AUCKLAND HARBOR BOARD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 229, 29 January 1876, Page 23

AUCKLAND HARBOR BOARD.

(From the New Zealand Times.) We have to acknowledge receipt of "an- " nual report and balance-sheet of the ' < Auckland Harbor Board for 1875," from the secretary of the Board. It is an instructive document, and might be studied with advantage by the Wellington City Council, which has partial control of this harbor. From the comparative statement of revenue of the Auckland Harbor Board, we find that the difference in gross income for 1875 over 1874 was £7104 12s. 6d., and in net revenue £2230 13s. 9d. The revenue for thej>ast year on general account was £24,475 6s. 2d.; expenditure, £21,119 ls._ 6cL_ Of the current year's revenue 4d. was expended on works, &c. Now, this appears to be an exceedingly satisfactory state of things, and proves, if proof were needed, that the management of an important harbor should be entrusted to a Board specially constituted for the purpose. If the Auckland harbor had been entrusted to the Borough Council of Auckland, its financial and general condition would have been very different. And the reason is exceedingly simple : there would have been divided interests in the Council, and the harbor would have been drained for ward expenditure to sustain the popularity and reputation of City Councillors. Looking at the general account of the Auckland°Harbor Board, we find the cost of management as under :

These figures may be some guide to the City Council when organising the harbor department of Wellington, which they are about to do. It will be remarked how small an amount was paid during the year in Auckland in the collection of tolls. Of the annual revenue £4694 ss. was expended on renewal of Queen-street wharf ; £2202 10s. 6d. construction of new T ; £1346 4s. Id. for new pilot vessel, and £642 new wharf on North Shore. The assets on the general account, including £3356 4s. Bd. cash balance, amounts to £7569 19s. Id. ; liabilities, £4028. On the loan account for the year 1875, there was an expenditure of £114,933. This includes redemption of harbor debentures, 1860, £26,215 155.; deposit at interest in bank, £72,500 ; steam dredge, £2IOO ; railway wharf, £550 ; widening breakwater, £4360. It should be added that the province of Auckland relieved the harbor of a debt of over £IOO,OOO incurred in wharf and breakwater construction, reclamation, &c, on the constitution of the Harbor Board, so that it started free of debt with large endowments and a fair revenue. The Harbor Board has managed the trust with great judgment since then, and we learn by a telegram in yesterday's paper that it is proposed to go on with the graving dock at Auckland, at an expenditure of £78,000. We trust the Harbor Board of Auckland is not about to commit a costly blunder in this matter. Looking at the revolution which the introduction of iron into dock con-

struction by the Russian Government is likely to effect all over the world, as explained by Mr. Reade, late constructor of the Royal Navy, we think Auckland might very well pause before committing itself to such a very large expenditure for a stene graving dock, the shape and dimensions of which cannot be altered. The patent slip at Evans Bay cost far less money, and does all the work that a graving dock at Auckland could possibly do ; and it should be remembered also that the Port Chalmers dock has not been the financial or industrial success its projectors anticipated. We should add, that the accounts of the Auckland Harbor Board are audited by Mr. B. MacLean,Provincial Auditor, and leave nothing to be desired on the ground of simplicity.

£950 0 0 Chief Harbormaster and pilot department 1206 11 2 Harbormaster and -wharfinger .. 475 0 0 Engineer's department 500 0 0 Collection of tolls .. 2S9 0 10