SWINBOURNE'S WHARF.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1584, 21 May 1861, Page 2

SWINBOURNE'S WHARF.

The following presentment was made by ; ! the Jury impanelled on the body of James Fraser, found drowned on Tuesday ;.•< *' That the Jury are of opinion from the cvi- A A dcnce they have heard that the deceased James \ Frazer lost his life from the broken and dangerous state of Swinhourne's Wharf, along whigh he had ! . to pass from the vessel to the shore ; ahd ; theyiA • wish to express a veiy strong opinion to the Superintendent that the wharf,* ought immediately " to be put in an efficient state of repair, believing that thiß is the secondlifothathas been sacrificed." ' Swinhourne's wharf is private property, to make use 'of which the publio have been invited. The proprietor should either repair or shut it Up^-if he '" does neither and the public weal is endangered in consequence, he is liable to - be indicted, and ought to be indicted accordingly. The Superintendent has no power to repair Swinhourne's wharf, any more- . than he has power to repair a private house. No doubt the owner of Swinbourne's wharf, equally with the owner of dilapidated houses, would very much A like that the Superintendent should in- v v cur the cost of repair; but the supposi- ; ; tion that he ought to do so, would be as absurd in the one case as in the other. We fully agree with the Jury thatthe condition of the wharf is most dangerous to precious life, and unless the proprietor takes steps to prevent risk to those who use it, or shutt it up, we hope the: wharf will be indicted as a nuisance.