COST OF THE THAMES HARBOUR.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4555, 24 April 1923, Page 3

COST OF THE THAMES HARBOUR.

SCHEME TO RATEPAYERS* AN INFINITESIMAL AMOUNT. Although it is extremely unlikely that any additional rate will ever have to be collected to pay for the proposed Loan of £60,000 —the experience of the New Plymouth and Wanganui and other boards bears this out —it is just as well to consider possibilities, and for that reason we shall see what the actual cost to the various districts would be. The security of Interest and Sinking Fund would be a Special Rate over the several districts comprising the Thames Harbour District, according to the following schedule t— Thames Borough,, a rate of 26/10) of a penny in the £. Paeroa Borough, a rate of 1/40 of a penny in the £. Waihi Borough, a rate of 1/40 of a penny in the £. Te Aroha Borough, a rate of 1/10 of a penny in the £. ' Morrinsville a rate of 1/80 of a penny in the £. Matamata Town District, a rate of 1/80 of a penny in the £. Thames County, a rate ol 16/75 of a penny in the £. Hauraki Plains County, a rate of 4/25 of a penny in the £. Ohinemuri County, a rate of 11/100 of a penny in the £. Piako County, a rate of 7/100 of a penny in the £. . Matamata County, a rate of 3/55 of a penny in the £. . Turua Town District, a rate of 4/25 of a penny in the £. On the Capital Value of all rateable property within the several districts mentioned in the said schedule. It is proposed to pay out of ’-he Loan the costs of raising the loan, the first year’s interest, and charges of and incidental to the Engineer’s report. The actual amount of liability on the various county districts would be infinitesimal, as the following calculation will show. . , If it WERE found necessary to collect the FULL AMOUNT OF THE RATE PAEROA BOROUGH would be liable for £3B ! TE AROHA BOROUGH £32! MORRINSVILLE BOROUGH £27! MATAMATA TOWN-DISTRICT £2l! and so on. It will be clearly seen that the liability is—to put it very mildly—a negligible one. Consider the facts', then. An improved harbour at Thames is going to mean a huge saving in charges on imported goods—it will also make possible direct shipment of the produce of the vast Hauraki Plains area to overseas markets. New Plymouth, Wanganui, and other smaller ports are now shipping produce destined for. overseas markets direct. Then why not Thames ? The experience of the Thames Valley Electric Power Board in effecting a huge saving by landing poles direct is evidence enough that a substantial saving would be effected on all imports. • f Farmers would benefit considerably through the importation of manures, and many other lines which really MUST be imported. It has been stated that overseas vessels would not call at Thames for small shipments.. The answer to this is given in the reports received from other harbours which state as follow: Overseas vessels call at New. Plymouth for 300 tons Nelson for 400 tons Napier for 402 tons ' Picton for 500 tons Timaru for 500 tons Oamaru for 750 tons All this is the latest documentary evidence direct from the officials of the ports named. There is EVERYTHING to be said for the Harbour Scheme and nothing to be said against it! Are you in favour of progress or stagnation ? Are you in favour of allowing the port of Auckland to continue to exact toll in transhipment charges, etc., on your produce, or are you going to benefit yourself by voting for the Scheme 1 VOTE RIGHT ON THE 26th.