MR SIEVWRIGHT'S LETTER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6127, 27 July 1891, Page 2

MR SIEVWRIGHT'S LETTER.

In reply to a letter which appears in another column, we repeat that the Board is not committed to Mr O'Connor's plan and we do not understand why Mr Sievwrighfc ignores the unanimous acceptance of hiß own suggestion, at the meeting on June 30th, in moving the adoption of the committee's report, that there be addod words to the effect in the event of the loan being granted, a different scheme to that proposed by Mr O'Connor may,be carried out if approved of by the Marine Department. There noed bo no fear that the Government would tie the Board down to any particular plan. Tho assistance is primarily asked to place the district in funds to utilize tho largo expenditure already incurred. The resb is a mutter of dot ail. An extension of tho western groin i 3 a work which would cost a greai , deal less than tho wall proposed b) the ex-Colonial Marino Engineer, and 1 might provide an equally suitable harbor, but that is a' matter which must be left tc engineers to decide. This much is certain, that no work will bo undertaken without , further professional ndvico. We oarnestlj , trust that it may be found that the con- ? tinuation of the present groin would give ! nssuranco of permanently overcoming the sand dittiouUy. Mr O'Connor is clearlj of opinion that there would be risk of the sand overlapping that work, or he would not havo recommended the more costlj • wall starting from Custom House street. A wall running parallel with the break water would havo this advantage —il would enable the works to be carried ink 3 deeper water, in facfe, might lead to r harbor being constructed at the mouth ol ' tho river of sufficient depth to accommo--1 date the largest vessels trading to New J Zealand. But in all harbor schomes the i utmost elimination of risk is the groatost consideration. Mr O'Connor's report greatly brightI ened harbor prospects. He confirmed i Mr Thomson's opinion that there 5 was no continuous sand drift from the westward, and that for a reasonable outlay the local sand disturbance oould be overcome and an enclosed harbor with 1 twenty feet of water provided. Thai i should be enough to stir tho peevple of the - Bay to iction. The ex-Colonial Marine Eni gineer has promised Rood value for the pro 1 posed outlay. A harbor with twenty feetol 3 water would be worth L 20,000 many fold. l' There is one thing which should bo m'on- - tioufld, and that is that Mr O'Connoi a regrets thai; feho available resources oi th« 8 Board prevent him recommending thai b tho proposed wall should commence further along the Waikanao beaoh thai! b Custom-House street, thus enlarging the a area of the " duck pond," as some people 1 foolishly call a harbor designed to aocomi modate sUamers of over a thousand tons. Looal dissension has been the bane oi - Poverty Bay, and the recent action of Mi 1 Siovwright in writing to the Premier wa; i a particularly bad instance in point. W« - had no opportunity of reading the petition when ifc was ready to be sent to the Go t vermaenfe, and naturally imagined that I - embodied Mr Siov weight's adopted suggea. jr tion leaving ifc open fov another scheme tc b thai of Mr O'Connor's being carried oui .-' Afe any rate, it should have contained th< f provision. The omission was probably ar i oversight in drawing up the document li Neither had we an opportunity of readlnj 1 Mr Sievwrighfc's letter to the Premier, bul c if wq had perused it our opinion would noi o havo bonn altered *a to tho foolish anc .- injurious nature of his communication tc c thwart the object of the Board. As for th< b insinuation aboufc raiareporting, we ten d content to leavt? that matter to the opiniov c of the other members of tho Board. Bui i- with Mr Sievwrighb any quibble will d( for an argument. He knows perfectly wel d that we had no opportunity of reading j either tho Board's petition or the lettei i- ho sent to the Premier ; although a peru c sal of both would most probably not hav< c modified our remarks in commenting oi ,s nn action tending to injure the interesti n of the district, and disloyal to the body o y which the writer of the adverse letter is it • member. It is not worth while ascertain

ing the BXa6fe name oi the Liberal Associa* tion of which Mr Sievwright is the President. His position was alluded to because it waß felt thafc a communication from such a source would be likely to exercise influence on tho present Government. Mr Sievwright ia not the only one who labors under a misconception that Mr O'Connor has expressed doubts as to the result if his proposals were carried out. This is what Lhe ex-Colonial Marine Engineer sav3 :~ I have had somo hesitation in taking tho responsibility of recommending any works to be undertaken, of such an economical character as were alone practicable for the funds stated to be available. Presuming, however, that ho further funds can bo obtained, and in viow of the very dep'orable state of things existing at present, and the great benefits which the additional works indicated on the drawings herewith are likely to produce, as compared with their estimated cost, I have decided to take the responsibility of recommending their being undertaken. I now beg to recommend accordingly, for the approval of tho Board, that the designs herewith enclosed bo adopted ; also that the works thereon indicated be put in hand as soon as practicable, in order to admit of their being carried out during the present summer weather. This is of course presuming that the Board can see its way to realise the amount required, from the assets herein before described, or otherwise. While making this recommendation, however, I would wish to strongly represent the necessity for great care and attention being given to the work during the course of its construction, and for some time afterwards. If the funds admitted of it, designs could of course readily be made (much more readily in fact, than designs of the oharacter enclosed can be made) which would stand practically anything, and might consequently be carried out almost anyhow. The fuuds apparently available, however, will not admit of that, but they do admit of works being constructed which have a very reasonable prospect ol succeeding, if due care is dovotod to them. There seems to be no reason why such care should nos be forthcoming, seeing that the saving in first cost, a^ compared with solid concrete work, or such like, is very large. Now, tho foregoing is plain enough. The hesitation was owing entirely to the shortness of funds available to carry oui the necessary work. No doubt whatevei is expressed as to the utility of th( scheme.

A general meeting of the Poverty Bay [ Rowiug Club will be held at the MasDnic , Hotel this evening afc 8 o'clock. Mr McGuire is to introduce a bill to prevent the importation of intoxicating liquors , to tho colony. The annual meeling of the Gisborne Bowjing Club will be held afc the Masonic Hotel 5 iO. morrow evening, when the President par[iculai'ly requests all members to be present, At the Trust Commissioner's Court this r morning, Mr Booth, Trust Commissioner, granted his certificate to a deed of transfer of . Kaiti sections 75 and 96 from Piriniha te Eke . to Henri Loisel. i Mr W. E. Kenny, left Wellington last - Saturday evening for Boi*neo via Sydney and . Singapore. He has received an appointment 3 to the Government engineering service at that place ; Judge Scannoll, with him MvWi Peiwhai ' r*ngi as Assessor, op sued a sitting of the f Native Land Court this morning. The subdivision of Papatu A was the first case taken. c As there is ample work to keep the Court sitting for some time to come, it is to be I hoped that the Judge will be allowed to remain to clep.r off the accumulation of work that has bacn gathering since ISS9. c The Chairman of the Harbor Board haß convened a public meeting for Thursday 0 evening to elicit an expression of opinion from ratepayers as to what action should be taken by the Board to utilize the present expenditure. It should be needless to say that the subject is of very great importance. Apathy in the matter would be a thing q deeply t> be deplored. We trust that thero will be a very largo attendance of ratepayers on the occasion. The following is the New Zealand Loan s and Mercantile Agency Company's London market cablegram, dated 24th July, 1891 :— II Tullow Market firmer. Fine mutton tallow 6 is worth 26s 9d per cwfc. Good beef 25s 3d 1 per csvfc. Frozen Meat. Mutton market weaker. Price of mutton has declined J pc lb since last report. Limb market unchanged 3 Beef market quiet. N. Z. beef forequarters B are worth 6£d per lb, c The subject of Pastor Israel's discourse , last evening at the Seventh Day Advontists * service was \* Tho Gospel. What its is, and • what it requires." Ho said all would agree - that it was tho "Good news" of salvation - through Christ, but as to what ib inquired of x the believer to insure his Salvation, there were differences of opinion. The Gospel 7 commission by each of tha evangelists was t quoted to prove that obedience to tho Gospel covered every Christian duty and was epitoj mixed in one text, Rev. xiv, 12, " Keeping the Commandments of God, aud the Faith of ' Jesus." The subject was listened through--0 out witfi the deepest interest. 1 A meeting of creditors in the bankrupt estate of Daniel Courtenay, contractor, Onnond, was called for this afternoon, bnt lapsed only one creditor proving in the c estate. The liabilities amount to L79 15a 10d, 0 ami the only asset is a black mare valued afe V L 5, but even this mare the dobtor stated this c afternoon had got injured and was now 1 valueless. Tho following is the list of crediy tors :— R. Colebrook Lll 7s4d, A. Parnell i 15s,G. HyltmdL4os6d, Cooper and McFarlane L3 2s 4d, J. CallaganL2, W. WaltersL26s Od, c Hospital Committee Ll4, H. O'Connel LI 103, „ J. LawLl 17s, W. Smith Iss, R. Finlay LI Cs, Dr. Pollen L 2, Dr. Innos 10s, S. *l Stevenson Lo, If. Jones L 3 135, W. Cooper f L 3 10s, W. Gftulb L 3 10a, D. M. O. rLS 2s Bd, " R. Watson L 6 15a, H. Harcourfc L 5 17s 6d, J, v Bidgoocl 8s ; Total L 79 15s lOd. ? The irony of fate could nob much further go than that which overtook a Unionist shearer. Ho wus tho leader of " the g.ing which insisted on an hotolkecper discharging his Chinese cook. Tho cook was 0 an uncommonly good one, and the Barcaln dine polioe had their eye on his services. As c soon as John found himself without a billet 0 the police engaged him. In the meantime li the Unionist had delivered an harangue of a t seditious character, for which tho police arrested him. And the first thing that Unionist knew when hc|got into gaol was that he had to chop firewood for that 'j Chinese cook. The Rev. Mark Guy Pearce, speakng in " Wellington, said it was his^heartfelb conviction that the church of the future would be r the one that recognised and utilised the God--8 givon power of Woman in all efforts to help k and canoble the race. People were amazed ' at the aggressive character ot tho Church of a Rome, but oue reason for its being so c auceeaful was the fack that the women c of that church wore taught to regard - it as a high honor to dedicate their | lives to the cause of religion. For ,f the purpose of social, evaagelical work, a woman, he said, was worth ten men. Ho , did not mean women as preachers—(L^ughtor)~but for ministering to the wants of tho 9 sick and helping people when they were a down as he had said, a woman was worth 1 any ten men. It was necessary, however, fc that they should really live amongsts the '- poor as was done by the members of the o sisterhood to which he was referring, in !. order to effect any real good When Proe testant fathers and mothers could be brought n to willingly give up their daughters for such . a p Ur pos«, thon might tho Church expect to g overtake the world. t Tha pension payable to Mr R. 0. •b Hamorton, in terms of the Public Acd counts Committee's recommendation, has o been ascertained by the Audits Daparkment c to be L 154 a year. Had ib been oalouo labed upon his additional term of offioe as n Public Trustee, the amount would have ;fe been nearly L4OO. n Advice has beon received ia Wanganut that the ship Hawka'a Bay has met with a g seriouß accident to her refrigerating maohiir nery at Rookhampton, and has proceeded to l " Sydney for repairs which will occupy some 6 time. Wo (Chronicle) are glad to learn that n the agents have promptly made arrange--8 meiita for another vessel to take her place, if but the unfortunate accident will uo doubt a cause come little delay in getting ofi our first n« cargo of frozen meat,