HARBOUR BOARDS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1248, 6 October 1911, Page 9

HARBOUR BOARDS.

THE CONFERENCE CONCLUDED. I ONE MAN ONE VOTE. The annual conference of the Harbour Boards' Association of New Zealand was concluded yesterday. Mr. H. C. Tewsley (Wellington) moved that tho principle of one man one vote should be followed in harbour board elections, and an elector entitled to vote for members of different districts or classes of votes must choose which one particular right of voting he elects to exercise. . The question was raised as to whether a man exercising his vote in a representative capacity—as an attorney, for instance, for an absentee owner, or for a firm of payers of dues—could also vote as an individual. Opinions were divided as to whether any elector should have a double right to vote, but the solicitor for the association, Mr. T. S. Weston, explained that the law allowed an elector to oxercise a representative and an individual vote. The motion was carried. To Secure Representation. Mr. Burnett (Auckland) moved that the first schedule to tho Harbours. Act Amendment bo amended by- providing that all boroughs, town, districts, and road boards, u-it mentioned in the schedule, bo included. • • • The motion, the object of which was to secure representation to districts not represented, was carried. Cost of Elections. ' Mr. H. C. Tewsley (Wellington) moved I that in respect of any harbour board election that is held simultaneously with the election of monitors of the local authority where it is necessary to hold a poll for such local election, the harbour board should be liable only for the costs of advertising and printing other than compilation and printing, of rolls, and a sum equivalent to 10 per 1, °\ tho actual cost to tho local authority of conducting its own and the harbour board election apart from costs of advertising and printing. Mr. \. Bruce (Thames) moved as an amendment that the cost of all elections be borne bv the local authorities in whose districts the elections took place. This, he said, would prevent expenses being piled up wantonly in the Knowledge that the bill' was to bo footed by tho Harbour Board. The amendment was defeated and tne motion carried. Triennial Elections. \ Mr. J. 6. Harkness (Wellington) moved that the elections lor members of har•bour boards, county councils, .road boards, town councils, and municipal corporations should be held upon the same date and at triennial intervals. 'Mr. J. B. Murray (Wanganui) moved an amendment, to have the election of hospital and charitable. aid boards held on the same day. ~,,■. Mr. W. Belcher (Dunedin) thought that it would be well to have harbour board elections held on the samo. day as Uio general election. The motion, as ainende<l, was. carried. Compiling Rolls. Mr. H. C. Tewsley (Wellington) moved that the costs of compiling and of printing a sufficient number of rolls for the harbour board elections by the various local authorities within a harbmii district should be borne by such local authorities respectively. The remit was carried. Objections to Electors. Mr. A. Bain (Bluff) moved that th* regulations issued by ttie Governor-in-Council be amended in the direction that at a special meeting, to bo held under Section 17 of the Regulations, any member of the board may make objection to any list or lists submitted to the board. The motion was carried. "' ■• Voting by Proxy.

' Mr. H. B. Burnett (Auckland) moved that Section 13 of tho "Harbours Act Amendment be amended in the direcOf allowing an 'igent holding power of attorney to vote; (2) of allowing absentee firms, other than corporate bodies, to appoint proxies; (3) of providing that where a number of individuals own more than one vessel, they shall have one vote only for all vessels so owned; (4) of providing that a person voting as a prosy for a corporate body or firm does not forfeit his individual vote.

Tho remit was agreed to. Air. G. R. Georgo (Bluff) moved that Section 13 of the Harbours Act Amendment to provide that where dues arc paid by a limited liability company whose head office is outside tho district, the' authorised representative in tho district 6hall sign any appointment to vote or to nominate a candidate, and that tho regulations issued by the Govcrnor-in-Uouncil be amended accordingly.,

Mr. W. Belcher objected to any special privileges being given to wealthy corporations which brought ships here for the purpose of making monev. They were payers of dues, but they did not in the last resort pay tho dues. These were paid by shippers, and merely handed over to harbour boards by the companies. The motion was carried. Against Special Representation. Mr. W. liolcher (Otago) moved: "That the Government bo recommended" to delete, from the Harbours Acts all provisions relating or appertaining to special representation on txurds, such as payers of dues on ships and payers of dues on cargo." Ho pointed out that in Dunedin there wero only twenty payers of dues on ships put on tht roll for last election, and only half of them voted. He was in favour of widening the harbour board franchise to make it democratic.

Jlr. A. Kaye regretted that representation had be«ii taken away, from chambers of commerce and given to payers of dues. Mr. C. J. Jones was opposed to the remit. He pointed out that tho revenue of the Wellington Harbour Board last year was .£183,01)0, and of that ,£171,000 was contributed by merchants and shippers. Mr. Belcher: Who did they pass it nn to? Mr. Jones contended, however, that all dues could not be passed on. The only members who had no right to sit on harbour boards wero the Government nominees. In return for contributing such a large sum in revenue, theso payers of dues had the privilege of appointing three representatives to tho harbour board.

Mr. H. Friedlnnder (Lyttelton) agreed with tho last speaker. What s-onld the harbour boards do if it were not for the enterprise of shipping companies? But the Government, which did not guaranteo harbour board loans, had not the slightest right to nominate members. Tho motion was Jost by 17 rotes to 5. Mr. J. London (Otigo) moved: '"That the Harbours' Association be requested to express an opinion as to whether a person, not being a payer of dues on goods or shin?, should be entitled to stand as a candidates representing those interests, and if a person entitled to vote as a payer of dues should bo the principal and not the agent." The remit was lost on the voices. Parliamentary Franchise. Mr. C. Bayley (Auckland) moved that' Sections 6 and 7 of the Harbours Amendment. Act bo amended by providing that all elective meml>ers of harlwur boards (with tho exception of those elected ,by the payers of dues) should be elected on the same qualification—such qualification to lie the Parliamentary franchise. Tho majority of members who spoke to the motion agreed that the Parliamentary franchise would probably lw tho most satisfactory, but that tho difficulty was in the alteration of roils, owing to the differences in electoral boundaries. The motion was carried. Disqualification. Mr. A. Rave (Lyttelton) movod a remit to have the Act amended to niako it possible for directors of companies to sit as members of harbour boards. Ho contended that tho very valuable- soryioes of business men were lost to j harbour boards by the clause in tho Act which excluded "them. Tho remit was earned.' ' Lease of Reserves. ■V remit by the Napier Board to have the time within which a lease .might be sold by private contract after it had boon offered at auction extended from

throe months to twelve months was carried. Uniform Wages. It was reported in error yesterday morning that the motion in favour of a uniform scale of wages for employees of all harbour boards was lost by IS votes to 12. It was, in fact, carried by 18 votes to 12. Election of Executive. The following officers were elected:— President,- chairman of the Wellington Harbour Board; vice-presidents, chairmen, of tho Auckland, Lytfcelton, and Otago Harbour Boards; executive, chairmen of the Napier, New Plymouth, and Timaru Harbour Boards, and Messrs. H. C. Ttwsley and J. G. Harkness (both of Wellington); auditor, Mr. C. Hood Williams (Lyttelton).- The election of a treasurer was left to the executive. Votes of thanks for services rendered were accorded to Mr. W. Ferguson, late secretary of tho association, Mr. V. L. Cachemaille, the present secretary (who is retiring), Mr. T. S. Weston (the association's solicitor), and the press. A LUNCHEON. MATTERS MARINE. The delegates were entertained at luncheon in tho Concert Chamber by the- chairman and members of tho Wellington Harbour Board. Mr. R. Fletcher (chairman of the-Wellington Harbour Board and president of the Harbour Association) presided. Mr. Coimett, chairman of the New Plymouth Harbour Board, proposed tho toast of the Parliament of New Zealand. Sir Arthur Guinness, Speaker of the House of Representatives, responded to tho toast. Parliament was what the people had made it, ho said,-and-ho was sure ho was safo in saying that the members of our Parliament were very good boys indeed. They appeared especially 60 when their conduct was contrasted with that of the members of another Parliament across tho Tasroan Sea. Constables had never had.to be called in to assist the Sergeant-a-t-Arms to eject unruly members. Geneav ally, ho complimented Harbour Boards in New Zealand on having successfully carried out the most important duty of providing proi>er facilities for tho shipping along tfia coast. Mr. J. G. Harkness proposed the toast of tho Marine Department. The Hon... J., A. Millar, Minister for Marine, responded to the toast. Ho regretted that ho had beer unable to bo present at the conference, because ho learned a lot by listening.to expressions of opinion from men who did tho practical work. In fact ho looked upon Harbour Boards as advisers of the Marine Department. The remarkable progress of the country was shown by the class of vessels coining to New Zealand. They were now of 13,000 and U.OOO tons, and it was promised that in future vessels of 15,000 tons would come. He liked to see, healthy rivalry, but ho did not like to see tlicgrowtlh of "jealousy, and he did not like to soo tain districts trying to make harbours at a cost out of proportion (o the benefits to 1)0 derived, where Nature did not intend them to bo made. He thought that districts which had in view the making of expensive artificial harbours would find it cheaper in tho long run to work hard in hand with other places where good harbours could bo made. The Marine Department had no desire to harass shipping—they wished rather to coo]>eruto with harbour boards and .shipowners. The Government used to pay to tho Navy .£9OOO a year towards the cost of maintaining "a survey vessel. / The Government withdrew from that arrangement, and tho cost was thrown on the colony. The Government were informed tliat it would cost .£32,000 to procure a suitable new vessel for the work, but they were not in a position to ask Parliament for . .£32,000. If the survey was to be undertaken it would cost from ,£30;000 to JIfO.OOO for a vessel, and ,£15,000 or .£20,000 a year for twenty-five or thirty years before it could be completed, lie was prepared to ask Parliament to authorise a proper survey, to satisfy the Board ot Trade or tho Admiralty, and to make a substantial vote for that purpose. Ho declared also that our coasts were now being lit properly—were, in fact, lit like a street. It was the policy of tho Marine Department to 'asK I ''PaHi'amenr r lor'.'two lights per year, one first-class light and one small light. So far as the conference was concerned, ho hoped that good would come of it. and ho could assure delegates that the Government would assist as far as possible i in modifying the last Act to make it more workable. He stated, however, that there would be no timo for > amendments this session. -

A vote of thanks was, on the motion of the Hon. ,J. A. Jlillar, accorded to the chairman, Mr. E. Fletcher. In the afternoon the delegates weTe taken for a trip round the harbour on tho s.s. Cobar. The party called at Somes Island, and had afternoon foa at Day's Bay, viewing all harbour improvements on tho trip.