LAYING FOUNDATION STONE OF THE PATEA BREAKWATER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5375, 19 June 1878, Page 3

LAYING FOUNDATION STONE OF THE PATEA BREAKWATER.

(From, the Patea Mail, Ifith inst.)

The ceremony of-laying the foundation stone of the Patea breakwater took place at 1 o’clock yesterday. With one or two exceptions a close holiday was observed at Carlyle, A general close took place about noon. Wo learn also that shops closed and a general holiday was observed: at Hawera. - The first bos t load of passengers left MilroyV wharf ! soon after eleven o’clock. Others followed. The majority of people, however,' -.walked, rode, or drove to the Heads, those on -the' Carlyle side being taken across to the Whehuakura side iu boats. Considering the high wind blowing, and the threatening rain,-; the muster at the. Heads was good, ■ the fair: sex being well represented. , Mr. Morikton,: photographer, was present with his apparatus, .and about one o’clock, all being ready, a picture was taken. Standing: mear to the strides ,on which: the scone was suspended, preparatory to its being: laid, was-the Chair-' man of the Harbor Board (G. F. Sherwood,; Esq.,) J. Thomson, Engineer to the Board,' and' the contractor : (Richard Dickson, Esq). Of members of the Harbor Board, in addition to the Chairman, : the following were present— Messrs. John Milroy, Samuel Taplin, Henry Williamson, and W. A. G. Wirichoombe. Whilst a number of leading town and country settlors were present, ' there : were others,’ who . might; reasonably have' : been expected to be present on such an important occasion, who were conspicuous by' their absence.

About one o’clock, the stone was lowered, after which. Mr. .Sherwood, addressing the assembly, said ; Ladies and Gentlemen, —As you have no doubt heard, there have been many alterations made in the plans, and that within the last few. days, consequently we have not been able to make those arrangements we should otherwise have made. I trust that you will be good enough to overlook this, and we will endeavor to repair any deficiency in tp-day’s proceedings when we put the finishing touch to the work. It has been well said that one half of our lives is spent in Wondering if a thing can be done, and the other half iu wondering why it was not done before. If anyone had, 1 two 1 years ago, stated that : we should be hero to-day for the' purpose of laying the foundation stone of the Patea breakwater, the statement would have been scouted by almost everyone, Nevertheless," wo are here to imauguaate, in a practical form, the most important undertaking that has ever happened in the county. ,I: hope, and firmly believe, that in entering. upon this important work we are commencing a new era of advancement and prosperity the beneficial effects of jvhich will be felt' throughout the county, if not all along the West Coast of this island. The Patea Harbor Board held its first meeting in March -of last year. A steady and comparatively rapid, progress has been made. When I say : comparatively rapid -progress, I mean in comparison: with ‘some other places where they have been talking about harbor works for the last thirty-five years, and have not yet commenced. We have been working for about two years, and you see the results. Many difficulties have been encountered, and happily overcome. I desire to heartily thank the members of theßoardi past and present* for their ready and careful attention to the business they have undertaken for the public good. I desire personally, to offer those gentlemen my warmest thanks fov the great kindness and confidence they have invariably. displayed to myself as Chairman of the - Board ; and I wish to further i-iauk them, and at the same time to thank the. iml die, for. having this day conferred upon mo Iho distinguished honor of laying the foundation stone. , And .that you have been pleas.-;d to think I have been iu some measure instrumental in bringing about this: work, is a source of great satisfaction to myself. It has been said that no, work is more problematical as to results than harbor• yvorlcs. We .may meet with reverses, but that, is no reason why we should relax our, efforts, Let, us hope strougly for the bust—but, at the same time, if reverses should come, lot them be but incentives to still more determined action. But, indeed, I have the greatest faith in the stability of the proposed;, work, : and-..0f . its successful results.We; have been; fortuuato iu having secured the opinions of . .competent engineers and, whilst they have differed slightly as to the. mode of constructing the works, they have been unanimously of' opinion that tho river, is a really: good one, and one capable of being . .made a good port. This being the case, we can easily afford to ignore the opinions of those who are either very jealous, or extremely : ignorant of what they are ..-croaking .about. -, Sir John Goode, when here, expressed himself iu the highest terms of the river generally, and of its capabilities as a port. As you are no doubt aware, he has forwarded an interim report and. plan, in which he has suggested an important modification as regards site and, design. The Harbor Board have adopted ;his ~suggestion, and I am happy to say that ,Mr. Dickson, the contractor, has met the'Board in a very straightforward and business-like way, and the result is that'the work is going right straight on. -The fame of this beautiful county has gone forth, and is so well known, that it has become almost a household word. It is our duty,, and a very, pleasant one .it is, by every ’ effort within our power to develope its vast sources of wealth —by opening up the country for settlement, by means of roads, railways, and the. harbor—the last I take to' be of primary importance. We want au easy mode of transit for pur, prqduce.to a market. No other means ban compete with water carriage. We can secure that—and we will. The present produce of this county may be. put down at the rate of £2,000,000 per annum, and if an easy mode of transit existed, this sum would be more than doubled in a very few years. Having these facts in view, is it not our bounden duty to open up direct communication with the colonial markets, and so avoid the’serious delays and expenses;incident to transhipping ? At present, a large portion of our produce is purchased by those who come when they like, and pay what they think fit. This and other monopolies must he broken down. One of the first conditions necessary to successful progress is • freedom. We must be free from monopolies! '' The souv.e of our freedom lies in our harbor. Let that bo improved and we need fear nothing from monopolies or competition by land carriage., ; Our work is begun, and well begun. Let us one and all take action—strong united action—to provide the means for its completion ; for you must remember that this section is hut a commencement of the general scheme. Sir John Goode’s report will be sent here from England, in about four months. We shall then be face to face with the whole work, and means must be devised for carrying it out, The county has large claims for consideration at the hands of the Legislature, We must unite in advocating them in a fair arid reasonable manner. Let us hope that, at the same time we lay this stone, we shall'be. laying tbo foundation of a better social feeling throughout the county. We are all, I believe, striving for the one object, and if we differ as to the means to attain it, do not let that engender enmity, but rather let the motto of the county lie “ Unity, peace, and progress.” Let that bo acted up to in its integrity, and wo shall prove ourselves worthy of the beautiful land I,i vhieh wo have cast our lot, and, when we pass on, we shall leave for those who follow something that will bo a. credit to ourselves and our country. Mr. Sherwood was frequently applauded during the progress of his speech, and iu concluding called for cheer's for tho contractor, ■which were heartily given. Hearty cheering then followed for the Patea breakwater, for Mr. G. F. Sherwood, for the Harbor Board, arid the Engineer.

Mr. W. Williams,. late member of the Harbor Board, considered the praise for progress so far made was entirely due to the noble chairman. From the commencement to the present ho had worked hard, and to-day ho had achieved a victory. The speaker thoroughly believed in the work now being done. It would give settlers a better mode of conveyance, and would be the means of increasing the size of the town and of generally stimulating progress. His opinion was that people in Wanganui were not anxious that this work should be a success. Mr. Williams expressed himself as very pleased with the present members of the Harbor Board, and hoped they would carry on to successful completion. The proceedings being declared over, and indications of rain coming on, a start whs made

for the boats. , The. largo whaleboat had to cross over a number of times,, assistance being also rendered by Mr. Aitohison and others with smaller boats.