberality was used in the interpretation of the Act, and a greater desire shown to do work than to pick faults, the business of the Council and also the jDiiblic works would be carried on in a much more expeditious manner. However that may be, we are now face to face with the fact that the protective works must be finished, and that at once, or they must be left to their fatej and that fate, our EngL ncer tells us, is to go over the bar, and with them probably a large portion of the town. The refusal of the General Government to grant the Corporation the borrowing powers sought for, and its inability to comply with the provisions of the Act, so as to empower it to levy a special rate within the first year of its existence, have compelled the Borough Council to appeal to the citizens to put their hands into their pockets, by petitioning the Council to levy what the Act calls a separate rate — that is a rate levied in addition to the general rate for town purposes, and which will be applied to a specific object, viz., assisting in the completion of the protective works. Such a rate can not exceed the amount of sixpence in the pound on the valuation of property, and is expected to realise the sum of £750. That amount will not complete the work, but it will materially assist, as by the time it is expended the Council will have i'uuds sufficient to carry it on to completion ; that is to say, if no heavy flood occurs in the meantime, when no one in town would dare to answer for the consequence?. At a late public meeting of the citizens it was resolved to allow the separate rate to be levied, and a committee was appointed to draw up a petition to the Council to levy the same. It requires to be signed by three-fourths of those who will pay the rate before it can have any effectThen the rate can be levied over the whole Borough. The committee are now actively engaged in obtaining signatures, and it is to be hoped that the citizens will not hold back, when ' they have been appealed to iv such a direct manner and on such a vital question, but will sign the document at once, so as to enable the committee to present it to the Council to-night, in order that immediate action may be taken in the mutter. It is one of selfpreservation. Whether the works are constructed upon a scientific principle or not, this is not the time to stop and inquire, as any day we may be visited by a flood which may wash not only the protective works, but also thousands of pounds worth of property out to sea.