THE PORT.

Otago Witness, Issue 925, 21 August 1869, Page 1

THE PORT.

The vexatfoijs delay in tho discharge of ships at this port baa long boon a subject of complaint. It would have hren strange if this h»vd not boon the cauo, when wo consider tho great lo«« to which tho morcantilo community haa been subjected, in mere interest of money, during tho post sevon or eight years, from this cause alono. Wo should not like to venture a guess as to how many successive Commissioner* of Custom* havo boon memorialised about it, both by individual merchants and by tho Chamber of Commerce. Every report which ha* boon issued by tho last-named body for some yearn past hwt contained aihurions to tho pornistont endeavour* which woro being mado to mitigate an evil which is. a* oxpeniMvo as it is annoying. A couplo of yeart ago it wi* ittppoeed to l>e defratoly wpcytaijied tint $*j

igreat obstacle which . stood in the way of- an amelioration of the nuisance, wasthe want of, a large landing shed at the jetty. The' Provincial Government was* persuaded to stipply this desideratum, and in course of time the shed at the Rattray street jetty was obtained. It was hoped that, when this accommodation had become available, vessels, arriving at Port Chalmers would be allowed to discharge at once as they do at the railway jetty, in Hobson's Bay, ; cargo being brought right >up■ to the j Handing shed and there detained- (if cause for detention existed), instead of, as. now, on board the ship. The expectation has not been realised. There are still two obstacles in the way ; one of i these, we are glad to hopei the legislation of the present session of : Assembly will remove. As 'for the other, though it - may be greatly lessened by judicious arrangements, it cannot, we fear, be reduced to a minimum until the happy day arrives for a great simplicatiori of our tariff. Whilst nine packages out often that are landed on our wharves are subjected to duty, no staff of Customs officers which the Government can reasonably be expected to provide will be able to satisfy the natural impatience of importers to obtain possession of their goods. The causes of delay in the delivery of goods to consignees are accurately stated by our correspondents, whose letters appeared in a recent issue of this journal. In the case of the particular vessel referred to by them, there appear to be other circumstances which have added to the delay. In general, however, the dilatoriness of consignees in passing entries^ and the Customs Regulations, 'are the causes of the extraordinary slowness with which cargo is delivered at this port. Against the latter of these it is of no use to chafe. The officers of the department are bound by the law and by their instructions from head quarters. With them, and with those under whose orders they must act, the revenue is the sole question, its protec- ' tion the primary object, ft is the sys-' tern, and not the individual officers, from which the obstruction arises. The taxgatherer is always an unpleasant! person for the taxpayer to come in contact with. But, of the class, the Customs officer has, in this colony at any rate, always had the best repute for courtesy, and a desire to be oppressive only just so far as it is absolutely necessary for him to be so. Nevertheless, in a small port, where the business being done on the wharves is most fluctuating in amount, it is simply impossible for him not to stand in the way of its despatch occasionally. When that revolution of ideas, which has consigned the Divine Right of Kings to their tuxes to tho limbo of forgotten superstitions, has worked out all its mission, Legislative Assemblies will have loarnt to deviao tnothods of collectiug tho neoeewary revenue of tho State without fettoring commerce, and spoiling the tempers of a large cltu»s of highly useful citizons, In tho meantimo we must be patient, and if a lighter has to Ho at the jetty with closod hatches until her turn comes for attention, lot the ny.stetn (for which no ono has yet propounded f\ remedy) havo tho blame, instead of tho Department which administers it. The dilatory consignee Htanda in a different position. Ho is as much a nuisance to tho Customs officers oa to the iinpationt impovter whoso entries are pnswed. For him wo mnko no appeal for consideration, and arc glad to observe that the Legislature proposes to givo him short shrift in future. Tho Delivery of Goods and Lion for Freight Bill, which Mr Bell has introduced m the Homo of Roprosentativtts, provides means for coorcing him, which will, wo have no doubt, be promptly taken advantage of by the agenU for vcssola frequenting our port Hitherto, a term of twentyonp dajp hwbocnaviilaj'io to wty&to

pass entries; - A great difficulty, too, [stood in the way of masters i of vessels, or their . agents, who (desired to land goods for which no' entries had been passed by their consignees. When the < goods were landed, the lien <for freight, if this still remained unpaid, ceased. . This, at least, was • the usual interpretation of the law, although it 'has been disputed. The Bill to which we refer nas been framed to meet the case. It gives a distinct authority to the shipowner, or his agents, to pass entries, and land and store cargo, when the proper consignee neglects to do so. If no ! time, within which ' delivery of goods ' must be taken, is specified in the bills of lading, seventy -two , hours only (exclusive of any Sunday or holiday) rare to be left to the consignee ' for passing entries, after the ship hasbeen duly reported at the Custom r House. After the expiry of that time, the shipowner may take his own course j and can do so, subject to certain reasonable conditions), at the risk and expense of the consignee. When goods are landed and stored by the agents of the ship, xmder the provisions of this Bill, a notice in writing to the warehousekeeper with whom they are lodged will be sufficient to continue the lien for I freight. This Bill was read the second time a fortnight ago, and was to be considered in Committee last week. There is, therefore, a reasonable expectation that it will become law before the session is brought to a close. We feel no doubt that a sharp assertion of the authority it will give them on the part of the agents of vessels bringing general cargoes to this port, will go a great way towards altering the state of things so long and so justly complained of.