A SHRIEK FROM OAMARU.

Evening Star, Issue 7167, 22 March 1887, Page 1

A SHRIEK FROM OAMARU.

Unquestionably heavy port charges are sapping the commercial ufe of Dunedin. There are therefore two ruinous agencies at work—a refractory bar and insufferable port charges. Neither of these can now be avoided without difficulty. The Duaedin Harbor Board have expended half-a-tnlllion sterling to make their harbor what it is. The harbor is not worth much, it is tine. But the money has been spent, and the Board expect to have a small portion' of the accruing interest recouped by those who make use of the facOitfeg, or whatever tfiey may be called, that bave been proVided-for

~ The only way to reduce the port tges wLd de y to resort to direct taxation for fhe maintenance of the haibor but we would not recommend the Board to try that experiment m these times. It would be better to cease their “ improvements,” and let Nature effect her own cure. If the mud that has been deposited in the Upper Harbor were scooped up again Nature would be assisted in her operations, the bar would ■become less a barrier, and the big steamers would float in without getting stuck, as the Coptic and others have done, and frightening the lives out of everybody. Another half a-million would suffice to do all this, and it would be cheap at the price, though the price is by no means a trifle. It will be a nappy day for Dunedin when the Board take the bull by the horns and resolve to restore the Port of Dunedin to its natural state. Either this must be done or Dunedin must become a commercial graveyard. _We are sincerely sorry for the Dunedinites, Before the completion of our harbor scheme to a stage that bids defiance to detraction they sometimes treated us very badly. But, as a modern philosopher tells - us, there is a good deal of human nature about man, and it was natural enough that, with such momentous interests at stake, and realising the growing uselessness of their own harbor, Dunedinites should have been jealous of Oamaru’s successful efforts to provide a port for the whole of North Otago. Wo have now emerged from our maritime incipience. The port of Oaniani takes its place amongst the chief ports of the Colony, whilst proud Dunedin’s boast is rapidly being reduced, in the public mind, to the condition aud status of a mudholo. We reiterate that wo arc truly sorry for Dunedin that the big steamers pass by its port. Wo would not ourselves like to bo treated so contemptuously. We will stand by Dunedin to the end, and when its Harbor Board has perfected the ruin of its port, Oamaru’s port will be at its disposal. We do not quite see how the big steamers can omit to visit Port Chalmers without seriously affecting their ordinary freight trade, unless transhipment is to be largely resorted to, or the business is to be done by rail by way of Oamaru. —‘ Mail.’