WHARF ACCOMMODATION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5420, 10 August 1878, Page 3

WHARF ACCOMMODATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir, —In reply toa letter in a contemporary of the 29th ult., under the head o£/‘ r Mumcipal Finance/* allow* hie, through'the medium of your widely-circulating journal, lo make what I hope the business men of Wellington will endorse, —a few . .commonplace < remarks, viz : In the first place the receipts and expenditure of the wharf are very considerable, why not have a return of them published monthly for the satisfaction of the ratepayers ? What would Wellington bo without its wharf f —and yqt whilst money is . being carelessly expended and frittered away bn contracts which .are looked upon as anything but satisfactory by the public,'valuable improvements iu the way of sheds for storing goods rapidly are entirely neglected. If the accumulated net receipts of tho wharf since it was built had been judiciously expended on .wharf accommodation, tho proceeds would have been more than sufficient to carry a wharf from Bipitea Point round to Te Aro Baths.

Note the accounts, for instance, which aVo daily sent in to us, viz., “Toll/' “Labor,” ‘ Receiving and Delivering/’. “ Tallying,” and so bn ad tnlhiltuuL The charge’of “ Tolls ” is just, but all the rest are not only unreasonable but by far more , exorbitant than charges in any other port in New Zealand. Look at Dunedin and Canterbury. Goods arc landed a considerable distance from tho cities, then forwarded by rail to sheds, where they are sorted. They are then taken * by a carting company, and finally delivered to their respective consignees at a no greater cost than, goods landed on our Government wharf, in the heart of our empire city, . Why not lay rails bn the wharf and have trucks and proper platforms as in other ports, and build suitable, sheds on the approaches to the wharf—one shed on the right for examination of bonded goods and transhipments, similar to the tramway aheds-oii .Adelaide-read, and one on tho left for wool and'other New Zealand produce,'and twb smaller sheds at- the end of the outer T, which would .hold say 1300 tous each, and would'be service on occasions of emergency for. mail and ocean steamers—and dp away with the dilapidated and unsightly sheds on the wharf at present, which arc,' and always have boon, an obstruction to the rapid, receiving and delivering of goods? ' ’ / / ; And why not have the offices built on the approach to the wharf, close to the weighbridge ; and also have sliding gates across tho, end of tho wharf, which could be locked up at night? ■ ' ' In conclusion, sir, .: I would suggest ✓ that our, motto ' should not'-! bo- “ Advance Wellington,” but rather ‘*Lot .Wellington keep behind every other port in New Zealand. I am, &c„ .rai-PHTEu. ; ■ Wellington, August 2. ,