THE PORT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 3777, 5 November 1907, Page 2

THE PORT.

To the Editor. Sir, —1 do not apologise for reference to this subject. It is one of paramount importance to the whole community and the progress of the district. That we have an excellent harbour, and all the necessary adjuncts to a busy commercial centre, goes without saying, but because we have either gone to sleep, or are too tired to trouble, the interests of the community are being ignored. During the past six months, acres of land, more or less valuable, have been washed into the river ; the private owners have spent considerable sums of money to preserve the banks, but the result has been nil. The question now is, how long is our condi- . tion of lethargic indifference to last ? The property on which the borough rates are levied is slipping into the river, the channel is being destroyed in consequence, the facilities for making Foxton an important West Coast port are being destroyed, and the public life of Foxton is rolling itself into a fresh slumber, or, with an idiotic yawn, closing its eyes for a further relapse. ‘ ‘ God helps those who help themselves” is an old, but probably true adage, and one that has considerable application to our present position. We can rest assured that so long as we are content to slumber on, the Government is not going to waken us in surprise with a radical works policy in the improvement of our unhappy circumstances, and if anything is to be done at all, it must be by a united and determined effort of the Foxton people themselves to insist upon the Government giving them the cousideratiou so essential to the verj r existence of the place. Local indifference, sir, means that the Government will be indifferent also ; local activity means Government activity also. Surely, there is a sufficient sense of the imp«rtance of this matter yet apparent to at least some of our public men. Private owners cannot do anything hardly to improve the condition of the river banks, for if they took one step to secure the safety of their property and it was imagined that such an action interfered with the river course, they would lay themselves open to grave responsibilities, and anything done by them must be of a radical character, and at the same time with the consent and approval of the Marine Department. For, however much we may sympathise with the private owners of property, it can never be permissible for them to carry out the works that may be necessary to protect their properties, at perhaps the expense of the river’s usefulness. Whatever is done in that direction must be of a radical nature to be of any use at all, and unless it can be shown that any work they might attempt to cany out would not be prejudiced to the wider interests of those who use the river as a commercial highway, they cannot do anything. Under the circumstances, are their interests to be ignored ? Are they to stand idly aside, and see their properties destroyed, and have nothing to say or do ? The matter is one that affects the whole community, and the public interests of the place demand that immediate action be taken to lay the matter before the Minister for Marine, and demand that the interests of Foxton receive that amount of attention which will ensure its existence as a port, and preserve the facilities at hand to make it what nature destined it to be —the natural outlet of a large and important district. I would suggest that an influential deputation repair to Wellington without delay, and with the assistance of M.H.R.s. and Wellington gentlemen interested in the welfare of this port, press the matter so forcibly upon the Minister for Marine, under whose control the matter rests, that he will be compelled to afford some relief.—Yours etc., Uroknt.