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(4) There would not be, as in the Government scheme, a continuous length of wharf, allowing elasticity of berthing and cranage, and also of labour and supervision, since the berths would be discontinuous and would be situated partly on one side and partly on the other side of the creek entrance. This is a very important consideration.

(5) The island pile wharves, only 25 ft. in width and without lateral support, would not be strong enough to withstand the impact of ships, which would probably be frequent having regard to the strength of the current (stated on the Admiralty chart to be 3-4 knots at spring tides), and the life of the wharves would therefore be very short.

(6) These impacts would certainly produce movements in the wharves throwing the

machinery out of gear.

(7) The length of each wharf-350 ft.-would not be sufficient for even moderate-sized

ships.

G. At the fourth meeting of the Sub-Committee, Major Grogan attended to give further evidence with regard to his scheme, accompanied by Mr. Robert Boulton and Captain Cripps (partners in Messrs. Boulton Bros. & Co.),, and Sir George Buchanan.

It appears that Sir George Buchanan, to whom on his recent return from India Messrs. Pauling's scheme was submitted, has rejected that scheme and prepared a new one, in which the island pile wharves are to be replaced by ordinary reinforced concrete pile wharves 40 ft. in width and providing 32 ft. depth of water. He produced a plan "showing such a wharf 1,000 ft. in a straight length at the south-eastern extremity of the entrance to the creek, designed to accom- modate two ships 450 ft. in length. He estimated that the construction of this work, with railway connexions, conveyers, and other necessary services, could be carried out in two years for £1,000,000. He considered that 15 berths could be constructed by developing the whole estate, but that the two berths to be provided in the first instance should be sufficient to deal with 300,000 tons of traffic per annum. He also considered that conveyers could be suitably used for mixed cargo, if not too heavy (say, not above 10 cwt.), instancing Basra and Port Sudan as ports where they are so used, and he added that most tropical export cargo could be shipped by such means. His scheme, however, also provided for railway trucks being brought upon the wharf so that heavy packages which could not be carried on the conveyers could be loaded directly on to the trucks from the ship.

7. It may be recognised at once that from an engineering point of view this second scheme produced by Major Grogan and his associates, being prepared by an engineer of reputation. is a great improvement on the first scheme. It is, however, a much more expensive one than the first, and appears to be no cheaper in relation to the accommodation provided than the Government scheme, in comparison with which it suffers from the following disadvantages: — (1) A pile wharf cannot be as strong or durable as a wall of solid concrete blocks, and no competent engineer, in Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice's opinion, would recommend the former if the natural conditions allowed the latter to be constructed. The constant impact of ships would gradually damage the piles, and this would also lead to corrosion by the water of the iron in the reinforced concrete, as shown by recent experience at Southampton. After a life of 15 or 20 years the wharf provided in the Government scheme should, Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice is confident, be practically as good as new, while that of the "Buchanan" scheme would probably need long before that time very considerable repairs.

(2) Sir George Buchanan has provided for a straight wharf of 1,000 ft. for two ships, but any extension of this accommodation would necessarily be discontinuous and lead to the difficulties referred to at (4) in paragraph 5 above.

(3) The Mbaraki site appears to offer distinctly inferior accommodation for ships to that at the Government site, having regard to the narrower channel there (though may be it is wide enough) and more particularly to the strength of the current, which, as stated above, is 3-4 knots at spring tides, while at the Government site it is negligible.

8. The one important advantage of the Mbaraki site over the Government site seems to consist in the space available for storage on the former. Messrs. Pauling's engineer speaks of the natural facilities of the place as very marked," while Messrs. Boulton Bros. say in a recent letter: "We are struck with the advantages of the Mbaraki Creek site over that of the proposed Government site, more especially in regard to the space which is available on the former property. It is obvious that on the Mbaraki Creek site any finance will have much stronger support in the revenue-earning powers of the land round the creek. including 20 acres of reclaimed land, a total of 220 acres, which would be utilised for railways, There are, warehouses, business quarters, residential quarters, and all the necessary buildings for a busy entrepot. From what we can learn, all this is entirely wanting in the Government site."

9. The storage accommodation which could be made available at Mbaraki is certainly very extensive, but it is probably much greater than is really necessary, the climate of Mombasa not being either healthy for European residents, or suitable for the storage for any length of time of perishable goods, unless they can be kept in cold storage. Moreover most of the accommodation is on the cliff behind the proposed wharf, and under Sir George Buchanan's scheme could only be reached directly from the ship by means of conveyers which are unsuitable for many kinds of cargo,

10. On the other hand the storage accommodation provided in the original Government scheme (apart from transit sheds) is very restricted, and the arrangement of the godowns at a distance from the wharf, involving transport by railways, is not convenient. maurice was therefore asked whether, by cutting the cliff further back, the scheme could be Sir M. Fitz-

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modified so as to enlarge the accommodation and to provide godowns near the quay, and it was suggested that these should be placed immediately behind the transit sheds, the passenger station being put behind the godowns. He considered these proposals quite feasible, though the cost would be somewhat enhanced. It was suggested to him that in lieu of the original 4-berth scheme, which might now be expected to cost at least £1,400,000, a portion of the scheme as modified, with a length of quay sufficient to provide at least two berths and with corresponding storage accommodation, might be constructed for £1,000,000; and he has now prepared a plan within this estimate for the construction of 1,350ft. of quay wall, two transit sheds and one double-storeyed warehouse only in the first instance, railway connexions, &c., being included. These works can be extended as required.

11. On the basis of an expenditure of £1,000,000 Major Blake Taylor has, in the notes attached, estimated that the enterprise can be made to pay its way with cargo charges considerably lower than those paid at present; he assumes that the traffic handled will be 150,000 tons export and 100,000 tons import per annum; and Sir E. Northey considers that these are conservative figures, on the assumption that no competitive port is constructed on the Mbaraki Creek site.

12. If it should be decided to proceed with the Government scheme, the Sub-Committee recommend:-

(1) That the works should be carried out by contract, competitive tenders from suitable firms being obtained in the usual way through the Consulting Engineers.

(2) That, as in the case of the Tasin Gishu Railway, the cheapest and best way to obtain the money required would be by the issue of a Government loan under the Colonial Stock Act, the necessary amount being added to the loan to be issued for that railway.

The Director of Public Works of the East Africa Protectorate has offered to submit an estimate for construction by his Department in competition with other tenderers; and as the preparation of this estimate would involve only a trifling expense, it might bel obtained, as even if it were not considered desirable to execute the work departmentally, the estimate would furnish a useful check on the tenders received.

13. If the Government were quite free from commitments in regard to Major Grogan's proposals, the Sub-Committee would have recommended without hesitation that the Govern- ment scheme, with the modifications proposed in this report, and at an estimated cost of £1,000,000, should he proceeded with at an early date, and that the establishment of a competitive port at Mbaraki should be avoided as unnecessary and undesirable by refusing railway connexion to the latter or otherwise. In view, however, of the situation as described in paragraph 4 above this appears to be impracticable and it is necessary therefore to consider the financial and administrative proposals which Messrs Boulton Bros. placed before the Sub- Committee at their fourth meeting with reference to the Mbaraki scheme.

14. These proposals are understood to be on the following lines. A dock company would be formed with an authorised ordinary share capital of £1,000,000, of which £600,000 would be issued as fully paid to the promoters and vendors without any cash subscription, £200,000 would be subscribed in cash as working capital, and the remaining £200,000 would be held in reserve to provide further working capital if and as required. Major Grogan would receive his consideration entirely in shares. First mortgage debentures would be issued for the £1,000,000 to be spent on the construction works, though the share capital sub scribed for cash might be advanced for the work at the commencement. The Government would guarantee these debentures as to both interest and capital, and interest and sinking fund charges would not exceed 8 per cent. No public issue would be made, and the money would if possible he obtained from India or elsewhere out of the United Kingdom. In the first three years, while the enterprise was unremunerative interest at 4 per cent. per annum would under the permission granted by the recent Act, be funded as part of the capital cost, and during the period it might be possible by means of special private borrowing arrange- ments to keep the debt charge low so as to reduce the payments to be made by the Government under its guarantee. It is not clear whether these payments would be recoverable from subsequent profits. Deferred shares would also be created, entitled to receive the whole or part of the profits after 74 per cent, had been paid on the ordinary shares: and 50 per cent. of these deferred shares would be allotted to the Government both by way of consideration for the guarantee on debentures and in order to give the Government voting control. The company would be constituted as a Port Trust, with four directors appointed by. the Government, four by the promoters and a chairman selected by mutual agreement between the Government and the promoters.

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15. It will be noted that under the terms as thus set out the whole of the construction money would be found at the risk of the Government, while the promoters would find only £200,000; that the loan charges would amount to 8 per cent. per annum, instead of about per cent, under a Government stock issue; that while Government control of the enterprise might be made fairly effective, the share of Government property in it would only be a deferred portion, less than half of the whole; and that the rates charged to shippers would have fo cover, as compared with the Government scheme, not only the additional 1 per cent, in annual loan charges, but a payment of £60,000 a year on the £800,000 ordinary shares. the prospect of additional revenue from rents on the storage and residential accommodation Against this is on the larger area of available land behind, but this is at best an uncertain prospect. (See paragraph 9 above.)

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