HUTT ROAD INQUIRY.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1743, 7 May 1913, Page 4

HUTT ROAD INQUIRY.

NEARING THE END. ■OTHER PROPOSED BASIS OF 'v\. SETTLEMENT, TRAFFIC TALLIES ASSAILED. The Commission of Inquiry to determine what amounts of the £100,000 due to the general Government in respect of the reconstruction of the Hutt Eoatl, continued its sessions yesterday. Mr. W. S. Short, Commissioner,• presided. Mr. J. O'Shea appeared for tho Wellington City Council, Mr. A. do B. Brandon for the Ilutt Countj", Mr. D. M. Findlay for tho Upper Hutt Town District, Sir. T. It. G ilford for tho Borough of Onslow, Sir. A. W. Blair for 'tho lower Hutt Borough, Mr. M,Myers, with ill - . V. B. Meredith for,tho •Miramar Borough, Mr. W. J. Organ for Eastbourne Borough, Mr. M. I. Luckio for Makara County, Mr. '1. 1. Martin with Mr. E. C. Kirk, for Petone Borough, Mr. 0. Jerusalem for the Johnsonrillo' Towii District, and Mr. F. C. Widdop for the Railway Department. Facts About Makara, ,

Georgo R. Hislop, clerk of the Makara County Council, recalled, said there were about 100 vehicles in tho I'orirua Euling of tho county, tho only area in the county served by tho road. ,Of these j!G vehicles travelled the road daily, 25 twice weekly, and 19 weekly. Most of tho vehicles were spring carts and light gigs. A great deal of tho passenger traffic to Wellington caine by the .railway ' irom Johiisonville. Ho knew of no motor bicycles; ;and only ono motor-car owned in tho comity. To. tho Commissioner: Ho had no personal knowledge of the facts of which he hnd given evidence, but a return was compiled by two of the councillors nnd tho road foreman somo months ago. Frank T. Moore,. chairman of tho Makara. County Council, stated that the rates received by the county in respect of the abattoirs amounted to £10 per annum. There wore twelve two-horse vans, ana twelve single-horse. van plying daily to the abattoirs conveying meat, hides, tallow, and offal. The tallow was taken to the New Zealand Candle Company s-works in Onslow Borough, and practically all the rest of tho traffic was with Welling-

l° n - ' _. „ , To Mr. Jerusalem: The Ngahauranga Gorge Road was impassable for motor lorries The bridges on the farther side of the' abattoirs. ,Would not carry . such heavy traffic. To Mr. Findlay: Considerable improvements in the road were contemplated, provided tho city or the general Government. would agree to pay part of the To Mr. Organ: He thought a fair basis for analysing the traffic tallies would" be to charge every item up to the district in which the vehicle was owned. This eoemed to him to bo the only fair basis of assessment. ' ■.» , The Commissioner: Then if M Ewan and Company undertake to carry goods from a factory at Johnsonville, do yon suEeest that nil that traffic for the benefit of the factory should be charged to Wellington? , . ,v - Mr. Moore:-I suggest that, sir. In my opinion it is the only fair way to charge for the use made of the road. To Mr. O'Shea: Tho' agitation for the improvement of the road came from carriers in ithei. Peione and Hutt districts. Mr. O'Shea: Who was most militant? Mr. Moore: I can't remember who was the most activo. Mr,. O'Shea: Can you remember any'Onff~ in' this rdom who was very active? Mr. Moore: One gentleman in his representative capacity was veryactlve. . Mr. O'Shea:. Was not Mr.. Wilford tho most active? ' ■ Mr.. Wilford: I take credit for this district having tho best road in Australasia, extrp.yagantly constructed. X admit. And 1 I don't think the local bodies ought to Ibe asked to' pay. for it. •

On Behalf-of Hutt County. | Mr; !i. tie B. Brandon 'set; 'forth the j cnss"-'for'Hutt" County, intimating tlmt! ho did not propose to f call evidence. Ho I proposed, however, to,suggest ft scheme I of apportionment which seemed to him I to bo fair. Incidentally it suited HuttCounty very well. He agreed with Mr. j ,Morton in his proposition that the future of a district must be considered; in I 'allotting tho' cost "of a big undertaking, nowy which would for all time effect tlie expenditure of.tlinfc district. In old cojin■tries it was found that the flow of population was always towftrds the town centres. from which it might be deduced that the Rrentest wealth was in the towns, that tho town increased in wealth more rapidly than the rural districts, and that the towns be expected to progress in population, and otherwise, more rapidly in this new country than the rural districts. Coraiiifr down to particulars, he that the boroughs ivolild gain more in papulation than the rural districts of the Hutt County. It seemed to be evident i from the rapid upspringing and growth of, suburban boroughs that the citv of 'Wellington had reached its limit. In the suburban boroughs he included the boroughs of Petons and Lower Hutt. He Mißse'stcd' that tho boroughs of Onslow, Lower , Hutt; Eastbourne, and Miramar wero 'only half developed, andl he urged in support of this that there were dn thoso boroughs liuge areas of unoccupied land suitable for suburban, industrial, or residential properties. It would be fair, 'therefore, that after fixing n factor, based on trade, capital value, and population, for all these boroughs,. tho factor should bo' doubled for the purposes of the present apportionment.

.A New Appoitionment. Ho accepted traffic tallies for'jwhat they were worth, but he thought with Mr. Morton that tho tallies should have been classified, and the traffic debited on a basis of tonnage. He did not propose to go into the trivial questions of whether motor-cars ran out to Lower Hutt and elsewhero for the business or the pleasure of passengers. If the Hutt county was to,bo considered in this apportionment' a 9 an entirety, and that was a very big "if," tho percentages to be paid by tho several contributors on his computation would bo: Wellington 52.78, Onslow 4.54, Petono 14.73,' Lower Hutt 12.36, Eastbourne .9, Miramar 3.06, Hutt County 4.98, Mafcara Comity 4.71, .Tohnsonviile 1.24, and Upper Hutt 1.03. These percentages totalled slightly, moro than 100, because approximate instead of exact (■methods had been used. He submitted, however, that ilutt Comity should not, be .considered a contributor in .its entirety. 'For the purposes of the county, the road was used'for vehicular traffic only, and ho-suggested, that residents at a further distance than fifteen miles could not be esteemed to be regular users of the road. Nd milk came into tho city by way of tho road. Tho only part of tho Hutt County really benefited by the road, he argued, was Epuni Hiding. It could not be established that the moro distant districts of tho county, some of which wore iO miles away, were benefited by tho The Commissioner asked why Wainui-o-mata was loft entirely out of account in Mr. Brandon's reckoning. Mr. Brandon agreed that the new pipe bridge might have tho effect of bringing that part of the county within easier reach of l'etouo and Lower Hutt, but on account of great distanco from Wellington, it could not make the residents there users of tho Hutt Eoad. Luxury for Suburbs, Necessity for Wellington. M'.'. T. M. Wilford, representing the borough of Onslow, said that the view of Onslow was that the road was a luxury to tho suburb?, but a necessity to tho citv of Wellington. It was, however, an" extravagant luxury. Nor did Onslow admit Mr. Commissioner's jurisdiction to apportion cost. The basis of assessment was undefined, and without statutory authority. He admitted the value of the traffic returns, but urged that thev were not conclusive, while bicycle traffic and pedestrian traffic were taken 'into consideration. He thought also that the places of origin shoyld bear at least fit) per cent; of the (|iiof<Tln -res-; pect of that traffic. He admitted that capital value and population, as well »s traffic should be taken into account. He contended'also that tlie findings of the previous. Commissioner (Mr. Ilaielden) could not possibly bo relied upon, as a guidg in asiesimentj t'oi; the golaw

Nt issue were entirely different. Onslow urged that only 11J chains of'the road were'of any direct benelil hi Onflow; tli<> traffic beyond this limit, which wont on lo and llntl, did not benefit (Mislow. ~!to tho borough had by tho making ot the railway and road 10>(.' 21 acres of rating area. Vnrlher, Onflow was not; contiguous to the llntl lioad, nor did the residents conic to Wellington by way of I lie ilutt lioad. Tho area of Onslow was lil.jl) acres, of which neves were not tit' for building sites, lie contended again thai much of (he (rnllie debited to Onslow ought really to have been debited fo tho city, owing (o (lie fact thai a great, deal of it was by people resident in tho city and working in Onslow. He could not take Jlr. Morton's tigures seriously, nor did he believe that. Mr. Morton held (he opinions ho had put forward. Jlr. Morton had eliminated from his eale«la(ions traffic, rating value, and population, and submitted another—the benefits conferred on a district bv the road. Surely this last must be discovered by (ho sum in the ot her (iireo factors. On a population lwsis (he proportion as between Wellington -and Onslow was as ono to tlnrlyjive;on a rating basis (he proportion was as nearly as possible the same i and oil a traffic basis, eliminating pedestrians who ought to bo excluded or charged to tho citv of Wellington, the percentage was still the same. Yet. Mr. Morton had proposed to cha.vgv tho Onslow Borough about naif tho amount ho fixed as the city s contribution. A Colonial Road. In conclusion, lie said that the road was a colonial road us.'d bv people far away from Wellington. It should be paid for and maintained, therefore, out of the general revenue of tho Dominion. It wns beyond tho menus of the loc.il bodies to maintain this road. ITo further said that on behalf of Onslow ho would repudiate as unnecessary, any part of the cost incurred to construct the cycle track nt the side of tho road. l'rank Holdsworfh, Mayor of Onslow, endorsed the statement" made by counsel. To Mr. O'Shea; Ho was not prepared to say that Onslow could 'do without tho road as well as Wellington could. To a certain extent ths fact that under the general law the districts fronting on the road would have to maintain ' th? road should bo taken into accouiit in making tho present assessment.' To Mr. Luckio: The road was of very littlo use to tho Makara County, and it was of less use now than it was in' its old shape. Formerly sorno parts of Makara County fronting on the_ road could be reached from the road. J»ow it .would bo impossible to rcach those places unless ono could fly.

The Johnsonville Case. Mr. 0. Jerusalem, for tho Johnsonville Town District, said that assuming the traffic to be a fair basis of assessment, tho traffic ought to bs debited always to the place of origin. Johnsonvillo was merely <1 small residential township, with no agricultural pursuits, and no indu.s- - There was no produce .to be brought into tho city along Hie road, and ho thought it therefore unfair to, charge Johnsonville with 50 par oent. of the traffic between there and Wellington. Johnsonville was deprived of the full uso of the Hutt Road by the difficult Ngahauranga Gorge Road, arid owinj to the heavy cost the improvement of that road would entail, it was extremely improbable that the work would be undertaken for some years. The cycle track was useless. to residents in his district, and he objected to pay for any-part of the cost of the track. He submitted that it was extremely improbable that the population of Johnsonville would ever increase to any considerable extent.'and he hoped tho Commissiorier would remember this if he thought of. considering the probable future progress of the- districts in making his assessment. It was true that tho proportion asked from Johnsonville on a traffic basis was low, but 'it -was much higher on that basis than it would be on any other. - The- total population of .Tnhnson-ville-was only 929, the total rateable area wa< only 895 acres, and the capital rateable value wa* only £211,193:- .The charge would therefore bsa -ven*'-'rerious' one for Johnfonville. IJfl thought the amount to be paid bv all districts should be determined bv "takm? into consideration traffic, rateable value, population, aiul possible future lynefitc. but lie thought all traffic should be debited to the places where the vehicles were owned. Alfred Mills, tov.-n clerk nf Johnsonville, stated that tho,cost of'cartage to town had increased since the l-oad was improved. There wis very little trafuc of nnv sort between Johnsonville and the city. Practically all the communication with the city i>as by train. Tho traffic tally sheets were far from corfect. Ko oitfd several mi strikes by which items of traffic were wrondv debited to Johnsonvilie, instead of to Mokara countv. probably owing to the drivers of the vehicles having given tho wrong addresses to the clerks takin" tho tallies. To Mr. O'Shea: To discover these mistakes he- had searched only n comparatively small inmW of the tally sheets. To Mr. Kirk: Most of the sheep and cattle from-tho sales were railed to P«tone and Nfahauranga. Ho failed to see any benefit Johnsonville derived from the periodical stock sales there. None or tho peonle nl tending the sales ever spent money in Johnsonville.

* A Distant Contributor. Sir. D. - 51. Findla.v (Upper Hutt Town District) said that ho had been able to tnko some comfort during the hearing of the caso by looking at the map. He submitted that tllfi Central and essential consideration from which all factors for fixing tho allocations must branch was ° tho consideration of contiguity or at I least adjacence. ' And the Upper Hutt Town District was 18 miles from the nearest point of tho Hutt Road. It was difficult to see how this small town district had ever been included, and doubtless it never would have been included but for the fact that when the road-undertaking was entered upon the area was included in Hutt County. It was a small, unimportant suburb—if indeed it could be called a suburb—having no industries, and all the products which went to Wellington _ were carried by train. There was nothing to make for the rapid progress of the town, so that in the case of Upper Hutt no regard need bo had to Mr. Morton's suggestion that prospective importance should he considered. It was inevitable that mistakes should occur in the tallies, and mistakes certainly had occurred affecting Upper Hutt. It was the custom to speak loosely of Upper Hutt. meaning all tho district beyond Lower Hutt, but the Upper Hutt town district was far beyond most Of that undefined area. .He was in a position to prove that no motor-cars wero owned ■ within. the Upper Hutt town district, and this showed that the tally sheets had wrongly attributed ownership of cars to Upper Hutt. The percentage which it was proposed to charge would bo ruinous to the district, and would be, moreover, unjust and entirely out of proportion to the economic importance of the road to tho district. ■ Aligns J. M'Curdy, clerk to the Upper Hutt Town Board, supported counsel's statement. He said that there were 110 motor-cars in the district, and only two motor-cycles, ono of which had never been used on tho Hutt Road. Thoro was prac- I tically no traffic between Upper Hutt and tho city by road. He drow attention to a number of mistakes in tho tallies, bv which Upper Ilutt had been credited with traffic not belonging to it. A Seaside Borough, Mr. IV. J. Organ, for the Borough of Eastbourne, said he proposed to urge that tlie borough ought not bo charged any portiou, however small, of the cost of reconstructing the road. Eastbourne was a small seasido resort, dependent for its existence on access from Wellington by water. The distance from the city was only six miles by water, and by road, over the new Pipo Bridge, ihe distance was 11 miles. Water access would never be superseded by land carriage for passengers. Not more than 400 acres of Eastbourne was land on which houses, could be built. J. D. Avery, town clerk of the borough, said the traffic to Eastbourne by road from Wellington was almost negligible, and Eastbourne certainly was not economically dependent upon the Ifutt Jiond. The borough would never hove sprung into existence iitit fur the water service across Ihe hurliour. He thought the assessment of cost on a traffic basis was the fairest possible. Traffic the First Test. Mr. M. livers said on behalf of Miramar that he did not .intend tu ul.jecl to ihe assessment provisionally made so fains it affected Miraiaar's contribution. He would urge thiil. tlm method nf ns»r»>ment jdyitad b£ .the t'owmiMionei; was tue

only possible method in the circumstances, at least so far as Minimal'—nnd Kast bourne, lio was n«licd In add—welo emiceniod. The boundary of the borough of .Minimal' was mv inilrs from the nearest. ond of the Ilutt lioiul, and all the business of tho borough was with (Ik, city. The only regular traffic outwards from Miramar along the Hull Itoad wns tho cartage of coke from the gasworks to Ngnlintiranga anil .loliiisouville. This I rallic could never grow to be heavy. If, as Mr. Morion and .Mr. Uraiidon had suggested, future development wns to be considered iu assessing the amounts payable by (he suburbs, it. must; also bo assumed that only such expansion should bo calculated as could be attributed lo tho improvement., of the road. However, lie urged that the direct prnclieal lest —traffic—was the first Hint ought to lie applied In the exclusion of nil other methods involving nil sorts of potentialities and hypotheses. liolaud 11. Hcnnctt, town clerk of Minimal', sl'ilcd llial there were no industries in (lie borough except tlie manufacture of coal gas. There were only four expresses in (lie borough, none of which plied along the Hull; lioad, and three motor-cars, one of which was used by its owner iu connection with his business iu (lie'city. Miranmr was a resldenli'al suburb, nnd n poor man's suburb. The houses were generally of a poor class, and the Irani servico was bad, so that there were no inducements for people lo come to live there. The improvement of (lie road had nol benefited Mil'nniar at all. The coke traffic from the gasworks was very small. The borough debt was ,£100,000; the revenue from all sources was ,£7702; and the number of ratepayers was 0(12. The inquiry should be concluded today, when (lie concluding addresses of counsel will- be heard.