THE DOCK SITE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 132, 27 February 1908, Page 9

THE DOCK SITE.

' lately the great eon* -, ti'oversy; that is going oh. in reference to the clock site. I cannot -for. the life of mo 'under-' stand is influencing Mr. Fletcher in his, •Hntiring;.e(forts : tb have tho sito shifted from - Clyde Quay.For; tho last; twenty years the dock site hasvbeen"agitating the minds of ■■ the public. .It has been discussed in-'all forms, arid tho.most able engineers have given their, opinions, and recommended ; this sito for.tho.dock.; In fact, wo need go no. further than to- mention that Mr. For- . guson, - the late Harbour, Board Engineer, reeommonded the. site as. the ideal,one for Wellington, although he was opposed alto- •'■ gether to a dock;for.this city. ..Now, I wish to -call , the attention; of tho public to the. ; following:— . :

After, years of discussion.and advioe, celf brated engineers . recommended the presen site j. tenders were called 1 , , only three, beinj received, tho lowest-tenderers, M'Lcan Bra thers,. being ■ £64,000 lower than the . pes! tenderer, Mr. Pulloy, . who, is well known ir, Wellington as. a keen cutter of large harbout and: wharf ■ jobs'(in- fact - the, competition between .the wharf' builders has been so keen lately that.tho'Harbour Board havo bcnbfited materially thereby). . The..third .tenderer, Jamieson Brothers,•: old-established, contrac-l tors -of Christehuroh, .were , again £14,000' aboTo.tho second tenderer, and £78,000 above the lowest tenderer. :■ A considerable amount lias been already spent on the site —anything between £20,000 and £50,000—and now we are calmly invited ; to suspend operations'and to allow the low-, est contractor, who is £78,000 below one of . tho-keenest contractors in New. Zealand, to.-; bo relioved of his. job., In addition, compensation will have to; be paid to tho, contractors, /, or to ..tho sub-contractors, before thoy will give up their, contract to. relieve tho Harbour Board. Should;-it',eventuate that tho dock ; work is suspended it,is cvidcnt.that, Welling-; ; ton will ;not, seo .another dock—certainly not at/anything like tie. saine. price as. sont one, as labour and material are going'' nip every day, and between the fight for th« different. sites >we. think .Wellington will be : , loft .lamenting'minus tho' dock. There is a lot of .talk about Kaiwarra being . an ideal spot.. Now,' any man can tell you . that this is tho most, exposed and roughest part .'of tho harbour, - The southerly winter ; weather rolls in there at a terrific rate. Tho 'railway line on numerous occasions has been ~ washed away and ships havo been driven aslioro on the Kaiwarra beach. ... .

Then some of these advocates for shifting tho dock will tell you that.Evans ; Bay is.the place. This'is another most exposed part of - Wellington; it receives tho full blast of. the 7 southerly and north-easterly winds, whereas , Clydo Quay is practically land-locked and free ■ ■ from wind. An ( agitation-has , been got up among the - people l residing in this locality.to say that, their 'properties' will' bo ruined.-' Well, I do not mind my property being ruined every: day if it is enhanced in value froni, £10 to £50 l- ]■ per. foot-,- which "is, already done within a considerable radius of the destructor, and I would put up with a considerable, amowit -of. V. inconvenience to see tho land iiicreaso in valuo, : as at-.surely will, when. the, work, is'in, full swing., i- ■ ■ . •_ .-' - Then Mr. Fletcher and his followers will argue that there is: no room to carry on our . work : at'\ Clyde Quay. , I have ; had various, experiences: in . dock constructions, and -'I must say that I am astounded at, the nssertions made.Tho ,whole, .of. the w.ork can be ably carried'on in the area'that is set apart , for the dock,, as is done in all parts of the world. • Engineers do not . build their works-: alongside the dock. - The work is done in ... their machine shops'and factories in, diffcroufc parts of the city and taken there in piecomeal and fitted together, i . .- _ , Taking everything into'- consideration I must say that ,this demand to shift the dock . site lias been got up for some other motive . out-sido the benefit of the city, and I would , . urgoupon our members of-.Parliament •and City Councillors not to. allow, the city of Wei- • lington to.be- robbed' of its' dock. after fight- -\ ing for so many'years to obtain, same. Let tho oitizeus of .Wellington,. ■ particularly around To' Aro,. .band together and ' form i ■, defence, league to defeat the malcontents.— I am, etc., SUPREMA A SITU. February. 21. ■