THE NEW FERRY TOLLS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume III, Issue III, 21 December 1880, Page 3

THE NEW FERRY TOLLS.

MEETING Ob RATEPAYERS. A meeting of ratepayers was. held at the .Foxton Athenaeum on Friday eYaßiurg, at 8 o'clock, to consider the proposed new. scale of fen-y tolls. There was only a small attendance Mr T. Easton, Chairman of the Local Boaa'd, was voted to the chair, and * briefly opened the meeting. Mr Thynne moved the firat resolution. He said the action of those who promoted the meeting was not from opposition to those who had passed the new scale, hut because they thought a mistake had been made. The Ferry CommitteeMessrs Macarthnr,Linton, Rockstrow, and Sanson — was not composed of Councillors sufficiently interested in the ferries to decide wisely on the matter. The ferry tolls, as proposed, would be enormously high, and would damage the trade now being done between Otaki and Foxton. There was no reason for raising the tolls, as at present £800 per annum was paid for the lease of the Foxfcon Ferry. The revenue from this ferry had been steadily increasing for years past. Efe did not know if it would increase next year, but he thought £800 per annum was a good return on what the Council had laid out on the ferry. I?he original cost was borne by the Provincial Government, and when provincialism was abolished it was left to the districts to provide tho means of communication, but he * thought the County Council ought not to try to make the means of communication sources of revenue. Instead of increasing the ferry tolls at * Foxton they might have decreased them. He knew the Council had been put to great expense during the last j'ear or two in con- ' nection with the bridges and other worlii at Oroua, Awaburi and the Lower Gorge , ferry, but although spending money there they had gained valuable ferry reserves, winch would continue to increase in value. It would not be fair to make the settlers pay ipvthe improvements .they had effected' upon these reserves. Yet he held the new tolls would be the means of making the settlors pay for the County acquiring valuable ferry reserves at Foxton and the Lower Gorge. The people of Foxton were entitled to more consideration than hod been shown to them in this matter. He would refer more particularly to the Foxton ferry. The Palmerston people were able to look after themselves, though he thought that as regards the Lower Gorge ferry * they had not been so energetic as, they were usually. II c held that easy 7, access to a toAvn by country settlors cssontiai to its progress, and the remark applied to femes as well as roads. They knew strong efforts had for a long time past been made to secure the Otaki trade to Foxton, and at last the efforts had succeeded. To encourage this trade even the present ferry tolls should be reduced, but under the new scale every man who could possibly do so would 30 to Wellington for his goods in preference to coming to Foxton. [Mr Coley — I really think you are right.] The agitation against the new scale was not the move of a few interested persons, but of those who looked into the future, and saw how essential it was to encourage trade if Foxton was to prosper. It had been pointed out to him by Mr Russell thot in the event of the town of Foxton being proclaimed a Borough, and the ferry being handed over to the new body, the County would have put it out of the power of the Borough Council to lower the tolls until the seven years' had expired. Then, again, the Council had recently gont to great expense in erecting leads, &c, for crossing cattle at Foxton, but the new rates would render this expense useless, ma the butchers would certainly cross their cattle at the mouth if the new (scale of charges was decided upon. They found that in regard to postage, telegrams, or railways, the the rates the greater the business transacted, and the same rule 1 would apply to ferries. He then proceeded to domparo the old rates and the new, showing the advances. As td the term, he thought seven years too long to lease the ferries. According to the present rate the ferry would be worth J>7oo per annum in seven years, but he did not expect if tlie 7-yeois' lease were given, any more than the present value would be given for the whole period, he hoped that upon calm consideration the County representative s would agree an error had been made, and endeavour to get the tolls lowered. He would move the following resolution : —

That in the opin'on of this meet : ng nnv iricren.se in tho proseiit Ferry Tolls would deteriorate value of the ferry by rumpmiiji communication with the Southern Diatrictß, and would bo v serious obstacle to the pro grew and trade of Foxton. The meeting believes the fteveuuo received from the Ferry' would justify a red notion upon present tolls, ami requests its County Ite; prescntntives to tuko ar-tim ns will ourry out tho \ iewa expressed in this re^olu • tion. The resolution was seconded by Mr Coley, and earned unanimously. Mr Russell then moved ; That in view of the probable enrly settlemcntuQf thff HammhiiiaiL,».id>Dg,i4j^propo9cd Teasing of Foxton Ferry for tho terra of aevt-ti yeura is calculated to serious lbh fo fhe C'oumy and more capecinlly* to jll^ttata^&JWs of Foxtpn, Towrf b*"pt<Wfititoe'd'a*Udroujj|h, and mis meeting wntM 'tUeto«o*tt-WB|'rfetf64l y^rfee itß Repreoentatives in thoCounoil to obtain

an nhiendmerit by which tho lease will hot bo for longer than three years. He -said the general question hnd been so well put- by Mr Thynne, tliafc he would not refer to it, except to say he believed that tho increased tolls would not increase the value of the ferry, as the Council expected, but rather decrease it. Speaking to the motion, those present knew the Crown waa in possession of .seventy or eighty thousand acres of land south of the Mauawatu river, and had liens wpou an even ]nrger •quantity. The inland road to Otaki would intersect most of this land, which would most certainly be thrown open for settlement dining the. next few years, and the settlers upon it must come to Foxton for thoir stores, and to do their business. Consequently the business at the ferry must increase. It would certainly never be less. He believed the Council would lose this prospective increased value, if a tender for seven years were- accepted, as the class of persons likely to tender would be almost certain to calculate upon what the ferry was now worth, not upon what it would be worth in two -or three years. The loss would perhaps not fall upon the County Council, as it was more than probable that during the next fow years Foxton would bo made a Borough. He believed it could even noAV claim that position if the residents were so disposed. But while the Local Board could not touch tho ferry, it would rightfully belong to a Borough Council, being within the boundaries of the borough. [Mr Rockstiow— The County wonld still retain it.]- He (the speaker) differed, and thought that while thci-e would be an apportionment of assets as between the Borough and the County, the ferry would go to. the former as a right in the same way as the duty of maintaining the county roads wonld fall to ii The object of tho Council in leasing for- seven years was to avoid the heavy cost; of advertising the conditions, but he believed thrft by leasing the Foxton ferry for only three years, a sum far in excess of the whole present cost of advertising the conditions would bo gained when the ferry was leased again at the end of the three 'years. He was present when tho matter was decided in the Council, and 'thought it was done hastily. The conditions, which were embodied in the report of the Committee, were laid on the table of the Council, and a short time afterwards the report was adopted. It would have been far better if the matter had been left over for a month, so that Councillors and the Press representatives could have looked into the new scale before it was decided oil.

Tho motion was seconded by Mr Thynne and earned unanimously. Mr Thynne then moved that copies of the above resolution;; bo sent to the County Chairman, the members for Awahon, and the member for Horowhenua. Jr. doing so, ho pointed out that tho people of Otaki had sent in a petition to the Council embodying tho ideas expressed in tho resolutions passed, and lie believed the Horowhenua member would strongly support the attempt to got the toll? lowered. The motion was duly seconded, and earned. In moving the customary vote of thanks to the Chairman, Mr Russell remarked that the smallness of the attendance was perhaps to be accounted for by tho hurricdmannorin which the meeting had been called. This was owing to the fact that tho Council sat on Monday, and would be the last chunte of getting the tolls, Arc, altered, as tenders were to be sent' in at the February meeting, and the Council would probably not mccfc during January. The whole of tho signatures to the requisition for the meeting to be called wore, however, obtained in a few minutes, and not one refusal was given, so that the feeling against the new tolls was » very general one. The vote of thanks was passed unanimously, and the meeting dispersed.