Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, JULY 28, 1906. NELSON HARBOUR IMPROVEMENTS.

THE OPENING OF THE NEW

ENTRANCE.

THE temporary opening on Monday of W J the portion of the new entrance to Nel- la son Harbour now available for traffic m marks an epoch .in the history of the co city and district, and it is well that the occasion should not be allowed to pass al without some popular recognition of its q importance. Controversy has raged over the scheme of harbour improvement ever b( since it was first conceived, but at last a] the time has arrived when those who t( have been entrusted with the undertak- w ing may be able to demonstrate by more v , than mere argument that their faith and jj the- courage of their opinion have been C) justified. The steamer masters of the S port are satisfied that the new entrance is easy to negotiate, even against the cur- S rent, and there is every reason to believe p that later on even the current will be little or no hindrance to the smallest t craft. ~ # t It is hoped that the completion at an fl early date of the first portion of the cut v to the width agreed upon by the Harbour Board will open up a new era in the v traffic of the port. No one is so sanguine as to believe that merely by hay- r ing»an improved harbour a "boom" in- r crease in maritime trade will be secured. ■* The increase will probably be gradual, \ but steadily -onward, aa it haß been since t the Harbour Board took charge. But ( I the main benefit, immediately felt, will i be the abolition of the aggravating and J ' unprofitable detention of vessels outside the Boulder Bank. Vessels even now i can practically enter and leave at anjr 1 time, and this will enable steamers to ' stay some hours, instead of getting away shortly after arrival. Thus, travellers, even if their destination be not Nelson. will have an opportunity of coming up „ to town, where now they are virtually confined to the Port, or to the steamer. Then, again, it will be quite feasible tor the Union Company to put on week-end excursions from Wellington by the larger boats. This alone should bring to Nelson a measure of prosperity, ensured by tj}» circulation of visitors' money. In many other ways, too, the port, the city, and the district will.be the gainer by the new entrance— gainers to so great an extent that the expenditure on harbour improvement is already shown to be more than justified, especially as not a penny of rate is levied, and as the levying of a rate is among the most remote of contingencies. 9T* • • • In noting the development which will be demonstrated on Monday, the following facts should bo remembered : — The Harbeur Board has yet in sight and unexpended a goodly" proportion of the sum it was authorised to borrow for harbour improvement. Such sum is substantially in excess of the amount actu--1 ally expended upon work done and matejE rial used in achieving the first instalment" 1R of the improvements, the utility of Ul which is to be proved on Monday, in There is justification for the claim that for the expenditure of something less than the sanctioned amount, plus the V £9000 of savings effected by the Board * during its administration, the city and >N district will be provided with a new „ harbour entrance that will mpet all its J requirements for Eovoral yoars to come, and remove the disability of isolation imposed on it for an age by a defective | E- entrance. This work will have been , carried out without the imposition of a j , as rate of an.V -sort, while out of increasing Tt. revenue alone tfm Board has not only Hy saved £9000, ; but it has also freed the port as far as possible of dues. j, c Due credit for earnest and honest en- " dsbvour t9 dp riKht must be given tc j „ the majority of tho Harbour Board. 1 !* Had they not stood firmly togethei through good and ill report, against a wave of more or less ill-informed public 'opinjpp. nnH often agaikst efforts whose DS " oKj"e"ct : 'wa's I ? ( iarevole.Ut l tfie result to-day vr ' might have been loss and deadlock instead of the substaijtial measure 'of progress the primary ulllisittlen o{ the poiv st- tion of tho new harbour entranco now he completed represents. For the rest, ay there is still much to do. But it is a matter for congratulation that money if en available without imposing a rate; that the revenue of the port has been, and nt still is, stead Sly increasing; and that there is every justification for the hope that the facilities of navigation secured i ! free of cost to the ratepayers will bring or the legitimate expansion of trado and traffic to which Nelson, in common with on other places in the colony, is entitled.