Manawatu Herald FRIDAY AUGUST 2. 1889 THE PORT AND TRADE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue 279, 2 August 1889, Page 2

Manawatu Herald FRIDAY AUGUST 2. 1889 THE PORT AND TRADE.

The position of'Jfoxtoii," one may almost now say, i^secni wl. >t i | le first, rush in the production of d tssnd flax a h.-sitaiiov wiis uxhiluf-od, and not unwisely, liv tho older hands, caused by doabt'a as to tl)eliko!ili,)od of the permanency of the trade, and pi'osuinably well inform wl ])oi-Huns kept issuing; warnings for the dro^a which were'to be looked foi* iii AFiroh

last, and then in July. This month has : past and the last day of it made > 'oj iididh.e Stirring tidings that large orders for hemp had been cabled from America to Auckland. This practiually intimates that fcho price of our produce will hold good for another neaaon at any rate. Wo hold, howuver: that it means moid, ad ft pw(isdl of tile iioiidoii tjrojce^s, reports have always aliaiib'wea ' tt ae'irian^ likely to arise, where it has 1 , in America, and promising, a. great fature if a footing in that country i ould be secured. Therefore we .may well congratulate all on the wolcome news to hand. "We have now, as a town and. a port, to consider what steps we must take to obtain the fu lest advantage". of this message. It is admitted that every place within our boundaries that can be called a dwelling, is occupied, and not another family can be accommodated, 'l he holders of properties in Foxton cannot allow this state of things^ to remain, as every day'sdelay is to them and to the town a; , large, a deliberate loss of money. The trade has been growing so gradually, that but few comprehend:, the dimensions it has now reached ; . bat one or tw« ■ facts may assist them tn do so 'I here was a time, many years back, during the hurly burly of the Public Works scranib o, whjen trade was wonderfully brisk at tni's I'ort, but in the best of those days' the number of vessels onteivd* inwards and outwards in a month never reachod the total, as shown by tke pilot's returns for June and July. Wo may also state that tao tonnage would be much larger, in proportion to the number now, than then, 60 that the increase- of trade by water is very marked The number of vesso a in June were 25 outwards and inwards, and in July 27 outwards and 25 inwards. It was thus almost time that tire service was not J;oft only in one man's hands. We n ted a few months ago, with much ploa* sure, that the export of dressed h'-rnp reached to three Irandred tons ' a month, but that is now,put entire y, into the shade, as during the seven, days between tha 22nd and 30th of July, 1 229 bales of hemp were shipped,, thus equalling 1200 tons per month." Many may he surprised why this shou d be, as the number of mills have not increased, but then we. counted the mills in course of erection, and now we are receiving their output. The Carnarvon tramway helps the illustrati n, as the traffic increases every week, and a train leaving with nine to eleven trucks is not so very surprising. If this is the state of the industry in midwinter, some idea may be gained of what it is likely to be in mid-sum-mer, and with increased trade must come increased population. We« therefore come back to the point that must be considered, viz., as to the stops necessary to increase the house accommodation of the town. We know that by building houses this wait would be supplied, but J though the land is cheap and avail- • ble, the money for timber and ' labour is not. Though tbis township has not for a time been profitable to the investor, yet those who have faith in flax must likewise have faith in the port of the " homo " of ho trade The only way to overcome the " tightness " would be for our loading men to start a building society, or fo a good old standing society to use this field as aremuner -tive investment for its funds. If no sbeioty 'makes a'push we strongly urge an attempt be ng made to haVe a society for the district, and if good settlers would accept positions on it ' there would be little difficulty mi getting outside capital for use. We commend the suggestion to our thoughtful readers.