The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 19, 1921. HARBOR EXTENSIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 July 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JULY 19, 1921. HARBOR EXTENSIONS.

The proposal made by the harbor engineer at last meeting of the Board has the merit of providing additional berthage at a minimum of expense, of utilising the present deep water (dredged at considerable expense), and of conforming with the main principles of Mr. Blair Mason’s scheme. For these reasons it should receive the fullest consideration of members nf the Board. Like other public bodies, the local Harbor Board is experiencing difficulties just now in regard to finances, and it cannot do just what it would like to. It is committed to lengthening the Breakwater, and with the stone now available, 'and the tramway to Paritutu completed, that work should proceed more expeditiously than it has of late, but as the resident engineer pointed out, there are times when the weather prevents work being carried on at the Breakwater, and the staff and plant can then be employed on reclaiming the foreshore eastwards of the breakwater, preparatory to running out another wharf. Whether the proposed wharf should be built in the position suggested is a matter for experts to decide, but that the reclamation work should be proceeded -with at once there cannot be any doubt. Additional berthage is an urgent necessity, and the public expect the board to do something to meet the need as soon as possible. There is a widespread feeling of disappointment with the progress made since the last loan -was sanctioned and Mr. Blair Mason's comprehensive scheme approved. Additional dredging has been done, and a base laid for the breakwater extension, works, of course, which are not seen, and therefore not fully appreciated. The public expected that a start would be made with the rubble wall from Moturoa concurrently with the breakwater extension. Owing to a variety of causes, more or less beyond the control of the board, the former work had to be temporarily abandoned. Now, the state of the finances will not permit of work being proceeded with there. That wall, it must be borne in mind, is the key to the harbor scheme. It is designed to arrest the sand drift around the breakwater, to build up the sand on the western side of the breakwater, and thus to prevent the seas from going over the breakwater in rough weather, and so contributing to the that gives concern occasionally to the masters of the big ships berthed at the wharf, and enabling the side of the breakwater to be used for moving cargo boats. The extension of the breakwater is also a vital necessity. The board is faced with the necessity for providing additional berthage in the near future. Manifestly it must make the fullest use of the dredging work already done, and this is recognised by Mr- Lowson. Under his scheme additional berthage will be provided in the near future, at a minimum of .expenditure, probably within the limits of the present loan. To wait for the completion of the Moturoa rubble wall means that we will not have another deep-sea berth for ten or fifteen years, a prospect which will not be appreciated by ratepayers, who expect something to show for the loan they approved. Means will have to be found for providing additional berthage. The engineer says it is practicable, and the board has wisely asked him for fullei details before pronouncing judgment upon his proposal. There the matter must be left for the present. It is gratifying to notice that the majority of the board members have no intention of departing from the main principles of Mr. Blair Mason’s scheme. Determined efforts are being made in certain quarters to discountenance this scheme and to substitute an “outer harbor” scheme, with the connecting ol* Mikotahi and Moturoa as Hie principal feature. This was condemned in no uncertain terms years ago by Mr. Blair Mason, and its resuscitation at this stage is as futile as it is mischievous. Any attempts Io diverge from the main features of the original scheme, which may still be regarded as a great conception, should be strenuously reslated--

THE BUTTER MARKET. The advice recently received that the price of butter and cheese ie advancing on the London market will be welcomed by all dairymen, especially in Taranaki. The High Commissioner’s cable sent from London on the 9th inst. stated that ’the butter market was firm, Danish being quoted at 214 s to 224 s (Is lid to 2s per lb) and New Zealand first and second grade at 193 s to 200 a per cwt. (Is SJd to Is 9Jd per lb). A surprising rise has taken place since, as a cable dated 16th. inst. quotes New Zealand butter at 2575, an advance of 575. This seems almost too good to be true, yet the drought and heat wave in Britain and on the Continent may have accounted in part for the rise. Cheese has also risen twenty shillings in the week. Considering that an increase of only twopeuCe per ]b would on the total of last year’s export yield over a quarter of a million, some idea may be formed as to the difference a large rise in dairy produce will make to New Zealand producers. There was some anxiety among Taranaki dairymen as to how they would stand next season in view of the downward-tendency of prices. The present advance, even if not maintained at its highest point, should serve to give confidence in the future and enable them to ,<}rt over any financial difficulties they may be experiencing. Doubtless they will be as much surprised at the sudden rise as was the trade in London. The delay in shipping that took place a few months ago will prove a blessing in disguise to those factories which consigned, as the final shipments should participate in thb increased pi-ices. The rise should put producers on a safe wicket for the ensuing season and materially ease the financial position of the Dominion. Once again it appears as if the dairying industry is going to save the country.