HARBOUR ACCOMMODATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2129, 1 December 1868, Page 3

HARBOUR ACCOMMODATION.

" Fi::is amnvit o/xw."

To the Editor of the Otaoo Daily Timks. Sir—Some time ago Mr Macandrew, in a very a'ile and vigorous speech, delivered in tho Assembly at Wellington, argued

for a " season of political rest," and that

there had been too much legislation leading to no benciicitl results. Believing Mr Macandrew to be sound in his ideas, as expressed in his speech, I may affirm

that political panaceas, now so common,

may be laid aside, and our attention directed to matters of local interest. Harbour accommodatioTi is a subject for the most serious considcra ion, if we Duncdinites are desirous that our city should continue to advance as hitherto in tiado and population, and become in reality what it onght to be from its great natural

advantages, not only the commercial capital and emporium of tho province, but of the Middlo Island.

Opposite the city is spread out a wide and unencumbered sheet of wator, communicating with tbc ocean, and I suggest that so magnificent a bay should, as a whole, and as soon a3 possible, be made into one large, safe, and roomy dock, Biilliciont for all vessels now arriving zit the Province, but aa yet mooring at Port Chalmers, but henceforth, were the plan now proposed carried out, at cur own wharves, to bo constructed opposite the city's frontage, and th<;ro deliver and receivo cargo. It may be observed that at present operations are being carried on at tho Rattr.iy street jetty, but does any private individual know or understand what the object of theso operations is ? A well-known and intelligent previous City Engineer has publicly declared that theso operations of tho present Harbour Trust will destroy for all time coming our fine natural harbour; but as yet this warning has been overlooked by the Press of the city, and the public appa rently tako little or no interest in this very important subject. I propose, therefore, Mr Editor, to call the attention of the public to this, to them, in the future, most momentous matter of harbour accommodation, and to consider who should constitute the Harbour and Dock Tiint, so that, in all operationn observed, from time to time, to f-o iv course of execution, they, tho public, may rest with confidence on future beneficial results to accrue from such operations. Liko other citizens, I suppose, 1 can form no idea whither tho present operations tend ; but I havo, at leant, Mr Millar'a statement, that they will, in the future, prevent tho Harbour being utilized to the best advantage ; and I judge that it is a pity that such a sheet of water should be limited in its usefulness, or permanently destro3 Ted, to mako a channel to the two paltry outjutting jetties that now afford scant accommodation to tho limited number of 20,40, and 50 ton vessels that frequent the harbour. I suggest, therefore, that all futuro operations be based on a more extensive and well considered plan, a plan that will give greatly increased shipping accommodation, and make Dunedin Harbour, irrespective of, and independent of, Tort Chalmers Harbour, the finest and safest harbour, not only iv Otago, but in tho Middle Island, or, as yet, in tho Colony, capable of providing quay apaco not only for the emigrant and London ship 3of large tonnage, and arriving monthly, but to the steamers and Railing vessels from Melbourne and tho North, of largest °izo. To the mail steamers —to tho coasting and daily traffic steamers— and by-and-bye, it may bo predicated, to the numerous whaling ships that will frequent tho harbour for supplies, and deliveries of oils to tho London ships ; each class of vessels having appropriated to them a distinct portion of the quayage, with sufficiently roomy sheds, fixed and travelling cranes, and other appropriate means for the rapid discharge and reception of cargo.

1 proposp, therefore, tli.it the lino of quayage should start or commence from tho northern side of Pelichot Bay—pay, from Black Jack's Point—and thence bo carried round tho whole frontage of tho city, round and through the swampy ground, at the southern limit of the harbour, and down tho southern side as far as the opening called Anderson's Bay, or further down on that side, opposite to Dunedin, as might in tho future bo required. This plan would give us quay frontage of rbout three miles, and which would probably be sufficient to meet tho growing commercial demands of our city for a considerable period. If, at a future time—say, by 1878 —increased harbour accommodation were required,|a quayage line or jetty could bo constructed stretchingdowntheccntreof theharbourto opposite Black.Tacks Point, or the point of land whence tho line of quays might at first start from, and which central jetty would be, say, one mile in length ; but having a quayage on both its sides, would give a frontage for shipping of two miles, with necessary sheds, &c., placed in the centre, and communicating by drawbridge, with the main quayage. This central jetty would nearly double the previous extent of quayage, making in all, about five miles of quay apace to meet tho increasing wants of the city. As a matter of course, Dunedin must either advance or retrograde, and when contiguous district capitals, having at present but limited shipping accommodation, are placing their separate demands before the Provincial Government, to have this accommodation increased, it is certainly tho interest and duty of the Dunedinites to take the condition and present extent of their own harbour into instant and careful consideration.

The plan now proposed is doubtless bold, and of great extent, but it is allowed that it can only gradually be carried out; 3O much of it at one time executed a3 the Provincial spare revenue, and tho revenue arising from harbour and shed dues, would be greater in amount than the interest yearly payable on the money borrowed to execute tho scheme. All surplus of revenue, as it accrued, would be employed to meet interest on new loans, and the funds so obtained exhausted in providing additions to the lino of quayage until the scheme was fully completed. The dredging machine, or machines, would be inconstant operation, forming a deep channel, say of 22tt at low water, round tho face of the wharves, and which would give sufficient dep h to the largest vessel as yot arriving at Port Chalmers ; hut in conrso of time, tho whole expanse of our natural harbour could be so deepened, and the soil so obtained put to ■use in raising and forming the Land behind the quays, which, when fenced or sold, would, in great part, meet the yearly expense incurred in constructing the line of quays. At same time, it is evident that the whole ground and properties of the city and neighbourhood would rise rapidly and surely in value; that the price of land would not be so much per acre, but so much per square yard, as in other cities where such works have "been executed ; that also, within a circu't of 30 milea, the ume beneficial

influence on the value of land and proper y would he felt. At first this quayage would bo constructed of timber piling and planking, to bo gradually replaced by ftone, as the increase in rovenuo would permit. Thi; timber, according to recent iitatenvnts published undc:r tho authority of imr Provincial Government, can be obtained of most suitable quality and in the greatest plenty, and cheaply, from the Martin's Bay District, and the lumberers and sawyers sent thither to procure and raft up the tinker, might become, us a, class of hardy and M.-lf-iviiant men, tho nucleus of tin; much desii-ed settlement on these shores.

I also propose that tho Harbour Trust should be transferred from those individuals who now compose it to the City Municipality ; and that from thvir body the Harbour Bailie, and other members forming this important Trust, eh mid bo selected. The Mayor, in virtue of his ollicc, would be a member ; the Superintendent oC the Province, the Secretary of Works—or, more correctly, tho " Minister of the Interior"—should also, l.y virtue of their oflices, l>e members. That their meetings should 1.0 open to the Press, and the public kept constantly cognisant of what operations might in succession be proceeded with. Tho present members composing this Trust may be most intelligent gonUomen, but they arc not responsible to tho community directly, and such a sj'stem is not consonant to the custom of tho present day, nor to the opinions that usually regulate such matters. If chosen from the Municipal body, those Councillors, members of tho Board, would be responsible to the public for the results of their operations, and great caro would bo taken that these results should be profitable and satisfactory to the general community.

There can bo little doubt, wero the now proposed scheme carried out, that from tho natural inflow and increase of I usineas, <-if population, and of wealth to tho city, the harbour would become, without dispute, tho general terminus of tho mail steamers from and to the different parts of tho colony, and to the Australian, and of tho English mail steamers by tho present routes, or by other now and improved routes, ns might happen. It may be affirmed, also, that tho moral weight of Duncdin' acting on and influencing the whole mind of tiie colony, would not only make it tho colonial capital, but also tho scat of the Colonial Government, with whatever advantages might be conferred by Mich changes. In conclusion, I beg tho consideration of tin; community to thia scheme of increased harbour accommodation, and would propose that Mr Macandrcw, as Superintendent, Mr Burns, as Minister of tho Interior, Mr IJirch, as Mayor, with other intelligent gentlemen, should take a stroll round tho lino of tho proposed quays, and when arrived, say at tho Toll on tho Anderson's Bay road, tho tido being at tho full, look northward, down the harbour, and judge whether or not this plan could be carried out, and tho wide, expansive, and magnificent basin stretching out before them, put to its natural and beneficial uso in the manner proposed. I judge, as they gaze on this fair bcciio —London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and perchance, other cities, will riso to recollection (and whero greater works than this proposed Bchemo have been executed), and they will see, in imagination, similar forests of masts rising up from busy and crowded'quays, and look forward to tho time when they will congratulate themselves that they, in their public life, and as energetic colonists, have been instrumental, not only in creating a "Now Britain," also a " New London" in these Southern Seas. —lam, &c, Civis.