IMPROVEMENT OF THE PORT OF GREYMOUTH.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1906, 15 September 1874, Page 2

IMPROVEMENT OF THE PORT OF GREYMOUTH.

[NEW ZEALAND ".TIMES.]. „-,...,■,' It has already been reported that a ; deputation from Greymouth : had waited; > upon the Minister for Public Works and the Premier, f or, the purpose of represent--ing the necessity for extended harbor; :J works at Grfcymouth, and for umng-;.-..;---upon the Government the propriety of such works being early andertaken. It was agreed between the Minister for : , Public Works and the deputation that a J written memorandum of the representa- ■-.--;■ tions made should be submitted, and this ■■'■■'. was accordingly done by the deputation on Saturday. The memorandum was to - the following effect :— j ' "Wellington, 4th September, 1874. " Sir, — We have the honor ro request ; the attention of the Government to the present position of the port of the River Grey in reference to the development of the extensive mines of steam coal of high quality which exist on both banks of that river within a few miles of its i mouth. . ; • . ..* "The railway which is now in course . of construction will bring the produce of ) the mines to Greymouth ; but in the pre- ■ sent state of the river, which precludes ;f < the entrance of vessels drawing more than , about eight feet of water, the large quantities of coal which the two com- : panics whose mines are already in work- V ing order are prepared to deliver — prbba-^ ( bly not less than 200,000 tons per annum — cannot be provided with sufficient tonnage to take them quickly or economically ; to the different markets of this and the neighboring Colonies. ' "•"' '■''';■ :' :\!'.% " The inhabitants of Greymouth, fearing that the engineering staff of the Colony would be too much occupied in the superintendence of other works to give early attention to the subject, have ob- . ' tamed the services of Mr Moriarty, M.A.,y M.1.C.E., whose report upon the best ~" means of adapting the port of the Grey for the admission of vessels of larger tonnage has already been placed in your : hands. .■.'■■; •■• ,' : •■• ;; . -K'l 1 ' From, what has passed at the inter- ; view with which we have been favored • by the Hon. the Premier and yourself^ ■ • we understand that the Government do; ■ not dissent from the conclusions arrived^ ' at by Mr Mbriarty as to the nature' of the works required for the improvement of the port, and that: those conclusions are, in fact, almost identical with the opinions previously expressed by the Colonial Engineers. ....... . . ... . " We are further satisfied that the Government are fully impressed with the importance, in the interests of the Colony, of affording facilities for the working of mines which will give employment to a large number of people, and at the same time put a stop to the present needless efflux of capital for the purchase of a commodity which exists in such abundance within our own boundaries. . " Without unduly recapitulating facts . which - are already in the knowledge of _ : the Government, we may perhaps be allowed hereby to remind the Gbverm ment that the quality, of the coal has been proved by numerous tests to be almost unsurpassed— that it exists in contiguity to the Grey River in almost unlimited ■quantity, and that, to quote the. report, of Mr Blaqkett, C.E., and Dr Hector (9d 6b Appendix to Journals of House of Representatives, 1871) peculiar facilities obtain at Greymouth for the formation *>f a per*

manent harbor. The report saysl^PTt are opinion that it is rarely that any bai harbor presents such favorable conditions for the successful construction of perma nent harbor works.' To this we may adc that the coal seams have been latelj proved to extend northwards along the west flank of the Mount Day Range for a distance of miles, thus rendering the construction of an available port of still further service. " We are aware that the Government have not received the authority of Parliament for the construction of the extensive works which are required for this purpose, but we trust that you will favor us with some intimation of the intentions of the Government in the future, in order that persons who have invested, and who are willing to invest capital in the mines, and in the purchase of steam colliers and other suitable vessel, may be in a'position to judge whether they can depend upon the means being afforded them of transporting the produce of those mines to the various ports of New Zealand, the Australian Colonies, and elsewhere. '• Respectfully requesting that you will favor us with a reply as early as is convenient, " We have the honor to remain, (Signed) "Oswald Curtis. " Jas. A. Bonar. "H. H. Lahman. • "W. H. Harrison. " W. S. Smith. : . " Martin Kennedy. " Edward Wickes. " G. W. Moss. "R. J Johnston. " W, M. Cooper. "To the Hon. the Minister for Public Works." To this memorandum the Minister for Public Works gave a written reply. The following is a copy of the letter, with the exception of the usual formal opening paragraph, in which the business of the deputation is set forth : — " 1 have the honor now to state that the Government have always intended to carry out such works as may be necessary for the improvement of the port to facilitate the shipment of coal from Greymdtuth. " That the plan at first decided upon ha^Jjeen strictly adhered to, and the EriHfeer-in-Chief informs mt> that he aecrno reason to alter his views in regard to what is necessary to be done to effect the above object. "That it is intended to expend during the next twelve months an additional vote of LI O,OOO, taken during last session, in still further carrying out the plans already decided upon. "That, acting on the advice of the Engineer-in-Chief, the Government will be prepared to recommend to the General Assembly, at its next session, such further appropriation as may be considered necessary to carry out the plans for the further improvement of the harbor. That such recommendation will be accompanied by some proposition as to the fairer appropriation of the shipment and harbor dues of the port " To enable them to do so, the Government will continue to give the closest attention to the subject, so thnt they may be in a position before next session to ascertain to what extent it will be advisable then to ask for further grants. " Edward Richardson."