The Evening Star SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1903.

Evening Star, Issue 11894, 23 May 1903, Page 4

The Evening Star SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1903.

Tit:: meeting of ratepayers of Port Chalmers held yesterday evenlirfckj ,- n „ recorded the opinion Without that, in order to ensure the Stmn. construction of a large dock at Port Chalmers without unnecessary delay, the Corporation should assist the Dock Trust " to raise the sum of "£75,000 by agreeing to guarantee thepay"ment of £I,OOO a year towards the interest of the loan, provided the building "of the dock be commenced within one "year frpm this date." The passing of this resolution fails to put the matter in any better light. It is at least questionable whether there is power under the Municipal Corporations Act to give stich a guarantee on the credit of the borough revenues, which already form the security for the outstanding indebtedness of the borough. Presuming the general body of the district electors to approve the proposal, special legislation would presumably be required to give the necessary authority to the Borough Council to carry it into effect. Then what comas of the proviso contained in the resolution: that the dock must be commenced "within twelve months" from the date, of the meeting? It is, as must needs be admitted, very desirable in the interests of Port Chalmers that a dock sufficiently large to meet modern requirements should be constructed, but for thia purpose a large sum of money —probably considerably in excess of the amount estimated (£75,000) —will be required, and no very feasible scheme to obtain this has yet been put forward by the promoters of the movement. The promoters of the meeting declare that the projected dock must not only be able to accommodate all steamers now trading to New Zealand, bat allow of extension to meet the requirements of the mercantile marine of the next decade or two! Of course this modest demand can be met (they say) by an expenditure of "about £75,000," and we are not so uncharitable as to believe that Mr Tait and his friends have not received satisfactory assurances on the point from those who rule the outside financial world. As to the practicability of the scheme outlined last night, it is only necessary to bear in mind the class of steamer now trading between the Colony and England, and to reflect on the possibilities of expansion during the next few years. The figures subjoined are, we think, very suggestive of a cost more likely to reach £150,000: Dimensions of Deep-sea Steamer*.

The guarantee idea Li practically on a par with the ingenious theory as to the consumption of water, which, according to some local calcuUtion, is to be increased so much under Prohibition as to more than make up for the loss to the borough revenue from the abolition of licenses! The common-sense remarks of" Mr W. M. Innes did not receive much sympathy from the meeting, whose general attitude was

somewhat suggestive of children crying for the moon. They wanted the dock, and must hare it. ' The amendment Mr Innes moved did not secure even a seconder, and the proposal embodied, therein (that the Dock Trust be asked to consider whether it might not be desirable to give over theiv powers to the Harbor Board on the understanding that the Board undertake' the construction of the dock) was received with uproarious demonstrations of disapprobation. The meeting not only insisted on the big dock—ways and' means being ,1 secondary consideration—but the whole business (construction and management) must be kept in local hands, so as to ensure the money being spent among Port Chalmers residents. It will Jt>e time enough, however, as the "proverb puts it, to "dispose of the skin after the bear has been killed " ! The only chance, and we do not feel any assurance that the chance is a good one, of the construction of a big deck withia a terminable period would be that the Trust should be taken over by the Harbor Board and ..a special loan raised on the credit of that body.' There is, we think, some force in the argument that in t?ie matter of the dock Port Chalmers nas hardly been treated fairly by the Government; but that U ancient history, and the pros-cut Ministry are not, it it well known, disposed to reopen this question, definitely settled years ago, when Otago had great weight in the Cabinet.

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