A NATIONAL PORT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 4, 30 September 1920, Page 6

A NATIONAL PORT

r ■■■■■' WESTPORT HARBOUR BILL SECOND READING DEBATE : The Prime Minister yesterday after- ; : noon moved the second, reading of the tWcstporfc Harbour Bill, which empowers i the Government to take over tho harbour i of Westport, with all its assets and liatilities, as a national port. | i ; Mr. Massey said that the inability of the Westport Harbour Board to meet r its liabilities made neccssary the step that the' Government proposed in the Bill. He would have been very pleased j; had there been any other way out, but i ■ he was afraid that no such way wa3 - to be. found. The trouble was that the ! revenue of the t>oard was dependent upon ' the output of coal, which had decreased j- in six years from 739,628 tons to 4fi4,29Ji >' tons, with a resultant fall in revenue of S:; ; W33,272.\ Mr. Massey mentioned the ways. 'V in which the Government had already J: tad to come to the assistance cf the : Jxiard, but he made'it clear that the - ' Bill should not be taken to cast any !■"■ ' reflection on the present board, or any [ of tho boards that had preceded it. The , board bad not been able to carry out accessary works, and-the result was that h the harbour was not now in nearly so good a condition as it had been in about two year's ago. . ' The leader of the Opposition (tho Hon. fT. M. Wilford) observed that nearly all js- the debts, of the board were owing to the .'■■■ Government, and that consequently the '■ Government would not have to find very r jnuoh money to take over the liabilities. ' Mr. Massey replied that if the money • ipaa owing to the of the couni try it was the fluty of Hie Government fej see; that the taxpayers did not lose l the money. • ~, , Mr. Wilford said he believed that very • 1m ge sums of money were at present , f thrown away" through lack of Gov©rionent supervision of the expenditure of money by harbour boards. He wished - the Minister to tell the House whether i" the Cabinet resolution favouring tho Appointment of a first-class marine enEineer to odviss harbour boards was to , be carried into effect. Mr. H. E. Holland (Buller) opposed the *" [Bill The Government, lie said, had by the Finance Act of 1915 interfered with . the endowments granted the board under ■ the Act of 1884; and this interference had caused the present embarrassment • of tho lycard. The board would not adinit r ■ that imposition was liopelcss. It claimi., ed'that it had been unjustly treated by : the Government. The Government had taken from the endowments £66,97<, had f . lent the board ,£30,000, and had .guaranteed an overdraft cf .£15,000, leaving still ■ 'JE2I 977 that should stand to the boards ; credit.*' The board could quite well carry : On, provided tbat the .Government re- ■ .pealed" section 109 cf the Finance Act, 3915. This section deprived the board I of revenue to which'it was entitled, the i' vast majority of the Buller people fa* f . toured the retentidn of local control. ■' ' Sir William Herries (Minister of -Marine) denied that the board had been dewived of moneys it should have hail. ; The Government knew perfectly well that the beard could not cany on. The tjort was ebatcd to he silting up at tho ! present moment. The maintenance of ! tho liarbour was a matter affecting tlio Empire, so important was it that to ' supply of Westport coal should continup to be available for the use of tho Navyi ' 'In the course of the debate, which !- extended well into the evening, several ; members urged that the Government i should not endeavour to have the Bill ■■ finally dealt with before tho petition ; presented by the people of A\ostport had been considered. Some of Hie opponents of the measure considered that it .conflicted with the general right.of the 1 ipeople to local self-government > Mr.' Massey, in reply, said the boveminent was not anxious to tnlee ovei ' Westpoit harbour, but he believed the change would be a good one for tho S port and for the Dominion. He did : not intend to proceed beyong the second reading of tho Bill until a petition from Westport had been consider- : fed. Ho knew of no endowments that ' had been taken from the Harbour Board. The financial troubles of the board had been due to reduced proluc- : tion of coal, and he did not despair of >' seeing the position improve. The second reading of the Bill wa9 t tarried by 55 votes to 6. j IMMIGRATIONRESTRICTION BILL POSITION OF THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. The Immigration Restriction Bill was yesterday considered in committee _by , the tipper House. None but technical nmendinonts were mado in the measure. The Bill was Tead a third timo and f passed. . , When the lower House was invited by the Prime Minister to agree to the amendment made by tho Legislative Council, Mr. H. E. Holland (Builor) asked wh'other anything had been dono to meet tho difficulty in which members of the Society of Friends were placed through the operation of the clauses requiring British people, coming to New Zealand from other parts of the Empire to take the oath of allegiance or to make &n affirmation/ in lieu thereof. Mr Massev said that the amendments did not affect that point at all. ft was intended to have a regulation 1 made providing that the people in ques- ! tion might make a statutory declaration in place of an oath oi* affirmation. The : declaration was a milder form of aihrm- ! nt Mr.'-Holljand asked-whether the Prime STinisUr-- would agree ;to get into touch wHlf- tno. (people concerned, and en- : Ideavour to make an arrangement that • frould moot their conscientious scruples. Mr. Massey said that he would be ' nulto agreeable, if tho hon, gentleman would furnish hini with tho necessary ' addresses. ' The amenclmente were agreed lo mtnjpvit further disottwion.