Our Harbor Board.

Feilding Star, Volume II, Issue 494, 12 February 1908, Page 2

Our Harbor Board.

■ It ia a remarkable thing that the ! sphere of influence of the Wellington Harbour Board runs back this way to : a distance of over 100 miles from i Port Nicholson, and that a town bo far away aa Feilding should have n ' voice in an election for membership !to the Bonrd. But thiß fact remains, j a« was indicated by the presence of i Cr. Cobbe, representing our Borough j Council at tho Palmorston meeting on Monday, when Mr Maurice Cohen was elected to represent the Mannwntu district on the Wellington Harbour Board. Our roadors will therefore i be interested in the general election in the city for membership on the ; Board. They were held on Monday, and the results have caused quite a ■ nutter in the dovecotes of commerce. ' For never before have there been such 1 drastic changes effected. The Board has eleven members, three or whom (t-h c ' Hons. T. K. Macdonald, chairman, T. M. Wilford, M.P., and F. H. Fraser) are the nominees of the Government, the Hon. T. W. Hißlop sits aa Mayor o* the city, Mr J. G. Harkness re- ' presents the Chamber of Commerce as its president, and the other members are elected, Mr M. Cohen by Manawatu district, Mr C. E. Daniell by the Wairftrap'a district, Messrs R. Fletcher and F. G. Bolton by the Wellington ' ratepayers, Mr C. W. ■ Jones (manager of the Huddart-Par- ; ker Steamship Co)) by the payers of shipping dues, and Mr J. W. McEwan by the local bodies of Petone and the Hutt. The remarkable feature about the above results is that seven are new members, and in the contests some surprises resulted. The greatest change in the new year of the Board's history, however, will be the , withdrawal of the powerful influence of its secretary-engineer, Mr Wm. Ferguson ; and no one man has had more to do with the disturbance of the autocratic rule of Mr Ferguson • than Mr Fletcher, who topped the poll of ratepayers at Monday's election. Under Mr Ferguson's regime, the public proceedings of the Board lasted about fifteen minutes monthly, everything being cut and dried and agreed to in committee. The lato ; Mr Qeo. Fisher broke many a lance I with Mr Ferguson on this question, I but the engineer was too strong even for "Onr George," and Star Cham- ' her proceedings continued until Mr Fletcher began his campaign for publicity, and there is no doubt that his success in this direction resulted in a loss in another (the resignation of Mr Ferguson). There are very important matters forward for the Wellington Harbour Board, and it will need wisdom and courage to guide its affairs successfully ; but the" interests of the public will no doubt be safeguarded by the open-door policy.