SHINGLE SHIFTING.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2330, 15 March 1892, Page 2

SHINGLE SHIFTING.

A fair number of ratepayers turned up at the Volunteer Hall, Geraldine, on Friday evening, to consider the Timaru shingle-shifting question, which at present is a bone of contention in many quarters. The meeting commenced at 8 o’clock and was not concluded till after 10 o’clock. On the motion of Mr Dunlop, Mr M. 0. Orbell was elected to the chair, Mr White (chairman of the Geraldine Town Board) being absent at the opening of the meeting. The chairman said he presumed that all present were aware that they had met to discuss the Timaru shingle-shifting question. He was very glad to see so many ratepayers present, and he could only say that he would like to see them take as much interest in other public matters as they appeared to take in this one. With regard to the shingle-shifting question, he knew very little about it except what he had picked up while travelling about. Before making any remarks upon the question he would like to hear the opinion of those present, especially the opinion of Mr Flatman, a representative of the board. He understood that Mr Talbot was also to have been present, but he had not come. He believed that Mr Talbot was in favor of the proposed expenditure, and that Mr Flatman was against it. He would ask them to discuss the question in a very deliberate manner, without any abuse. He thought is would be very unwise for those who differed from the majority the board to use any strong language against them, as it might create an unfavorable opinion against them (the ratepayers), which must be a disadvantage to them at some future time. Ho held a very strong opinion on the matter himself, but would rather hear some other gentleman express his first. (Applause.) Mr J. Mundell said he had received a letter from the chairman of the Timaru Harbor Board with a request privately to himself to hand it to the chairman of the present meeting. The following letter was then handed in and read: — “ Harbor Board, “ Timaru, March 9,1892. “ The Chairman of the Geraldine Meeting in re Harbor Business. “Dear Sir, I understand that you propose to consider matters in which I take great interest, and I should have been very glad to attend if I had any right to suppose that you would have wished it. I suppose that your meeting would desire to consider the matter in a fair and impartial manner, with the object of ascertaining why a majority of seven members of the board have during a full year held their opinions as against the views of a minority of four members, and if the courtesy of an invitation had been extended to me I think that I might have been able to render you some assistance. If, however, the object of your meeting is merely to receive an ex parte statement, with the fixed intention of adopting it, no information can be desired, and my attendance would be useless. This is, however, a course which, I feel sure, those gentlemen who H attend your meeting will not consent to. —Y ours, &c., “ E. Acton.” The chairman said as far as he could see Mr Acton had no reason to be asked to attend the present meeting. He considered it was a public meeting, and open to the whole country. (Hear, hear.) He could not see why a man should be asked to attend a public meeting. Individually he (the chairman) had not been asked to attend, and never expected that he would be in the chair, but he had attended for all that. Ha thought that Mr Acton’s letter was very irritating, and Mr Acton should have been present himself. (Hear, hear, and applause.) Mr Wreathall, as one of the gentlemen who had convened the meeting, said that • the meeting had been called for every ratepayer, irrespective of what his position might be. (Applause.) Mr F. R. Flatman was then called upon to make an explanation of affairs. He said that he had not received an invitation to attend the meeting, and in no way had been connected with the calling of it.'-‘ He wished, however, to make a simple assertion to exonerate himself. it ham

been thrown across timetable at the last meeting of the Timaru Harbor Board by the majority that the minority were going about the country u button-holhing *' the ratepayers and trying to get them on their side. He did not think that there was one ratepayer present who could say that he (the speaker) was doing that. Probably he had been lax ir the matter, and not as energetic as ha should have been. There was no doubt but that the majority had been very well reported, and what he would say that night concerning them would be truthful and unbiassed. He did not wish to run down any man, but show up everything before the ratepayers in a straightforward manner, so that they might judge rightly in the matter. Ho would not say anything against members or servants of the board that was not true. Servants of the board were run down quite enough. Ha had said at the liable of the harbor board that they had the interest of tire country at heart, though they might differ in opinion. If he had the interest of the country at heart, and differed in opinion from the majority, it was not for him to be bought over. If .the ratepayers were not satisfied with the action he had taken He would ask them to put another man in lyftf place. If a petition from a minority were presented to him he would call a meeting of his constituents aiid if they deemed it right there and then resign. He did not want to do anything in opposition to the ratepayers. The minority was now trying to carry

out the suggestions of the Royal Commission which were given in 1887 by Messrs O’Connor and Austin. At one time there had been those who wanted them there and then to buy the tramway plant for carrying shingle away, even before they had permission from the Government. The result of that would have been that they would have had to go on the main railway line and tip shingle over, the rooks. What, he asked, would have been the position if they had gone bliudfoldisd into that and bought the old plantr? They would have found out afterwards that the Government would not allow them to run on their line, and they would have been compelled to build a new viaduct. The board said they had got the best advice in the matter. He would grant that, but they did not allow for

nature. Nature was so tricky on the sea coast, and what happened on one coast might differ on another. And, then, the most eminent engineers had said that they should see what nature would do before they agree what they will do themselves. [Mr Flatman then read the annual reports of 1886 and 1887 with regard to the matter.] They would remember a letter written to the paper by Mr Gibson, in which he said the harbor was fast shoaling up. He maintained that the Timaru harbor was never better abused than by its own members round its own table. They would remember that an experiment had been tried for shifting the shingle, and if there had been any shoaling up a little here and there it was simply because the dredge had not been at its proper \v urked. He spoke afew words on that at the last meeting, but the paper saw fit not to report them. They said the Taniwha was no good. Since the Taniwha came she had carried out he forgot how many thousands of tons a year, and yet they were told that this Taniwha was no good. It was simply preposterous! Then they said the Taniwha would go to the bottom, but she had been a good many trips and proved herself seaworthy. Mr Marchant had said that the captain had summed her up as a good sea boat. If this was so, he would like to know why they want her for odd jobs when they got a big vessel ? Mr Gray, when he was a member of the board, had said that the Titan would last years and years with very little expense. When they got the Mana they were asking £2OOO for the Titan; at last it came down to £IOOO, and they wrote to all parts of the colonies, even to Australia, and, finally, she was put up for auction, and netted £l9B ! about the price of an Old bullock-dray in years gone gone by. (Laughter and applause.) He thought the present vessel would do the work for years, and why, he asked, should they want another to supersede her? His policy was to keep as much as possible from getting new plant and : having the old one left on their hands, which would be no more use to them then ■ than old iron. They might just as well have kept the Titan and let her out to fishermen as to have sold her for £l9B. [Mr Flatman then read the report of the Royal Commission given to the board in 1886-7.] They could see by this report that the board went against what the Commissioners, Messrs O.Y. O’Connorand A. D. Austin, would have them do. The commissioners wanted them to take the breakwater straight out, and instead of that the majority on the board decided for the cant on the breakwater, and evil was the consequence. He believed that there were thousands of tons of sand going past the mouth of the harbor. It was hinted at one time round the table of the board that the sea was getting shallower round the breakwater, making it dangerous for ships coming into the harbor. He went to the harbor master, who showed him his soundings, and he found that there was not one tithe of the remarks made at the board’s table with regard to this matter correct. He did not wish to say harsh things against anyone, but they all knew that Mr C. Y. O’Connor must have been working in the interest of railways before harbor boards. He could say himself as regards railways now, if anyone was getting goods from Christchurch it was cheaper to have them sent to Winchester than Orari, He thought Mr Dunlop could bear him out in that.

Mr Dunlop : Quite correct. Continuing, Mr Flatman said he was glad there was opposition on the board, for he verily believed that Mr Marchant would have been sent to Holland to see the sand-pumps at work there. They had a gentleman named Wellman, who came before the board about suction pumps. Mr Marchant went and saw one, and he believed that if it had not been for the way in which the minority stood out Mr Marchant would have been sent otf Home. The afterwards had a bill from this Mr Wellman for giving the board instructions re his pump, and the ratepayers had to pay for it. This year the demand upon local bodies was equal to the rate of three-sixteenths of a penny. Last year they collected from the local bodies £3OOO, and this year they were going to ask for and get £4500. He asked the chairman of the board if this increase was going to last, and the reply was that it depended on him and members of the board round the table. He (the speaker) then said if that was so he would endeavor to cut things down finer, and he believed they would do it. (Applause). He thought the ratepayers would have taken greater interest in the work in years gone by, and they would have been in a better position now, if the law was such that they had to raise a rate to pay interest on any money borrowed the moment they borrowed it. Ratepayers should have taken more i interest in those things, and possibly the cant and the mole would not have been in their present position. There was one thing about the dredging : it took up the berth of one ship, and they could not have so many ships alongside the wharf as they could if no dredging was going one. Two months ago they might have had two ships in, but the harbor master would not take them because it was not safe. He considered that the figures of the extent of the shingle encroachment given in by Mr Marchant and the Commissioners were contradictory, and either one or the other was wrong. He still maintained that there was no need for hurry in getting new plant. It had been proved that with the plant they had they could keep the encroachment in check, and why he would ask, do they want to spend ten or twelve thousand pounds without necessity I It had been said that they could not borrow the money required for this new plant, but it would either have to be got in the shape of rates or borrowed. He did not know of anything more he could tell them, hut would answer any question put to him. QUESTION. Questions were then replied to by Mr Flatman as follows : To Mr Wrcathall: Nos. 1,2, and 3 measures were before the board, and one of those would be selected. To Mr G. W. Tayler: The board’s

, rating power he thought was one penny i iu the £, but it was hardly on that basis ' now, the laws having been amended. He had protested at the board against the unfair way in which the rate had been collected. There was £ i 00 of 1890 rate still uncollected. He had put it before the board many times. They were paying interest qu the overdraft 3 when the i

Waimate Council, and, he thought the Arowhenua Town Board did not pay. This was manifestly unfair to Geraldine, Mount Peel, and other boards, which paid. To Mr Dunlop : In the matter of collecting the rates the law was not good. Everybody was boss, and no one was master. At the Geraldine Board they found that certain books had to be kept, 'which entailed considerable work, and they thought the Harbor Board ought to do their own collecting. To the Chairman : Sir John Goode’s plans had not come before the board in his time. He considered that they simply ignored Sir John Goode, the greatest engineer who had been before them. To Mr Taylor ; There was a small tongue of shingle at the point, but it was dredged away in two or three days. To Mr Hammond : The cost of extending the breakwater, according to Mr Goodall’s estimate was £BO a foot, but Mr Stumbles, a member of the board, was willing to resign and take up the contract at £55 a foot. To Mr A. McKenzie: It would be a very foolish idea to shift away the shingle where it was doing good service. the proposition. Mr Wreathall then spoke strenuously against spending the proposed expenditure in new plant, which he considered would be a never-ending cost to the ratepayers. In 20 years time it would cost them close on £70,000. He proposed the following resolution, which was afterwards seconded by Mr John Allan, and carried unanimously—“ That this meeting of Timaru Harbor Board ratepayers most emphatically condemns any expenditure of the ratepayers’ money in shifting shingle from the outside of the breakwater until such time as ratepayers have had the opportunity of pledging to either sanction or condemn the scheme.” Mr Flatman explained that he had moved an amendment at the board’s meeting that the matter lay in abeyance till the ratepayers had an opportunity to say whether they would sanction it. On the motion of Mr A. White, seconded by Mr Mundell, it was carried unanimously—“ That a committee be selected to draw up a petition to be sent to the Timaru Harbor Board to have the previous motion earned into effect, the committee to consist of Messrs N. Dunlop, J. Mundell, Wreathall, Kelman, Thew, K. Brophy, Nalder, and A. White.” The chairman, in speaking to the motion, said that after what they had heard from Mr Flatman they could see that the whole thing must be a blunder. He was a perfect stranger to the district, and knew little about the matter. They had ignored the advice of Sir John Coode, who told them years ago what would happen unless they adopted his course. They had likewise ignored Mr O’Connor, and now they had fallen back upon Mr Marchant. He thought there must have been a great deal of engineering going on somewhere. He would advocate delay in this business. He had found that harbor boards were a failure all through New Zealand, and he would like to see the Government take over every harbor in the country. (Hear, hear.) Hedidnot however, think it advisable to entirely stop moving shingle outside the breakwater. He would like to see it go on for this year, and could not fall in with Mr Wreathall’s motion to tie the hands of the board completely in the matter. He thought it very unreasonable, and would make them appear ridiculous in the sight of the public. He thought by doing such they would lose the sympathy of many. It would be wiser only to protest against any extra expenditure, and let the work be going on as before. Mr G. W. Tayler proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr Flatman for attending the meeting and giving them information.

Mr Mundell seconded this, but said he would like to put it a little stronger and say, as no one turned up to represent the Harbor Board in defence, Mr Flatman had the entire confidence of the meeting re his action at the board on the shingle question. The present majority of members was simply experimenting on the ratepayers. Certain members had an axe to grind. When he (Mr Mundell) spoke he called a spade a spade. There were members who had very little to do, and others who had a lot to do, and these men should speak out with no uncertain sound when public money was going to be expended for all time. Mr Flatman, as member for Geraldine, had struck out boldly and fearlessly in the face of a hostile majority of seven. As far as Mr Flatman was concerned, he was in the minority on the board, but he had the entire sympathy of the majority of sound ratepayers in the Tjmaru Harbor District. (Hear, hear, and loud applause.) Mr Flatman, in reply, said he was sorry the meeting had passed the resolution it had with regard to the shingle shifting, as it would perhaps be a losing game to the minority. He thought the resolution tied their hands too much. A vote of thanks to the chair, proposed by Mr Dunlop, closed the meeting.