HARBOURS AMENDMENT BILL

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2206, 20 July 1914, Page 6

HARBOURS AMENDMENT BILL

•/'.-;;■'■ CITY CO'DNCIL PROTEST. ' •v.^On-Saturday-the : Town Clerk' (Mr. "J V R. Palmer) forwarded the following letter to the Minister .'in charge; bf tho ' Harbours Amendment Bill (the Hon. F. :.. M.i'B.; Fisher);'—.-. -'' ,: 'f'" v." ' ;■ T-.?,'Clausals of this Bill (Harbours •'Amendment) limits; the .expenses chargeable by a local authority carrying out an election of members of a' Harbour ; Board simultaneously with their own election to lOper cent.'.of the total cost .-■, of the'election, and the," payment;of;advertising and'printing:'expenses,and : a proportionate part of. the;cost of the ■printing of the roll. So far as the larger ; cities are concerned this is absolutely inadequate. The last election in Wellington irrespective :'of.' advertising.' and . printing .e*penses'.(which :'are'-' always charged at cost) cost in' round figures £654. ■ 'Twonty-ixy.e. per cent, or onequarter; of tliis 'amcmrit, ,"£163, .waa charged to'the Harbour Board, as being the nearest, possible approximation to the additional cost vim-dived in carrying out the board's election. "The Har, - hour-Board.objected, to the charge and referred! it'to the .Auditor-General as ■arbitrator'''(as provided in the' Harbours ■ Amendment Act, 1910). The Auditor- . General, after taking the'evidence of the city officials, the sunt;of £145. Now, had the proposed Bill abovo referred to been in force, the amoiint recoverable ■' by the Wellington - City Council woiild have been limited to £45, Erid.the corporation, would have'been ' saddled with a larger portion of the cost - of the.election tha?-. the Harbour Board ' itself.', The charge of. one-quarter 'of the total election expenses was made after the most careful scrutiny and does not cover the whole cost, but was adopted, as tho best approximation thereof, and I am instructed to convey to you the Wellington City' Council's most emphatic protest against the claims limiting the expense to .10 per cent., and to request that the words, 'twenty-five per cent.,' be substituted", therefor, or that tho whole clause bb remodelled to permit i- of tho hoard carrying out its own election. For your information I ■would also point out that the amount claimed from ..the''Harbour Board' in 'Auckland is'£l47, the amount actually paid' in Christchurcb £292, and in Dunedin^JCl7s.;; In reach "case the additional cost- involved-is estimated at from 20 to 25"per cent., and it is obvious that a considerable extra burden would have r been placed upon the ratepayers had the 10 per cent, limit been in force. Trustinf to your' earnest consideration with a view of amendment in,the direction indicated.— (Signed) Jno. R. Palmer, Town Clerk."- ■■■.■.', NoC-only-has 1 this action been taken, hut the Town Clerk- has appealed to • every local member of Parliament in the matter, and the Citv Councils of tho four principal centres-have been-asked to make a similar protest and a.-request to'their-members of-Parliameht to uphold the same when the Bill comes before -the House. ■ ■ , Coughing, is bad«'fpr,'baby!-,. .'A few drops of "NAZOL" .'sprinkled "oh the nightgown: will,soothe and ease the little 1 ime';;; Always have" a bottle in the house, ■' 60 doses for Is. 6dy-Advt.