The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY 25. THE HARBOR BOARD REPORT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 297, 25 January 1910, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JANUARY 25. THE HARBOR BOARD REPORT.

It would scarcely b e correct to say that the result of the year's operations ■>{ the Harbor Board have been satisfactory; still, in view of the circumstances that were well-known to be operating prejudicially against the revenue, the position is neither better nor worse than was generally anticipated. The drop of nearly £SOOO in general revenue, as the chairman pointed out, was due mainly to the reduction in the ferry service between Onelmnga and New Plymouth in consequence of the opening of the Main Trunk line. That factor, which resulted in the daily service being curtailed for a great part jf the year to a bi-weekly and for a time tri-weekly one, considerably affected the port dues, in addition to seriously curtailing the revenue trom the passenger tax. This, coupled with the fact that endowment revenue is not now included in general revenue, but paid into a special trust account in terms of the Act under which the new loan is to be administered, and also that the gencrxl trade of the port, in common with the rast of the Dominion, was affected . v the late depression, explains the whole of the drop in the Board's revenue. But, as we have said, it was quite anticipated this would happen. We see no reason, however, why the current year should not witness a very considerable recovery. The passenger traffic, all the circumstances considered, is now keeping up remarkably well, and we believe, as soon as the present inconvenie-.it railway timetable is superseded, this route will gradually gain in popularity with the travelling public. If, therefore, the present tri-weefcly service is maintained, with reasonable patronage, the Board will recover a not inconsiderable proportion of the revenue that was lo?t last year. The effects of the late depression have quite passed away, and already tile trade of the Dominion, oi both exports and imports, has returned to normal. In this recovery Taranaki and the port are sharing fully, and the current year siiould show a return certainly not- less than that of the year before the depression. In spite, however, of the circumstances that reduced the general revenue £SOOO below that of 1908, the working account was able to show a net surplus of £4837 for the year, so that no difficulty was experienced in making the first annual payment of £4500 from ordinary revenue to the ioan trust account. With the savings now being effected through staff reorganisation and general economies, coupled with an anticipated increased general revenue no difficulty should be experienced in keeping up this payment without resort to a., rate. Indeed, we believ e it will later ue found that the past year will prove to have been the most critical one in the history of the port, and that it has been safely weathered is a matter for satisfaction. The year has witnessed the completion of the breakwater, a great work that has made the harbor possible. Within the next three or four months will be commenced the work of enlarging and deeoening the harbor to accommodate Homogomg vessels, an undertaking that :s now universally recognised as one c.f paramount importance for the advancement. of the province, and one, the culmination of which will, we are convinced, quickly relieve the Board from financial worry.