THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1901.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11956, 1 February 1901, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1901.

The steady expansion of the trade of the port and the prosperity of the whole district are, as Air G-ourley observed, reflected in the cheering review of the past year's operations which it v/as his privilege, as chairman of the Harbour Board, to submit to the members at yesterday's meeting. The figures which were quoted do not show that there was last year any such remarkable increase in the board's receipts as the accounts for the previous year disclosed when compared with those of 1898. But the year 1899 was an exceptional one with the board,—it was unreasonable to expect that the progress which it witnessed could be sustained, and, after all, steady progress is that which makes most effectually for enduring prosperity. Viewed in this light, the results of the past year fully justify the expressions of gratification with which Mr Gourley prefaced his examination of the board's finances. The ordinary revenue for the year amounted to £72,274. This sum is larger by £3772 than,the revenue for 1899, which liad showed an increase of £8283 over that for 1898. In two years, therefore, the board's receipts from its ordinary channels of income have grown by the amount of £12,155. They have in that short period increased to the extent of 20 per cent.—;! marvellous rate of growth, which manifestly it would be absurd to expect to see sustained. The increase in last year's revenue over that of the previous year is largely accounted for by the improved receipts from dues on goods which, amounting in 1899 to £35,867, last year realised £42,230 —an increase of £3363, which, it is estimated, would have been further swelled to the amount of £600 but for the reduction made during the year in the export dues upon certain goods. Increases are shown also in the receipts from pilotage and port charges, berthage, towage, and cranage fees, and from the charges for the receiving and delivering of goods; and upon various items enumerated by Mr Gourley a total increase of revenue to the amount of £5068 is disclosed. The net increase of revenue from all ordinary sources being £3772, it is apparent that some items of income are responsible for a decrease to the extent of £1296.' Mr Gourley does not indicate where this diminution in the receipts is to be looked for, but, if rents produced a sum about equal to that obtained from them in 1899 the decrease must apparently be looked for in the item " incidentals." There is the more reason for believing that this is the case when we mention tlint the receipts under this latter head, amounting in all in 1899' to £2635, showed the abnormal increase in that year of £2369 over the previous year's incomings. Usually a small item, it had been swelled to exceptional proportions by the disposal of the old offices of the board and by a fortunate sale of old plant. In all the sources of revenue, however, which constitute the barometer for indicating the fluctuations of the trade of the port, substantial increases are shown in last year's account. Owing to there having been a large amount of expenditure upon new works during the year —an expenditure that absorbed the sum of £5392 and that may be regarded as non-recurring—the board's outgoings for 1899, amounting to £65,639, were heavier than in the previous year, when the ordinary expenditure totalled £63,254. The system of dredging which has been adopted upon the recommendation of the engineer, Mr Rawson, to whom the board is judiciously allowing (as

Mr Gourley describes it) " a free hand," has proved beneficial in more than one direction. The cost to which the board lias been put l is £1000 less than in the previous year, but it is estimated that had the tenacious material in the steamer's basin, where the dredges have been at work, been treated under the old system, discarded by Mr Rawson, the cost would have been at least £2000 more than was entailed by the combined system under which the material is lifted and "dumped" by dredge 222 and then pumped on to the reclamation by the Vulcan. Moreover, as a result ol this system of working, the board has completed the reclamation of about nine acres of land, from which it may shortly expect to receive some revenue. A' system under which the depth of water in the steamer's basin is increased and the area of the board's reclamation available for leasing is extended, while at the same time the cost of the dredging operations is reduced, is one upon the adoption of which the board may distinctly be congratulated. The comparison of the revenue with the expenditure for 1900 shows that the former exceeded the latter by £6635", and as the board entered the year with a credit balance of £6989 the effect of its operations for the 12 months is that it has been enabled almost to double this balance. It is an exceedinglv gratifying record.