OWNERS & HARBOUR BOARD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1708, 27 March 1913, Page 6

OWNERS & HARBOUR BOARD.

IS THERE HOSTILITY? Hostility to shipowners is alleged to have been exhibited by the, Wellington Harbour Board during tho past few years." The allegation was made by Mr. 0. *W. Jones at last night's meeting of the board when certain alterations to the by-laws were under discussion. Mr. Jones was opposed to tho alterations, which were intended to give tho board tho power, to demand chargcs on a boat if it came into port to pick up labourers to work its cargo at other ports. In such cases the steamers were not coming in to earn money, and was it a fair thing to make them pay under those circumstances? Personally ho thought it was very, hard lines. In his •experienco of four years on the board he had found that, hostility had been shown to ships and shipowners. The chairman (Mr. R. Fletcher) declared that during the six years ho hadvbeon a member of tho board there had been no hostility to ships. As a matter of fact ths board did more for ships than .was done in any other port in New Zealand. Mr. R. C. Renner endorsed the opinions ..expressed by' Mr. Jones. In his (Mr. Renner's) experience as a member of' the board, he had found a decided hostility to ships by those members of tho board not connected with ships. Mr. J. Trevor deprecated such statements, and denied that hostility existed, and Mr. Hildreth and others expressed similar views. > '

Mr. J. G. Harkness could not "for tho life of him" see any reason why ships should be charged for coming into the port to pick up labourers any more than they should bo charged for coming in and remaining some time in tho stream loading bunker coal. If they wished to make Iho port popular, then the.v should offer iho ships every possible inducement to come in.

After the discussion had proceeded somo time in this strain, the motion for tho alteration of the by-laws was put to tho meeting, and carried' by eight votes to four, the noes being Messrs. Jones, Harkness, M'Farkmo. and Renner. The exact nature of tho alteration is indicated'elsewhere.