RIVER TRANSPORT.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19567, 13 March 1929, Page 16

RIVER TRANSPORT.

! AUSTRALIAN SCHEME FAILS

MURRAY'S PHANTOM FLEET

01,4 o*s co2KZi:cy^svi°.. SFDX EY, Ke brua ry l' 1. Apart i rem tlie water conservation aspect, nearly £. I,uoi>,ooo has been spent upon improving the navigability of the Murray, Australia's greatest river, serving three States. The economic aspect of river transport haj been proved in the older countries of the world, but Australia sec ma unable to grasp the opportunity which the Murray present# in this connexion. Seven lock* and weirs are in operation, others are nearing completion, but one by one the boat® are being driven on to the •and banks, there to stay until they fall to pieces. Boon only the phantom ships will remain to remind this and succeeding generations of an enterprise kille'd in the process of evolution. Cp to the present efforts to promote river transport hare failed. The fleets of to-day are only a shadow of what they were 50 years ego. And there is do Indication that, when the whole series of locks and weirs are completed, and the Marray is navigable all the year round, new ships will appear to carry the produce of the rich river valley to the seaboard. The anticipations of those responsible for the navigation featnrea of the hoge river undertaking, which ia to cost more than £10,000,000, appear to have been sadly astray. Within the next few years there will be at least a dozen locks. But according to the present trend there will be no boats to pass through them. At the time of the preparation of the Biver Commission's last report, seven locks and weirs between Turrumberry fVictoria) and Biancbtowa CSontli Australia: were completed at a cost slightly higher than 2i2.000.000. Of that sum approximately £BOO,OOO is represented as the cost of constructing locks and navigation passes, which art*' solely for Murray shipping. <li>»no*rtii;>r feature of this asp«et of the undertaking is that there is no evidence of a revival of shipping as a result of the costly facilities provided. Tear* ago, when the Murray scheme was in embryo, much was made out of the possibility of encouraging shipping by the provision of a navigabe rivet all ths year round- The urge to build locks a* part of the general conservation scheme came chiefly from South Australia. The boats now on the river arc ancient —some of them as ancient as the Ark. The owner* have attempted to make improvements, but (■n hare not met with any encouragement During the winter season, when e r ver is high, there ia some tourist raffle, but this alone does not pay. ""hr ugb the remainder of the year the cargoes are so small that the service is stopped altogether, and the boats arc tied up. Naturally, the suggestion has been made that no more money should be spent on purely navigation works, l n;i then thf £BOO.OOO already spent would be a dead burden. Rut it looks ms if the £200,000 still to be spent will obly 1* added to the dead burden. A •hipping revival seems hopeless, bnt there is always the chance that it is not so, hence the quandary of the authorities- It is unfortunate that the Mnrrav haa no direct outlet to the sea, and the provision of the river-month port is considered by Booth Australia too great an undertaking for one State.