LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14307, 19 March 1912, Page 2

LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

» ANNUAL MEETING. THE CHAIRMAN'S REPORT. The annual meeting of tho Lyttelton Harbour Board was held at noon yesterday, when there were present—Messrs H. Friedlander (chairman), Geo. Laurenson, F. Horrell, C. Allison, M. J. Miller, T. D. Boag, J. Storry, RMoore, A. Kaye, and C. Cook. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT. The Chairman, in tho course of his annual statement, said that the work dona during the past twelve months would compare favourably with tho sound and wiso policy pursued ever since the Lyttelton Harbour Board was entrusted with its responsible duties. He first desired to point out that, as the result of the Harbours Amendment Act, 1910, the members of the Board had been reduced from nineteen to fourteen. Thirteen of theee wore elected on tho broad franchise, and one nominated by the Government. The latter was Mr G. Laurenson, and the Government mifjht well bo congratulated on their choice so wisely made. Of the other thirteen members who had to be elected under tho provision of the Act, Dr. Thacker, Messrs Kayo, Moore, Horrell, Friedlander, Lamhic. Boag, Storry. Cook, Miller, and the lato Mr T. E. Taylor, whoso placo was now so ably filled by Mr W. R. Smith, had all boon members of the old Board, Messrs Allison and Dougall being the only other two who had not had seats on the Board previousjy. The result of the last election might fairly, he thought, be looked iipon as tho old Board having done its duty to the almost entire satisfaction of the ratepayers and others interested. The cost of tho election amounted to £B<k>, which was greate- the whole cost of conducting ill tho L;«ttelto.i Harbour Board elections since its inception in 1877. FINANCIAL OPERATIONS. The Board commenced tho year with a credit balance of tho General Account (leaving out shillings and pence) of £7259, and ditto Special Renewal Fund of £30,500, making a total credit of £37,500, and finished the year with | tho respectable sum of about £15,695 ] still remaining on tho rigtn- side of the ledger, but, nevertheless, a reduc- j tion in the liquid assets of about £22,064. This substantial 6um. plus the surplus between tho past years ordinary receipts and expenditure, had been expended partly to carry.on the Board's prudent policy to bring the Port well up-to-date, and partly in the direction of carrying on tho necessary dredging operations more economically. Summarised, the following showed at ! a glance the Board's present financial 1 position, and how last year's cash assets and tho surplus from revenue had been disposed of:— Total credit balance at beginning of 1911 £37,759 Total cash receipts from all sources 69,206 Total debtors and outstanding assets 3,575 • Total .. .. •• •• £1*0,540 Leas ordinary expenditure, including interest on loans and sinking fund £44,680 Payment on account of new dredge ' .. .. 27,745 Renewa.s and repairs to No. 7 wharf .. •• 8,676 . Reclamation and blacksmith shop .. •• •• 5,451 N«w Customs shed .. 103 Elevatora, machinery and - weighbridge. No. 1 store 670 Boring, blasting plant, etc. 614 Outstanding liabilities .. 6,907 94,8-15 balance ;t •.«■ •• £15,635 or, in other words, the Board had almost completed and paid for the r*>newal of No. 7 Jetty, had done and < paid for about 30 per cent, of the r clamation wall outside the western breakwater, and only owed in round figures £1900 on account of tho now dredgo, costing nearly £40,000: had built a new customs shed; had provided the No. 1 Grain Shed with additional appliances to facilitate and cheapen the work thereiu: had provided and paid for a boring and blasting plant, which had enabled the engineer to clear away some rather dangerous hard ground and boulders on the bottom of tho inner end near some oi the wharves; and had still, after'making provision for all existing liabilities, a credit balance of about £13,700, plus the Accident Insurance Fund, which stood at nearly £2000. HARBOUR WORKS OUT OF REVENUE. . Ho thought that the Board might fairly congratulate the district on >uch a healthy financial position. Ho I c excused if ho referred to a local which appeared in a local journal on March 2nd, and was as follows: —"In tho cotirso of a farewell by the Bluff Harbour Board to its engineor, it \»as mentioned that the whole of the present wharves and buildings at the Bluff had been built out of revemie, and part of the plant'had also been provided for in the same way, a sum of £20,000 being borrowed for the purchase of the rew dredge. Doubt was expressed as to whether any other local body in tto Dominion could say as much '* "Now," continued tho Chairman, "what has our port to its credit in,tit is direction? Aβ the Bluff Harbour has no dock, I am justified in eliminating the cost of our dock to date from our bal-ance-sheet, and which amounts to £178,000, as per our treasurer's last return. This sum deducted from tho Boards two loans of £260,000, leaves \ debit balance of £82,000. Again. al!ow accrued sinking fund, amount ins; to £74,175, Insurance Fund, £2000; O-edit Current Account, after providing for outstanding liabilities, say, £13,700, proceeds from sale or Manchester (£9800). and we have a net cash balance of £17,675, two new dredges, the tugboat, and all our other largo assets at Lyttelton free, And paid for out of ordinary revenue- Apropos, what <ta the Canal Commissioners say on this po'mtr—■. "That Lyttelton at present enjoys tho reputation of being one of the cheapest ports, if not the cheapest port, In tho Dominion —a reputation which in itself is, we venture to think, a valuable asset to the whole community; and , that the Harbour Board is at present in a pi r ticn!ar'y strong and sound financial position, with a comparatively small debt, and a buoyant revenue, which enables «t to prosecute extensive new works for perfecting the equipment of the port, end to provide for the cost of same out of surplus revenne, without having to incur further debt —an almost unique position so far as. the Harbour Boards of New Zea'and are concerned. j RECORD TRADE. i "My next reference is to the trade of the Port. The total tonnage which passed last year over our wharves shows a shrinkage of 16,766 tons compared with the year 1910. On the other hand, tho outward-bound vessels were 85 more, and tho tonnage greater by 22,385 tons for the same periods. In addition wo have established several records, viz.:— The ordinary cash receipts coustmito a record, the wharfage receipts constitute a reced, tho expenditure on new work constitut«s a record, the valuo of hnpnrts constitutes a record, the auir.her of vessels using the graving dock constitute a record, the quantity of tiniter passing over the wharves constitute a tcoord. The number of vessels entered constitutes a record, and last, but not least, our actual cash receipts for the year ended 1911, as compared with the year 1910, show the satisfactory increase of £4821. From a national point of view, it is to be regretted that while the valuo of imports at Lyttelton show an increase of £225,196 on 1910, there should have been a decrease :n the value of exports of £395,059. This year our im-

j ports exceed our exports in value by j a little over £246,000. The graving i dock has done bettor thie year, and the account shows a credit balance of about I £406, after providing -working expenses j only. Due to the exceptionally poor j harvest, there was a decrease of 5872 I tons received for storage compared with , the previous year. The earnings in consequence were less by about £156 for the year 1911. But* for the installation of new electric machin- > cry, and the economies effected by tho - warehouseman, Mr Clibbnrn, in working , expanses, the net result wouW not i have been so good by at least £150. HARBOUR IMPROVEMENTS. "The Board's progressive iolicy to bring our port well up to date has been ' stead.ly kept in view. Our wharves 1 are bting gradually reconstructed, and ere long the- work at No. 7 wharf will Ibe completed. The depth at our principal jetties has been increased, and ; large ocean-going steamers can now be '. loaded up to !29it 6in. The reclama- : tion work is making steady progress, both as regards the building or the reclamation bank and tho hll.ng uj> of the reclamation area—the latter by deporting of the Tewhaka's dredgings. Substantial improvements have been , made in the live stock yards at Lyttelton, and a road fenced, iso that stock can be safely driven away from the landing place. A comfortable office for the landing waiter has been erected on the breastwork at the end of No. 4 jetty. Facilities were again given to the Terra Nova while in Port. This vessel left the second time for the Antarctic regions in December last, and is due to return about the end of March. A third pilot. Captain Crawford, was appointed on September last, and tho pilot service is now fully and well manned. The question of putting all the outlying jetties in good repair is still in the hands of the Harbour Improvement Committee. It is to bo regretted that the local bodies interested have met with legal difficulties in the way of contributing towards the cost of the upkeep of these, to them, great conveniences. The Harbour Improvement Committee will probably soon report, and bring nn a sound working scheme, which, I hope, will be the means of increasing the Board's revenue at not too great a corresponding increase of expenditure. The quest on of making some improved provision at I Sumner for a boat harbour, and a I harbour for small vessels to trade to and I from Sumner, has already been reported j upon by the Special Committee appointied to a£ain deal with this somewhat difficult problem. The Board has agreed to construct a yacht sl'n at Lyttelton. the Lyttelton Yacht Club to pay the Bonrd an annual rental and eink'ng fund to cover amount expended by the Board. Other kindred institutions and local bodies well consider if it would not be in their inj terest to follow the self-relinnt policy of J the club mentioned, and obtain stntiiI tory power to meet tho. Bonrd in a fair and generous spirit when they anrlv for work to be done which is more for the ; r direct benefit thrtn it is in the interest of the Board. The arrangement with the Lyttelton Borough Council for fire prevention of the Board's property at Port has been satisfactorily reviewed. THE CANAL REPORT. "I come now to a matter which, although it was a very debatable one in tho past, has reached, I am happy to say, that stage when we are, or nope we will be, quite unanimous that the construction of a Canal, to give Chrittchurch direct access to tho sea, is not in the interests of the city and districts- ' The Canal advocates on this Board, having agreed that they would loyally abide by tho decision of a Commission, if such were appointed, the anti-Canalite members of the Board, who were in a substantial majority, met them generously, and on October 19th, 1911, consented to have the majority and minority reports investigated and reported on; and they further finally gave the Commissioners the widest • scope- for a full inquiry into the whole question. Tho gentlemen,/, appointed were the. Hon. E. Mitchehon, of Auck- ' land, Mr J. E- Watson, of Invercargill, . and Mr Wra. Ferguson, of Wellington— , men of undoubted ability and integrity. The findings of their well and carefully matured deliberations I will not comment on, suffice that their verdict was . emphatically against tho construction of , a Canal. Willi the wider order of re- : ference to deal with the question, the J Commissioners put forward a bold i scheme for improving tho facilities for ! handling goods traffic at Lyttelton and Christchurcb. I merely' desire to say that while I am prepared and willing to support measures for securing the necessary improvements, I will only do so provided that the large expenditure which will thus have to be incurred will be equitably distributed between tho i Board and the Railway Department. . MISCELLANEOUS. "The several committees, permanent and otherwise, have carried out their strenuous work well, and the thanks ,of the Board are due to one and all. ; i The Board has held 16 meetings, also 33 standing . and special committee ' meetings last year. The staff has efficiently discharged their duty to the ■ Board, and I am pleased to record the > laudablo desire of every member to do tho utmost in the best interest of the > Board. It is w:'th deep regret that I have to record the untimely demise of a member of the Board—the late Mr T. iE. Taylor—and the deaths of two > valued* officers of tho Board, Messrs , Olliver and E. perbid^e., In conclusion, T again desire to express my very hearty thanks to the Board for tho rendered and courtesy extended mc." The Chairman then moved:—"That I the accounts of the Lyttelton Harbour , Board, as balnnced and audited to 31st ' December, 1911, bo allowed and passed .' by the Board; also their assets and liabilities on tho 31st December, 1911 ; also the Lyttelton Harbour Board Sinking Fund Commissioners' account for tho year 1911; also the Ly.tolton Sailors' Home account for the year ended 31st December, 1911; and that tho whole of tho aforesaid accounts be allowed and certified under the hand of the Chairman of the Lyttelton Har- ■■ bour Board." Mr R. Moore seconded tho motion. Mr Allison objected to the reference to the canal made by tho chairman in his statement. / The other members present r?poko in terms of h>h appreciation of the work of the chairman and the officer*, which had resulted in such a successful year beinrj recorded. i The motion was then nut and carried and a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the staff.