WELLINGTON HARBOUR

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 93, 22 April 1925, Page 6

WELLINGTON HARBOUR

BOARD'S SPLENDID POSITION

EXCELLENTLY EQUIPPED PORT.

At the invitation of the chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board (Mr. G. Mitchell), members of the board and their wives to-day inspected the principal works of the board, either completed, or in progress. The party visited the Thorndon seawall, the pipemaking works at the Thorndon breast}Y° rk > th, B adjoining plant for bending the steel rods for use in reinforced concrete work, the new Pipitea wharf and shed, the electric overhead cranes II << T .l ave' been "Stalled there, and the J shed, where wool is pressed, stacked, and handled. The party was then motored round the waterfront and Clyde quay and.out to Miramar, and inspected the provision being made there for tho storage of oil, etc. Speaking at the luncheon, the chairman, Mr. G. Mitchell, outlined the progress of the port and stated its splendid financial and commercial position. ill S; fou? ye?rs a6°>" said Mr- Mitchell, the board took over the control of the port of Wellington with endowments totalling £30,000. Those endowments consisted of a public road, which has been a heavy liability ever since, and a wharf which had to be rebuilt a few years' later. Nature, however, counteracted the want of endowments by providing a magnificent natural port. We have been fortunate indeed m the sound and progressive policy carried out by successive boards, until to-day the port is one of the finest and most efficiently equipped in the Empire. Our assets exceed our liabilities by over one million pounds. Our charges are the lowest in the British Empire for ship's and shippers alike; and our services are not excelled, yet while conferring these' advantages en the users of the port we have been able by efficient organisation and administration to show a credit balance of £47,----000 this year. The board has always recognised that one of our greatest assets is the goodwill and efficiency of those it employs, and has endeavoured at all times to consider the interests cf the men. I am pleased that during my term of office we have been able to put the wage of our servants up to the highest point it has ever reached in the history of the board, and to give them conditions' which are not excelled by any public body in this Dominion. "On the other hand, we have been able to reduce the handling cost per ton of all goods for our services, and this year, the first time for years, the board has reduced its charges by a very considerable amount. In short, we are paying good wages and salaries, in turn getting^ good services and efficiency, which in turn means sound finance and progress. A PROGRESSIVE POLICY. "The progressive policy of past administrations has been carried on by the present board, and we are making provision for works costing up to £400,000, including the great seawall and reclamation, a new oil wharf at Miramar and Thorndon, reconstruction of the Queen's Wharf, a modern tug, and also a floating crane to lift 80,000 tons, botlv of wtiich will be here this year, and we have been able to put aside out, of our profits the first substantial sum towards a modern dock for the port, and it is hoped that in ten years' time to have £150,000 in hand for that purpose. The position that we stand in to-day is'the legacy handed on to us by those great men whose photographs you see around the walls of this room and others who have worked with them, and far as this board is concerned it is largely due to the concentrated thought, harmony, and goodwill of members of the board, and it is fitting that I should publicly thank you for the confidence that you have at all times expressed in me es your chairman and .the intelligence and earnestness that you have brought (o bear on all matters affecting the interest of the port. I want again to impress on all that Wellington is here to-day because of the port, and we are as it were in control of the gear handle and can advance or retard the city which depends so entirely on the port which feeds her, and the more the port progresses the better services and facilities we can give, the greater will be the progress of the city we love."