Poverty Bay herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 1918. THE HARBOR PROBLEM.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14591, 29 April 1918, Page 2

Poverty Bay herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, MONDAY, APRIL 29, 1918. THE HARBOR PROBLEM.

The Chamber <$ Commerce has no reason to chide the . Harbor Board for its failure to settle JJisborne's harbor, problem at a single sitting, bnt the 1 Chamber itself, if . it desires, can assist very greatly towards an elucidation oi the problem by ; investigating the i economic aspects, and . advising bow far the Board is justified m going m expenditure on harbor building- Tho , Board! has been told that it can get -a ; good harbo)'' for a million of money, and it naturally baulks at the idea of running the district into so- great t\, financial obligation until the matter of the .district's ability and willingness to shoulder the burden has been ascertained. On such a question, who i» better able to answer than a body of business mcix like th<* Chamber of Commerce? They

know the roquiiements and thu capabilities of the district. They have, or should have, data available for which to supply information as to the probable rating value that could be drawn on to meet interest charges on. a harbor loan, and their business sense" should enable them to go closely into tlie matter and show plainly where the .£.s,d. advantages would be to producers, merchants, retailers, and the public m having a harbor built, even at such cost, as compared with the present condition, of affairs, under which the Board spends annually a large sum m keeping open a ditch, andi the business community and the public are involved m heavy charges day by day, and year by year, on their merchandise, through delays and the necessity for lightering the most of the cargo. If present, disabilities, inconveniences and extraordinary expenses could be put ih the scale as- against the benefits to be derived from a harbor it might be, and we think it would' be, possible to show' that even a million pound harbor would be well worth while and a good proposition for the district. But the proposition is on that requires to be demonstrated m a plain, commonsense, ; businesslike way m order > that the interest of the people of the district may be aroused. 2m othing appeals like the call of self-interest, and if it : can be shown that a- good harbor would 'put money m. peoples pockets, instead of taking fcoo mucn out of them, then we might expect to. cultivate some degree of enthusiasm regarding the harbor scheme, sufficient to secure foir it the support of a large majority of the prospective payers of rates and dues. It I may be contended that it is the business of 'the Board to go • into these matters and , frame concrete proposals^' * and doubtless it is, but the Board could be very greatly assisted by the Chamber, and, we fear that without some such assistance, and the expression of • a very strong desire on the parl> of the, people of the district, it would, be useless to submit loan proposals of such magni- | tude as would require to be presented. There are always a large number of people who will endeavor to avoid anything m the shape of: additional-taxa-tion, and just rio\y when, war taxes are pi-essing heavily; it is certain that proposals for,, i e3cpenditurei that would entail the imposition of a harbor rate would' meet witli ■ opposition. This Aras manifest at the Board's meeting last- week, when one member declared that the carrying out of. the schemed would' involve the equivalent to an additional rental of 5s per' acre on the landed properties of the district. This, we should think, ii. an extravagant estimate and takes no account. of the advantages that might be derived by the, possession of a good liarbor> ; but unljfl the v eqnomic aspect has been carefully, studied and exact figures ascertaiiiea, •it 'should not be permitted-?to prejudice, the ca,se for the harbor. We would urg© ; the Chamber of Commerce, if it is sincere m this matter, to set aip a committee to go into facts and figures and draw up a case for the construction of a harbor. The Harbor Board, we feel sure, •would, welcome cooperation from the business interests of the ' district, for the responsibility: of deciding what is to he done at the present juncture is no light one. Everyone, recognises that until the war situation is more settled, it would be unwise to enter into extensive financial ol^igations, and that there would be extreme difficulty, firstly, m getting the money, and secondly m obtaining labor to carry out the work, but there is no reason why a projeqt such as rthis- should not be framed and shaped and put m readines^ for execution immediately conditions become more favorable. Meantime all the Board can do it is doing, and we are hopeful that -the groynes now about to be constructed m the river will do much to mitigate the unsatisfactory conditions that have resulted from successive .floods; ;At - , the _ best, however, we shall have a very indifferent inner harbor,- always liable to a measure of obstruction as ; the result of floods, and certainly not capable of mee'tiiig the shipping requirements -of the port m; years to * come. Mr. \Leslie Reynolds has done good service m dispelliiig daydreams about the river, and m devising rf4tioiial methods of improving, the silted .up* channel, .and he has also, given an honest opinion .'regarding -the' ;out'er harbor project, and <lias designed- a harbor which/ if adopted, the committee of; shipmasters has declared would be one of the safest and best artificial harbors on the New Zealand coast. It is for the people to say whether they will face the oost.