ESTABLISHED 1866. PUBLISHED EVERT EVENING. MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1912. THE WAIRAU HARBOR BOARD.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 12, 15 January 1912, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. PUBLISHED EVERT EVENING. MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 1912. THE WAIRAU HARBOR BOARD.

The extent to which the Wairau HarborL Bttard has justified its existence esc^feds, we should think, the. anticipations, of even its most sanr guine promoters. It was in the face

of no spall amount of dubiousness and discouragement that this body was instituted, and there were not wanting many critics who predicted that it would prove to be a -mere nonentity, without resources and with no power for good. As things have turited out, the transferring of tbe control of district navigation from the. Marine Department to a local authority has been attended by results that ar© as immediately tangible as they are promising. Commencing its career five years ago with practically no funds, the Board now,,, possesses a clear credit of £1400, which it-is able to place at ,fixed deposit; and in the meantime ifc has considerably raised the status

of the port,of "Wairau, its maintenj ance of; tjie>* navigableness of the river ! and its management of shipping inI terests giving a. far greater measure of satisfaction than the perfunctory and indifferent methods of the Department.,, The principle; of local ! control has been simply justified. The <«ily thing to be regretted is that it was not adopted much earlier. However, an excellent start has been made, and the cause of direct shipping between Blenheim and Wellington and the West Coast is on a substantially better footing to-day than it was five-years ago. For one thing, it is in'the hands of a fir'miyestablished authority immediately interested in.its advancement, and for another thing, that authority hasso strengthened itg. finances that it isi in a position to meet any emergency not absolutely abnormal in ...maintaining a clear channel for the vessels trading up the river. liefore the advent of the Harbor Board the shipping had no responsible protection against the blocking of the Bar by a bout of south-east weather; it simply had to submit to the circumr stances. Such is not the case now: The Board is acting wisely in taking the opportunity of building up its finance. Pursuing that policy, it should in the course of a few years find itself in the fortunate position of- being able to carry into effect an

extensive scheme of harbor improvements/which would make the Wairau a port of much greater consequence than it is to-day. That, we believe^ is the ambition of the Board ; and it is a worthy one, deserving the sympathy of the producing population of the Plain as well as the business-people. What a well-dred-ged river, with a permanently-pro-tected Bar, and allowing of the traffic of a larger class of shipping, would mean to the district can hardly be over-calculated. A fully- | developed Harbor* system ensuring • minimum freight charges would be an immense gain, in the benefits of which both the producers and the householders would participate. The advantages of a cheap coal supply ; and the economical carriage of the ; large quantities of pastoral and agri- i cultural produce that go away from •' the Wairau every year are worth . striving for, to say nothing of the larger mercantile importance that' would bo conferred on the capital of Marlborough by an increased marine I connection. That the Harbor Board j has been able to bring such prospects , within, measurable distance—and that without assuming rating powers j —is a matter for general congratula- ; lion. The progress made by the ? Board may be judged from the fact i tfeat it is now considering the pro- j posal to take over tho wharves and stores, with a view to setting up. a ■ complete system of controlling , the ■ shipping interests. The advancement made in five years is very material; ; and if the Board continue to'1 strengther. its position at tho same rate it will undoubtedly contribute <

in a liighly important degree to the general progress of the town and district.