THE YARRA.

Wanganui Herald, Volume V, Issue 1730, 1 March 1873, Page 2

THE YARRA.

tn-oai the Australasian, Pel) l->. j We shoubl think it doubtful whether i any ot.fer city having the population, ; the. com nacre., and the wealth of Mcl- i bourne wouid have tolerated for so many j years I he almost unuavigablo condition of I its only navigable river Tlie Yarrais. I in reality, little better than a gully oil fluid mud, periodically agitated by"the tide, and maintained in a state of viscous fluidity by the churning it re-' ceives from the screws and paddle-wheels i of the steamers. __bovc tile Falls it is liable to be Hooded, and when these inundations occur, two populous suburbs arc exposed to submersion. Below the Falls, its aspect is a scandal to the city. Twelve years ago a Royal Commission was appointed to lake the whole subject into consideration, and some valuable plans and suggestions were submitted to it. Among others, we remember a scheme- by Mr J, Millar, P.S. A., which, for originality of conception, boldness of design, simplicity of execution, and reproductueness of result, was altogether admirable. It, embraced a ship canal and docks stretching from Flinders-street to Sandiidge, and the conversion of an j iniiucnseurcaof valuelessscrubinto valti-1 able building sites. Had this scheme j been carried out, Melbourne would have ! been iv the enjoyment at this moment I of some of the finest docks and wharfage I in the world, and the whole of the out- j lay, considerable as it was, would have! been cither recouped, or the interest I upon the capital sunk more than j covered by the wharfage rates and other I dues. What has become of these plans 1

In theii- absence, Mr Gordon has submitted to the Commission on LowlyingLands a proposition for the removal of the two reefs across the Yarra at the Prince's and the Falls bridges : the! deepening of the river to the uniform ! depth of _:_ft. from Church-street bridge ! to the outfall in the bay, as also the | widening of the channel both above and below the Falls, the width from these to theseabeingSOOft. Withoutpronouncing any opinion upon this project—which would have to be studied in detail before its merits or demerits could be ade-' quately understood, we may venture to 1 express a very earnest hope that, after ! the coin mission shall have presented its leport, the subject will not be suffered to slumber for another dozen years. Owin~ to a variety of causes, the chanuel of the | Yarra is becoming annually more and ' more circumscribed ; the low-lying lands adjacent, are being more thickly covered with factories and houses, powerful vested interests are springingupalongits banks, and the longer the work of improvement is delayed, the more costly will it be because the greater and more numerous will be the claims which will arise for compensation. Everybody is agreed j tiiat something must be done, and the 1 sooner there is a general agreement as I to what that something ought to be, | tho sooner shall we witness its practical i accomplishment. j