HARBOUR BOARD OPERATIONS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2813, 12 February 1908, Page 16

HARBOUR BOARD OPERATIONS.

THE YEAR'S WORK REVIEWED. The following statement ua« made by Mr 3. T. Maokerras (chairman of the Otago IHarboui Board) at Thursday's meeting.— * . Finance. The year 1906 closed with a credit bal- ■ fence of £21,446, and after pioviding for all departmental charges, interest, insurances, contributions to Otago Dock Tiu«t, -dredging, reclamation, wharf extension, and •improvement works in Lower Ha i bom, the year 1907 has closed witb a ciedit balance of £15,766 19s. Of this credit balance '£6131 18s was in the hands of the board's 'bankers to meet the coupon inteicst due on •the Ist January. The accounts submitted to you will show that the re\ e"ue for the year was £83,991 16e Sd. Included in. fchis amount, however is a sum of £♦261 16s, transferred temporarily from the iplant renewal fund, so that the oidinary revenue received from dues, rents, etc., was £79,730 0s Bd, an increase on the oidinary revenue of 1906 of £3265 5s 3d. This must be considered as highly satisfactory in •fho face of the concessions made during the year to shipping, which would amount on the year's business to £2300. The prinoipal" items of revenue showing increases •are pilotage £3366, dues on goods £2983, • and towage £267. Port charges have de--creased by £2094.. The remission in dues ■on goods and shipping charges made since , January, 1904-, represent in this year's trade th« large sum of £11,400. The' ordinary Itxpenditure was £77,301 14s 7d, an in--faease on the ordinary expenditure for 1906 -Of £1158. In addition to this the sum of ,£2631 3s 8d has been spent out of loan on the works near Harrington Point, and nlsOthe sum of £7251 out of loan, and £857 advanced from the plant renewal fund on 4ne purhase of dredge No. 404 from the Timaru Harbour Board. The board's bonds are still in favour with investors, the sales last year having realised premiums of £9 Os 3d for 51 and £9 17s 6d for 66 debentures of £100 each. Trade. An analysis of the dues chows a general increased tonnage on goods, both inwards and outwards. The increases inw)aTd« •are: General merchandise, 7382 tons; ■grcin. 2409 tons ; coal, 7385 tons. There is a- decrease in transhipments of 3624 tons, .and in timber of 1,319,297 super feet. The "oet increase on dues collected on imports as £2120 6s 2d. In exports most lines --«how increases. Flour and meal increased 2000 tons, beer 1121 tons, grain 1680 tons, frozen meat 1728 tons, and. £&* and tow -445 tons. Tlje decreases were cheese and butter 400 tons and rabbit* 1060 tons. The total export tonnage amounted to 78.000 tons, yielding a revenue of £4622 Is 7d. In rents the net increase has been £53, the annual rent roll at the end of the year being £9845 15s 7d. Members will Tte gratified to learn that the sale of leases Maturing on Ist day of January established fe rise in rent of 15 per c-ent over previous The total tonnage of sh.ppmq filtered during the year wae 946,142 tons, >i increase of 35.039 tons over that of las-* s^sar. The total cargo passing o-vpt .-Siarves inwards amounted to 266.597 toi.b. JS> increase of 38,624- tone, and of cargo Awards 118,064 tons, an increase of 15,010

tons. The alterations in the dues and charges on goods and shipping during the year comprised the following: — Import*.— Drain pipes, 4s to 3s per ton ; commercial travellers' samples, 5s to 3s per ton ; flower pots and plants in pots, &s to 3s per ton ; sago and tapioca, 5s to 3s per ton; wickerware, 5s to 2s per ton; melons, 4s to 2s per ton. Exports.— Butter and cheese, Is to 6d ; hides and skins, 2s 3d to 2s ; wool, 2e 3d to 2s ; flax and tow, Is to 6d ; rabbit and beef, Is to 6d. All general goods at rate of 6d per ton. Woo] imported for reclassification for export, free. Shipping. Port' charges reduced from 6J per ton to 2d ptr ton per trip, provided that the charges 6hall not exceed 6d in any one half-year. To meet the cases of vessels visiting the port with or for small cargoes the option k now given whereby the ordinary charges for pilotage and port charges may be suspended, and a charge of 5s per ton on cargj landed and 10s per ton on cargo shipped made in lieu thereof. Works. j The works carried out during the year , were chiefly dredging, wharf construction. i improving the channel south of Harrington ' Point, and reclamation of the board's enI dowments opposite Ward street and at ' Ravenebourne. The dredging has included 1 widening and straightening of the Victoria channel and enlargement of the basin off Victoria wharf and the approach to Jetty street wharf. During the year dredtre 222 put in 10^ months' dredging time, working 1 three shifts for two and a-half months of that time, and lifted 505,521 cubic yards, which, with the exception of 12,495 cubic yards, were deposited at the Vulcan, and pumped on to the board* endowments at Dunedin at a combined cost for wag-e6, etores, repairs, and all charges of 7.36 d per cibic yard. This quantity exceeds that of 1906 by 148,173 cubic yards, while the cost has been lowered by Id per cubic yard. The suction dredger 404 was • purchased from the Timaru Harbour Board during the year, and started opera- ! tions on the sand-bank south of Harrington Point on September 9, where she h-\s ; been employed to the end of the year, j with the exception of a week, in which ' she was engaged in Lyttelton Harbour pumping out the sunken hulk Blackwall. The sand lifted and deposited by the dred^«» up to December 31 totals 70,500 cubic yards Of this, 53.500" cubic yards were deposited at sea and 12,000 inshore off the beaen south of Harrington Point, at a cc«t of about 5d per cubic yard. The works carried on in the Lower Harbour for the improvement of the channel are giving satisfactory cesults. The stone wall extending along the north spit towards the mole is intercepting the sand drift, and aleo directing the flood waters [ more advantageously for navigation and the maintenance of the channel across the flat. The action of this wall and that of the wall extending from the quarry has increased the scour across the i'at. and, assisted by dredging, a wide channel is now in piogress of formation, which aiives evcrv promise of permanency of position and maintenance of depths. It is intended to continue this work until a depth of 25ft at low water is permanently attained The 6»- d by the groins on the north

spit is being induced to form sandhills, and every endeavour made by the aid of fences, marram and lupin-planting to hold the sand washed up by the sea. The channel at the entrance is maintaining a low-water depth of 36ft on the line of beacons. In the ne* channel the low-water depth is at present 21ft, while the minimum low-water depth in the Victoria Channel, Upper Harbour, is 18ft, with an increased width over that of last year. Borrowing Power. The Otago Harbour Board Empowering Bill, authorising the board to borrow up to £100,000, duly passed through Parliament, last session, and will enable th© boa id to proceed with necessary permanent works in both Upper and Lowei Harbours. The Board's Endowments. The board has been in communication during the year with the Railway Department as to the urgent necessity of adequate access between the city and the harbour frontage. Members will be glad to have noticed that the Hon. the Prime Minister is alive to the importance of providing a 6ubway or overbridge near Stuart street. The matter of access at Frederick and Albany streets is an important one, as to continue these streets involves crossing over railway lands 4£ to 7 chain 6 long respectively. It i 6 hoped, however, that much of this land can be conveyed back to the board, and thu« enable those streets to be carried across by short subways or overbridges. The Minister of Railways (the Hon. W. Hall-Jones) inspected the endowments in April last, and expressed himself as favourably inclined to shifting the line out towards the harbour from its present position at Pelichet Bay, and thus join a considerable portion of the board's estate to the city without the disadvantage of a railway between. The department has intimated its intention to remove the line at Rav.ensbourne out to the harbour front, the board having undertaken to complete the necessary reclamation. The department has been asked to grant a site in Rattrav street for the erection of new board offices, and is prepared to do so at a rental of £30 per annum, but is not prepared to grant valuation at the expiry of the proposed term of 21 years. The matter is still engasinjr the attention of the board, and it is honed some agreement satisfactory to tne board may yet be arrived at. Harbours Association. The annual conference of delegates of the various boards was held at Wellington :n: n October, and important matters affecting this board were dealt witb, approved by the conference, and suggested as amendments to the Harbours Bill. 1907. which has been now held over to next session. The most important amendments sought were : — 1. The vesting of lande in the board authorised to be reclaimed by any act. 2. That the sole power to issue licenses for the occupation of the foreshore be vested in the board having jurisdiction in the harbour in question. 3. That where lands vested in a harbour board are taken or injuriouslj 1 affected bj tho Crown, full compensation shall be paid therefor as provided by the Public Woi ks Act. 4. That dues be paid on Go\ernment

goods, and payment be made for storage and for services rendered. The notes of amendments to the Harbours Bill suggested and approved by- tho conference have been before you, and testify to the labour bestowed by the delogates in protecting the interests of their various boards, for which they must receive our warmest praise. The Financial Outlook. I desire, before closing to draw attention to the Fteady and substantial increase in the trade of the port year by year for 10 years In 1897 the tonnage passing over our wharves inwards and outwards was 202.320 tons. In 1907 it reached 384.661 tons— nearly double. The revenue derived in the year 1897 for dues, charges on shinning, rent, etc., amounted to £60,628; while for the year under review it amounted to £79,730, and that notwithstanding remissions in dues and charges 6ince 1904, which affected the revenue on the trade of 1907 to the extent of £11.485. The present satisfactory position of the board's finances justifies the large reductions made in dues and charges, although returns which have been prepared reveal the fact that some branches of trade have received more favourable attention than others. Of the £11 remissions in dues and charges since 1904, £8924 was in relief of charges on shipping. £2458 in reduction of dues on exports, while imports participated in the good things going to the 6mall extent of £102 only. No doubt the new board will go into this matter with a view of providing a more equitable adjustment of charges. The arrival lately of some oversea steamers, carrying vei - 3' large carn-oes, which were unable to discharge at Dunedin, has drawn attention to the depth of water in the Victoria Channel. Although the minimum depth of 18ft low water has not been increased during the year, the channel has been otherwise greatly improved by widening and straightening. A considerable amount of dredging has also been going on in the steamers' basin and towards the approach to the Jetty street wharf. No doubt, now that dredge 222 is relieved from having to visit tho Heads occasionally, more progress may be expected to be made in deepening the Victoria Channel during 1908. On the motion of the Hon. T. Fergus, seconded by Mr E. G. Allen, M.P.. a hearty rote of thanks was accorded the chairman for his report.