AUCKLAND AND WELLINGTON.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXII, Issue 63, 12 September 1911, Page 2

AUCKLAND AND WELLINGTON.

" Our aim ehould be to cement tho relations between the two ports," said Mr. J. H. Gunson, chairman of the Auckland Harbour Board, to a Post reporter yesterday. He had just returned from a little voyage round the wharves and part of tho harbour, and with him were the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. R. Fletcher), Messrs. J. 0. Hftrkness, R. C. Renner. and C. W. Jones (member), Marchbanks (engineer), and Captain Johnson (harbourmaster). In the board's tender Uta, Mr. Gunson was taken to see the reclamation wall at rhorndon, and soundings from 21ft to 26ft were taken in this locality, i At the Kings wharf 43ft were obtained. ' Soundings taken in the fairway close to | Oriental Bay gave between 55ft and 60ft. Afterwards Mr. Gunson was entertained '■ at tea, by the chairman. ! "I have very much appreciated the kindness and hospitality shown to tne ! by the Wellington Board," Mr. Gunsom added. "The chairman and members, and (through them), the officers have placed every facility in my way for gathering information which will be of great service to Auckland. The shipping facilities ih Wellington have much impressed me. Although on several occasions I have passed through Wellington before, 1 have- not had the time to spare- for such an inspection of the port and its workings as on this occasion. Wellington appears in a new light so far as the port ie concerned. j The port, I think, must take front place of all the ports in New Zealand r it for no other reason than its natural advantages of deep water right up to the city front. "The system adopted by Wellington Harbour Board in the handling of cargo has particularly impressed me," added Mr. Gunson. " The primary advantage of such a system is that cargo* passing over the wharves, immediately it leavea the ship's 6lings, is under one cont«>l. This is of great advantage to the ship, the consignee, and the board iteelf. At the present time- the system is not adaptable by Auckland, because of our extensivo works. The wharves are in a. state of transition, but when our shipping facilities are in a more advanced state, then We must seriously consider the Wellington system with a view to its adoption. The pillaging of cargo on the Auckland wharves, which we. have lately experienced, would have been quite impossible had th© Wellington system been in operation ac thoroughly as it is in this port." With respect to interchange of visits between Auckland and Wellington mem* bers of the harbour boards, Mr. Gunson said they had been all too rare in the past. Misunderstanding was the natural result. "We have not understood each other, Mr. Gunson explained. " The educative value of such visits has hot been realised ac yet. For my part, ac chairman of the Auckland Board, I look forward to returning the hospitality which Wellington has shown towards my board. Visits of the sort paid by members 1 of both boards, one to the other, should be more frequent in the public interest, and in that interest our mutual aims should be to cement the relations between Wellington and Auckland. Each must work out its own destiny in its own way, each must administer its affairs, its finance, in the way best suited to its peculiar and local needs ; but the experience gained by each can he used by «ach to its own advantage."