THE LOCAL PORT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1203, 3 February 1914, Page 2

THE LOCAL PORT.

VISIT OF INSPECTION BY MINISTER FOR MARINE. The Hon. F. M. B. Fisher, Minister for Marine, visited Foxton yesterday at the invitation of the Harbour Board and Borough Council, for the purpose of inspecting the wharf and river and discussing with the Board matters concerning its welfare. The Minister was met at Levin by Mr Hennessy, Chairman of the Board, and motored to Eoxton, arriving at about ix.3o a.m. He was accompanied from Levin by Mr John Robert-, sou, member for the dis trvf and at Foxtou was met by- ‘ 7 Worship the Mavor (Mr .P/ ' Stiles), and Mr D. - M.P. for Palmerston rs, was also present. After welcomed by the Maydf?. Minister was shown wharf and dumping sheds, was motored to the heads the Awahou, hemp laden Foxton and bound lor Welling* jpijjjjfi take the bar. He was entertc'.by the Board at lunch at Why i‘T Hotel, and in the afternoon a -tt to the heads was made in Harbour Board launch. the trip, matters affecting Board were discussed in an V formal way. In the evening a meeting was held in the Council Chamber, ove'rwhich Mr P. Hennessy, ChairmfA, * of the Board, presided, when there. were present : Mr G. H. (Mayor), Messrs Barber, Jenks, ’ and Nash (Members of the Board)., and Messrs J. Robertson and • D. Buick, M’s.P. , The Chairman, in opening, said * he was pleased of the opportunity- - of welcoming the Minister to Foxton, especially as he was a p New Zealander, and they should be proud of the fact that a of the country should hold the position he does. During the time he had been with them the . Minister had made a great many inquiries, and was now in possession of most of the facts in connection with the Board’s position ahjl* the history of the port. The main .■ endeavour of the Board was td; again get control of the harbour? - . and revenue, in order to improve* the waterway, and make it nature intended it to be—' important port—as the capital value of the district served by the river amounted to no less a sum than over seven million pounds. The Board had tried to keep the port open properly, but had found it an almost hopeless job, on account of having practically no money to do it with. The annual net profits for the last five years from the wharfages, collected by the Railway Department, averaged . used for the purpose of improving' the river, as it should have beea! they would have had a much in»l-:i proved port, and there would been no grounds for complaint, ail at present. Since the Board iaajppj been in existence they had don« . all in their power with . the small! means at their disposal to improves■ i the port. Before the Board wasO' formed, the Marine Department!!? used to pay a local firm £lso pet 1 * annum for sounding the river and ;:'j shifting the buoys, but the Board had saved this amount, purchasing a launch, and having this work carried out by their own officer. Also, when under the control of the Department, vessels could only work the port in daylight, but the Board were now lighting the river when necessary, and the port could be worked day or night. He was asked by tbs Minister during the afternoon what he would suggest the Minister’s Department should do, and Mr Hennessy said they might approach the Railway Department and get some means of dredging the river to get rid of the banks that had formed in the channel, and which were a great source of trouble to navigation. Since the strike only one coal boat had visited the port, and the residents of the district were, as a consequence of having to get their coal by rail, called upon to pay fiaftS, per ton more than if brougM||p in by steamer. The shipw| ping companies, while they could get freights to other ports, IB were not anxious to work F oxtonf Jw and in fact, in the condition the river had been of late, they were’ ; not willing to trade here underi| any conditions. The small votqa|, of £250 which had been placed oh;|& the Estimates for the purpose Improving the river was totall|||| Inadequate, as the work required jf to be done was considerable. Ihe Board at the present time bad a credit balance of some Moo, and they were quite willing to put this with the £250 voted by the Department, but even then the amount was so small that practically no good could be done With jt. If Mr Fisher could get the Railway Department to dredge the river until such time as satisfactory terms for the purchase of the wharf could be arranged between the Board and the Railway Department, it would assist them materially. Mr Stiles said that in the regulations for the purchase of the wharf, the Railway Department had overlooked one point, and that was the equity of the whole thing. The amount they set down as the value of the wharf, ,£28,700, was arrived at by capitalising the profits at five per cent., but had the Department expended the profits made on the improvement of the -■ river, as they should have done, there would have been very little left to capitalise on. The district, was suffering very considerably on account of the bad state of the river from time to time, and the cost of various products was much increased through the pprt’ so| being iu proper condition. The Board should be in a position

make Foxton a very prosperous port, but could do nothing until they got the wharfage revenue. In reference to the vote of by the Marine Department, this was much too small to be oi any practical use. He would like to see the Department take up the dredging, and while they were at it make a good job of it

Mr Nash said the Minister of Marine was the first Minister that had really grappled with this question in a proper manner, and he felt from the attitude Mr Fisher had takeu up iu the past, that he was anxious to htlp the Board. From a commerce point of view the whole district had been hampered through the port not being properly attended to. The Board, during its existence, had been very careful with its finance, aud now had a credit of about ,£4OO, but must be remembered that iu the past the officials of the Board had not been paid sufficiently well. He hoped that Mr Fisher had been impressed with the possibilities of the port and the extensive district it served. He took it that the duty of any Government was to do the greatest good for the greatest number, and in the case of the Foxton Hafbour Board the whole of the extensive district, with the exception of Feilding, was quite willing to be included in a rating area for the purchase of the wharf, and iu this case he hoped the Government would look to the Interests of the many as against the lew. Mr Barber said the Mauawatu County Council was anxious for the Board to get control of the wharf, as at present the traffic on the tramway line was suffering through the port of Foxton not being kept in proper condition.

Mr Robertson said that from what the Minister had seen be was sure he would recognise that the members of the Board were very much in earnest in this matter, and also that they had been doing their best to keep the port in good order under very great difficulties. They felt they were up against the Railway Department, who were not anxious to help the pott, and they looked to the Minister to do his best to help them out of their difficulties, and he felt sure, from the way the Minister had grappled with the question, that he would do all he could to assist them.

Mr Buick said his opinions on the action of the Railway Department in this matter were well known. The river was the birthright of Foxton and its residents, and any profit made from the river should be spent on improving it. He had no sympathy with the Railway Department, they should confine their energies to running the railways, and leave the ports to the proper authorities, which were the harbour boards. Mr Fisher would see from his trip down the river that it was capable of being made a good port, and he should use his influence to get the Railway Department to accept the offer made by the Board for the purchase of the wharf, which offer, in his opinion, was a very generous one indeed. Mr Fisher said that after receiving the invitation of the Borough Council and Harbour Board he bad taken the first opportunity of visiting the district and inspecting the port. The position that had at present arisen in connection with the Board should impress on the residents the necessity of putting into public positions only men of foresight and sagacity. The present position was due to the lack of foresight of the people of Foxton years ago. He wanted to make it quite clear that it was impossible for him to commit the Minister of Railways or to say anything for him. He intended visiting Foxton shortly and must speak for himself, but as Mr Robertson had said he had interests in the matter as Minister for Marine, There was no doubt that if the river was not kept in proper condition it would mean a very serious loss to the residents of the district, as from enquiries he had made he was satisfied the export trade alone from the port was very considerable. He had been informed that 80,000 bales of wool and hemp had passed through the local sheds last year. The Minister for Railways was in a very difficult position, but he believed that if he were Minister of Railways he would be able to come to terms with the Board. Of course the Minister must look alter the Railway Department, but if the port were neglected there was more than a possibility ot killing the gohse that lays the golden egg. If the Minister was unable to meet the Board in the matter ot the purchase of the wharf he should at least keep the pott open. Mr Herries had a dual difficulty. First he had an asset that was paying 5 per cent on a capital of ,£28700, and secondly that in handing away the asset he was afraid ot reducing the railway revenue. He thought, however, that the State could afford to hand over an asset such as this without any great loss to the whole community. It seemed hardly fair that the present generation should have to pay for the errors of their predecessors and something should certainly be done to assist them in this matter. In the event of a rating area being formed he did not think there would be the least necessity for calling up a rate and this being so the best way to get over Feildlng’s objection would be to cut them out of the area altogether. Mr Nash said he did not agree with the Minister’s suggestion that Feilding should be cut out. I he vast majority of the people in the large area were agreeable to be rated and he did not think a small minority such' as Feilding represented should be able to Overrule the rest ot th? area. • Minister sa,ld |his was the

first he had heard of this offer. The Chairman explained to the Minister that the Board’s offer to the Government ’ obviated the necessity for a rating area, inasmuch as it allowed the Government to have a first charge on the security they now held, namely, the wharfages, in addition to which the Board further was agreeable to pledge all its endowments as a further security until such time as the amount offered to the Government for the wharl was liquidated. Continuing, Mr Fisher said he would be in Wellington on Thursday and would see Mr Herries and talk over this matter before he visits Foxton. He considered the Harbour Board’s offer for the purchase of the wharf was a very lair one indeed. As far as his department was concerned he would prefer to see the Board and Railway Department settle the question and the Board run the port. He was ol opinion that the Board had done remarkably well with the money at its disposal. If negotiations with the Railway Department should fail he didn’t want to see the district penalised by the failure to negotiate and he would be prepared to endeavour to arrange with the Railway Department to put in ,£4OO, and the Marine Department would vote which, with the Board’s would make to be used in the improvement of the river. As far as a dredge was concerned he did not think that any dredge that the Government had at present would be much use for the purpose, as what was required was a suction dredge. If the Board wa* successful in acquiring the wharf and were considering the question of purchasing a dredge, the Westport Harbour Board had one that should be suitable and this could no doubt be procured at a fairly cheap figure. Mr Fisher said that as a result of his visit to the harbour he would like to congratulate the Board on the progress it had made with the small amount of money at its disposal and also to congratulate the chairman (Mr Heuuessy) on his public spirited ness and express the hope that his efforts would eventually be crowned with success. He would take a note of other small matteis mentioned and would look into them when he got to Wellington and let the Board have a reply later. Mr Nash paid a tribute to the excellent work of the Chairman and said that if this matter were brought to a successful issue, which he hoped it would, it would be the crowning joy ot Mr Hennessy’s life. On the motion of Mr Robertson, seconded by Mr Heuuessy, a hearty vote of thanks was ac§ corded Mr Fisher for visiting the port and giving the Board an opportunity of discussing the position with him.