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The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1903. THE NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR.

Ax the laat meeting of the Stratford County Council a discussion took place regarding the proposed Harbour Loan • Bill. In th« course of the discussion, most of the members of the -Council spoke against the Bill, bat Mr Q. A. Marchant, who spoke in favour of it, made some remarks which are wor.hy the consideration of every ratepayer. It must be remembered that Mr Marchant is himself a large ratepayer, and liv«s in the Cardiff district, some seven miles from Stratford. He probably , knows Taranaki as well, if not better, than anyone, and has always been a representative man, having sat on a number of local bodies, including the Stratford County Council (of which he was Chairman for several years) and the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. In addition to this he sat as the member for Taranaki for three years in the House of Representatives, and was for some years a member of the Harbour ' Board. It will ba admitted, therefore, that he speaks with authority, and , his opinions are worthy the oare- . ful consideration of his fellow settlers, Speaking to a motion adverse to the Harbour Loan Bill, Mr ' Marchant said, " he had not wanted to say anything on this matter, as he considered the business had been brought forward in an informal manner, but as the question had come up, he supposed he had a right to give his opinion, which was not in accord with the motion. He happened to be one who 1 had always been a well-wisher of the, harbour, and looked forward to the day when direct steamer? would take our produce to the Home markets and bring baok to New Plymouth all that we needed to import from the Old Country. The question that arose in bis mind was, how much should we pay for this undoubted advantage ? In his opinion it was worth a great deal, and a great deal more than settlers were now asked to contribute. He did not agree with those who said they got nothing back for the money they paid annually in rates. Of course, he did not like paying the harbour rate, any more than anyone else did, but he recognised that the existence of the harbour hai cheapened the cost of freight, by means of the competition which had sprung up between the different ports, He had heard it remarked that the Board was not borrowing enough money to make a good harbour at Moturoa. All he could say in answer to that was that the opinions of Messrs Napier Bell and Marchant, two of the colony's best engineers, were that the requisite improvements could be carried out for that sum. As to whether it was practicable to raise the money now, or whether this was the best time to appeal to the ratepayers, he had his own opinion. He considered there were technical difficulties in the way of doing anything of the sort until the present rate had expired. Soma people thought the harbour rate would cease when the present term expired. That was not so, as the Board would again have to borrow. But what objeotion could there be to submitting the loan proposals to the ratepayers? Why should anyone fear to trust the people concerned ? Why not plaoe the proposals before the ratepayers ? It was hide-bound conservatism to hold from ' the people the right to express an opinion on such a yjtal point to the whole of the ratepayers, After again stating his opiniou that this was not routiM biwniff, Mr Merchant wid

he marvelled that such pains were being taken to prevent ibo ratepayers expressing an opinion on t;ha nutter."

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19030824.2.7

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 189, 24 August 1903, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
621

The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1903. THE NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR. Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 189, 24 August 1903, Page 2

The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1903. THE NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR. Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 189, 24 August 1903, Page 2

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