THE JETTY.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 40, 27 March 1863, Page 2

THE JETTY.

To the Editor of the Invercargill Times. Sib, — A new set of regulations have just been issued with reference to the collection of dues on the jetty. It is satisfactory to find that tbe Provincial Executive ao far admit the need of reform, and for good intentions let all praise be given ; but it would have been better had the advice of some practical man been sought before the second regulation was concocted, for, unfortunately, it is so thoroughly impracticable that I may safely - (Srm that it will never be acted upon. It provides that " a correct account shall be furnished by every agent of any vessel, within three days of arrival, of all tonnage in such vessel, together with the name of each consignee, and the amount of tonnage upon which, freight is payable by such consignee." To give such a return, pre-supposes an amount of information which is not in the p03. .. ion of either the agent or the master of the vessel, even when freights have to be collected, to say nothing of the frequent cases in which the cons' Tiees have no freight to pay at all. Bills of Ir.ding are constantly being drawn without any tonnage being stated ; in fact, it is • " ost the exception for a bill of lading to give particulars, either of weight or measurement, as a lump sum being named ; yes to the masters and owners the risk of dispute at the port of discharge ; again, bills of 1 ing are frequently drawn to order, and the cons : nee not declared till the goods are ready for delivery. How, when such are known to be the u^i^es, do our ; pient concoctors of port regulations "suppose their rues are to be complied wi" ? Supposing the agents, at great expense, have cl-.ks to measure all goods rs they laud, how is ' o return to be made in three days, when vessels ol an lie three weeks undischarged. If our wor' y Superintendent and his Execu"7e woi -" ". rather busy themselves to crrryoutthe improvements they have so long had on hand, to make the jetty a safe and expeditious vehicle for the i of goods, they would be more usefully vr loyed. At the past and present rate of progr on, we cannot look for a completion of the improvements which have been begun, much on this side of Christmas, and the talked of sheds and cranes I presume, will not be erected till about the same date. In the meantime, goods are abused and pillaged to an tent that is disgraceful to all concerned. Flour, oats, and other perishable goods, I have seen left on the jetty from Saturday to Monday, in storm and rain ; and having any article, no matter how tender or valuable, left out for a night, is wh fc nc ivly every im orter now lays his account with. I siy ne - ly every importer, for there seems tt be some more favored than their the neighbors. The spirits, both in bulk and case, beer, the fruits, tbe produce, &c, which on almost any " lit may be seen- bundled about to await the le" ure of the wl arfinger in the morning, seems seldom to bolong to ■'.' c ff/vori 23. This lit c owl won't, I expect, greatly influence the : c-n in authority, till the parties aggrieved v ' c for notion ; and such paltry tinkering as the new regulations will speedily convince these that a noise must be made, and the opinion of importers be for don the Executive, if their goods are to be saved from wanton injury. When the jetty is in working order, let an efficient officer be procured, who will take account of his own work as is done elsewhere when dues are levied, without imposing his duties iipon the agents, or making the port less inviting to shipmasters than it is at present. Yours truly, An Importer & Shipping Agent.

To the Editor of the Invar car gill Times. Sib, — I am a resceetable married female, possessed Of a hUSband Who lias llithorto placed the most implicit confidence in my discretion, virtue, and good sense. But lam sorry to say that a great change has taken place lately in his dedetneaTior towards me, and I will briefly relate what I think is the cause which haa led to this. Sir, he is a member of the Town Board. For a leng time he has a:pired (> civic honors, but until lr tely (although lam lr wife, lam compelled to acknowledge it) has bean unsuccessful. Sir, the airs. he gives himself is truly astonishing to witness. Formerly he used to come home regularly (no need of keeping a latch key), but now, Sir, I seldom see him except for a short time at meals, and then he invariably has a nasty bit of paper in his hands which he ca.ls a notice paper, and says the Clerk of the Town Board would undergo some •rightful punishment if he didn't Send ft notice paper to him. What is a notice paper, Sir? what riffht has the Clerk of the Town Board or any other person to keep my husband from the wife of his bosom and f mily at all hours ? I only wish the c.rk may call at my house, and I will speak out ana tell him what I think of him and that ugly, nrsty Board. Well, Sir, if all tlrs is not bad enough to try the temper of any woman, I have another grievance to relat3. You are aware, Sir, what a horrid state Tay-street is in ;. well, Sir, c other day I had occasion to go shopping with my daughter, and I give you my word, Sir, if it h;-d not been for Maggie (my daughter) catching hold of me, I would have slipped and fallen in the mud. Ob- Sir, such a state as that street is in ! and when I mentioned the narrow escape I had to my husbnnd, the brute only laughed, and said, " Oh, I'll see about it ; I'll make a motion at the next meeting of the Board that will compel the contractor to engage double the number of men he has at present, and get the work done speedily ;" but, Sir. he never kept his promise, because when I rsk : . him, he said that the Commissioner of Crown Lands had got hufFd at the Board taking some gravel off the Reserve, which was in tended for Tay-street, and that the Board would pitch into him about it. Those were his very words. He said a lot more about the Board, the irregular way in which they conducted business, the time lost in consequence, together with several other matters which I will publish to the world if Tay-street is not made passable speedily. I remain, dear Mr Editor, Yours truly, Wife op a Membeb of the Town Boahp.