HARBOUR ELECTIONS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 12881, 30 April 1913, Page 8

HARBOUR ELECTIONS.

MESSRS. MEULI, CALMAN, AND BIGNELL SPEAK.

Messrs N. Meuli; G. Caiman and A. Gf. Bignell, candidates at the Harbour Board election to-day, spoke "at Mi* Spriggens' meeting >at Gonville last night. ' v Mr: Meuli said th.6 present Board had been charged with being dilatory, with not being careful, and with having made blunders in connection with its Empowering. Bill,;. The Board at its last election had received the. electors', distinct- sanction for its'policy. In : connection with the Empowering . Bill; little time was given them for its ' preparation^ and through a minor error which* could not be sheeted home to the Boards the Bill was turned down..- This Was. one" of the extreme criticisms brought against the present Board. It had Taeen freely said, Mr. Meuli continued, that the Board bad not done enough in the direction of dredging the "river. He held that theBoard had done everything in its pow . -er, considering its finances, if or the. ratep&yera and workers. If the Board had gone in-ifbr a big dredge, whether . it; w«s purchased or hired, all its fin- . anees would have been exhausted and . it would;have,heeil unable to carry on other -wox^^ilch as the quarries. Until such time..as the river had a.proper -." training wall; if would be arrant folly "to "dig out a trench.. The sides would fall 'in.' 'All the engineers the Board . had consulted were opposed to the building, of groynes such as the one that •was "suggested. One can never predict 'their effect, and had on© been ibuili at Hatrick's wharf the probabilAiy would be* that the town wharf and "the adjoining land wpeld be much en.dangered in tinxe of flood. Mr. Meuli said that the that had been done , ...speaks foir'itself. The Board had ooneentrated^.its work on the ,bar, and because the *«ucces3 achieved so much exceeded- expectatione' it was blamed for "not dredging, the river as well. -Things had to be done in the'.r proper order.. The, electors could rest ossur~edihat if,:re-elected, the present Board would do -the best thing at the best time. ■ He opposed the suggestion oi hiring a dredge, ..and was in favour of • purchasing a suction dredge of the Frun • ling type.1 So far .as the wharf vras concerned, Mr. Meuli went into .detente describing -the .efforts of the Board in trying: to' induce the" Government to hand over cpntrol to the Board, and that^evefything possible Ms "ibeeit done T&T expedite matters. / matter,; was '.still .?p;- the hands ofjVgp* , Jlea?!*esj and^e^^Boankiwas awaJttrig; :.',■£ 're^i^^^^^^^ I'^^^^^*o''ll^'jk^to^tjaiiS o£:the work" erf- the, Boaiict, and confidently looked forward to being re-elected. Mr G. Caiman then, took the platform. He claimed that "the presentBoard bad not done.-all that it coukt have done.::,He .had waited for two years for the, Board to obtain control bf the wharf. The Railway Department, were losing. at; least £500' a year in riot .making 'proper ,wha<rfage charges. -: He held - that' the [Department, %,never- .^ tbekEis,, was making a handsome profit, Out of storage and handling charges ■ He Relieved that the department would not put jany .obstacle in the way of ..the Board obtaining control of the wharf. "lii connection with the riverMr Qalman said that thousands of tons •of spoil wero' being: dumped in the channel "at the quarries and the dredge \ "was also dumping material in the river lower doif-n.. He. accused the Board of "not" enforcing'its by-laws, and of . -laxity" in making charges, and in s,ub- . mitting •fcithotrb protest to. the Rail- - way Department's -recent increase o* • 2d.-. per ton" on cargo. Mr Caiman con- : < eidered': that \h&~. town. < ,wharf should :-''':}i^\yivoi^i^;-hy-^^heA piles. The "groynehe-isuggested. should .be at Shakes- ■,•:;: a^r^V-Cliff *;; ■•He;^ris?%red':: that" ,-th«i. ~r?r- Bott^--^uld:^'ge:fe-;:tBs1 ::#narf-;a^-.:sKfda|. •';?. n£:?a»y*tiffi •Y~*lisiijiot'. ; believe: tn&tf ■the Railway^ 3>&partment TOuld'refu,spJ;the'"Bbair<i'--ac-cess to the wharf.,-1 The'/pepaftnierit dare-not'blosfc rsthe vi*-ay, he said; Mr." -. Caiman concluded /by stating that;-he *. Had"always; worked : hard 1 in' the';.inter-- :; estsof Wangantiil; He was not'afraid = to isay what lie thought, and he: would " like • to- push oJiead. He would like to «e<^- a, deep-sea' harbour at Castlecliff, but- He would, be chiefly coneer-:-ned - in: -Working to obtain a, deepchannel so-iaS-to,enab?9. 20Q0-ton boat? to com© Tip 'to the tbwE;' wharf * £ully . ■ loaded". '■ •' •'•, '■' ." •• ': .'';''"■ ! . Mr Ai G. Bignell informed those pre- ' sent • .that the Harbour foreshore had - been-taken over by the Goyornnient130 years ago, and: had full (rights to its ... possession. .-.lt was not easy, he said to take, away, the shed's dnd wharf from the Government, and it was only liy.mutiial arrangement that such could be done.., He. believed the Govern- '■'.''" ment was'niaMng money from the sheds. HulTthel.BoardWasdoing the very, best _ifc;{ could." /Uncter, t&o circumstances to .gain contiro£.: * ,Mr ; Bignell Isaid he ." would . ijot - deal ' with the work that had been done in the past, for the Board had the. satisfaction of knowing .. that it had. exceeded its. expectations in carrying out: its programme. It wa3 such .;aV^tnds© l'~whq aoyocated Eield's Avild-cat.echejne, yaga-inst which he fought strohuoiisly-T-tnat now. came for.wai'd ...to . teach,. '.. ; the .Board how to do its ' -work. .-_./.,..'.■ ."."":.. ". - .. - Here Mr Caiman disclaimed a.ny connection iwitli 'the Field's scheme. . Mr Bi^nell . review the history of , ,ihib/Board, and.dealt with the money ..it had- hlad^v.at its disposal, and the work, thati had been accomplished. An exceJlentSbax, ' lie said, without which no upper river work could be attempt- J ed, had been obtained. Training walls ' .had been built, and all that was hu- . manly possible, he said, had been done by th© Board," and he asked the ishipping. people ix> have patience. NoLliing definite was don© until five years j ago, and Mr Bignell asked why did not Mr' Caiman, who had resided here for many, years, and others, make a move before? If the Empowering Bill were successful, and the money ' obtaiined, -the >Bloalvd would piroipeed, with £160,000 at its disposal, to carry out- the plan of work that had been outlined. " Wanganui, he said, would "(always be a tidal xiver, «-nd ve&sels 'must observe the tides. The success achieved, by the Wanganui Harbour Board in the past fully ,warranted the ■ return of the "whole or its members at ■the election to-day. The meeting then concluded.