The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1877.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 106, 24 October 1877, Page 2

The Manawatu Times. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1877.

The County Council have very properly carried two resolutions affecting the Foxton harbour. The first is to requeßt the Gover»ment to have the port declared a port^ of entry, arid toe isecond to spj(ieit Gpvernment expenditure fojp increased whacfaer

coiumodation. Respecting the former request, the obvious enquiry will be made, Does tlie amount of trade passing through Foxton warrant the expense of a Customs establishment being incurred ? If this question is j decided wholly on the merits of | present facts and figures doubtless a a negative answer, will be the correct one, and it is well that this should be taken ii>to account so that the claims of Foxton to have a port of entry may be placed upon the truest i and strongest grounds. We do not suppose that at the present time the returns from a Foxton Custom-ho.use would be anything considerable. Weighed against the local departmental expense, they should not be immediately remunerative to the government, but it is a generally accepted truth that immediate remuneration should never be a sine qua non with the Government m a a question of public utility. In any progressive movement involving expense the future should always be taken "into account more than the present, and those establishments, be they public works or offices which are most practically and permanently useful to the public are most sure to pay for themselves m time to come. If the Government did not recognise this principle they would never construct a rail way or a road, for scarcely ever are these works immediately remunerative. The question, then, for the Government to decide is not will a customs establishment at Foxton immediately pay, but is it required m the interests of the Manawatu district ? We think that it is. The possession by Foxton of the privileges of a port entry would form a very important part of the trade establishment that is now required by the district to favor the growth of its commercial concerns. The Manawatu bounty, of which Foxtou is the marine key, is now m a rapidly-developing condition. But ; commercially its strength, is not equal to its growth, and it is m the matter of its commerce ] that the most' careful nurture is required. It is of primary importance that the trade of this district should be, as unfettered as it* is possible to make it. At present all import merchandise must pass through the Custom-house at Wellington. This gives rise to a repetition of freight charges that affects injuriously the whole of the district. It also favors the subserviency of our business men to ; the^ large Wellington houses. At ' present the district is simply an effluent of the Wellington market. This may be advantageous to Wellington, "but m proportion as Wellington gains we lose. The district is now quite large and important enough to be placed m a position favorable to commercial independence. It is long before that independence can be wholly achieved, but the time has fully come for a beginning to be made, and the first step will be the acquisition of a port of entry. The reasons for the Government increasing the Foxton harbour accommodation are even more pressing. The present apology for a wharf is notoriously inadequate to accommodate the shipping of the port. Accordingly the less important vessels have to suffer the inconvenience and loss of indefinite delays before they can be freighted or discharged. This amounts to a serious embargo on trade and has given rise for a long time to much 1 unpleasantness and dispute. The idea of the Harbour Board doing t"he requisite work is quite hopeless. They are altogether destitute^pf funds for Buch a purpose, andWie expedient of a tonnage rate levied upon goods passing through the port would be, not only inadequate to provide the requisite funds, but it would be altogether intolerable to the commercial interests of the district. There are therefore two of the .strongest possible reasons for the Government taking this matter m hand. First the work is urgently required, second the Board is powerless to execute it. If the Government hold to the principle that the incidence of public expenditure should be indicated by the urgency of public wants, then they will not refuse to the Foxton harbour the boon that is m request.