WELLINGTON NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4573, 18 February 1893, Page 4

WELLINGTON NEWS.

• ''■" -rr — ' ♦...■" .. ■'. ..• '" '(- ; ' ' '„ ,{"fbom otjb own. cobbbspondent.j (.;":_■ WELLi^Gi;ON, Feb^ if 7. , ' .. „ • INCOME TAX. . .- ....-.., -.. /• The Income tax returns are still;' short . by some dSIOjbOO, but these reprdaVnt Bum? - [potto be ened for, bat to be jtaid after . certain adjustments which! were pending , on Feb. 14.. There is little •doubt that ihey will all come in by Feb. 28, so that the exceßS of the direct taxation will then be hroiight up, (over estimate) to between . £13,000 and £14,000. The estimate of ; £15,000 liwired the other night waa> you , will see, fairly accurate. -. , j „; ... ! NEW PLYMOUTH HABBOTTE. Mr Seddon, who was expected in? town ' last night, (has not arrived, haying beeii ; detain,ed in Pftlmersfcon North by various . matters of local demand. His energy and , decision ab New Plymouth /have, I learn, been followed by a wonderful result, ks you have been informed/ the Efagineerriri- ' Chief, after examination ; of the .break: ; water, reported. that at the , end it is not : .in' ,gpod condition^, to see through ahotligr ' winter. If 'the h'eaii J goßa, the* wliarf; w^it, j of course, be swept May by the • aea at once. The> gap ;-in the breakwater will ■ require an enormous sum of . money to" buiid. It appears;- that a . select fe^, in.' Taranaki Have tor & < I6ng time, Bad misgiVings 1 about the bireaß , water, but they said' nothing while thd 1 £3000 provided by the Government was beings expended on, dredging a /channel thrpugh.> 'the sandbank which.' obstructed jbhe entrance. Not; verylong ago r the foreman of the Harbour Board reported 150 ft of the endj- oTE* the structure to be unsafe, but that report was not made public ; bnt it was i public enough' to alarm the engineer who sent a deputation to Mr Seddon, who promptly took Mr. Hales down to the breakwater, got his. report as above, and. spoke 'his mind very freely. ' Ab you hare been' informed he advised the people to "cling to their breakwater," but he was careful to maintain at thesame time, the Colony's irresponsibility. The Government would, he promised, help to some extent; it would get its engineer's report on the state of the structure, and if the work required to be strengthened, the Government would give prison labour and a ten-ton crane. Perhaps it would provide engineering directions. The district must do the rest. The harbour has a locomotive to sell, and the Government has bought that, and its price will be converted into rubble directly. What else the district can do is only too. dear. Some enthusiastic spirits- professed to see in the Minister's " Cling to your breakwater" one of those winks whioh are as good as nods, hinting at a diversion of 'the land moneys earmarked for the loan interest. But the meant nothing of the kind. He 'meant that the importance of the breakwater, to the district justified a public subscription. . That, the. Taranaki public, I learn, ia beginning to see. It will be the first, occasion for a subscription, and a grand example to all districts blessed with impecunious Harbour 'Boards.