THE WAITARA HARBOR BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 61, 13 December 1907, Page 3

THE WAITARA HARBOR BILL.

Ml{. W. T. JENNINGS, ENTERTAINED. The pacing of the Waitara Harbour Bill caused iml>omuled satisfaction in Waitara and district, and the residents decided to fittingly recognise the services given by Mr, \Y. T. Jennings, M.P. for the district, who piloted the measure through Parliament. A banquet on a large and bounteous scale wad or-

ganised, but as Parliament was still sil ting, l[r. Jennings was unable to al

tend, and the function was postponed The old adage that postponed function become shorn of some measure of success was borne out on this occasion. The

weather was unpropitious, and in the lime that Ims elapsed since the passing i'f the measure public enthusiasm has, "f course, sobered down. Nevertheless, ' here was a gathering of about fifty reresentative gentlemen at St. John'.-, all on Wednesday night, when a smoke mcert wan held to celebrate the vie lory. Mr. W. I-'. Jenkins, Mayor ol

V'*aitara, presided. Oil his right were ited the guest of the evening and ..tessrs. Walter Symcs and C. E. Major,

MVt.P. for I'iitca and llawera respectively. On his left were .Messrs. (i. 11. Stubbs (Chairman of the Waitara Harbour Board) and ■!. W. Foreman (member of the Harbour Board), and Mr. A. W. Ogle, a constant worker iu the movement that ended in the passim' of the Bill.

Apologies were received from Sir ■liweph Ward, the Premier; lion. ,1. A. Millar, .Minister of Marine; Hon. .las. Carroll, Minister for Native Affairs: Hon. T. Thomson, Hon. Louissun, Hon. Cillen, Hon. Jenkinsmi, Hon. Bahlev, lluii. I.uke, and others, ami the following members of Parliament: Messrs. llog.in, Remington, Hone llcke, Ngata. Poland, Creeuslade , Graham, Ross. Hornsby, Whitty, and Dillon: Messrs. C. Tate, H. D. Matthews, and H. E. Vaughin. "I'iie King" was honoured, to the strains of the National Anthem. , -Air. Grimstone then proposed "The Arinv and Navy." Captain Cameron responded. Mr. Wilkes responded on behalf of the Army. Mr. W. F. Newbery proposed "Local Bodies." After referring to the Waitara Borough ( uncil, he stated that Waitara should i • very pleased at the removal of the ii ustice from which it had suffered so ldj:<;. Waitara was reputed to have be. a asleep for years past, but he thought those at the helm of public affairs nad expended tlieit innus judiciously. Hie town had been down, and kept down, but the Borough Council's recent Work and policy had re.noved the stiguia that the town had been asleep. Keierriug Lo tile Waitara Harbour hoard, he mentioned the self-oaci-ince of the chairman and members m pushing the Waitara Harbour Bill through, it had been no child's play. was particularly fortunate that Mr. Jennings was a member of tlie Board, lor he had thus been fully conversant with the harbour and its requirements, tne Board was to be congratulated upon Having removed the liigntmare or octopus that had kept the district down tor so many years. <dte eulogised the work of tne Ciiliuii County Council, winch had to work on very little lunds. U aitara » outlouk was a very bright one. lliey meant to go ahead. Aothing wouid si on thein, not even the eioijuem stoue-walimg of the Hon. .\lr. Samuel.

iiie toast was responded to by ill'. Jenkins (for the Waitara borough), ill - , (j. 11. Stubbs (chairman of the Harbour Board), and ilr. J. W. Foreman (chairman of the Clifton Couutv Council J. .Mr. Stubbs said that Waitara was undoubtedly tiio natural outlet of the province, and had proved a very useful jiort to the farmers, ilr. Foreman remarked that though money was scarce, unfortunately labour was •still scarcer, lie thought that much beitelit would luive been conferred oil •local bodies had the Government passeii uiu ilodcl By-law's Bill, lie knew ol a local body that had spent j;UMI oI■CTUU in endeavouring to irame by-laws that would "hold water." He concluded by remarking that, generally speaking, members of local bodies got little thanks for the work they did. ilr. \\ ilkes proposed "The Parliament of -New Zealand."

ilr. Symen, iI.P., in responding, men- ■ Honed the ilodel By-laws Bill, and said the cause of its non-appearance in the House last session was the absence of the -Minister for Public Works (Hon. Win. Jlall-Jones) from the colony. The lanuiaki members had done their beet to have the measure brought on. He,; referred to the good work done by the i'aranaki members, who bad all till recently been on the Government side of the House.

•Mr. K. Major. M.P, compared the 1 arliament of New Zealand favourably | with others in the Kmpire, and said New Zealand s advanced legislation was known the world over. It wao quite common for some people to nialce Parliament a scapegoat for any supposed wrong-doing. liut Parliament was generally right, though, being human, it erred sometimes. But the Xew Zealand Parliament had made very few serious mistakes. The work of members of Parliament iu Xew Zealand had increased twofold iu the past six years, lie considered triennial Parliaments were a mistake. The time should hi much longer. Half the first session was lost, the second was a business one, and the third a mad scramble. This matter would probably be discussed during the next session. He referred to tlie great taet, discrimination, and assiduous labour on the part of Mr. Jennings, which had resulted in the passing of this Bill. But for him, Waitara would "till have been tied to the heels of Xew Plymouth. There had been tremendous j opposition, and vested interests and the power of money had bad to be

ought. But it was a fact accomplisi (1, ami Waitara was delivered from it hraldom. He referred to the skil liown by the Hon. Oliver Samuel ii pposing the Bill. The Chairman proposed the toast o lie evening, "Our Guest.'' They al new, lie said, what Mr. Jennings hat one for the district, fighting for then ImHijrh lliiek anil tliin. His friends ii he Waitara district had subscribed nd asked him to present Mr. Jenningi rith a memento of the passing of tin !ill. He then handed to the guest .1 cry fine gold watch and chain, on til* afch being inscribed, "Presented tt \. T. Jennings, Esq., M.l'., by residents f the Waitara Harbour District, ii: rinnnemoration of the passing of tin Sahara Harbour Bill." The toast was drunk amidst great nthusiasm. cheers being gievn for Mr. ennings. Mrs. Jennings, and the ''little ennings." Mr. A. W. Ogle then. 011 behalf of thr [aorin in the district, asked Mr. Jenings to accept a pin pin (or flax mat), here was attached to the garment a story, the Maoris alleging that the rent fighting chief, Titokowaru. had •urn a similar one when lie wished to rouse the fighting spirit. He sugc<tcd that on any future occasion when !r. Jennings wanted to fight a Bill Ii rough he could wear this pin pin laughter). The Maoris, through Mr. Walter Williams, had taken this"method 1' showing their keen appreciation of Ir. .lemmings' fight 011 behalf of the istrict. Mr. Jennings, AT.TV. who wns greeted ith cheers and continued applause, aid it would be idle for him to say— Iter having sat there so long and liscued to the kind remarks of his friends that be wan not much moved. Years f Parliamentary life had the effect of endering men more or less callous, but ie could see that, an air of sincerity nTvnded this gathering. He had re■rotted bis inability, owing to the busiess of the House, to attend on the lie originally fixed. Right at the outset ■ desired to express to'the local gentlelien his appreciation of their services, or without them he could not have ac"inplished anything. Of course, be lad been more in the zone of the fire han they, but the passing of the Waiara Harbour Bill had been greatly due 0 the efforts of Messrs. Stubbs,'Ogle, ■'orcman, Vaughan. Croll, and Tline'. 1 ho had so ably backed him up when he 'ail at limits felt down-hearted anil not 00 sanguine. He also acknowledged nvaluable assistance from the nd every Minister of the frown, his aranaki colleagues, and other staunch importers of the Bill. This Waitara larbour Bill had had more criticism nd opposition levelled at it than any 'flier local Bill ever introduced in the iew Zealand Parliament. It had been ton 011 its merits. It was a just Bill, nd 11 fair one. without a dishonourable lause in it. Based on equity and jusice, he had been able confidently to sk his friends to help him. lie llidu't rant to rake up any acrimonious feci - but it would be peculiar if he made »> reply to tlie questionable methods 'sed in opposing the Bill. The whole osition was that North Taranaki hail lot been fairly treated in the matter f liarliour rating. With its own natural arliour. it was'unfair thai if. should a\e been penalised |,y |]iq imposition f the New Plymouth harbour rule, hat lav had lieen borne for nearly cars, lint with that incubus off. there i'a-< now a very bright future for the istrict. They had got rid of that iad anil responsibility honourably and airly. The opening up of native' lands '•as going to benefit Waitara coiisiderbly. It was now Waitara'a turn. Sir

Joseph Ward luul remarked that when 0110 part of a district was prospering, other parts were benefited. There was an idea prevalent, however, among certain people in New Plymouth that that town was the huh of tho. universe, and wore envious of the progress of neighbouring towns. But those people would have to recognise that other parts of (he district had a right to live. It had lieon extraordinary, he said, tlmt every clause in the Bill had teen opposed, showing that the opponents were not opposing the vating proposal, but were designing an injury to the Waitara district. It was apparent that Waitara was going ahead. There were line new buildings, and the country was opening up. Hope was ahead, prosperity assured. He thanked thciu very deeply for t!ie handsome present from the settlers—ever to be treasured by him as a souvenir and a memento of a groat occasion. It would recall a great light—for it win no use belittling it. lie had felt downhearted now and again, when he thought of the possibility of the elTorfs of one or two men negativing the will of the House of Representatives. In that ease, what was the use of the representative chamber? However, that had been satisfactorily settled. In again returning thanks, ho hoped that An long as ho represented Xorth Taranaki the prosperity would be greater than ever. Mr. Jennings resumed his seat amidst applause, and "lie's a Jolly Hood Fellow" was again sung. Mr M. Town.send proposed "The Waitara Harbour District," and said that Waitara had lor long enough been treated as a step-child of New Plymouth, but now that emancipation had come, he trusted that all ill-feeling would be slink. In replying, Mr. .Hiihbs suggested that the Corernmcut should bear part of the cost of re-erecting the Waitara bridge, which was of both town and provincial importance. The conditions iif leasing t'" Board's endowments i-ould also l»e improved. He made eulo-.ri.-iie reference to the services rendered >y lion. t'. Louisson, Chairman of Committees in the Upper House. (Three .'heers were given for Hon. Mr. Louisson.) Messrs. Foreman and Ogle also responded, Sir. Ogle announcing that it was intended to present Hon. C. Louisson with an inscribed gold sovereign case.

The oilier toast were:—''Local Trade [Hi Commerce," proposed by Mr. I)o\v--'It, responded to by .Messrs. Grim.one and lieckbestsinger; "Absent rieuds," proposer ill'. Oyle; "Agrieul-

liii-.il interests," proposer Mr. 11. 11. l'igott, response by. Messrs. J. Hine, junr., and C. 11. Uaustad; "The Ladies," proposer Mr. W. T. Joll, response by Messrs. C. .Matthews and L. 11. Sampson; "The Press," proposer Mr. Stott, response reporters present; "The Chair-

man and Secretary," proposer iMr. Stott, response by Messrs. Jenkins and Buchanan; "Contributors to the Enjoyment' and "I he Caterer," proposed by tiie chairman.

Songs were contributed by Mesars. Bcckbessinger, Farmer, Dowsett, How. Wilkes, Townseml, Lang, J. George, and \Y. F. Jenkins; recitations by Messrs. Farmer and Joll.

The catering was excellently carried out by Mr. \Y. Young, of the Waitara Hotel. Mr. 11. Heard, of New Plymouth, was the pianist, and played the accompaniments during the evening.