The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21. THE HARBOR WORKS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 281, 21 November 1908, Page 2

The Daily News. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21. THE HARBOR WORKS.

The almost unanimous support accorded the harbor loan proposal throughout the province, needless to say, prompts tho Harbor Board to lost; no tiuAe in getting under way (he scheme of completing tlie harbor. No man in New Zealand has a better grasp of the position of the London money market than Sir Joseph Ward, and his opinion expressed to .Mr. Newton King and th'i I chairman of the Harbor Board

that the money can be raised at 4 per cent, at par is even more favorable to the province than even the most enthusiastic supporter of the loan could have hoped. Should this be real-1 ised, it will menu straight away .1 saving of £4OOO per annum on the existing interest charges, and will mean further that the whole of the £300,000 authorised under the new Act will cost only the same amount in interest as is now being paid on the expiring loan. Nothing, surely, could be more satisfactory as justifying the Harbor Board's much-discussed proposals. If, however, the loan is raised at a small discount, it will still be excellent business considering the low late of interest attaching to the terms of the issue. A tlnrty years' currency for the loan, as decided by till; Hoard at yesterday's mectng

must be regarded as a very safe arrange-1 ment from tile point of view of investors and the Board. We have sufficient confidence ia the revenue-producing capacity of the sinking Fund car-marked sources, over and above the statutoryone per cent., to believe thai the commissioners will be in a position before the expiry of the loan to declare the harbor free of debt.

Anticipating no difficulty in raising the money, the Hoard is pursuing a businesslike course in having everything ill readiness for the prosecution of the great harltor works immediately the, money is available. The aim ot i-lie whole scheme is to make at -Moturoa a deep-sea harbor. The enclosing <u' ;i

iiflieienf; area of water by means of he break wilt "r is, of necessity, the lint

provision. That, however, is a class of work that, in the interests of solidity and permanence, cannot be rushed, and the steady rate of progress that lias been maintained during the past, two or three years will be continued. While it is estimated that between three ami four years will have elapsed before the breakwater is completed according to the present plans, long before that time —even now for that matter—the harbor basin will be large and roo ny enough fo be converted into a deep-sea harbor. The deepening of tile liarbir, of course, is to be carried out by dredging, and the question to be deemed is whether a capacious and powerful dredger of the combined sand pump and Priestinan grab type, or a sandpunip and bucket dredge, will be the better for the Board's purpose. For' the work of deepening the harbor in t'ie first instance, only a bucket dredge would be of any use, but the deepening once accomplished, the sand-pump and Priestman grabs would be quite sufficient to maintain the required depth. The position arises, therefore, wlieETi t it would be wiser to hire a bucket dredge for the initial work rather than have on hand when that work is fto-

ished a machine the more costly parts of which would not be utilised. TV, fact that the grab dredge would be a less unwieldy and, easier handled vessel, and consequently of some use as a tug bout, will probably be considered an advantage. In any ease, the public will be satisfied to know that the inlentio-i is to provide a machine capable of dredging to a depth of 40 feet. A very important part of the engineer's report considered and adopted 'by' the Board yesterday was that relating lo wharf extension, from which may be gained some idea of the comprehensive nature of the harbor works about to he undertaken. The work of widening the present wharf has been in hand for ijoine time, and within a few months, provided the supply of timber is maintained, will soon be completed. The engineer's plans provide ior a further 501) feet extension of the "wharf in deep water for the berthing of deep-sea vessels. The Board has now decided, on the engineer's recommendation, to carry out the new work in ferro-concret?. The financial arrangements and plans for the various works will be undertaken at once in accordance with the directions unanimously given by the

Board at its meeting yesterday, and probably by the next meeting of the Board the whole scheme will be ready for launching.