H.—ls

REVENUE.

Westport. During the year the new harbour navigation lights were installed. In order to deepen the water available at the berthages and to increase the depth and width of the swinging-basin, arrangements were made to charter the Greymouth Harbour Board's bucket dredge " Mawhera." The services of the vessel could not be obtained until February. Up to 31st March the dredge had removed 48,200 yards of material, at an average cost of 11 -sd. per yard. Unfortunately, the dredge had to be returned to Greymouth for a period to deal with difficulties which had arisen there. It is hoped she will be able to carry on continuously to completion of the work. It is unfortunate that two of the heaviest floods known in the river for many years brought down quantities of shingle equivalent to about two months' work of removal. A grab was hired from the' New Plymouth Harbour Board to be used in conjunction with wharfcranes for berthage dredging, but this method proved too expensive. Despite bad weather, which adversely affects the bar and prevents dredging operations, good depths were maintained, the working-depths being as under : Over 18 ft. to 20 ft., two days ; over 20 ft. to 22 ft., thirty-three days ; over 22 ft. to 24 ft., 128 days ; over 24 ft. to 26 ft., 157 days ; over 26 ft., forty-five days. The dredging of the swinging-basin to increased depth and width is being undertaken, to enable the larger ships now visiting the port for bunker-coal to be swung at any state of the tide. It is anticipated that when the dredging is completed ships up to 425 ft. in length will be handled safely. During the past year twenty-six ships visited the port for bunker-coal, twelve of these arriving during the months of February and March. This trade shows signs of considerably increasing. A factor which militates against it to some extent is that coal is not always available and ships are sometimes kept waiting. It is hoped that steady demand will induce the mining companies to make such provisions as will obviate these delays. There has been'much local agitation for many and various works, running in the aggregate into several hundred thousands of pounds. Acting under your direction, I spent some days at the port investigating these proposals, most of which had been proposed and some actually commenced by the Board, but eventually abandoned by it as a result of the report of a special Commission in 1913. The only works which I could find necessary and justified were : — (a.) Improvement of various harbour lights. This has been done. (b.) Increasing depth of berthage at wharves. This has been done. (c.) Dredging out the swinging-basin for a length of 1,500 ft. opposite the crane wharf, to enable ships of up to 425 ft. to be swung. This work is in hand, and would have been completed ere this but for the extra work involved by the two floods previously referred to. (d.) Improved cranage facilities at the crane wharf, mainly used for coal loading. There are four cranes on this wharf. One of them has been increased in height to enable it to load the larger ships at any state of the tide. Though this has resulted in considerable improvement, it is not completely satisfactory with ships having much top hamper. The cranes are the property of and are operated by the- Railway Department, which is now considering the best method of effecting still further improvement in cranage facilities. . The- record.-annual -export- of-coal, from Westport is 800,000 tons, in 1914. The average of the last three years is 516,000 tons. Last year was slightly below the previous year owing to trouble at the Millerton Mine. The Harbour Board's reports of 1916, 1917, and 1918 contained statements

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I 1 I I " . Branch. j 1921-22. 1922-23. j 1923-24. I 1924-25. 1925-26. Shipping Branch— £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Light dues .. .. 41,311 9 6 39,688 16 8 76,867 15 6 80,467 6 2 82,875 6 3 Engagement and discharge 3,698 6 6 4,107 15 6 4,026 15 5 4,155 5 8 4,532 5 10 fees, &e. Survey fees .. .. 3,538 7 10 3,095 9 0 4,785 2 6 5,010 0 4 6,137 16 11 Examination fees .. 585 12 8 395 12 6 369 12 0 417 5 0 429 10 0 Miscellaneous .. .. 1,076 5 1 1,289 0 4 1,389 8 0 1,175 6 3 823 14 3 Harbours— Pilotage, port charges, &c. 647 15 6 764 14 6 768 13 1 842 18 7 870 11 8 Foreshore revenue .. 1,165 12 6 1,126 14 1 2,909 0 4 4,393 19 1 5,704 2 4 Inspection of Machinery— Inspection fees, &c. .. 17,382 12 11 17,126 19 0 16,125 11 2 17,256 2 10 18,005 8 10 Examination fees .. 658 16 9 667 0 0 738 18 0 732 18 0 657 5 0 Fisheries — Net profit from sale of oysters 2,741 4 7 2,546 9 6 2,310 19 9 2,139 10 1 2,517 3 11 Fishing-boat license fees, &c. 323 15 0 324 9 6 627 14 1 477 14 6 575 5 4 Rental of toheroa-beds .. 10 0 0 10 0 0 300 0 0 300 0 0 300 0 0 Government Steamers — Freight, passage-money, &c. 6,026 4 4 1,785 0 7 2,788 1 8 4,793 0 10 3,185 17 8 Ross Sea Revenue .. .. .. 200 0 0 200 0 0 1,720 12 6 Miscellaneous Revenue .. 22 19 11 1,872 6 10 1,850 4 4 961 9 10 950 11 3 Totals—General Accounts .. 79,189 3 1 74,800 8 0 116,057 5 10 123,322 17 2 129,285 11 9 Westport Harbour Account .. 25,836 19 3 38,700 8 1 42,285 7 4 50,378 11 0 57,539 12 11 Totals .. .. 105,026 2 4 113,500 16 1 158,342 13 2 173,701 8 2 186,825 4 8