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New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4134, 20 June 1874, Page 2

The resolution carried at tiro meeting of tiie City Council on Thursday evening means practically that it is the business of the Provincial Government to construct a graving dock, if this be required, for the City of Wellington, and not of the Municipal authorities. It may also be taken to mean that the Council, intending to reclaim a portion of the Te Aro foreshore, does not wish to allow the Provincial authorities to bo able to say at some future period, that as the City Council had the reclaimed land it ought to be charged with the duty of providing wharf and dock accommodation. In this conclusion of the Council most of the ratepayers will agree, and so also, wo presume, will the members of the Provincial Executive. But it would be well if some understanding could be arrived at that the three works alluded to should be carried out concurrently, and form, in fact, portions of the entire plan. By this, it is probable, expense would be avoided. The City Engineer, in explaining the plans and tracings he submitted to the Council, said that his estimate of a quarter of a million for the entire scheme of reclaiming seventy acres of the foreshore, carrying the frontage into from 20 to 30 feet of water, providing a wet dock, and giving whai'f accommodation, would not be much varied if it were one for simply reclamation, Ho had, he said, based his calculation upon the figures in the contract now entered into by the Provincial Government for the reclamation of a portion of the foreshore down to tho railroad station. The necessary soundings having been taken, and the calculation thus made, the estimate may be accepted as an approximately accurate one.

We take it for granted that a graving dock for this port will ultimately be considered a necessity, notwithstanding some opinions that the Patent Slip, which was certainly constructed with a view to the reception of very large vessels, is sufficient to supply present needs. Even supposing that it be, the conclusion does not therefore follow that the authorities of this generation should not look somewhat beyond the day wo live in. The trade and commerce of Wellington, although they have recently made such rapid strides, are as yet but in their infancy. The strong probability and almost assured certainty is that within the ensuing two or three years they will bo mightily developed, and, this being so, it would surely bo wisdom to take time by the forelock in providing suitable accommodation for them. The extension of the present wharf would fail to meet the requirements of the case, as it is already too narrow for the traffic that there is upon it. Nor will the platform proposed to be thrown out from the breastwork in front of the Provincial buildings, to prevent schooners bumping against it and damaging it during a gale, effect the object. What is wanted is a wharf at which some of the large ships that trade to the port could at once be taken alongside of to discharge, and not lie in the harbor weeks together waiting for a berth. Time with shipmasters is money, and this money is a tax upon the consumers, who ultimately have to pay all freights. The Provincial Government, it is understood, will move Parliament this session for a loan to bo expended on public works, and the Council hopes that, should any money bo obtained, the requirements of the port will receive adequate consideration. The Provincial Government has probably had under its consideration the advisability of organising a tug service, and, if so, has thus far shown tixat it is alive to those great wants of the port which have recently engaged attention. It will, wo hope, go further, and work harmoniously with the Council in the improvements that are about to bo effected. With nn efficient tug service, the prospect of a good graving dock, of a new wharf of greater dimensions than the present one, and of the reclamation of the Tq_ Aro foreshore, Wellington would have a’prosporous future before it of no ordinarypromise.

Not the least among the improvements is the reclamation alluded to, permission for which has already been obtained, and merely requires the formality of a signature. The City Engineer, whilst estimating the cost of reclaiming the whole seventy acres at a quarter of a million of money, showed that rather more than half the work contemplated could be undertaken at a very moderate cost. Tho reason of this is that the first forty acres would not be in deep water, whereas part of tho latter thirty acres are. Probably about forty acres could bo reclaimed for about £60,000 to £BO,OOO. Supposing tho money for this to be borrowed at six per cent., every acre would cost the Council annually not more than £l2O. There is no doubt that more than this sum would bo readily acquired for each one. But this is not all. Tho work would have a very important sanitary influence. Every time the tide recedes and leaves a considerable portion of the land proposed to be reclaimed exposed to the atmosphere, a noxious miasma, injurious to health, arises from it. At night this is specially noticeable. Were the work completed there would be a cessation of this nuisance. And tho appearance of tho town would be improved, as well ns tho convenience of trade consulted. Those persons who now have a water frontage would probably have one to a broad street circling the head of the bay. This would relievo the traffic, now inconveniently large, in the narrow Willis street. Such are, we believe, the leading features of the scheme. These maybe subject to modification, and to-improvement, but if carried out, they will form a wox'k of no small merit and no mean magnitude. They would demonstrate, beyond contradiction, that the present Council, during its tenure of office, did well for Wellington, and wo therefore hope that the deputation which will wait upon the Superintendent will be able to give a favorable report of the reception accorded to tho views the members will put forward. Union means strength in this case, and the interests of Wellington will bo consulted by the two_ local governing powers working harmoniously together.