LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3438, 18 April 1879, Page 3

LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

This Board met at the Government Buildings, Lyttelton, at 2 p.m., yesterday ; present — Hon E. Richardson (Chairman), Hon J. Hall, Messrs H. P. Murray- Aynsley, H. AUwright, B. Allan, C. W. Turner, and R, J. S. Harman. chairman's statement. The following statement of the Chairman was read : — The following sums have been paid in to the Board's credit since our last meeting : — Wharfage, £2183 3s 9d ; towage, warps, and pilotage exemption, £96 2s ; total, £2284 5s 9d. There are several accounts for payment to-day. Further correspondence will be read, between the Hon Minister for Public Works and myself in reference to the scarcity of trucks. It is much to be regretted that the Hon Minister for Public Works should have introduced into the question anything relating to political matters, but the responsibility of doing so rests entirely with him. The correspondence will, at his express request, be published in the newspapers. While on the subject of scarcity of trucks, I think it only right that I should record my opinion that the railway officials here have done all that could be done, with the appliances at their disposal and with the existing regulations, to meet the extraordinary demands upon their resources, and without doubt there have been several instances recently where large Home bound vessels have been loaded with great dispatch ; the ships Orthes and Maraval, for instance. But from this fact must not be understood that the demand for trucks in Lyttelton has in any way been lessened. The demand is as great as ever, as will be seen from a report dated to-day, from the Harbour Master, in which he reports that 10 vessels are now lying in the Btream waiting for discharging berths, and two others for loading berths. This detention undoubtedly is for the most part caused by the insufficiency of the truck supply to a number of vessels berthed at the wharves during the past eight or nine days, which have averaged some five or six trucks a day each, which is quite inadequate to their requirements and to tteir quick dispatch. In the matter of tramways for the wharves, I have had several interviews -with the Secretary for Railways upon the subject, and I understand from him that the Commissioner of Railways, whom the Board will be pleased to learn has resumed his duties, will consider their proposal upon the matter. I may state that our Engineer has, within the last few days, been in communication with the Resident Railway Engineer with reference to the proposed plan of traverses for the wharves, and I understand that so soon as Mr Low is able to prepare the plan, it will be submitted to the Board. It is proposed to put crossings iu the middle of the jetties, instead of second traverses as suggested by the Board. lam further advised by tlie Secretary of Railways, that tenders I are about to be called for the supply of the two steam cranes for the jetties, and that tho question of the two steam lifts for the Gladstone Pier will be considered by Mr Conyers ' at an early date. The question of 6he site for the Board's offices in Lyttelton still remains in abeyance, the question having been referred to the Government at Wellington. Our offices in Christchurch will be ready for our next meeting. A letter will be read from the National Bank of New Zealand witli regard to the minimum fixed by the Board for the sale of our debentures j as the matter had been considered and decided upon at a previous meeting, I thought it right to bring the question again before them before replying to the Bank.

Tho Board will be glad to learn that Messrs 0. C. Bo wen and E. 0. J. Stevens have accepted the appointment as SinkiDg Fund Commissioners for the Lyttelton Harbour Board Loan, and it will be necessary that the Board should order their seal to be affixed to their appointments.

The debentures are now ready for | scaling, and tho Statutory Declaration relating to the proposed loan is being drawn up by Mr Nalder, the Board's solicitor, and will be made by the Secretary as soon as it is ready. The steamer Stad Haarlem was brought in yesterday by Capt. M'Lellan under steam direct to No. 3 intermediate jetty, and berthed without the slightest difficulty. It is a matter of congratulation that we have a port and jetty accommodation in the Middle Island available at all times to vessels of this class. The dock plans are being pushed forward, and the Engineer states they will be completed in about 10 days. The outer pilot, Capt. Galbraith, has during tho past fortnight had five days leave of absence. Provision was made for the fulfilment of his duties by sending Mr de St. Croix to the Heads. Several applications for pilotage exemption certificates will be considered to-day. ABSKNT MEMBEES. Mr Harman said he was sorry to say that Mr Craig would not be enabled to attend the meeting, that gentleman being seriously indisposed. Tho Chairman and the members present sympathised with him, and hoped for his speedy lecovery. I The Chairman stated that he had received a telegram from Mr Cunningham, stating that lie was under the impression that the meeting was to be held in Christcliurcli. ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to £23 10s Gd were passed for payment.

CORBEBPONDENCE. The following letters were read : — " Eailway Department,

" Wellington, April 1, 1879. " Sir, — Tour letter of March 7 came duly to band. Through my absence from Wellington it has been overlooked, hence the delay which has occurred in acknowledging receipt, for which I beg to apologise. 1. " I have to express regret tbat my telegram in answer to yours, which was sent more in a playful spirit than otherwise, and on the spur of the moment, seemß to have been displeasing to you. Seeing, however, that it has elicited the letter now under reply, there is less cause for regret.

2. " I do not disguise from myself that your complaint as to the unavoidable lack of trucks at Lyttelton in the early part of a particular day, was aimed more against the administration to which you are politically opposed than at any practical result. 3. " I cannot for a moment suppose that you were ignorant of the fact that every possible effort was being made by the department to provide for the enormous traffic which the grain season and the opening of the through line to Invercargill has developed — efforts which, as regards the grain season, have been bo far more successful than at any previous

period. I have been informed that as much as 2500 tona have passed through the tunnel in a single day.

• 4. " The system of working the railway, of which you complain, has already been altered to the extent of reducing the time allowed for discharging waggons from twelve hours to fire hours. A further reduction has been 1 suggested, but I am averse to enforcing this unless it should be found to ~b& absolutely necessary. 5. "It would serve no practical purpose to discuss the various points upon which your letter touches. Opinions differ a? tc the administration of the Public Works department in the past, and while I do no£ deny that the present administration comes far Bliorfc of perfection and has many shortcoiningsto answer for, I ventnre to think that in no respect would it come off second best were the' tu qitoque argument appKed. 6. " It may not be amiss r perhaps, to stala' exactly what hasy been done in reference tc supply of waggons since the present Government assumed office. This will be seen from a return, of whicli She following is the substance : —

Wheels and Axles. Ordered on Dec. 15; 1877, 460 pairs. „ May 23j 1878,336 „ Waggon Ironwork, including Wheels and Axles. Ordered on June 22, 1878, 600 sets. „ Feb. 22, 1879, 1000 sets. „ Feb. 28, 1870, 267 sets. In addition to the above, contracts were let in the Colony in October last for the manufacture and delivery of 600 ti ticks-complete. 7. " A large quantity of Puriri timber for framing has been distributed among the Government workshops. There are now at Christ-church alone upwards of 500 sets prepared and ready to be put together the moment the iron work comes to hand. A large number of these would have been available months ago but for the unfortunate mishap to the ship Piako— a mishap for which, possibly, some hold the Government responsible.

8. " It will be gathered from the foregoing that within the past 16 months obligations have been incurred for waggon stock to the extent of about £200,000 when complete. " I may add further that endeavours have been made to stimulate the manufacture of waggons outside the Government workshops by allowing them tD be used on Government lines on such fair terms as may be agreed upon. As yet no practical result lias accrued ; it is, however, to be hoped that private enterprise throughout the Colony may be induced to enter largely into this business, as is the case in the United Kingdom and in America.

9. " Altogether, I feel that if the supply has not been equal to the demand, it has not been from lack of effort on my part. On Dec. 7 last I cabled the Agent-General to the effect that it was absolutely imperative that all outstanding orders for wheels and axles should be shipped at once, even if it involved a premium to the contractor to do so.

10. " Application was made to the Government of Q.ueenslaud, whose gauge is the same as ours, but without success.

11. "I cannot conclude without putting you right with respect to a mistake into which you have fallen as regards cost of conveying waggons from the North Island to Lyttelton. The price was not £10 as you allege, but £2 10s each ; even although it had been £10, it ■would only have afforded a proof of my anxiety to meet the exigencies of the grain season at any sacrifice.

" That trucks have been sent from Canterbury to the North Island is undoubtedly true. Unfortunately, however, this does not bear out the imputation which, I presume, is intended by you in calling attention to the subject. The circumstances are these— Some 50 sets of waggon ironwork -which were ordered from England to be shipped to the North Island were by some blunder sent to Lyttelton, where, as it happened, they arrived at a time when they were much needed in Canterbury ; instead of being transhipped they were fitted up in the Christchurch workshops, and after the pressure of the grain season had subsided they were forwarded to their original destination.

" If this is deemed to have been a heinous fault, so let it be ; but to my mind it is an offence which might have been generously overlooked by you.

" As your letter to mo has been published in the Canterbury papers, I shall feel obliged if you will kindly give this reply equal publicity.

" I have the honour to be, Sir, " Your obedient servant, "J. Macandeew."

" Hon E. Richardson, " Chairman of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, " Christchurch."

" April 4, 1879. " Ouv Board meeting took place yesterday. Your letter of April 1 only delivered to-day. Will lay before next Board meeting, and then publish as you request. » (Signed) " Edwd. Richardson, " Chairman Lyttelton Harbour Board. " Hon James Macandrew, " Minister for Public Works, " Wellington."

" Lyttelton Harbour Board Office, " Lyttelton, " Auril 9, 1879.

"Sir, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of April 1, in reply to mine of March 7, and of course accept your explanation of the delay in forwarding same. As I have already informed you by wire, your letter did not reach me till the day after the last meeting of tho Board.

" I have taken the liberty of numbering the several paragraphs of your letter consecutively for easy reference.

" With regard to paragraph No. 1, you express jour regret that your telegram in answer to mine was sent more in a playful spirit than otherwise, and on the Bpur of the moment, &c, I would observe that the telegram sent you on March 5 was a joint telegram, signed by the President of the Chamber of Commerce and myself in our respective official capacities as such. It was submitted to the respective bodies, and your reply to it was submitted in the same manner by me on receipt, during the sitting of the Board on March G. I had no reason, nor did our Board appear to have any, that your telegram was intended to be treated in a playful spirit, and I can only express my surprise that a Minister of the Crown should reply to an oflicial telegram such as ours of tho sth was in a playful spirit without stating it to be nonofficial, as it can hardly be supposed that public bodies are to wait to inquire whether replies to their communications are sent in earnestness or for the diversion of the Minister.

" In paragraph No. 2 you assert that the complaint was ' aimed more against the administration to which I am politically opposed than at any practical result.' I have to state that the telegram in question was sent at the suggestion of the President of the Chamber of Commerce and concurred in by me, and I deny most emphatically, both on his part and on mine, that it had or was intended to have any political significance whatever ; and further, that it did suggest a practical remedy, i.e., that of utilising the' trucks more often, which suggestion you, in jour letter under reply, allude to in para- j graph No. 4, which you state you are averse to enforce unless found absolutely necessary. In reply to paragraphs 3 and 4, I am fully aware that the officers of the Traffic and Locomotive departments have made, and are making, most strenuous efforts to provide for the enormously increased traffic.

" The sixth paragraph of your letter furnishes the proof (that I had not at command when I wrote you on March 7) tosliow that my statement that your attempt to unduly enforce the employment of local manufactures has cauaed a great deal of the present scarcity of trucks, was strictly correct.

" You state that on Dec. 15, 1577, you ordered 460 pairs wheels and axles, and on May 23 you ordered 386 pairs of wheels and axles. Judging fom what one now sees at the various railway centres, a great part of these have arrived and are stored, but to the present moment it would appear from your letter that no ironwork for the waggons for which, these wh. els and axles were imported have been ordered, and it is the ironwork that was ordered on June 22, 1878, which has been and is coming slowly to hand, that is beiDg used with the wheels and axles ordered the previous December and May.

" Paragraph 80. 9 also refers to this subject, and to it I would reply that you appear to have forgotten that it was on the suggestion of a deputation of the Lyttelton Harbour Board on Dee. 7, 1878, and aftor extreme pressure, that your cablegram of that date was sent ; and it now appears that, instead of telegraphing as you promised for the ironwork for the waggOD* to be sent out, you, o«iy

cabled for wheels and anxles, of which you had at the time, and still have, a full supply. " With regard to paragraph No. 7, you had officially informed the Board of the preparations made by yourself and previous Governments in the way of woodwork for waggons expeeted to arrive ; but when I come to the latter portion of that paragraph, that '» large number of these would hare been available months ago but for the unfortunate mishap to the ship Piako, a mis-hap for which possibly some hold the Government responsible/ I have to remark that your letter, being carefully written, and being an official reply to me as representative of the Board, and forwarded with a request that it bs published, cannot be taken to be written in a playful spirit, and; therefore, can only be me?,T!t to create an 1 erroneous impression with the- Board and the- public, for it must have been known to you' and your officers (the fact which' l have ascertained from reference to the ship's manifest) that no waggon or ironwork whatever was shipped on the Piako, and therefore the imputation that some people held the Government responsible for the fire in tlie Piako is introduced into your letter for mere oJlect, and has no bearing- whatever on thesubject.

"As to paragraph No. 11, as-no part of the correspondence contained any statement from me as-to the cost of the transmission of the waggons- sent from here and returned from the jSFbrth Isltvnd, I presume you drew your information from the report of the Board's proceedings in the public Press. If you had continued --your- reference to th« newspapers, you would hare seen that I carefully corrected an error I' fell into on this subject, and although not reported, I stated that, V had the information from hearsay out of doors. I accept your further correction.

" With regard to paragraph. 15, I am quite content to leave the public to judge as to the respective merits of the past and present administration-of the Public Works Department, and while ready at any time to discuss the matter in any shape, I think you -will admit that such discussions would more appropriately take place in the House of Representatives.

" You appeal to my want of generosity. I think this very uncalled for, as you are wall aware that I have at all times been ready to give every assistance in my power both *o yourself and to the officers of your department ; and whatever may be my feelings upon the political aspect of the question of ad- ! ministration, I have never allowed that to interfere in any way on the very many occasions 1 have been consulted on technical matters, considering, aa I always have done, that it was my duty to the Harbour Board and the public to give the greatest assistance possible to the public service. And, in conclusion, I will only add that had it not been for your sending what you call 'your playful telegram,' this long correspondence would not have taken place. " Should you think it necessary to continue this correspondence, may I ask that you will endeavour to separate any reference to the political part of the question from that of the ordinary business of the Harbour Board, as it might prove prejudicial to their interests and that of Government if they were mixed up in a political discussion between you and myself. " T have the honour to be, Sir, " Your obedient servant, _" Edwakd Riciiardsox, 11 Chairman Lyttelton Harbour Board. " Hon James Macandrew, Esq., " Minister for Public Works, " Wellington." The Chairman read the following letter from the Harbourmaster : —

" Sir, — I have the honour to forward, as requested by you, a list of the vessels and their cargoes now waiting for berths in the stream, also the date of their arrival : — Vindex, coal, April 4 ; Belle, coal, April 5 ; Matilda, coal, April 7 ; Albert, general, April 7 ; Mary Blair, timber, April 12 ; Crossfield, coal, April 15 ; Sea Shell, timber, April 15 ; Letterfourie, coal, April 15; Island City, coal, April 17 ; Canterbury, iron, April 12 ; this vessel has about one hundred tons to discharge, having come to this port to load grain.

" The_ barque Lorraine is discharging her ballast in the stream to make ready for a loading berth. — I have, &c,

"H. iri/ELiiAi*, Harbourmaster."

The Hon. J. Hall suggested that a daily record bo kept by the Harbour-master, showing the -number o£ -waggons supplied to each vessel discharging or loading at the wharves, and also how many each vessel required. Mr Harman coincided with the previous speaker, and recommended that printed forms be supplied to the Harbour-master for that purpose.

The Chairman did not think it necessary that such a resolution should be passed, being of opinion that the berthing book, as already in vogue, answered all purposes. INSUFFICIENT HOLLINCf STOCK. From a statement made by Mr C. W. Turner, it appeared that a los3 of nea-ly £2000 had been sustained by owners and masters of vessels (seventeen in number) during the last month, from the deficiency of rolling stock and berthing accommodation. Mr Murray-Aynsley agreed with the remarks of the Chairman. If the merchants were to put tho matter before the Board, showing the loss and inconvenience to which they were put, it could give its attention to complaint. Mr Turner said that the matter had already come before the Chamber of Commerce, which body had done all in its power towards a remedy. He was of opinion that it would be better to act independently of the Kaihvay, and to build a shed for their use on the Gladstone pier, into which cargoes might be discharged in a few days, instead of a month or more as at present. The Hon. J. Hall moved the following resolution, which was carried — " That a return bo prepared, showing the number of trucks supplied each day to each vessel at the Lyttelton wharves and of tho number required for her purposes of discharging ; alao, a return of tho detention at the wharf in the case of each vessel, showing the delay in her discharge, and of the time each vessel had to wait for a berth." MISCELLANEOUS. A long discussion took place with reference to the shed on the Gladstone pier. The Chairman slated that he was of opinion that the Board would ultimately have to purchase the shed from the Grovornmcnt, and after so doing carry out the work of discharging vessels as originally intended, i.e., directly into the sheds, thus preventing delay. A letter was read from tho National Bank of New Zealand regarding the minimum of debentures, £b 0,

With reference thereto, it was moved and carried — "That tho National Bank of New Zealand be informed that the Board see no reason to reduce the minimum of £100 net, as already advised them."

It was moved by Mr Allan, seconded by Mr Harman, and carried — " That the election expenses incurred, by tho Lyttelton and Christchurcli Councils in connection with the return of members be defrayed by the Board."

NOTICE OF MOTION,

/ The following notice of motion waß given Tby Mr Murray- Aynsley, seconded by Mr Allwright — " That, considering tho important busines3 connected with a shipping port required to be performed by a Resident Magistrate, tho Government's attention be called to the necessity of filling the office of Besident Magistrate at Lyttelton, which has now been vacant over three months."

The Board then adjourned, tho next meeting to take place at Christchurcli on May 1.