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Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 45, 14 April 1863, Page 2

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others, willing of the Deare rePostmaster caUS e^M^^^HpPP^Pcases occur where articl^^^Scnhave been landed never reach the destination for which they were intended. These men " shipmasters and others," have even ventured so far as to hazard an opiniou | that the Provincial Government of Southland have been remiss in the discharge of these duties which, as a matter of course, devolve on them. Our reporter tells us that on Friday evening a meeting was held for the purpose of taking into consideration the delays and obstructions at the Port of lnvercargill, and he says further, that several resolutions were put to the meeting and unanimously carried. What a load must have been removed from the breasts of those present when they had fairly got through with their long list of grievances ! The resolutions adopted by the meeting (or rather meetings, tor i there was an adjourned one) comprised the following statements, each one of which may, perhaps, be worthy of a little more consideration than has hitherto been awarded to it. It was said that the management of the wharf is unsatisfactory, and causes great delay in discharging cargo ; that there is unnecessary damage to goods ; that the present system of tramway is insufficient; that there are no cranes or sheds ; that the hours during which goods are landed are not long enough ; that there is a useless expenditure or labor in pushing the trucks by hand, instead of employing horses to do the work ; that the wharf is piled with goods'when there are no trucks ready to receive them ; that the number ot tide and landing waiters is insufficient ; that there is no well- kept register of the goods delivered at the wharf, open to the inspection of shipowners and consignees; that it would be better for the interests of trade, and more profitable for the revenue, that the wharf should be leased ; that there should be a larger number of pilots for the New liiver ; that the channel is badly buoyed, and and very unsafe in consequence ; that ! there are no beacons which are discern- ! able from the outside of the Heads ; and, finally, that there are no tidal beacons at the entrance to the Harbor. Great must have been the rejoicing among those men of the sea, and those merchants who sell the cargoes as they arrive, when all this mass of " wants" had been duly discussed, and a deputation appointed to wait on His Honor the Superintendent. Now, at these meetings there was a good deal of nonsense talked, as is always the case, but there was likewise a very fair sprinkling of wisdom, and it would have done some of our Provincial Legislators a great deal of good to have listened to the plain and straightforward manner in which some parts of the subject were handled. We have before, on several occasions, pointed out that the circumstances in which this Province is placed, and the anticipations which have been formed of the future, demand that there should be no delay in rendering both the harbors — theßluff and New River — as safe for the entrance of shipping as possible : we have urged that no expense should be spared in the attainment of that object, and we have said so because it is by the character which our harbors obtain in the i neighboring colonies and at home, that Southland must stand or /all. We do not say that in the course of years she would not creep on at a slower rate to a state of prosperity, but that, by as speedily as possible making the harbors what they should be, and by opening one good main thoroughfare throughout the length of the land, more would be done for the general advancement of the settlement in one short year, than would be the ease in half a century if things were left to

take their natural course. We are no advocates for " rushes," as they are called, but we contend that it is the height of folly to allow a golden opportunity to slip by without an attempt to grasp its advantages. Such an opportunity is now offered to Southland, and it greatly depends on her rulers whether she shall take the lead in an \ extended and remunerative traffic with the golden regions of the interior, or whether, through the supineness of those who should be first in every progressive movement, she shall yield the palm to Otago — a province every way inferior to her in natural advantages. It appears from the words used by Mr Macdonald at the opening of this meeting, that some of the merchants of Invercargill would prefer waiting until a Marine Bpard is formed, and leave to them the task of removing the evils complained of; but we must endorse the Chairman's opinion, that "intrusting to a Marine Board they are placing their dependence on a broken reed, and that the wiser plan is to call upon the executive to remove at once the causes of complaint.'' If the grievances of which these shipmasters and merchants complain actually exist, and we believe that anyone who has given the subject the least attention will readily admit that they ,do, we would ask why has there not, wefore now, been a change for the ? and we shall probably be told there are no funds to spare for the Perhaps not, gentlemen ; but ere willing to borrow money for the e of making a railroad to the Bluff and you might surely thousands for the purpose the New River a safe and port, and the Invercargill like what it ought to hope that there will delay, but that the 1 take the necessary the amount of should attach to the stateat the meetings of which we i speaking, and that, having themselves as to their truth, PRy will at once proceed to do all that is necessary in the matter.