THE HARBOUR BOARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13683, 26 February 1908, Page 9

THE HARBOUR BOARD.

til A POPULAR CHAIRMAN. -;-W-: ■ i MR. MITCHELSON RE-ELECTED lit — m IMPORTANT PROPOSALS. •;.?*•,■;' tjqj annual statutory meeting of the '' • Auckland Harbour Board for the purpose H - of electing a chairman for the ensuing year '&'' was held yesterday afternoon. Those pre- '■'■■"'" sent were: The Hon. E. Mitchelson, C Messrs. G. W. Baslcy, J. K. Kneen, H. '■I Bradney, C. 0. Dacre, H. D. Heather, J. If •B. Macfarlane, W. E. Hutchison, and Cap•f tain McKenzie. On the motion of Mr. C Bradney, Mr. Basley took the chair. f§ Mr. Basley proposed, "That Mr. Mitchelson bo re-elected to the position of chairman of the Board." That gentleman, ha said, had had the unique experience of ii occupying the chair for three years, and this would be his fourth term. It was especially due to him that the business of «-? the Board had been carried out in such an f.. ' able manner during the past three years. It was tho unanimous wish of members ' that Mr. Mitchelaon should bo re-elected [f; to the chair. %, Mr. Macfarlano seconded the motion, stating that they all recognised the valu- §!' able services which Mr. Mitchelson had |r rendered. ■V Mr. Heather, va speaking in support, gave it as his opinion that tho chairman of tho Board shuuter bo appointed for a f. consecutive number of years, so that a definite policy could bo adhered to. Mr. Knecn, in supporting the motion, said he did not think people realised the V amount of timo which Mr. Mitchelson spent in attending to the large works which were going on at present. When the speaker first joined tho Board the opinion which prevailed in tho circles in which lie mixed was that Mr. Mitchelson was a hard and tried Tory, but lie had since come to the conclusion that very low women in Auckland realised tluit they liad a friend i'i Mr. ] Mitchelson. When any proposal wu« | .:. brought forward for increasing the wages u£ tho workmen in tho service of the Board, '4 it hud aJwa>s received fail treatment at Mi. Mitche'wson'is iumiis. Homo delegates at i' the TiwMVi mid Labour Council seemed to think that Mr >Ltc !ve>i*on was an enemy of tho working man, but. in that they were wrong, end he wished wk* fact recorded. Tho motion was carried unanimously, and :-' Mr. Barley then welcomed Mr. Mitchelson J to tho chair.

lii reply, Mr. Mitchclson thanked the Board, and would do so again. Ho thought ly to the position. Ho could only say that during the three years of his office he had done his best, to carry on the work of th« it way the duty of anyone taking such a it was the duty of wry one taking such a position to give a. great amount of time to the work. There was the new Harbours Act, which wax to bo put through next session, and under this it was quite possible that a new Board might be elected. If such proved to be Hie case they could all say that they had done their best as members of tlu> Board. At present they had large works on hand, such as had not been undertaken by any board in the Dominion in- in Australia. It, was to be hoped that these works would turn out as successfully as they wished. From what liad been done tip to "the present they would see that the work already carried out would be uf a lasting character, and would save the Board a very largo amount annually in maintenance. He pointed out that tho planks at the western tee of the Queen-street Wharf, laid down not more than six years ago, were already rotting away. 'What they were doing now would be lasting and tangible. He would like to draw the attention of members to the block which existed at the

Queen-street Wharf last week owing to such a largo number of steamers - arriving in port at the same' time. They had not sufficient accommodation, and it was more than probable that as they proceeded with the demolition of the Queenstreet Wharf the position would become even more acute. When they had taken up the parts of the Queen-street Wharf proposed, he could not see how they were going to carry on the traffic without injury to the mercantile community. He had tried two years ago to dissuade the Board from touching *" the Queen-street Wharf until there was a new structure, properly equipped for berthing vessels, but the Board "thought otherwise, and they were now faced with a difficulty which would have to he solved one way or another. It was a pleasure to him to have to work with members who had one and all striven to do their duty. In the course or further remarks, Mr. Miuhelson stated that the report of the committee which had been appointed to inquire into the financial position of the Board, and also to make ionic recommendations regarding future works, and the order in which they should bo undertaken, would be available shortly. One thing they would strongly recommend the Board to take in hand would be the eastern reclamation, so that they could construct the Cistern wall and provide three extra berths there. The amount of money to be spent would be spread over a considerable number of years, but, would not be more than could be safely overtaken by the Board. These works would be carried out without inflicting any increased charges on the commercial community. If that were done it would be a feather in their cap, as no other Board in the Dominion could do the »ame as they were doing without incurring increased charges.