The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1918. HARBOUR IMPROVEMENTS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16716, 19 December 1918, Page 4

The Timaru Herald. THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1918. HARBOUR IMPROVEMENTS.

Tlie question raised by Itr Chiles, in a paper read at "last night's meeting of tlie Chamber of Commerce, of the possibility of such larger skins being- built in the future as will call for muck further deepening- of the Timaru harbour to receive them, is one of no small importance. Mr Chiles made it clear that- he had no reflections to make on the man-as-ement of the Timaru Harbour Board in the past, and that the harbour has kept pace with requirements so far requires no other evidence thau tlie fact that the largest shins coming to Ifew Zealand are accommodated in it. The Board's policv has been wisely —verned, both before and durincr the war which made great difficulties for it. but the possibilities of the future will require to have close and continuous" consideration. It is cmite probable that the tendency to build always larger ships which had be<?un before the war is not nearly finished yet. The Dominions Trade Commission. whose deliberations began with a two years tour of the Emu ire. hearing evidence, from j 1912 to 1914, and did not cease till A —-st 1916, was much concerned with this probability, and the final report of the Commission, on" 1 - recently to hand, contains much information on the subiect. The Commission cuiotes the opinion of Sir J". H. Biles, one of the first .authorities in the world, who gaves detailed reasons for his! judgment, " that both cheapness of transport and 'high speed are unobtainable except- 111 vessels of preat length and proportionate draiio'lit. Under present conditions -such, vessels are impracticable os tlie harbours and waterways of the Emnire will not admit them." r And in this latter statement there is comfort. The Timaru Harbour Board need liavo no present fear of being required to welcome shins of the ilaro-est 'size which experts have forecasted. or lose trade. They will not be built til] greater harbours j than this have been improved io I take them'. Tlie Trade Commission has considered what improvements will be necessary for receiving ships of 38 feet drauo-h t. viewed by it J os a, reasonable reouirement of I the future, and it finds that most 1 of the harbours of the Empire must be first deepened. At Lvtjteltou the'work needed could be i done in years at a cost of j £*.21)0,000, at Port Chalmers in | live years for £250,000, and at Wellino-ton and Auckland in two years, for £6OOO and £20,000 respectively. 33ut on one main route ships of this size may always be prohibited by the Suez Canal, which takes vessels now up to 30 feet draus-ht-, and, when improvements in. progress are completed, two years hence, will admit them ui> to 33 feet. If the harbours of the British Empire are too shallow, generally, for the ships which the Commission thinks desirable for cheap traffic* those of most other countries are more shallow still, but it is noted that South American States have been deepening- their harbours and other countries may follow suit. It seems possible that in the future there may arise a race j between ship production and the deepening of harbours, not unlike the race of gunpower and protective armour. An argument on tlie other side is that, during j war time, hundreds of shins have been produced comparatively j small in size. ' They might- not I have been so built but for the need of haste and the advisability of not nutting too many p<-» into one basket, with the risk of submarines, but they will have to be used, and in the immediate future no countries are likely to have huge sums to spend for harbour improvements that are not j yet reouired. "With regard to the objection that at Timaru no J great deepeninsr can be done be- 1 ca.use there is not sufficient dentil outside the harbour, it may be noted that at both Port f'li.Timer s and L.vttelton. as shown by the report of the Trade Commission. the depth of the approach channel is far beneath that which I the Commission stipulates for its future vessels. It is reasonable to sir"~~* c , and the to some extent at least, assumes, that such general deepening of harbours as is advised by the Trade Commission can only be done as a matter of p-overninent. not to say imperial policy. If no other difficulties were in the' way the policy of the ISiW Zealand Government, which refuses j to .sanction loans by local bodies.' would be nt the Present time a' complete obstacle to miv advon- j turous scheme which the Timaru Harbour Board murht find attrac-1 live. ThU, the Government's j licy a\ ill chano'e, when peace j makes new conditions, and the' tendencies and possible reouirements of the future should be carefully by the local, authorities. j

I If the Germans did not like ilia j "cold, polite, scornful attitude" of j British officers to their surrendering j submarine crews, with its "superfluous j wounding of our feelings," they will ! r °lisli still less the lesson read by General Fayolle to the notables of Mainz (or Mayencc). Fearing that his army of occupation might treat their town as the German armies tieated I' rencii and Belgian civilians, loading citizens of Mainz formed an abject deputation to the general. They were told hy him how the world viewed their nation's outrages, which would never ho returned, in hind. by their evilised foes. TSiey would neither ho shot 3101 plundered. 1 lie German sailors who complained of Rcapa Flow as the " most God-forsaken of all places" forgot that there was one place more feared hy them which their acts deserved—the sop.'s ooze ami slime, to which they sent their helpless victims. And these are the peoplo ■who talk about their " feelings." German feelings will lie lacerated many times ill the next hundred years when the world's view of their conduct is unconsciously, as well as consciously revealed. Even now many Germans must shudder to think of French and Belgian guides, for indefinite years to eome, pointing out to tourists of all nationalities the Least's mark on Rhcinis and Louvain, and concluding ghastly stories of Senlis and like places with " That is what tlie Germans did."

A cable message from Constantinoplo ■\vhicli states that, owing lo iiuancial anil social chaos, it is doubtful if the Turks are capable of reorganising their country without aid. is not without; its humorous side. Did the Turks, since they came to Europe, ever organise' anything except massacres? The best thing will be done for them if, by the Peace Conference, they are left ■with as little country as possible for their organisation. Probably even Enver Pasha regrets now his aliia'i'-e with the Central Powers. Turkey las suffered in every way from that association, and she has not had so r-.ujii as sympathy from her German masters. Their last act, it is said, was to seize the Goeben and remove her, despite Turkish protests, to Sebastopol, oblivious of the fact ill at Turkey had bought and paid for her. A few weeks before the armistice Turkish defeats and helplessness were being sneeringly emphasised by O.Mian papers. The Turks have appealed r.ow to Great Britain to help them, l.ufc Great Britain helped Turkey too long , before the war.