THE Thames Advertiser. Wednesday, OCTOBER 14, 1885.

Thames Advertiser, Volume XVI, Issue 5297, 14 October 1885, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. Wednesday, OCTOBER 14, 1885.

Lasi; week the Thames Harbour Board ,held : its' customary meeting* and'received a telegram from the Marine Department that the Ministry muet be better satisfied 'thaiv at present thatithe 'demands made by the Board were m accord with the; wishes of < the ,in» habitants of the district before he could recommend the Governor to take steps to carry them out. 'Umbrage was taken at • this, i and notice -of ■ motion given that'as , 'a Board , the members resign their functions. Sometimes threatened resignations look supremely f6olisb;'!but<in this, instance,we,i,are inclined to think there is some real, ground, to, justify the action. It" is known that the Board" : han for vory long been struggling with great pecuniary difficulties, and has had very hard things said about its action and ambitions. ' Trying to'progress with kaugaroo strides they, purchased a dredge, and when it came "found that ■they had no money to pay for labour toSvork it. Errois many have been ohri)niolod agninstthe Board, and these have boon mostly attributable to the faoti.tha(i;tho constituency was constantly requiring the Board to make briok.B without straw. At last tired and weary the Board resolved to go to the root of the matter, and endeavour to obtain some substantial finanoial baeia. They revised their wharfage dues, oxtendod their.limits of charge, arid at once raised objection from thoße who lived; just outside the Grahamstown frontage. Time passed by and affairs had not. much improved. Indeod the decreased yield of gold and lessening of trade threatened a repetition of all the difficulties they were hoping to' surmount.. At this timo the district received a visit from a member of the Government, the Hon Mr Richardson, The trouble, past, present, and that' looming in the future, was placed before him and ho,—used to complaints of this what ap'poared ft praotioal remedy. Hβ told

the deputation that their position was a mistaken one altogether. That a harbour board situated like that of the Thames was bound not to confine their efforts merely to thesustentation of a gooda wharf, but that their powers ought of necessity to be more extended and include the cohlervation of the river, of which the Thames township was the natural entrepot, and that the funds for the purpose ; must be raised from a widely extended area. We believe thewhole position wW"'-" fairly placed; before him,- both \ plr the up-river population and of the township itself, with this result that a -~. bill was draughted called the-Thames Harbour Empowering Act, giving the extension required, making provision for endowments, for increasing the bor- > rowing powers of the Board, and for taxing the district included so as to proyide interest on the money raised. ~ This was brought before the Hduae of '"., Representatives and on the order for eecond reading' considerable opposition was made—notably ,■ on the ground of stopping all borrowing by local bodies/ Discussion was! for ;.th'e time. post*, poned, and oventuaily,. Gpvernmerit agreed to take up ,' tliq:." subject of ;granting endowments,'leaving the bill itself over to ' next : session. 5 Then came the extraordinary,announce« t .. ment of last ' week. We oan, well ~■' understand that put in a certain* ; way ; ; it may smack of some injustice that ; •'' people living many. miles from 'should be taxed tomake-a;gopd : har«.i ; !v bour for Thames,-but, if so, it is because thus put certain essential elements of the truth, the whole .triith,.. and nothing but the truth are left out.' For instance, the rivers, notably the Thames, feed the harbour, and bring ..,, to : itj vast, quantities of debris, waste,;;;" and -shags that tend tocauser obstruction and silting up in the; channel. These all have to be cared for,.and the riverside population do not and cannot care for these things.'As; inhabitants increase, it will become aVmatto of necessity that.a Board of, be ; formed, or the river itself will speadily become unnavigable. Such a ~, Board,'.'will require funds,and.itjdsb'v, H comes to this,—why establish a freah - .--> local body when one is: already at hand,' ?■ who,'being bound to do certain worki T p can continue it more economically, than--' ahy new one? ; The Aroha man asks., h why should he be called ■upon'topajfi;. towards what is done here,- and'heis' , sufficiently answered 1 because in hie. proportion he gets just as much behe« l fit as a resident. ,He may Bay, I can get my goods direct from Auckland,bjr,. ,| boat, but if he does he .-forgets me" harbour here has to be. buoyed) lights to sbe provided, beacons maintained, and the channel kept clear for that boat to

pass. Again the question arises as tp jy private wharfs; the makers,.s'aytliese:'; are our own, for our own jtotej&fr'wfy must maintain them, and we require no * interference ', probably not,- but public ' policy has often • to' override' priy^te :'.' ; ; preferences, asi in similar seen; evidenced in' the Darling > at; Sydney. So far as human foresight 7 loan tell we are : on'theeveofcanim.' mense increase, of f raffic here; iinproved wharfage accommodation will'then,Qβ* come an absolute necessity; /the upriver residents will be benefited in-pr6-porHpriito the, prosperity : Shd'as..., .their, .so.! will iwants and the attention givenito meet • them. While saying we do not;.urge that the scheme of .the;flarbottr Board is perfect, faults it can be amended affecting its principle, and we would strongly urge ; all offtfttie :distriotto^baok-ujitheßoard's eforteand show that we are a people united in desire for thenweUare.of our neighbours-aa well as of ourselves.'; •• w).