The Patea Mail. Established 1875. MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1883. THE HARBOUR AGAIN.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 990, 29 January 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 1883. THE HARBOUR AGAIN.

Business has never been so dull in Patea before. This is the remark one may hear at every street corner and in almost every mercantile establishment in (own. And the worst of it is that there does not appear to be much prospect of improvement. True we are likely to reap a bountiful harvest, but as a set-off against that there is the loss sustained by stockowners owing to the exceptional nature of the season, which has been extremely unfavourable to that branch of industry. Even with the advantage of restored steam communication with outside, trade has been the reverse of brisk, and has declined rather than increased of late. And with the opening of the railway it seems tolerably certain that we shall go a little further to the bad.' That has been the experience of every country town that has not the good fortune to be a terminus. Add the above to the financial pressure now being applied by the banks and it needs no prophet to foretell that wo are likely to experience a long spell of hard times if public matters are allowed to drift along and no effort made to stem the tide of adversity which seems to threaten the district. Our first care should he for the harbour, and ns the Harbour Board elections are close at hand, we bops that the friends of progress, upon the Board and outside, will make an endeavour to secure the return of men who are pledged, or at anyrato known to be favourably disposed towards the improvement of the river, and who have sufficient foresight to see that by paying a shilling by way of rate, they can make a £. These' are the sort of men we want upon the Board just now ; men who will cut down harbour expenses in every conceivable way, and give all the

advantage to importers and shippers that they possibly can, so that the diminishing trade of the port may be revived, and consequently the Board’s own revenue improved. There is plenty of enterprise amongst the business men in Patea, bnt their desire to extend their connection is nipped in the bud, because when they come into competition with foreign firms they find that they can bo undersold through goods coming by Now Plymouth and Waitara being landed cheaper than can be clone via Patea.An alteration should be effected here, and one of the first things the new Board might very well undertake would be the appointment of a committee to thoroughly investigate the charges, dues, freights, &c., to which goods are subject at the ports mentioned, and report to the Board in what direction we can cut down to meet the opposition, and let us hope, overcome it. The question of rating for harbour improvement, will also have to be faced boldly. The subject is one that bristles with difficulties, bnt there is no doubt that if work is to be recommenced at (he heads, the people will have to find the means. To look to the Government for monetary assistance would be a sign of weakness, and moreover, would he of no avail. There are a dozen places in the Colony, no doubt, equally deserving with Patea, and to listen to any proposal to aid our works, would be to bring down a hornet’s nest about the ears of Ministers. The utmost that we can expect from that quarter is that they will assist the passage of a Bill to enable town and country to rate themselves. And in the latter lies the difficulty which the new Board will have to contend with, and whether they can overcome it and obtain the sanction of the country settlers to a rate depends very ranch upon the tact with which they handle (be subject. We hope they will rise to the occasion, because it is one of more than ordinary importance to both town and country. To the former it means the extension of trade and the growth of the town in wealth and importance ; to' the latter a vast saving upon every article consumed, increased profit on shipments of wool, grain, produce and cattle, and last, but not least, the certainty of regular and safe communication with the outside markets of the world. And, as year after year goes on, the want of-such certain communication will he felt by farmers more and more. Larger areas will be put under cultivation, the wool clip will grow bigger, and the cattle trade expand until we shall want, not one nor two, bnt half a dozen vessels to meet the requirements of the port. This is what we must look forward to and what we should aim to bring about. In other places the advantages of direct trade are quickly recognised. At Timaru, for instance, out of some 1800 votes upon a rate for the harbour there were only 35 given against it, and the people in that district have got a much more serious expenditure to face before they secure a good harbour, than we have. Of what use is it to spend thousands upon the streets of the town while trade is passing by our very doors, so to speak. It seems rather like building a palace without having a stick of furniture to put, in it. Let us make a determined effort to improve our harbour first, and that accomplished, the town may safely be trusted to look after itself. We had intended to have said something about the establishment of suitable industries as an effective means of guarding against depression such as now exists, but we must reserve that for another article.