MANGAWAI BREAKWATER.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXI, Issue 2608, 27 November 1865, Page 4

MANGAWAI BREAKWATER.

It will be recollected that tenders for the comfci notion of the above important public work were received in November last, aud that it was undertakeu upon the plan aud recommendation of Mr. D»uiel Simpson. The work is being carried out by a party of immigrants intioduced into the province under the Waikato settlement scheme, and is progressing satisfactorily. About 7,000 cubic, yards of earth aud rock have been removed, a considerable portion of which was found to be unfit to be used in the work, being mere suiface soil, and had necessarily to be removed, in order to open a quarry from whioh writable mateiial could' be procured. The breakwater lias been carried out for a distance of more than three and a half chains, aud for the most part, this ia over the deepest part of the channel,, so that th« work done may fairly be considered to represent about one-third of the entire undertaking. , In this porlion of the work a considerable amount of labour and expense has been .incurred, which will, not, ba expended in the remainder. Measures were recently devised for materially reducing the labour, employed on the work ; and all the single men, ten in number, were paid off on Saturday last. We understand that the amount expended on the breakwater up to the present time has been about £1,000 j aud it is estimated that, in order to complete the work, a further sum of £1,500 will be required. The location of the immigrants in a locality where they had' to pro. vide themselves with whares, and the purchase of the necessary plant for carrying on the worki have been sources of expense which will not occur again ; but the 'immigiauts employed having now become more accustomed to the work, even still more satisfactory progress will be made, and, should the weather continue favourable, the work will bo completed for the sum ntated. , Mr. Weaver, Engineer-in-C'hief, in company with Mr,. Simpson, inspected the works on the 18th and 20th , of this month, and took ' such levels and other measurements as enabled him to ascertain exaotly the I ' quantity of work done and, to estimate that which remained to be executed." That gentleman has, in his official report to his Honor the Superintendent, expressed himself p 1 leased with the way in which' the work is being carried out, and is of opinion that when the breakwater is completed it will be of great service to the shipping entering the Manga wai river. Its effect, will probably be to increase the depth of water on the bar, and ' certainly 'will' obviate ithe 'danger now existing from. the influx and reflux of the tides through the present false channel. The 'lowest tender submitted for the performance of this important work was £1,500, which amount was* appropriated by the Provincial Council. J The -late Superintendent, however,' was desirous of employing a party of General Gbvernment immigrants on sundry publio works inoluding the breakwater. With reforeuce'to the cost which the construptioh. r of the breakwater' will' involve, it' cannot 1 be 1 a' matter of surprise that works carried -out by such a clans of persons who have been quite unaoonstomed to labour of that description— who had never before handled a hammer, or spade — would inoreaie^the expense^; .but; 'as'tne immigrants would haye 1 to* be employed By the Government, under atiy oiroumstaucej' ln'termi of thoir agreement befoie they left Englaud,-it was quite as well to employ them oh the above work ai to be obliged to find other unremunerative employment for them elsewhere. There eau 1 be -no!, doubt -•that the work, carried , on, by ,tne, description of labour referred.to liw' not been directly 'an. eoonomical means

of performing it ; bub under the peculiar circumstances of the case, it wa«, perhaps, inoro judicioui to distribute some of the immigrants over the northern districts ihan to confine them entirely in the Waikato district-. The fair way of viewing the matter, therefore, would be whether the province should be actually chargeable with, or should pay the additional amount, or whether the Waikato Settle* menfc Fund should not be properly charged with the extra expense of the work beyond that which it would have cost if carried out in the ordinary way by the employment of skilled labour. Already the work, as far as ii has gone, is beginning to tell sufficiently upon the channel of the river, so that we may reasonably expect that the breakwater, when completed, will be of considerable advantage to the settlers in those large districts who will derive their supplies by means of the facilities afforded for communication on the Mangawai river.