WAITEMATA-MANUKAU CANAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13456, 5 June 1907, Page 4

WAITEMATA-MANUKAU CANAL.

THE OTAHUHU ROUTE. WHY IT IS NOT THE BEifER. Mb. J. M. Mexsie, chairman of the Canal Promotion Company, Limited, writes us as followsla your issue of May 27 Mr. J. E. Taylor , tells us : that ) the:Canal: Company's surveyors and engineers appear to > have made a mere superficial examination of the surface of the Tamaki-Otahuhu route. Now I can tell Mr. Taylor that they were over both routes not once but many times, and made up their minds as to which was the better one after due and careful consideration. Amongst other reasons they gave why the ; Whau route was much the ; better one were these: (1) That at the mouth of the Tamaki was a bar which if shifted would make again and be : a source of ; continual trouble (2) that at a point hearing the entrance to the : Manukau shallow waters there was a belt of scoria rock which would have to be shifted, and that as this scoria continued for a considerable distance no man could tell what it would take to dig or excavate a canal through such a formation; (3) that it was a thousand chances to one that this scoria belt, continued away down past Mangere, and that it was a long way down the Manukau before deep water was reached; and, finally, that the distance was very much .further from Auckland to the Manukau Heads. These and other drawbacks, such as the railway passing through scoria ground, do not apply, to the Whau route, consequently the Canal Promotion Company considered this route" the better one, but it is still open to Mr. : Taylor and his friends to prove that all this is wrong by doing as we : have done, and having a thorough survey made. Then I am sure he would soon be satisfied that the Whau is the better route of the two; but it is hardly patriotic on his part to tell us that because we will not adopt his scheme no will not allow us ■ to get ours carried if he can prevent it. Mr. Taylor further conI tends that it is the business of the Harbour [Board or the Government, either jointly or separately, to test both routes. We have it from the Government that they will not do anything at all in the matter, as they tell us it is entirely a local concern, and they could not possibly touch it, as all the other centres would ! want an equivalent— Christchurch-Sumner canal, and so on—but that they will not object to us getting a Bill through, and will assist us to do so if

the same is on proper lines and the plans are approved by the Government engineers. As to the Harbour Board taking the matter up, at the time . our Promotion Company

began oporations the Harbour Board would not, and could ! not if they had desired to

do so, as their' hands were full. All their wharves' were in a state of decay, and large sums of money wore required to meet the growing requirements of the port, consequently to wait until they agreed to and carried out surveys meant yc.irs and years of delay. Under . these circumstances some business men of the city, at the instigation of Mr. Henry Atkinson, engineer (a gentle-' man to* whom the citizens are indebted for the waterworks scheme now being carried out), formed themselves into a limited company to undertake the work of getting surveys made and all the data obtained as to whether the thing was practicable in our time or not, for which Mr. Taylor, says wo deserve some credit. Mr. Taylor refers to the Canal Promotion Company several times as Mr. Mennic's Canal Promotion Company."." I /must- disclaim this entirely. I take no credit to myself in this connection whatever, being simply .'one of tho promoters, all of whom are acting as they think in the best interests of, and have paid their money for,', "what they believe is a project that, would greatly benefit the port and the greater city of Auckland that is to be. •• I 'think the public are entitled to know ; who - arc - the promoters and .principal - ehar«holders •of the Canal , Promotion ; Company", ■ so that they may be sure that it is not a. few ' visionary faddists who have the business in hand, but rather it is in the hands of some of the business men of standing and repute , in the community,' who are not likely to give their time and money to any imprac- ' ticable or visionary projects. The principal ' promoters are:— A. Clarke, Esq., of • Messrs.- Archibald Clark and Sons, Ltd.;' ' N. A. Nathan, Esq., of Messrs. L. D. Nathan and Co., Ltd.; W. A. Smith, Esq., of Messrs. , Smith , and Caughey, Ltd.; T. i Finlayson, Esq., ■of Messrs. Sargooc], Son, i and Ewen; D. R. Caldwell, Esq., of Messrs. 1 Macky, Logan, Caldwell, and Co.; J. J. ' Craig, Esq., of Messrs. J. J. Craig, Ltd.; 1 W. li. Leyiand, Esq., of Messrs. Ley land and O'Brien T. Co., Ltd.; Chas. Ranson, Esq., manager N.S.S. Co., Ltd.; F. Jagger, , Esq., tanner and leather merchant; Geo. j Winstone, Esq., of Messrs. Winstonc, Ltd. < W. R. Wilson, Esq., of the N.Z. Herald; i 0. V. Houghton, Esq., manager N.Z. Shipping Co., Ltd.; R. Cameron, Esq., manager Auckland Savings Bank; Win. Bailey, Esq., t timber merchant; J. M. Mcnnie, of J. M. ] Mennie, Ltd. Henry Atkinson, Esq., gas ( engineer; A. J. Furness, Esq., . secretary. j These names should command a hearing, and their project ought to be duly considered by the Harbour Board and the Go- , vernment. ; - g . Mr. Taylor makes ( a point of, some state- j ftient that may. have, been made that the * "cost would not be more than a-quarter of a million, but now Mr. Menriie states that it,was to be £788,000." ' I' might inform Mr. Taylor that the mere excavations were , guessed at as likely to be done for a-quarter , of a million, but a proper estimate after survey and measurements have been taken shows that it would come to about £400,00 G. The sum of £788,000 includes two locks cost- v ing £60,000 each, a basin in the canal with wharves where cargo can be discharged and 1 vessels pass each other, and also a basin and a wharf on the Waitemata. side of the first lock where scows and vessels employed in the local trade can be loaded or discharged without going into the canal proper, and 1 sufficient reclamation at the Manukau end r for the convenience of and to" facilitate the „ working of vessels using the canal. All these ? things, together with . a high-level bridge r . over , the canal at the very highest point of •* land on th© route which is to cost £12,000, S are : included in the ' maximum cost -of "V £788,000. . It now remains to he seen whether the time has arrivedand we think it has— • when the Auckland Harbour Board should 11 take over the Manukau Harbour with any V endowments it may have or can get, and at v the same time promote the passing of a tl Bill authorising the Board to borrow money ; Y to build the canal. Some of the waste native; or Crown lands of the province might be. set . aside as endowments to aid the finances. And I would here point out that Gisborne, Timaru, and Taranaki and other ports have had to get help in this way, and [ why not Auckland? . In any case, the. Harbour * Board would get a strip of land on both sides of the canal which in a very short space of time would be of immense value. Land could also be reclaimed along ' • the Whau River which would be greedily taken up for - all sorts of waterside indus- °' tries, so that their revenues would ultimate- m ly bo very large and the interest on; the f a cost of construction would be recouped n f many times over. This being so, the Bill should be pushed through Parliament as ™ soon as ever it is possible, before too many T ' vested interests arise to block the way, ana Gi as something must be done soon to improve tr the management of the Manukau Harbour , 1f now is the time for. the Auckland Harbour 7 Board to take over that harbour, for it ought to be recognised that if the v/aite- a mata , is the front door to Auckland the cc Manukau is the back door, and both - har- cc bours ought to be immediately placed un- m der the one management to avoid comoiie/i- ? tions in the future. There should be no ob- ot jections to this being done, as Auckland and is Unehunga are practically one city now and dt must become more and more so as the time rolls on. Ihe importance of the subject ~ must be my excuse for this long letter Mr ' "or, and with many thanks for past ar favours. 1 c