CORRESPONDENCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 438, 6 October 1908, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

We do not hold ourselves rasponsi ble fo opinions expressed by our correspondents.

[to the editor.]

Sir, —So that the public may know the true position of the Harbour Board Bill at present, I will take your leader of Saturday and deal with the different points in it: —(1) Cabinet’s offer of “ guilty ” on the part of several Governments for the past 30 years have been illegally taking our harbour revenues and diverting them into other sources and contrary to act of Parliament. It will not be passed down to posterity that the writer had anything to do with selling the birthright of the district for such a mean sum : (2) So far as accepting for the sake of getting half-way up the hill, if, by taking the amount offered, you could not carry on you would then stick on half-way, with a good chance of running back and smashing up at the bottom. opinion is .noL-beld ,UgJ5«majority oifThe promoters. What the majority will take is a for 30 years, and in diffidence to their .wish I agreed to accept the latter amount. "4) The fact of taking any sum offered is confirming the right of the Government to carry on as they are. (5) We are in a different position to any other Boards, as they have no Acts of Parliament at their back as we have. (6) We are in the position, now that the whole thing has narrowed itself down to the wharfages, our main anticipated income, and the main income of all harbours. I don’t think, sir, that you can tell your readers another instance where the same state of things exist as regards harbour funds in any part of the world other than our great and glorious Dominion, and if we keep our back up, we too, will soon come into line with the rest of the world. —Yours etc., P. Hennessy.

[The compromise mentioned by Mr Hennessy was a private suggestion of his own to Mr Stevens. We have no doubt that the majority of the promoters would be prepared to accept ,£ISOO for a term of 30 years, provided the other party to the agreement was agreeable ; we are also certain that the promoters would not allow the Bill to be dropped if they could not get all that they asked for. Justice and the law in this case are at variance and we still maintain that half a loaf is better than no bread. Further it will be for a majority of those interested to decide whether the compromise will be accepted or not. But until a definite reply is received trom Mr Stevens nothing further can be done. The passage of the Bill this session is, however, very remote. — Ed. H.J