MEANS TO PROGRESS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16408, 31 December 1918, Page 8

MEANS TO PROGRESS.

TO THE EDITOR OV ''THE PBESB." Sir —Defeated on Heathcote Harbour and Lin wood, Harbour, Mr Matson now advocates Bromley Harbour. Well, let •us examine Bromley Harbour. "We have no figures for this work, but we know they .would bo much greater than Heathcote Harbour. • Tho figures therefore can he put considerably above 24 millions at present-day rates, without reckoning on cost of land, etc. And the harbour would still be three miles off. Then it would be necessary to form a branch railway'.to connect this harbour with the main railway. This could only 'be done by the acquisition j of much land, the demolition of many buildings, the creation of many crossing dangers, the payment of innumerable crossing-keepers, or. the construction of a very expensive overhead railway. And to save double handling the lorries would still have to travel three miles. If, as Mr Matson says, the cost of • lorrying goods three miles from Bromley canal is accurately known as "only a fraction of the present rates,' then wo call see that by direct six-mile tunnel road to Lyttelton the cost would be but very little more than this same unspecified fraction. And compare the harbours! Lytt«;ton' available at all, times and ,£ill weathers; the canal—yo gods! Mr Matson asks .me to realise that a ship off Brighton is only 6ix or ] seven miles from Christchurch, while one off Lyttelton Heads is a dozen or so miles. I realise much more than i this; I realise that the longest way •round is the shortest way home. It is only twenty _ minutes' : rq§ from the Heads to the wharf> ,and half an- hour from wharf to Christchurch. Duplication and electrification will eliminate the present delay of waiting for trains, so we have, say, an hour from Heads to Christchurch. Now,imagine a modern j ferry steamer with itis tophamper of deck cabins .negotiating our Bromley Canal during one of our sweetest nor - westers. If the captain, is one of the dashing kind he will take the entrance at some speed to save side drift; if he is a cautious man he will pile upon the South Spit, or funk it and run to Lyttelton. If the entrance 'be safelv negotiated, imagine our forry steamer coming up the narrow canal sideways like a prancing steed, the bow boring into tho north bank and the stern shaving tho south. The hour or so occupied in this amusement might be thrilling enough, but the canal would be effec-, tivclv blocked for any steamer going in the opposite direction.% Travellers with experience of harbours know that oven in sheltered harbours it is often very difficult in cross-winds to,get alongside the wharf, and-they can imagine the difficulty and time in warping alongside in Bromley Harbour, exposed to the full furv of tho blast. Mr Matson, I think, is wrong about j our progress, or lack of it. Looking j back over 20 years, everyone • can see j that we have progressed steadily, though not rapidly—our residential i area has extended very considerably— | where dairy farms once were, aro now j thickly populated suburbs —our buildings aro largor and better —our businesses have grown, etc. . We all know this. Sixteen years ago I bought -J-acre in Gloucester street for £125; I saw- a similar section a few yards away (Izard's estate) sold by auction i recently for £370. Our progress lias j been mere soil growth unfertilised by | any large undertaking; what can be done with a little forcing and cultivation! If business property has not advanced in value up to Mr Matson's expectations, it merely shows that twenty j years ago he was a rosy_ optimist. Of course, value is a question of supply, and our adequate supply prevents the throttling inflation of values which Wellington is beginning to suffer from. Our values are low—remarkably low, compared even to small North Island towns, but what of that? It only means that the present owners are in on the ground floor, and that we have far greater margin for profit and prosperity than any other centre before we Teach our high-water mark. Wellington and Auckland have reached theirs for tho next ten years, and are in for a slack period. We have great prosperity ahead of us if we take full advantage of theso ten years, but we will lose much valuable time if we expend our energies on a scheme that we have little chance of bringing to completion. The Canalites for their own benefit should push for tunnel improvement, and reap in their own lifetime some of'the profits and pleasures of solid, substantial progress. There are some points in Mr Matson's letter I have not answered, but I have alreadv trespassed greatly on your space, and I think the answers are self-evident to your readers. —Yours, THIN WEDGE.