The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1907.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2001, 9 February 1907, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1907.

There appears to he a great deal of misconception as to the actual position of the Harbor Board (when its ranks are filled by the coming election) in regard to the outer harbour question. It would seem from the uterances of some that the Board can go right ahead with the construction as soon as the Engineer’s report is submitted, and that the election of a member for or against really means the final pronouncement of the ratepayers in regard to it. Our correspondent, Mr. Howard Kenway, appears to argue in this strain when he asks, “Where is the sense or reason in rushing for the new proposal in such a hurried and thoughtless manner?” And he further asks, Where is the advantage to be gained ? To this wo simply reply that if the Board as newly constituted thinks fit to take the necessary preliminary steps there is a space of about a couple of years to be gained in the realisation of the completed scheme, assuming that the ra tepnvers sanction the work when the matter has to be placed before them at a later stage, and that, we take it, is worth considering. On the other hand, if an adverse Board is elected it is plain that nothing will be done, and the ratepayers who ought to have the opportunity to decide the matter on a straight-out issue irrespective of ,_the personality of the candidates will be denied that opportunity. The question therefore which Mr. Gray should answer Is whether he is in favor of those preliminary steps being taken to test the feeling of the ratepayers when that can be done upon definite data, for that is all that the Board can do in the meantime. As our correspondent points out, the attitude of Mr. Gray as a ratepayer is perfectly consistent with common sense; but as a member of the Board, should 1 e be elected, lie ought to represent the views, not of himself ,but of a majority of his constituents, and how are those yiews to be ascertained except on a straight out issue? When that issue is being fought out the details of the scheme will be before the ratepayers, its cost, its advantages and disadvantages, and he in common with every member of the Board will have the right to cast their votes as ratepayers, and the casting of Mr. Gray’s vote then on the lines indicated by him will, it may be hoped, act as a worthy ex-

ample for all other ratepayers to follow, for the one who oasts his vote in favor of tlio scheme without satisfying himself that it will not “result in an increase of port charges and a greater burdon on the ratepayers” without a fairly certain quid pro quo for tlio outlay, will not, in our opinion, ho casting his vote ns ho ought to. But will that ho tlio result? Our correspondent appears to bo convinced that it will in the, face of the examples that wo have given to the contrary, boeanso Napier has made a fatal mistake as Gisborne has already done by starting their works on the wrong sites. Oaniani did the same, and they are all partial failures; but Tiinaru made no serious errors and has succeeded in opposition to greater difficulties than any of them, oxcept perhaps Napier, had to contond against. But is it common senso or logic to say that because mistakes have once occurred that they must ho, or ought to ho, repeated ? Wo know for a cortainty what the possibilities are if wo mako no sorious mistakes, and common senso therefore suggests that the propor tiling to do is to proceed on thoso safe linos. If, thou, as our correspondent indicates, ho has no confidence in the personnel of the Board to carry out such a great scheme—one that requires the keenest' business instinct and some knowledge of tlio details —by all means change the personnel and place the management in tlio hands of the host membors obtainable. But this again is a matter for tho ratepayers to decide, and it must not ho assumed at tliis stage that they will not do what is best for themselves. The moment Mr. Gray indicates that he is in favor of placing the matter before tlio ratepayers in the form of a concrete proposal to proceed with tlio work, backed up by all the available data, and that at tho earliest possible mo-, mont, wo will bq only too delighted to afford him all tho assistance in our power to gain a seat on the Board, recognising and appreciating as wo do his excellent qualities as a public man. This lie can do with perfect consistency ,and still retain his conscientious individual opinion on the question. In regard to the increase of port charges alleged to bo a result of the scheme being adopted, which Mr. Kenway would like to inf ore that we have “tacitly admitted,” we can only say that wo cannot find any such admissions in anything we have written on the question. However, there will be plenty of time to argue that phase of the subject when the ratepayers come to consider the adoption of the scheme, and we have taken steps to ascertain the exact position in other places where similar- experiments have been tried, and when that information is to hand it will bo stated fairly and fully, and without the prejudice which some writers are so fond of importing into their discussions.