The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 11, 4 May 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, MAY 4, 1876.

A»"ns«s "ii the old saving that " those who give advice should not l»e :d»oVe it," we prop*»'*r t»» bring forward a few facts whteh KtU probably internet our citf.-ui-ponu-y the " Daily Times." The Dunedin Tlillliilarur has not I'csii slow in giving the tWwti people a l»t »»f tnicallcd-for advice, and therefore we Feel sure oitv literary monitor will excuse us mahing a few resnarks on one of the institutions of Detncdtn. We allude to tliu extraor-dinary-manner in which the Harbour B<->ard is carrying out its functions. As our ncaiicrs are of course well aware, this BoarJ has not long been initiated, but, unfortunately, «|uitc long enough to prove that it is totally incompetent to carry out the duties devolving u|.«>u it. When the Board w«R tirat appointc.l the public vet*}* naturally thought that some steps would l>e taken to improve the approaches by Witter to Dunedin. The citizens fondly imagined that in the course of a jf«w large ships, from a thousand to llfteen hundred tons register, would lie able to come alongside the main wharves. They pictured to themselves a sort of second ftamtritlge. with vessels of all nations lying, in double rows down each side of the jetties. CnfortunaUly, these hopes will not he realised for some twenty years, if at all. The first thing the Board commenced to do after being legally constituted by Act of Parliament was—as all corjH->rKte bodies should do, to borrow money on the security of debentures. This was easily accomplished, and the debentures went otf like wildfire. Oitea having obtained capital, the next consideration was how to spend it a;; rapidiy as possible : and this, with the wily members, was a thing very easily accomplished. It! the tirat place, a secretary was aj»pointed at £<>oo per annum, and then an engineer at a very handsome salary. It Wit* snort found, however, that the sahsries of thfJv two valuable? servants would Hot ran awwy with the cash soon enough, so the Hoard, in order to facilitate matters, iff a .spirit of true disinterestwfca, immediately voted itself two gtmwas per member foreaehsittiitg. Beforetliisilionorarituiiwas voted, the mnnWr of meetings j»er annum was uinati in the estrettie, and the acfendasKtf »»S the l««;ml>cts at those important *•;».* ;t«taller still. After the eltftetifg fees of two guinea.-; per meeting Were arranged, tueit the metaher-t ntuatere*l afroa-;,'and oiteii. We can reeolluet how. on oner occasion, theso senators met six times "n two months, alt.l then the bttsffieas they conducted could have l>eeii done eaailj" at one sitting. But even tin;; outlay .»as not sufEtc : v::t to reduce the credit balance at the Bank, so the Board

at last decided to (Vulit the ability of its 6;igineer, arid then sent to Melbourne for a ?if r. who in a lengthy and egolistica! ivpovt fold thi' Hoard simply what it knew ?_iefotv. Hut, then, this did not matter, because the opinion of a gentleman from Australia had U'Cii obtained, and, like anything from there, it must of necessity be more valuable than the homespun article. Kow, the "Daily Times/' in our opinion, wotihl render much better service to the citizens* by watching t!ie doings of this Board and its engineer, than by troubling its head about Oainaru ami licr municipal expenditure. Dnnedin might well take a copy from our Harbour Board, which, whatever else may be said to the contrary, has conferred a considerable number of benefits on the town, and this certainly j-s wore than can be said of the kindred in—aiUutioit in Dnnedin. We will conclude this article with the following exh:xi from. Mttp coiutinjioraiy tJso '* Mount Ida Chronicle." He says : " Our lusty young protege the Duncdin Harbour Jsoar«l is cutting its eye-teeth. No wonder it is troublesome. It has been our duty to watch over this nursling with tender reyard. It took to the water immediately it was hatched, ami—tu uur dismay proved a very duckling. Ever since we have been wandering tip and down by the edge of the water, hop'ng the thoughtless one would come within reach of its fondest wellwisher once more. It promises at last to collie repentantly ashore. 0, shades of commercial morality, of business habits, gr&feed upon harbour mtul ! how is this* I Where now are the-M'Neil'sy thd Tewsley'a, the M'Kerras's, the iminolators of coarse country narrow-sights I Each answers : Only drawing £2 2s. a meeting, and meeting as often as possible under the sad circumstances."