HARBOR BOARDS' EXPENDITURE.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1918, Page 4

HARBOR BOARDS' EXPENDITURE.

MINISTER THREATENS GOVERNMENT CONTROIf "" NEW PLYMOUTH CONGRATULATED. NEW PLYMOUTH BILL PASSED. (By Telegraph—Special Corresponded.), Wellington, Last Night Among the local Bills put through all weir stages and passed in the House late on Saturday night were the Napier aarbor Board Bill, the Now Plymouth Harbor Empowering Bill, and the Wairoa Harbor Board Empowering. aodLoan Bill There was no opposition to the Bills, but they gave rise to an'interesting discussion on the general question of harbor works and loans.' Mr. G-V.Pearce (Patea), chairman of the Local Bills Commitee, said he would like to draw the attention of tho Government to the expenditure of harbor boards generally. There seemed to to no check oil the expenditure, and an enormous amount of mwiey had hoen wasted- The Wairoa Harbor Board (proposed an expenditure of £SOOO on a temporary entrance to the river. The sum of £.100,000 had been: spent on "Wairoa Harbor already, imd the whole of it had been lost- Napier had spent half a million on harbor works and was proposing novf to spend more money at a new place. Gisborne was about in the same position. Then there was a Bill to authorise an expenditure of £150,000 at Wanganui. The Government ought to look into the matter, for there had Tieen more waste of money on harbors than on anything else In New Zealand. He believed that much expenditure waa undertaken merely in order to benefit the towns, and tho country districts suffered. Mr. Pearce added that.'he was not obfeating to the New Plymouth Bill, which he believed would produce goo 3 results. The Minister for Marine (Hon. T. M. Wilford) said that Mr. Peareo's remarks nad much truth in them.. If the harbor .boards were not more careful about their expenditure it might be necessary for the Government to control all expenditure otfharbors. There waa no help for the expenditure of £SOOO at Wairoa, bs over 100,000 carcases of meat were lying at the port and had te 'je got out., tot it was a fact that, £IOO,OOO had been lost at Wairoa on harbor works. The Harbor Board, for some reason, had disregarded the instruction of the Marine Department as to the width of the channel and Had made the channel too narrow. The consequent scour had cut away the papa, and then one of the retaining Walls had collapsed. The Government engineers had advised that the £bt)oo must be spent now to get tho meat out. The alternative wis to construct a new liarbor about 22 miles away, and' this scheme was dependent on railway communication. With regard to Wanganui, the original estimates of cost had been upset by tho increased cost of materials. The additional expenditure proposed was approved by the Government' engineers, fie had Examined the New Plymouth Bill, and had stipulated that the plans ,i* approved by the Government engineers must t>e adhered to exactly. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson (Egmont) said that he could answer for ttte soundness of the New-Plymouth proposals. They nad been well thought out, and the financial position of ths. New Plymouth* Board was excellent. The money Spent at New Plymouth lia& been very taeficiaJ to the whole country. There would be no waste at New Plymouth. l£r. W- A. Veitoh .(Wanganui) said that, as a memßS: of the Wanganui rtiTQor Board, ho wished to congratulate fta neighboring port of Now Plymouth on tho improvements tXfat Were being effected.