WEST COAST TIMES. TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1865.

West Coast Times, Issue 31, 15 August 1865, Page 2

WEST COAST TIMES. TUESDAY, AUGUST 15, 1865.

A stranger visiting Hokitika for tho first time, and not previously apprised of tho unenviable notoriety which this port has gained for itself since tho West Coast was rushed, would be struck with astonishment at the multitude of wrecks and rein ains of wrecks with which tho beach is covered. From the entrance to the 'river to where the Montcssuma has been cast high and dry on tho sands, the picture is one that cannot be equalled in the colony, and perhaps not in the worW. In one spot the last remnants of the> Oak may be observed' — showing, even now, how well and faithfully she must have been built ; further on, a confused mass of ruin, a heap of splintered planks and ribs, marks the place where the Sir Francis Drake and the Itosclia finally succumbed to the force of the waves. Yonder can be seen the masts ol 1 the Titania, and nearer homo, what is left of the steunship New Zealand supplies us with a painful reminder of the dangers of Hokitika. Everywhere, from the water's

edge to the top of the spit, are scattered portions of the luckless vessels which have gone to pieces, Masts, anchors, chains, standing rigging, windlasses, may all be found, and a sprinkling of old iron sufficient, if it were worked, to give materials for a good sized steamer. Never before was such a gloomy sight seen in New Zealand. A year or two ago the Bluff Harbor had the worst reputation of any place on the coast. Captains and shippers had a dread of going there, and insurance companies raised their rates on goods consigned thitherward; and yet the Bluff Harbor is and always was a Milford Haven compared to Hokitika. It has been the system in some quarters to make light of the dangers of this port, and to attribute the numerous disasters whish have occurred to the carelessness or incapacity of masters of vessels, rather than to the difficulties of entrance. . This has been done with tho idea that it was bad policy to cry " stinking fish," and that it would be better for people to find out fox v themselves what was the real truth of the case. Freights would rise rapidly enough with", out blazoning abroad tho disadvantages under which we unfortunately labored. Now it seems to us that no worse course could be adopte4 than that of making light of what is really a most serious matter to tho whole West Coast community. Already the owners of vessels know full well to their cost the risk of entering the port of Hokitika, and freight and passage money have risen in an unprecedented manner. It is useless to tell owners that disaster has been caused by negligence and incapacity. The same vessels and the same captains have traded for years, very probably without the occurrence of a single disaster worthy of mention, and their first voyage to Hokitika has likely enough been their last. The same thing has happened so often that the most unwilling are compelled to acknowledge that the fault lies with the harbor and not with the captains of vessels. The harbor is bad, and the sooner wo openly confess it and initiate steps for its improvement the bettei for all concerned. The Canterbury Government have set themselves to work to connect the eastern and western portion of tho province by a road which has to pass over the main range, and which they certainly have not money to complete in a useful and substantial manner. A track, no doubt, they will succeed in making, at a very large outlay, but that they will make it capable of bearing heavy and constant traffic we deny, o\ if they do so it must be at an expense out of all proportion to the benefits which the West Coast will derive from it. Cattle and sheep will be driven across, and horsemen will bo able to travel with considerblo ease by the, new route, but tho principal supplies for tho West Coast ought to come, and will come by sea. Bad as the harbor is at present it will compete successfully with the road when completed ; but there is reason for believing that if some of the money which it is in contemplation to spend on tho road were employed in improving the harbor, the result would be a great saving to the people of Hokitika. A carefully prepared estimate of the loss occasioned by tho wrecks of tho last few months would tell a curious tale. The value of the ships alone would be no trifle, but added to tho value of the goods destroyed and damaged, the sum total would probably not bo written with less than six figures. Of course it is the interest of the people, of tho Eastern part of the province to oppose an attempt to expend any funds which may be available for opening up communication with the West Coast elsewhere than on the road. A market for their cattle and sheep will be provided ; a brisk passenger traffic will be likely to spring up ; and facilities will be offered for carrying out their pet scheme of an escort, All this will be shared with them by no other province. They will reap the whole or nearly the whole benefit, whereas by carrying out a scheme for the improvement of Hokitika harbor, they arc, whilst benefiting tho West Coast, doing but little direct g iod to the mercantile community of Christchurch, and generally to tho people of the eastern portion of tho province With greater facilities for entering Hokitika river, freight would at once decline, and Nelson and Melbourne shippers could afford to do their work at a far Cheaper rato than they can at present. Tho direct good to our community would be an immense and immediate- reduction in the price of the necessaries of life, and moro constant and certain communication with the other parts of the colony.

When this Bubject has been proposed to Christchurch people the answer has

generally been that the harbor cannot be improved. It has been said repeatedly that nothing of any service can be clone in that direction, and that it would be wise, therefore, at once to renounce all hopes of effecting a change for the better. The Government have given tho matter no really serious attention, partly because the wishes of tho Christchurch people were against it, and partly because the West Coast community have not taken the trouble to press the matter on them. Wo are not about to propose any plan for adoption, but wo would suggest that it is only just and right that a commission, composed of persons competent to give an opinion, should be appointed to draw up a report on the state of the port of Hokitika, and also to give an opinion as to whether it can be improved, and if so how, and at what cost. We published a few days since some suggestions, which were handed to us by a gentleman of high professional standing, tlifc opinion clearly was that the harbor might bo very greatly improved by simply cutting a channel across the spit so as to allow tho rirer to pursuo a straight course to the sea. Tho result would be that the scouring force would be greatly increased and that a sufficiency of water would always be found on the bar. The expense of this work would be comparatively trifling.

The people should take this matter in hand without delay, and petition tho Canterbury Government to appoint such a commission as wo have above indicated. Hokitika is tiik harbor of the West Coast; and it would be folly of the worst description not to make it as safe as circumstances will allow. We shall return to this subject in another article.