HARBOR BOARD.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 700, 14 June 1878, Page 2

HARBOR BOARD.

A special meeting of tho .Moard was held this morning, at the Harbor Chambers. Thoro were present—Messrs. Sumpter (Chairman), Steward, Lemon, ?>leek, Menlove, and Borrie. A minute of a meeting of the Standing Committee was road, at which it was decided not to send the deputation to Mr. Conyers at present,- but yq pall a special miKifiiig of the Board to consider the following letter from Sir. Conyers : Commissioner of Kaihvavs Office, Christchureh, f.th .lime-, 1573. Sir.--I be; to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the -lih ins!., e- l»«!>'iii.rn i-py of a iwnlmir.r, ;>a-s<d li'.- the Harbor Hoard, at a, iimetiiiy held on thu above date. '.'.'■;;!. reran! !o that part of the resoiui!.-.!), " The ii:i]|v.-.<v';Vii:i:ini'."!il has v» loii!.".ir to pay haula-.-:hei, paid to iU:~,r-. \Vai!;«m «i.ij~ Iv.'.ii.h'h,- ! do i.ot quite l"ldcl'siaild :his. MS lilt' Department licVOl' dis:,n M'i! ii'ivsum on this account to .Messrs. Walkcm •Ul.l l'e-m'an. In res-eet of the all fired larirc profit, I feav the Hoard inn.? liavo liecn "misinformed, as the total rceciots on the Isrc.ilcv.Mtcr line for the live mnnth-i-ialin- -Ist nit. amount to onlv ur.lo, an 1 tile ex-i;(--i.:ili:n: ti I.l'ii' 1 , thus irivint,' an average not revenue i.i UViS ]>v. «!.nou!,Vhich btt.'t is the onlv si.'-u I'LVailiilili. p.r pnyim-iit f."f interest on'ci.,t of l-uil-iii.: stock, and providiiij,' for wear and tour, &c. "The.average number of wagons in use on the lino is ::r. : thus-, \yit-h the locomotive, cost L-i2.ni>'), so that tokimr intenHl. repairs, and sinkim? fund for renewals on this amount, you will iind the profits nil. Tiie first Hem.'merchandise, nlaccd a; two .shilling's (i's.) per toil I consider very lew, as two handling. use of wagons, haulage, use of foods shed, and all the risk for i'.Si' or iliuiiayc to jfouds have to he taken into consideration, Toe (.'o'.L'i-niiient terminal charges for grain and merchandise are higher. Items second and third: These I consider moderate. Wool is, 1 think, a fair rate. S.iwn Timlier.—[ am prepared to recommend a reduction from Hvepenee to fourpenee ]>er liutidred feel.' Returned Kmptk-s.—The rate stems hh>h. I would recommend a reduction to one-half. |n tnkinir this question into consideration, I would 1.e.; to' tiult tiie Izard's attention to the fact that all through yoods, Ifoth in and out, are now being l.'okeilat through rates, whils, until very recently, ihe lorcjroinjr charges were added to all goods tarried • m the JJrcakwatcr line.— l am, fee, Wm. Conyers, Commissioner of Railways, M.I. Thos. Forrester, Esq., Secretary, &c. It was resolved that the following reply should be forwarded to Mr. Conyers : Oarnara Ijfcrbour IjQatd, Qama'ru', StlV'June, IS?S. Sir,—-I have been directed to acknowledge the reccint of your latter o! date and number as per margin. i'have"to explain that the paragraph jeffcrrini" to WaJkem and Peyman was written by the framer of the resolution after a perusal of the correspondence between yourself and the Board, wherein the following: remark is made:—" For haulage only, Walkem and Peyman ask Is. per ton for their trucks (leaving: me only Ud.), or yd. per ton in trucks belonjrinjr to the Railway," vide V"!ir letter of the sth November, 1575. From this' it'was aatiu.-red that you based your original rates on the assuinpiibn that \Vai£em %ud feyman had to be paid a certain proportion' of the haulage rates, which would leave you as payment' for the . manipulation of general merebaudise what you ' deeniud to i>» to» small * reveni.e at la. bd.'per ton, ■

and i{ little or no payment was required to be made to Messrs. Walkem and Peyman, the arrangement must have been more profitable to the Railway department than if the Is. per ton had been paid te them. To show you that the proposed payment to Walkem and Peyman formed an important element in the fixing of your charges, I send you a copy o£ your letter from which the quotation is made. You will perceive that if it appears reasonable to engage to do the work at that time at the same rates as are now charged, with a comparative limited traffic, and burdened with such conditions as you refer to in your letter, it is not unreasonable te expect that with a jrreatly enlarged traffic and no unfavorable conditions, the earnings would amount to such a sum yearly as would enable you to make a considerable reduction in the rates. The members of the Board were prepared to find that your earnings on the line would amount to about 1..M624, but cannot understand how the expenditure can reach so large an amount as 82 per cent, of the gross proceeds—and with such data as the Board has been able to obtain cannot, even with milking very liberal allowance, make it exceed (50 per cent, of the earnings. The Board is of opinion that the work run be done at or under the above estimate; that a clear profit of Jji2oo should accrue at present rat-.-*, and that the public should participate iu such profits. There is a very strong public opinion current that tire railway tariff suiliiies the action of the Hoard in reducing the charges for landing and shipping, and the Board, as conservators of public interest in the matter, feel bound to have a reduction effected. To this end they have opened the present correspondence, and as you appear to be willing to consider the advisability of making some alterations, they direct me to state that, notwithstanding the representations in your letter contained, a very considerable reduction should, in the Hoard's upmi'on, be made upon the charges us at present existing. The Board, however, is wiiiing to accept :i smaller reduction on won) and general merchandise than on other items, and submits the enclosed as a tariff which, in its opinion, will be practicable and fair, in the hope that you will be able to see your war to advise its adoption. The Board thinks that, as the value of coals, minerals, grain, Hour, and other produce bears a small proportion as to the value of general '■' or--h:ui-diso. iuid require less labour and responsibility in handling, you should have no difficulty in recommending the reduction asked for. The suggested alteration in timber d cs not exceed that agreed to by the Hon. Mr. l/.irnacli. I am, -xi-., (iEOKGE Su.MITKR, Chairman. Win. Oonyers, Esq., Commissioner of Railways, Ul.ristchurch.

The Board then proceeded to draw up a revised tni-ifi' to ho submitted to the Commissioner <>f Railways, in accordance with tue above letter. Tin; items on which the Board suggested reductions w.jro coal and other minerals ; grain, Hour, aiui other produce ; and timber. A h/fter was also read from Mr. Gonyers with reference to a refusal of Mr. H. Aitkeii to pay L4(J 4s. on the ground that on tlin occasion of Mr. Larnaoh's visit to Oamaru in February last he had promised that the charge of 3d per 100 feet made for unslinging timber mi to the trucks at the wharf should be reduced to 1 Ad. Mi'. Conyei-s stated that no instructions had been reueived by him, and he was Therefore unable to authorise any reduction, and the General Manager bad been instructed to collect the full sum. The Board then ro?e.