LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14918, 17 March 1914, Page 10

LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

ANNUAL MEETING.

The annual meeting of the Lyttel- p ton Harbour Boai-d was held at Lyttel- r ton yesterday, Mr R. Moore (chairman) a presiding. There were also present— » Messrs C. Allison. J. Storry, M. Miller, g H. Friedlander. A. Kaye, J. R. Webb, s F. Horrell, J. Little, and J. J. c Dougall. c THE YEAR REVIEWED. _ An interesting review of the work ot r the past year was given by the Chair- ] man m proposing a motion for tho adoption of the annual accounts. Mr Mooro said:—Probably at no t time in the history cf the Board have - wo had a year marked with events so , varied and"of so much importance. 1 Since our last anual meeting the ;i Board has suffered the loss of three of 1 its members who had, in a very distill- t guished manner, worked most loyally in -i every way in assisting the work of the , Board and developing its usefulness. Messrs Cook and Laurenson have been removed by death, while Mr Lambie re- , signed owing to ill-health. . A very old officer of the Board, Pilot 1 J. Day* died early in the year. He was one who took a keen interest in his work, :n;d whm instrumental in saving many lives. H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND. During the first week of my office as ; chairman, I had the honour and pleasure of welcoming to our port, Captain : Halsey and the New Zealand. The visit was one of the most outstanding of the many great events that have occurred in connexion with the naval history of the oversea Dominions, and it cannot be otherwise than a splendid object lesson for the rising generation. During her stay in Lyttelton the welcome was unprecedented in the history of the Dominion. It showed in a practical way that we recognise we must undertake our fair share of the defence of the Emoire. . THE STRIKE. Wo have just gone through one of the most strenuous times and tho greatest labour upheaval in tho history of the Dominion, and one of the most far-reaching strikes, with its failures and successes, and should endeavour to profit by the experience we have gained. * The most determined attempt on the part of a few, who apparently thought they controlled all labour organisations, to hold up or stop tho whole business of the community, was only defeated after causing considerable loss to all parties concerned. Those who earn their living by manual labour should be well paid, and should work under tho best possible conditions, but that a few irresponsible men, who wero the executive of tho Federation of Labour, should arrogate to themselves the powor to stop the wheels of industry, no sane person would approve. The thanks of the community are due to tho loyal men who, many of them at considerable personal sacrifice and inconvenience, came forward at a most critical time in the history of the struggle to assist in maintaining law and order, and to enable our ports to be kept open. No hard and fast rule or infallible remedy can apparently be found for the settlement of trade disputes, only by careful investigation by fairminded practical men into each case as it arises, does it appear that real progress or a satisfactory settlement can be made- therefore every inducement should bo held out by employers and employed to arrive at a mutual agreement, which should bo made as binding as possible on both sides, failing which probably all disputes should be controlled by a properly constituted authority not open, to political or even local government control. No one, however indirectly affected by a strike, can fail to realise the enormous loss to the worker, the employer, the business man and the general public that a stoppage of tho business of the country must, entail. This has been brought home to us in a practical way during the last few'months. I trust that the lesson taught now that the atmosphere is once more clear, will enable us to have industrial peace for many years. The loss of business and revenue to our port have been considerable. CONFERENCES ON WATERSIDE WORK. Two conferences were convened by the Prime Minister to discuss the question of the equalising of labour of the waterside workers. The resolutions adopted at the second conference hare been placed in members' hands. It was found practically impossible to arrive at any satisfactory solution of the difficulty" which must always obtain in working the different ports, mainly owing to the intermittent nature of the work, also to some extent to the clas, of men who occasionally gravitate to our ports. ' Possibly if some scheme were adopted by which the workers could be provided with homes on small areas of "land that they would ultimately make their own, and which they would cultivate when not.employed at ' the waterside, it might tend to getting a more permanent and settled labour staff ! LYTTELTON RAILWAY. Whilst extensive alterations and improvements are being carried out to the Christchurch railway yard, there are still considerable alterations required at both Christchurch and Lyttelton to enable the work of the port and tho through passenger traffic to bo carried on without detention. Better railway connexion is undoubtedly required with the Wellington ferry service steamer. The line through the liill should be ' duplicated. This work is the most im- .' portant- from a Canterbury point of view, the blockage of work through the , shortage of trucks, which appears perennial, should be largely obviated 'f this wero done. During the late few j weeks we have had a largo number o£ - vessels in our port, and this shortage • of trucks has been a serious block to " their operations. With the increased 1 size of vessels- now used, any detention ' not only gets the port a bad name, but 1 must mean a serious financial loss to the owners. From a business point of view, it is of far more importance to duplicate the tunnel line than to electrify it. Our engineer had an interview » with the General Manager of Railways f and that Department's officers on the . sth inst. when the whole situation was f discussed, and the result will bo con--5 sidorcd by tlio Board in due course. DREDGE CANTERBURY. Since the last annual report we have " had a full eleven months' work from " our new dredge Canterbury, the dredge * being laid up during December last for i want of coal. She has moro than kept (. up her excellent reputation. The total quantity dredged during 1913 amounted T to 1,176,153 tons, an average of 1835 s tons per dredging hour.The average time - for the round trip has been reduceu - from 1 hour 12. minutes to 1 hour 8.1 _ minutes, and the average tons lifted per dredging hour has steadily increased . from 16_5 tons in May, 1912, to 3254 1 tons in November, 1913. Our engiJ neer's estimate of her probable oapat" bility, when advising tho Board 3 to order the dredge, was a I conservative one, and has been • exceeded by the actual results. * The depth of the harbour is being - steadily increased, whilst good work i is being done!by widening the entrance 1 channel from 400 to 660 feet, and 1 extending it down the harbour. ' RECLAMATION WORKS. > The reclamation mole, to protect the 72 acres now being reclaimed, is mak-

ing steady progress. The use or v dredged material lor reclamation work c in place of taking it to sea was a 6 wise policy. There is the saving in t cost and the Board will hare /2 acres r of land prac'-.'-al'y i:ee of cost. c GRAVi-NO DOCK. * Whilst the graving dock is a great f convenience for docking the vessels i owned by the Board, from a financial s point of view it is not a success, the t re-tnue for the y.ar only about bai- j ancing the working expenses, allowing nothing for depreciation and interest on the"capital value. Since the con- f struetion of tho dock the oversea yes- . sels that trade to the port have so in- . creased in size that only the smaller t ones c3n now be accommodated, and j as larger vessels aro being built from t year to year this phase of the question . may later have to be considered by the : Board. * WHARVES. ,- The principal work in connexion with j the wharves has been extensions and . renewals. All renewals are being car- j ried out in such a manner that the ( life of the work will be from 30 to 45 j years. Tho next important works to . be put in hand will be the reconstruc- < tion of the outer arm of tho Gladstone < wharf, and the construction of No. S , Jcttv. ] AIDS TO NAVIGATION. , When the new lighted and whistling < ouov has been ..laced in position, yes- ; sels' should be able to make tho port in : perfect safety eveu in misty weather. INSURANCE. ! In reference to accident insurance, the first four months' operations show that tho premium paid in has covered all claims, while the fund has continued to increase, and now stands at £2682 17s. The Board should take over the whole of its insurances. FINANCE. Our total cash receipts, including £35.932 12s 2d brought forward frou. 1912. amounted to £102.609 8s lOd, expenditure to £63.916 15s 3d. Taking out the amount duo to the insurance fund, wo havo a balance of £36.009 16s lid, which, together with the estimated surplus for the year 1914, of <'°7 465 makes a total available for new works of £63,474 16s lid. Tho projected works, if completed, -will absorb £45,149 lis 2d, leaving a balance at -the end of the financial year of £13.325 5s 9d. While the _cash receipts for the year are £7378 3s 5d less than those of the previous year, and the actual revenue earned. £5692 9s 5d less, the financial position of the Board is a perfectly sound one. When we have all the ordinary work of the port, repairs, dredging paid for, and depreciation written off. in addition to providing interest on tho loans and payment, to a sinking fund on the larger one, and yet have a balance of £15.543 19s lOd. it cannot bo considered other than satisfactory. Provided we continue to carry out all necessary new work out of the accumulations of revenue, by the time our £200,000 loan is due. the Board will be in a position to arrange its finance with a reduction on interest. ' alone of £10,S00 per annum. annum. There has been a largo decrease in our imports and exports of coal, amounting to 46,167 tons, resulting in a loss of revenue of £1731 os 7d, for which there appears no explanation. Timber also shows a shrinkage of £638 16s 6d. The total decrease on wharfage as against 1912 is £2327 4s Bd, on pilotage and port charges £1897 16s lid, in other charges on shipping £1338 0s 7d. The only items which show increases in wharfage are frozen meat, butter, tallow, etc., and live stock. The strike of the waterside workers resulted in a loss to the Board of £1966 14s 9d. SHIPPING. As regards shipping, there has been a falling off of 141 in the number of yes- ■ sels arriving, and a reduction of 177,690 ; tons in the net tonnage. The whole of . this shrinkage has apparently been in our coastal trade, which accounts for . 145 vessels, and 182,420 tons of the net tonnage, whilst there has been an in- . crease of four foreign vessels, with an increased tonnage of 4230. » BOARD'S PROPERTY. 1 The valuation of the Board's property ' cow stands at £565/211 3s 4d, after providing for the large sum of £575,165 1 ,15s 9d being written'off for depreciaI tion, of which £9954 12s 5d was written '■ off for tho year 1913. In addition to s this, everything in connexion with the > port is kept in thorough repair, paid for . out of ordinary revenue. Under tho . careful supervision of our engineer, the Board's works are kept in excellent condition. STORES ACCOUNT. The gross earnings of tho grain stores r amounted to £2905 15s 2d, the working * expenses, including repairs and renewals » to plant, t0,£2119 6s Id, leaving a bals ance of £786 9s Id. The cool chamber's 5 gross earnings were £2116 3s 9d, the ex- > penses £1607 13s lid. leaving a balance . of £508 9s lOd. Taking the net results - for the year, they arc better than for i 1912 by £194 18s 2d. I may presume - that the stores are a convenience to the j Board's clients, but they are not a very n paying proposition, and it is difficult to j see how any improvement can be made 3 to bring about better results. The inB termittent nature of the work contrij butes largely to tho expense in working. 7 ENGINEER'S REPORT. j. An elaborate report covering the y operations of the year was also pre- £ sented by the engineer, Mr Cyrus J. Williams. THE STRIKE. In October last, said tne engineer, " the shipping industries and tne comB muuity were laced with the most seri--3 ous labour dmieuny in the history of t the Dominion. The seriousness ol the £> position. v.a.s not so much in the ac- _< nous of the workmen as in the iuteuI tious of tUeir leaders, winch were to f put into actual practice ttie principles i of wnat has ueuu lately called "Syu- . aicaiism," that is to say, to force the c employers to do what tne emplowees - wisneu, by means of the general' sytnf pathetic &LI.J-0. The strike originated B in a dispute between tlio shipwrights _ employed by tho Union Steam bliip c Company in Wellington and that com- „ pany. in spite ot the fact that then. a is a special tribunal lor the settlement * of sucji disputes, tne shipwrights struck work, and the matter was taken up by _j the Federated unions. Fortunately, the danger ol the position was quickiv n realised by the authorities, and some acts of lawlessness crystalised. tho 0 vague ieelmgs ot the community that II something must be done, * into 0 definite action. Special con- '- stabies were enrolled in tho ** duterent centres to protect those who s were willing to work, and eventually 0 the -'strike' was "called oil" though a_ s tar as any eltect it was having was - concerned, it might have icmaineu"on" indefinitely. The attack was made on tho waterside because it was thought that tins was the most vital point, and c was extended to the coal mines for a n like reason; nnd it failed, because in c tlio case of tho waters.der.s there were r suliident persons unemployed (or ent gaged in occupations which could be 1 temporarily neglected) to carry on the d business at vie Ports; and in the 5 second place because, although no coal c was being produced in New Zealand, i the necessary quantities were easily 1 brought from elsewhere. Yet the labour a leaders talk as if a little more organij sation, and a little moro violence would 4 give the employees whatever they wish. ;_ as if tho purso of the employer were _ unlimited, instead of being limited by j the price for which he can sell his proa ductions. The truth is that none of tho 3 devices, whether they be trade union . plans or political plans, will ever get y rid of tho fundamental causes of labour 7 discontent; and it would be disingenuE ous to preter.d that these causes can ] ever be removed as long as fairly intelligent people are required by an industrial system to perform unintelligent work for a small remuneration. 9 Yet this is the necessary consequence * of our educational system, combined

with our industrial system. We cannot get rid of our educational system, nor do wo wish to, nor can we remunerate the semi-skilled workmen at a very much greater rate.' and even if we could, no rate would satisfy him while he thought that by any device he could get more. The best we can look forward to is greater moralisation of industry, so that the essential hardships of economic law may be mitigated by fair dealing and human sympathy. WIRELESS FOR LYTTELTON. Owing to a mishap to the s.s. Maori early in tho morning of 14th .June last, when a message communicated by "wireless" to the Wellington office via the s.s. Niwaru was not communicated to Lyttelton owing to the telegraph offico at Wellington beins closed for the night, tho Board, on the 3rd July, ur»xed that the Government should establish a "wireless" station in connexion with the Port of Lyttelton. Tho Postmaster-General explained that such a station would, on acrount of "interference" with the- Wellington station, only 175 iniK-s away bo rather a hindrance than a convenience, and that as tho ilarbour Master at Lyttelton could be communicated with irom Christchurch at any time of the day or night, And arrangements would in futvre be made for transmitting any urgent call for Lyttelton on to Christchurch, it wouid be "practically impossible for any failure to occur in respect to communication between Wellington and Ch: istchurch after the telegraph offices are closed. While this arr-a lgement still leaves tho decision of what is an urgent catl to the judgment ci the telegraph operator who -nay happen to he on night duty in Wellington at the time of receipt of a message, it w.i- ;-ll the Boa id could get by its representations. It would be an improvement it arrangements were made for i'll wireless r-.e>sages received Irom ships for I.vttelion being sent on to the Harbour Master, who is presumably more competent to ,iud,_o ns to what is urgent and what not. and ;& in a position to take immediate action if necessary. DL>LIC VTION AND ELECTRIFICATION OF LYTTELTON TUNNEL. Tho near advent of the electric current from tho Lake Coleridge works brings the question ot the electrification of the Lyttel .on-Christchurch railway line again be tore the public notice. Last year I ind'.ared that in my (.pinion nothing wo-ild be gamed by electrification except the removal of trie smoke in the tunnel ant this cnnvenience alone might be purchased at too dear a price, while tlio widening of the tunnel, and tho duplication of the track through it, would, in themselvelis, tend in this direction, and by allowing a stream of shorter trains to pi.s through in either direction simultaneously would relieve the service of many ot its present- --Usabilities, would partly get over the .shortage of trucks inbb e y times, an. would assist in staving off, for many years, the expenditure required to '.argely increase the capacity of tho Lyttelton railway yard, by doing away with the necessity for building up and breaking the long trains at present required. lam satisfied that these advantages would be more than worth the interest on tho cost of the widening of the tunnel; mi', electric traction, if decided upon, could then be applied to its fullest advantage. WORK FOR 1914. In the estimates for 1914 £42,535 was put down for the ordinary expenses, and £45,149 lis 2d for special works as follows:—Dredging, increasing working depth of harbour £6515, reclamation works £6COO, Governor's • Bay new jetty £662 16s 3d. new boiler for* dredge Canterbury £3001), No. 8 jetty, balance of timber £11.559 15s 3d, new pile-driving punt £958 14s sd, Gladstone Pier, balance of material and labour £9923 os 3d, contingencies, including preparing for ferry service £-*000, lig-JHfcjr-ind whistling buoy £1500. The toTaT estimated expenditure "iras £87,684 lis 2d. THE DISCUSSION. Mr- M. Miller, who seconded the motion for the adoption of the annual accounts, said that a most satisfactory state of affairs was shown considering the peculiar nature of the year. He hoped that tho coming year would be even more successful. The position disclosed showed that the Board was working on right lines. He hoped that the improvements in the railway service would be carried out this year. Mr A. Kaye emphasised the splendid ' work done by the dredging plant, a work, he said, which people wero apt to overlook. In his opinion it seemed to he a mistake to change tho ferry convenient. The use of Gladstone pier ' At present No. 3 jetty was the most cpnvenien. The use of Gladsone pier 1 would be of great convenience to the ' Railway Department, but to nobody 1 else. The question was not a settled one by any* means. ' Mr "Friedlander referred to the great 1 improvement effected in dredging since tho new drag suction dredge was put ' into commission. Tho cost was re--1 duced by half, and the dredge lifted 50 per cent, more in the time than was 1 lifted by the old dredge working at its 1 best. The fact that tho Board made ' 2, per cent, on its capital value showed ' that the policy of the Board was one " which might be followed, not only by other local bodies, but by the Government. The Board relied on itself to dc ' what was necessary and to pay for the " work itself instead of leaving the debt 'to its successors. He believed that in time the Board would have a splendidly equipped harbour and __ free port. Mr Allison complained that in his " opinion the cost of dredging had not been I properly, apportioned between main--1 tenanco and capital account. Regard- " ing the financial position of the Board * Mr Allison said that the loans totalled * £260.000, and the sinking funds . £83,000. and .the loans would mature lr ' 1929. No provision was made for. a " sinking fund for tho £60,000 loan foi - dredging purposes.

Mr Fricdiander said that was done _j^ design. ■*■'''_ Mr Horrell said he did not think tK_ ..,■', receipts of the Board next year woolclr -.■>... ;< - hf> as large as anticipated, for thero . ■ '.-'*' would be a shortage in grain and tim-' ' '' bet. H ,- The engineer said that the work of -j* the Priestmaii dredge included the maintenance of the depths of water at" the wharves in the harbour, and consequently half the cost was properly charged to maintenance. * The chairman said that Mr Allison's' ■statements re finance were quit© errotuv mis. > The motion was then nut and carried, INSPECTION OF HARBOUR *: WORKS. At the close of the annual meeting resterday, members of the Board, accompanied by a party of their friends, .rent through to Port and boarded tho tug-boat, which carried them on & visit lit" inspection round tho harbour. Ti_« first step was made at the cattle wharf to enable the party to see the reclam__tion work being carried out on the seaward side of tho breakwater in that locality. Tho big dredge, loaded with a full cargo of liquid mud, arrived op- | portunely at the time and discharged * the contents of her hoppers into tha sluice-box leading to the area now under reclamation. It was a novel spectacle to most of the visitors to watch the process of raising dry land from tho I sea. A section of tho party then trans- I ferred to tho dredge, which immo I diatrly put to sea again to collect I another cargo of spoil from the bed of the channeL The big hoppers were re- ». filled and the whole process of modern * harbour dredging was fully explained to those on board uy the officials. A return was made to the cattle wharf, where the tug regained her full complement of passengers, and set *ail for Diamond Harbour. "On the way ovor tea was served. The Diamond Rajbonr estate was inspected and duly admired, and the voyagers then returned to Port. Mr Holland, Mayor of Christchurch, in a short speech thanked the Harbour Board for the opportunity afforded the visitors of seeing something of tho big operations in progress, notably th» . work of the dredge, and at his callcheers were eiven for the Bo*»rd nnd its chairman. Mr R. Moore, chairman of the Board, responded.