WAITARA HARBOR BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 210, 4 March 1912, Page 6

WAITARA HARBOR BOARD.

THE STAFFING QUESTION. I LETTER FROM SHIPPERS. I

The following letter was read at the meeting of the Waitara Harbor Board on Friday evening:— "As shippers and importers using the Waitara port we beg respectfully to draw your attention to the unsatisfactory state of affairs existing here in the receiving and despatching of cargo.. In doing so, we do riot in any way wish to reflect upon the harbormaster (Captain Thompson), in whom we fully recognise your board has a most obliging, and careful officer, and had we not been aware of the difficult position in which he was placed, numerous complaints would have been made earlier. In our opinion, it is quite impossible for Captain Thompson, or any other single officer, to satisfac- 1 torily control the receiving and delivering of cargo in both sheds and to perform other duties required of him. Under .existing conditions, goods received for shipment have on several occasions gone astray, and goods for delivery are fre-. quently removed from the sheds by irresponsible persons, and unknown to the officials, with the obvious result that some consignees find themselves pos- : sessed of other goods than their own, while other consignees claim on the shipping companies for short delivery of missing goods. We have no doubt that your board will recognise that this state of affairs, apart from the detrimental effect it will produce on the trade of the port, must, if continued, create very grave friction between the shippers and the board, and we would strongly urge upon you the necessity of securing .a competent assistant for Captain Thompson to supervise the handling of cargo while in the board's care, as in our opinion it is the only way to remedy the existing condition.—(Signed) N.Z. Shipping Co., Northern Steamship Co., thos Borthwich and Sons, A. Hatrick and Co, Bayly, Ogle and Co." MR. HINE'S MOTION. According to notice, Mr. Hine moved respecting a re-arrangement of the staff, but he asked that the clause relating to a deduction of £25 from Captain Thompson's annual salary be eliminated. He believed that with the latter salary standing, the board would quite save the salary of Mr. Sampson, whom he I proposed as assistant, Laing being worth quite £IOO per year for work in the shed. It was absolutely necessary, Mr. Hine said, to secure efficiency. Without in any way reflecting on Captain Thompson's ability, he was convinced that one man was unable to cope with the work, even out of the wool season. He was not acting in the interests of Mr. Sampson, but for the sake of the port, and he asked the board to judge the case on its merits, and to treat the proposition irrespective of the fact that Mr. Sampson had formerly been in the board's employ. The chairman asked if there was a seconder, and there was no response Mr. Hine asked thatvthe motion he seconded pro forma.

_ Again there was no response, and Mr Hine indignantly remarked that he was absolutely surprised that not one of them would give the motion a chance' to be discussed. They would not second it because they knew their positon was untenable.

The chairman, interrupting, said he could not allow Mr. Hine to go further as his motion had not been seconded He asked Mr. Hine to sit down. Mr., Hine said he wonld sit down, with the conviction that the member*, feared discussion.

; Mr. Jennings moved that a return be prepared showing th> wwpimt of the snipping business for the past two months compared with the same period 0 rr, Prcceajnjr two years. The chairman promised that this return would be readf at next meeting Mr Jennings said fhe would like to ask Captain Thompson if there had been any complaints about, goods missing, and, if so, had he reported to the board. ' Captain Thompson said there had been nothing beyond minor complaints. There had been cases of goods going to wron* destinations, but that had been rectified! It was invariably a case of insufficient marking, and this particularly applied to bar iron, which he had several times asked consignees to identify. Mr. Jennings said he took it from the letter that there were circumstances of goods being lost, _ The secretary said there were oceasions when goods were short landed, but not lost.

The chairman said the charms, were very vague. The board did not know of pods going astray. The shippers 'ought •to make a definite statement. In reply to Mr. Jennings, the secretary said lie remembered a case of a drum of oil going astray. It wag on the Tainui's manifesto but there was no evidence of the drum being landed. In answer to the chairman, the secretary said he believed the consignee had churned m the owners of the steamer for the missing drum. Mr Jennings said the letter deserved consideration, but the statements were vrry vague He moved that the shippers be asked to give some specific instance where goods had cone astray and had I not been accounted For.

Seconded by Mr. Birdling and carried. —vvaitara Mail.