THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1914. THE PORT OF OTAGO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16120, 8 July 1914, Page 6

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 1914. THE PORT OF OTAGO.

The deputation representative of the Otago Harbour Board which interviewed the Prime Minister and the Minister of Railways at Wellington on Monday is to be congratulated upon the result of its mission. Its purpose was to induce the Government to co-operate with the board in the provision of a berth at Port Chalmers fit to accommodate vessels of the deepest draught visiting New' Zealand waters. The Government is asked to spend about £4000 in widening the Railway Department's wharf so that the Harbour Board may be in a position to cany out the necessary dredging operations. It is not a very huge expenditure the board is asking for, and, as its chairman pointed out at Wellington, the refusal of the Government to co-operate with it in this matter would simply prevent the board's taking an important step in the development of the port of Otago. The widening of the wh%rf is an essential to the creation of the deep-water berth, but the wharf is the property of the Government. So far as the outcome of the board's representations in Wellington is concerned it seems to be a case of {ill's well that ends well. The Minister of Rail wave, who had had this matter brought before him previously, showed something of his previous disposition to view the request coldly. Mr Herries appeared still to be anxious for an assuranoe from the board that Pott Chalmers was to be the port of Otago—for deep-saa vessels, at all events. Why the Minister sho-uld be so anxious to receive an assurance of this kind when- the best assurance possible in that direction is this very proposal of the board to spend money in creating a deep-water berth at Port Chalmers is not altogether clear. The Minister is interested in the railway revenuo, but he would almost reem to have credited the board with some design of dredging a deep-water berth at Port Chalmers just for the pleasure of not using it. The arguments adduced by members of the deputation were, however, to the point, and the Prime Minister's reply was all that could be. wished for. Mr Massey evidently judged that tho board wae giving all the assurance? that could reasonably be' expected of it, and expressed himself as satisfied that it would be necessary and desirable for the Railway Department to comply with the request that had been ■brought before it. The Otago Harbour Board would deserve to be criticised as unprogressive if it ignored the circumstance that as long as the larger steamers

prove the more profitable, so long mast, harlxHir authorities anticipate, their arrival in increasing numbers. When tho momhers of tins Dominions Royal Commission wt'i'c in this ])iii't of the, world they made, an examination of the harbour facilities of Australia and New Zealand, and found that, taking tho minimum working depth required for a lirst-class port as 40ft at. low-water .spring tid?, the facilities provided in Australasian harbours, except those at Sydney, Hobart, and Wellington, and those in prospect at Auckland, fell considerably below thn standard. Mr lioudon's observations as a member of tlie deputation to visit Wellington, concerning the improbability of vessels of roaJly heavy draught being berthed at Dunedin for years to come, might have been made considerably fitrnnger than they wore. Sonic facts are pnnalatablo, but there ehould be a certain consolation in the reflection that a, deep-water berth at Port Chalmers will not detract from the navigability and important of tho Victoria Channel, while :t will remove a deficiency that is a reproach to tho Port of Ota go.