SHINGLE-SHIFTING PROPOSALS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2344, 16 April 1892, Page 3

SHINGLE-SHIFTING PROPOSALS.

PUBLIC MEETING AT TEMUKA. A puplic meeting of ratepayers was held in the Volunteer Hall, Temuka, on Thursday evening, to discuss the question of shingle shifting, now before the Timaru Harbor Board. There was a very large aud representative attendance, ratepayers from Timaru, Geraldine, and Peel Forest being present. On the motion of Mr Twomey, Mr John Mundell was voted to the chair. The chairman said it was an unexpected thing for him to be called upon to preside at that meeting. He was only there, as it were, by accident, and had no idea that he would be invited to take the chair. It was, however, a position that suited him uncommonly well, because the chief duty of the chairman was to hold his tongue. (Laughter.) It gave him pleasure, however, to preside over such a representative meeting, and he hoped however much the various speakers might differ in their views that what they had to say would be said calmly, and with no illfeeling. Of this he had little fear, as the district was famous for the good taste and harmonious feeling which characterised its public meetings. He then read the advertisment calling the meeting, and invited any gentieman present so speak. Mr J. M. Twomey, who was the first speaker, said that he had no doubt that Mr Mundell’s request to keep orderly would be attended to, because the question they had met to consider was not a personal one, but one of vital importance to them all. All knew the members of the Harbor Board. They were all honorable men, good citizens, and good colonists. On this question, however, a large portion of the community differed from the majority of the board, and as they (the majority of the board) were doubtless earnest in their convictions they would no doubt allow that their opponents were also imbued with honesty of purpose. Mr Tripp, who took a great interest in local matters, and who was as usual on the popular side, had written to him, expressing regret that he was prevented by distance from being present, but had asked him to read to the meeting a letter he .had recently sent to the papers. This letter expressed his mature views upon the subject. [Mr Twomey hero read the letter, which has already appeared in our columns]. Continuing he said that they were all obliged to Mr Tripp for the suggestion he had made, which he (the speaker) considered was a good one. Before he sat down he wished to say a few words on his own account. In order to explain the position he took up ho had prepared a rough map. The map showed the foreshore as it wasr twelve years ago, and as it was now. The shingle twelve years ago was 240 feet out from the root of the mole. Now the visible shingle was 600 feet out. He was told that the shingle had progressed beneath the waves some 75 feet in a few months. They might believe it if they liked, but he (the speaker) hardly could. If they deducted 240 feet from 600 it left them 360 feet, and this divided by 12 showed that the shingle had travelled out at the rate of 30 feet a year. If it Lad travelled at the rate stated by the engineers it would have travelled beyond • the kan t altogether. It was a physical impossibility that it could have taavelled at the rate stated by the engineers. It had now 600 feet to go before it reached the of the kant, and at its present rate of travel it would take 20 years to get there. Another thing was that under the lea of that part of the breakwater sheltered by the shingle, vessels could lay in safety and load in any weather. Farther out, where there was no shingle, vessels were exposed to danger, and could not load in rough weather owing to the break of the ssea over the breakwater. They had hoard the suggestion made in Mr Tripp’s letter, which was to construct a rubble groin at right angles with the kant. If they adopted it the travelling shingle could he stopped by one chain of a rubble wall for 20 years according to his (Mr Twomey’s) calculations, but ho would not ask them to take his calculations. Let them take the boards calculations, and it would stop it for five years. They proposed to spend £•8000 on machinery. Let them place that £BOOO at interest, and in five years they would get £2OOO, with which they could make two chains more, aud this would do them for another five years. At the end of which they would get another £2OOO from intere-t, and so on. If this was not engineering it was common sense and sound finance, and he felt sure it would appeal to the intelligence of the community. Mr Stumbles «aid there was no doubt Sffie shingle question was a very important matter, but ho was sorry to say a great many ratepayers in the district <did not take enough heed of it. Members of the Harbor Board told the ratepayers that they know all about the shingleshifting question before the board was elected. This was not true. The board was elected in February, and in reality the ratepayers did not know what the consequence of the-shingle-shifting woffjd be till after the board was elected. The majority on the board gave it as an excuse that they were elected as a board and would stick to their position and cany out their work. He (the speaker) was a member of the board, flj}d if be found that the people he r,eprnsailtf;d wore of the same opinion with respqct ftp HHjJ.vim as the public were concerning other irbembers at the Pleasant Point meeting lie would just take up his hat and walk away quite satisfied. (Applause.) He would not like to represent a district with nine to one ratepayers against the course ' lie was taking. With regard to the advice of engineers, he could assure _ thtel that there wore practical mpu in this 'ted other

districts who could give an opinion as correctly as an engineer. Their theory might be very good, but he would ask them to put it to the test —see if practical knowledge was not the better. He was very sorry the board’s chairman was not present. That gentleman tackled him strongly at Pleasant Point by saying that in April, 1891, he (the speaker’) and Messrs Evans and Hill wanted to go in for a loan of £60,000, which would be a burden on the ratepayers. He denied such a statement, and pointed out that Mr Evans was not elected on the board till July, and therefore could not have mentioned such a thing in April. He also tackled him by saying, “ How can Stumbles put himself up against the opinion of the engineers ?” He did not presume to do so, but when they saw an engineer’s plan it looked very nice on paper, but when they had drawn the plan it was about all they could do. If there was a difficult point to be worked out, and they were asked how it could be done, their answer would be, “ Oh ! it’s on the plan ! it’s on the plan !” (Laughter and applause.) He had a good deal of experience in this matter, and claimed to know something about it. He did not wish to run down engineers. He considered they were very good in their place, but the theory and the practice were two different things. (Hear, hear.) He did not put himself up as a great man, like Mr Acton or Mr Talbot, who could make flourishing speeches. He was never trained that way, but was trained to hard work. If the ratepayers considered he was doing wrong, all they had to do was to ask him to resign, and he would do so at once. To spend the money they intended on machinery at the present time was sheer nonsense. The speaker then traversed ground which has been already dealt with at several meetings, and raised a laugh by referring to Mr Marchant’s experiment in blowing up a wreck with gun-cotton. The experiment having failed, Mr Marchant said that the gun-cotton was no good, but a man came from Wellington who soon proved to him that it was good. Referring to Mr Gibson’s statement at a meeting of the Timaru Borough Council that the harbor was siltiug up, he said this was an entirely new thing altogether, and was only brought forward to divert the public’s mind. He made much of the fact that the engineers, instead of reporting on the shingle question, as they were asked to do, reported on the question of sheltering the north beach for Mr Balfour, whereby Mr Balfour was now able to write to the board informing that he was able to get three or four loads of shingle, which he could not get before. In conclusion, he said all that they wished the board to do was to refrain from spending any money until the term of office of the present board expires, so that the ratepayers could judge for themselves in the matter, (Hear, hear, and applause.) Mr A. M. Clark said he desired to move a resolution, but before doing so he wished to say a few words. The question was not “ What was to be done to the harbor ?” because that should be left to others. Engineers had said that the shingle would not hurt for some years, hut would really be a benefit. They could not help seeing that experts allowed three or four years before there was any hanger to the harbor, and he thought it a great mistake to go in for expensive machinery just now. Engineering was going ahead at such a rate that at the end of three years the machinery which it was now proposed to obtain might be obsolete. By the time the danger was serious, much more suitable machinery might be procurable. Ho one could say what Nature would do for them in a few years. They must bear in mind that the water deepened the farther out the breakwater ran, and it was quite possible that the shingle might not trouble them at all. He would therefore move—“ That as according to the best information obtained by the Harbor Board there is no danger of the shingle overlapping the kant for at least three years, this meeting strongly objects to any serious outlay being gone into until the ratepayers have been afforded an opportunity of voting on the subject.” Mr John Fraser had pleasure in seconding the motion. Mr Wreathall said ho concurred in the motion as a whole, but thought it did not go quite far enough. The Harber Board might expend £BOOO or so, and not call it “ serious.”

Mr Clark and Mr Fraser consented to the word “ serious ” being expunged. Mr Talbot suppised that he represented the minority of the members of the board present at the meeting. It was rather an uneviable position for him, as he was not used to speaking at large meetings or opposing the arguments of opponents. From the letters and writings which had been going through the Press one would suppose that the members of the Harbor Board of his way of thinking had lost all regard for public interest, and were simply running counter to the public. Anyone of them who had anything to do with public matters would know that such was not the case. It required a great deal of fortitude to stand on what they considered the right track and have the public against them. He remarked that they (the ratepayers) should, at all events, give some consideration the opinions of the majority of the Harbor Board. They had been amongst them a great number of years, and he could not see why they should be any more likely to jump to a rash conclusion than those in the minority. Besides, they had the opinion of the engineers on their side, and he asserted, it, is possible a whole community of individuals may be on the wrong trafik ( Cpies of “N0,n0.”) There had been so much misrepresentation and so much that was entii’ely wrong put about tj)at it was a very difficult matter to counteract it. The gentleman who first addressed the meeting that night had some time ago, as edited pf J/L paper, published an article representring to the that the Harbor Board intended to spend £4OOO a year exclusive of depreciation, interest, etc. This gentleman was either writing of something which he knew r nothing or was misleading the public. The board had hot tvualjy decided on the matter but had a com- ! jnjsfhpp <ffiPplnte,d fq report, Again, it had been said by sqjpe that tl}p shingle had only travelled half the length of the straight of the breakwater. They must have known this was wrong, or they wore tolling an untruth. He hold by the report that the shingle was 1 800 ft. out, aud not simply 600 ft., as some . had attempted to show. He could

multiply cases where such like misleading statements had been made. In dealing with the matter Mr Clark made a very sensible remark when he asked, “ Is there any danger at the present time I If so, it will have to be looked to.” He considered that there was danger of a more serious nature than they were aware, and there was no time to lose in getting plant on the ground. It was said that the shingle would be a protection to the harbor. May be, but if it got round the other side it would be a very serious thing. (Mr Clark: “It can never get there.”) Perhaps it may not, but he did not think there was a member of the board present but held the belief that there was danger, and something ought to be done. There had been propositions of all kinds, and they had the one that night of making a wall of rubble stones, but all propositions of this kind must go down between the simple proposition whether or not they should shift the shingle or make a solid structure. Before going on with the solid structure ho pointed out that a Royal Commission would have to be obtained. This he considered was a just and desirable safeguard for it would be a serious matter to wake up some fine morning and find the material strewn over the harbor. There was also another difficulty. He was positive that if they went to the London market to borrow money to spend in protecting the harbor they would not get it. Speaking about the reclaimed land, he said it would be unsable, as there was plenty of land about Timaru. With regard to the silting up of the harbor he said it had been known for a considerable time that the present vessel was unable to cope with silting in the harbor. Vessels were now-a-days larger, and a greater depth was required. Dredging in the harbor was a thing which required immediately going on with. If the new plant was not necessary for the shingle it would be the exact thing for the harbor dredging. Again speaking of borrowing he pointed out that if they went on with the shingle shifting in the meantime, and it was thought fit afterwards to enlarge the harbor, they would have more chance of borrowing money for enlarging the harbor than for protection only. Much had been spoken about the purchase and sale of the Titan. A newspaper article was published on it by the editor before mentioned which described the transaction as scandalous to all concerned. Such a charge meant that the gentlemen concerned were dishonorable, and he averred that although they were not present to defend themselves they were as honorable as their traducer. Mr Talbot closed his speech by assuring them that the majority on the board were acting on their convictions for what they considered best for the district. Of course at times of this sort, when there was public feeling excited, men came to the front and took a great deal upon themselves who would not be trusted on other occasions. (Hear, hear). Mr Flatman was pleased to find that Mr Talbot felt bad when he was in the minority, and he would now surely have some pity for the poor individuals that had been all along in the minority on the board. He wished to clear up a quibble between him and Mr Talbot. The latter said that he (the speaker) had made a false statement at the Geraldine meeting, and ought to be ashamed of himself. When he went to the Geraldine meeting he had not a speech prepared, but since then he found that his memory had been right, and his statement with regard to the sale of the Titan correct. He (the speaker) did nob blame the board, but simply brought the Titan’s sale forth as an argument to show what the board’s machinery would be worth if put in the market. In 1888 the Titan was valued at £3OOO, in 1889 at £2500, and in 1890 at £2OOO. Mr Flatman showed with regard to the alleged silting up of the harbor that if it were true the soundings of the harbor engineer were wrong. He had yet to learn that the Taniwha was no good, and he asked them to look at the work she had done in getting water alongside the Moody wharf. This wharf he was convinced was a mistake. He had always advocated delay, and asked for three months’ time till after harvest, to give those interested an opportunity to meet and discuss the question. The Herald misrepresented this, and said that he had asked for time to allow members of the board to go harvesting. Mr Teschemaker, at the last meeting of the board, said they would get extra work done, and only have to pay £6OO a year, thus admitting that it will cost £6OO a year to work the new plant. Mr Flatman wont into figures and showed that they could carry the breakwater out 500 feet with £175 a year extra above the dredging, to say nothing of the reclaimed land they would have to the good. Mr Talbot had said this reclaimed land would not be worth anything. If he (the speaker) were given an acre,of drown land there, he woujd serve the ratepayers the rest of his natural life on the board for nothing. (Applause.) Mr Acton had said that he (the speaker) had at one time proposed that £IO,OOO should be put aside for preventing the shingle from shifting. He might have said so but he could not recollect it, and if he did he was sure he did not tell them that it should be spent in 1892. (Applause.) The cry about the harbor silting up was something new that had just cropped up. Mr' Marchant had always praised the Taniwha up, and said that the captain “ swore by her ” as a safe sea boat, and yet they said now she was unsuitable. He (Mr Flatman) considered that if they had made a mistake with the Taniwha they had' also made a mistake in getting the Mana. Why, the board could have had no foresight at all, and they were adding new plant to new plant, until very soon the harbor, wllich was considered too small already, wopld be full of their own plant. (Hear, hear.) He entirely agreed with the resolution and with Mr Clark, that in those days of progress there would be other machinery built iff a short time which they night got for far leas cost than they could to-day. Another thing, the Herald had said that the shingle had not encroached since the 15th of January. He ilr Marchant himself whether the shingle encroached seaward iff, the time they had their experiment, and he answered that Iqe was able to hold the shingle in check, and he (Mr Flatman) said “ Very well, the commissioners figures must be wrong.” (Apphuise.) Mr William Evans, as a member of the minority of ihc Harbor Board, said lie came to the meeting at the request of several gentlemen in the district. As thq

last speaker had remarked, Mr Talbot was iti an unenviable position that night, but it was the position the minority had been in for a longtime. (Laughter.) He had represented the ratepayers for a number of years previously, and it was only lately that he went on at the request of the ratepayers to try and prevent the shingle shifting. Their harbor was a great boon to the whole district, for owing to it they had been able to get an extension of trade from a great many places, and it would be a very serious matter if anything went wrong with the harbor. It was originally intended that the harbor should go another 500 feet straight out, and he was one of the advocates for it at the time. Later on, however, the kant was put on and this was the cause of all the trouble. He held that if the straight had gone out 500 feet more instead of having the kant they would not be there that night considering how to keep shingle back. He believed that the shingle had gone out about 020 feet, and not 800 feet as shown by Mr Talbot, and why, he asked, should they be in such a hurry to get expensive machinery. He concurred with the previous speaker that they had practical men among themselves who knew as much about engineering as the engineers in New Zealand. It was a matter of common sense. The only good engineer they ever had was, in his oj inion, Sir John Goode, who suggested a viaduct between the breakwater and the shore to allow the shingle to travel, which might have been a good thing if it had been carried out. Speaking of the engineers, of whom they had heard so much from the majority of the board, he said that when they visited Timaru a deputation of a few gentlemen of leisure waited on them re the denuding of shingle on the north beach, aud from this he believed that Mr O’Connor founded his report. Mr Evans then read extracts from reports, which showed that the engineers had always been adverse to the breakwater, and said it would not be a success, and some sensible men, he said, thought it would be washed away. He also quoted to show the inconsistency of Mr Goodall’s report re the north beach. With respect to the beach, he took the trouble to go down along the Seadown with Mr Stumbles, and he could see very little difference compared with 14 or 15 years ago. Speaking on the borrowing question, he said notwithstanding what Mr Talbot had said he still believed that at any time the ratepayers wanted to borrow £50,000 they would have no trouble in getting it. The harbor was a great hoop, in that coastal rates were now considerably less than before. He had seen most of the breakwaters in New Zealand, but he had not seen one as successful as their own, although hundreds of thousands of pounds had been squandered upon them. He held that it would take eight or ten years before the shingle reached the end of the straight. He thought that the best thing the minority of the board could do waste resign. (Applause.) If any of his constituents came to him and said “ Your services are not required,” he would let some other gentleman take his place. Speaking again of the engineers, he said he would just as soon take the opinion of Mr Stumbles or Mr Hill—men who had been working for years on the beach—as he would any of the engineers. (Applause.) With regard to the Titan and Mana he spoke in terms similar to other members of the minority. He thought they were spending a great deal more money in working the harbor than was desirable, and if the whole thing belonged to a private firm it would be worked with a great deal less expense. (Applause). The chairman then asked if there was any amendment to the resolution. None being forthcoming, the resolution was put and carried unanimously. Mr Talbot again rose and said he quite agreed with what Mr Evans Said, that members of the board should resign. He thought they should either resign or go on with the work. (Hear, hear.) Mr A. Beck, of Seadown, thou moved—- “ That this meeting is of opinion that property on tlffi seaboard between Washdyko ted Rangitata has not been damaged by the construction of the Timaru breakwater, and that it is not likely to be.” He had known the beach for some 14 years, and did not notice much change. It was his candid opinion that in 50 years to come land on the Seadown would bo as safe as it was now. Mr Evans seconded the motion, and endorsed Mr Hack's remarks. The xqqtiqn was carried unanimously. Mi- J- Fraser said he had been requested to move —“ That the action of the gentlemen now comprising the minority of the board in endeavoring to prevent a large outlay of public money for the purchase of shingle-shifting machinery bo approved by tips meeting, as we consider sqch outlay at the present time unnecessary.” This was seconded by Mr A. Gibson, and carried on the voices, Mr Twomey moved a vote of thanks to the ohair, and the meeting terminated.