The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1883. NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR WORKS.

Patea Mail, Volume IX, Issue 1059, 13 July 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. FRIDAY, JULY 13, 1883. NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR WORKS.

While we in Patea are bemoaning our hard fate in having no money to spend upon the harbour, the New Plymouth people are grumbling at spending so much upon their works with so little apparent result. The Herald of Wednesday speaks out very plainly upon the subject and gives the Board a bit of its mind. ,Iti ; , appears, according to .our contemporary,' that :to “boss”; the seventeen men at present engaged on the works, no less than five gangers were; employed and as might have been expected with so many masters progress has been slow. “ The staff,” says our contemporary, “is now supposed to be reduced almost to a minimum, yet we notice that the workmen’s pay sheet for the ! last fortnight was £175; or nearly £9O a week. This is a, large sum of money; to be continually going but, without any apparent result,'and we think it would not be unwise on the part of the members of the Board if they instructed an independent committee to go into the whole question of how the works at Moturoa have been carried on during the past six months, lor although a large amount of money has been expended, there does not appear to have been a proportionate result. The total length of breakwater built up to date is, according to the Consulting Engineer’s report,7sl feet. In the Resident Engineer’s report on the 24th January last, he stated, ‘ that the pier Lad been ad vanced to-710, feet;’ so, by~'subtracting the latter from the former figures there appears to have only been 41 feet of the breakwater done during the six months. The amount paid for labour during that time was £3,760, which sura, of course, includes the making of a large number of concrete blocks that still remain in stock.” It is evident from the above extract that, the progress of the breakwater is not satisfactory,-and the Colony has a right to know the reason. This; work at New; Plymouth is one of magrii-: tnde,. and a large , sum ..of money, basj been " spent tipqri’ it. .There. is ; - If if we ‘understand rightly only some ;£60,000.* left in the hands: of ; theBoard, and Ihnt.'.'sjim. we., should-; imagine would be totally inadequate to fender the breakwater of much practical utility. ‘ The Herald advocates., the appointment of a committee to ascertain how the works have been carried on for the past six months. In our opinion its functions might: be extended with' advantage in enquiring how the works are to be carried on 'hr the future, where the money is to come from to complete them, and generally if they arc worthcompleting at all. New Plymonth has had.a good slice of the public money, and as the Board will soon come to the end of its tether, strict, investigations' will have to be made before they get any more.