NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 96, 11 April 1908, Page 6

NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR BILL.

0 I AND TilE OH-XAKK UAHDOI'II UISTIUCT. A uu'ctiug called by Mr. x\. 11. Moure, of Opium ke, was livid in tin.' opunakv? 1 LiII on \\t'dui'silay. "to con-itler tlu i U|mnak<' Harbour Kill with a view tj endeavouring (u obtain relief for the vv.tst districts aIM), incidentally, the Opunakr Harbour I Jill.** There were about oil j>re.-enl, Mr. J). I, a member of Hie New Plymouth Harbour IJuaid. Mr. Dmllev, eluiirman of tlie Town Hoard, consented to preside after he had »'\|daijied that In- could not he identified with tin* object* of the mooting. He called upon tlie eonveiier to address Humecting. Mr. A. 11. Moore said that when a moot-in# wan held hy Mr. K. Maxwell, a member of the Now Plymouth liarhour Hoard, a few weeks back. a motion had bron oniried which, inter alia, asked the Opunake Harbour Jjill Committee ir> take certain step-. However, nothing had been done by it. ami therefore ho, as the mover of thai motion, took upon himself to call a meeting to ileal with the matter. (Applause.) Mr. Moore dwelt on the history and scope of the Now Plymouth Harbour Bill somowliat on the same linos as has previously been reported. Continuing, ho pointed out i that the New Plymouth Harbour Board j had power lo collect a rate to pay inter- I est, and also to provide for a sinking I fund. It had not carried out its powers ! to the full, and he contended that if it. had it would have wiped out the whole loan by this time. A large rate had , been called up for iutorest, but the Board had neglected the sinking fund, as it would have been a thorny question. He entirely disagreed with the present demand for a £300,0(10 loan, and recalled that when €75,000 was required in 1880 it was stated that that sum could wi bo done without. l*p to the present time tlie Board had got on without it. and was in an immeasurably superior position as regards funds to what it was in 1880. The proposed Bill contained what he considered were five admissions, viz.:— 1. That the Waitara district could be exempted. •2. That tlie Opunake town district could be exempted. That dill'orontial rating was fair. 4. That the rate would never be cojlected if the Bill became law. That." the revonuo of the Board was suHieient to pay interest on C:M)O,(HH». Continuing, the speaker said he understood that Waitara was l>eing allowed to go scot free l>eeause to bring them in would require two Bills. His opinion was that if six Bills were necessary Waitara should not be allowed to avoid its fair responsibilities. He had a suspicion that there was another reason, and he proceeded to give figures to show that the voting of the Waitara district would have a material ef/ect on the question as to whether a new loan was to be raised or not. Mr Hughes: I» it not one man one vote.

.Mr. Moore: You will find thai il 's uiie man one vote when llie Bill is law. Continuing, he considered that (lie town should object to bring cut out o! the operations of the Iliii. The residents should not lie prevented in this manner from giving assist-,nice and support to the ratepayers in the country .just outside. The amount of rate over the whole town district was only about -C.S, and for that amount they should nut l>e disfranchised. Then it was said tluit tlie rates would not be collected: well, -,urely to goodness if that was the case it decent area could be exempted to allow an Opunnke harbour district being formed. He suggested that the district was merely lieing kept fm' future loan purposes ami in order to prevent the advancement of the Opunake iiarhour. The New Plymouth party had estimated that the revenue of the port would pay the charges on the loan. If that were the case the exemption ot ,C 2,000,000 of an area for Opunake would not affect them at all. lie reckoned that the siiiknig fund suggestion was totally inadequate. He took it Ilia:, when land was sold for cash the Hoard's proportion was to be handed over to the sinking fund commissioners. But if all the O.K.P. and L.IjP. was sold the Board's proportion of 25 per cent, would reach about £145,000, with which to liquidate £300,0(11)! If C300,(||I() were given to New Plymouth 10 1 ridiculed the idea that that would he sullicicnl. N'ew Plymouth was not altogether antagonistic to Opunake. because il hoped that the latter would act as a feeder, and he pictured Mew Plymouth's dream ol a lleet of coasting vessels (with head quarters at New Plymouth) plying between Onehunga, Mokau. New Plymouth, Opunake. and l'atea. This would require repairing -heds. ironworks. etc., which would soon swallow un large loans. Conunuiii" to refer to

the actual amount of money required. I Mr. Moore said that Mr. Xapier Bell's I estimate of the works required was 1145,000, and of that half had lieen done at a cost of .£1)0,00(1. To showhow the loan proposals were bolstered up he stated that Mr. Connett reckoned 120,000 for a new dredge, while the engineer's estimate was £10,0(10. Mr. Marchant had recommended an eastern mole to cost £20,000, and he had no doubt but that a large sum would be spent, on that. If the Bill were los'. and £150,000 raised, there was absolutely no reason why a sinking fund should not be provided and the whole affair wiped right out. It would only make the rate one-third more, and even

then it would be exceedingly small, lie thought that several good schemes for that purpose could lie evolved. It was all ■•tommy-rot" to say that it could not be lixcd up in that wav. Turninsr to the voting power of the Board, Mr. Moore pointed out that the rcpre>cnl'ition at tlie present time was grossly unfair. The llawera ward with its

large valuation had only one member. He thought that aspect' should be readjusted. He did not know what action should be taken, but he presumed there was the necessary machinery, and with proper representation he felt sure that the Board of itself would kill the liill. Returning to the consideration of the Bill, the -peaker said it had alwavs been a ma Iter of wonder to him that Mr. .Maxwell, knowing the feelings of the ratepayers and the history of the whole question for the past sixteen years, should have allowed Mr. King to

take possession ol him. One would have thought that More binding himself Mr. Maxwell would have called meeting- and consulted the ratepayers, and not committed them to a long Struggle t<, defeat the object of the llilh (Applause.) At tile la*t meeting of the Hoard a re-olulion was passed at the instigation id' Mr. .Maxwell to the effect 1 hat the Bill would Ik- withdraw nil altered in any vital point. Mr. Moore -ugce-ted thai llii« was .leaned for the exprc-- purpose ot dcfealing Opunake. for if their Hill were passed previous to till' New Plymouth Bill 111" laller wa- to be withdrawn. lie thought tliis was a most unjusliliable aclion. (Ileal-, hear.) Moreover, lie had no faith in this provision. fo r »hj would withdraw it? And. perhaps, (he l^'^i'-latine would in-ist on altering a lid 1 pas-dutr a Bill. ( ould a private member withdraw- it'.' Mr. Moore then proi'T'l- J j ed to -liou that the Opunake harbour

cOllh! 1)0 -,<-ir supporting. lie said. tliiit till' protective works an | wharves «-.Kt Cill.llOO. ,111,1 El--iii)ll!:_; (lint the ratepayer, urn- willing lop.iv ■i '.ill rate. I li-ul.ildial a district "i' II'" vmln.- l-J.Hiiii.diiii would be " I'-"' il tl'" ratepayer- wm.M pay mure llieie ua- no reason win' tic district -lioulil nut !«• reduced. ' The Now I'lyiiK.uitll party reckoned thcv '■""I'l <<" without a raic, ami lie llum^lit

< )|mnake could as sat'clv sav a similar thing. lie worked it out in this.way: -- Cr.: Interest JJ-.)l]il, working expenses L'l (10(1. total £3500 per year. Dr.: lin.ono tons at lis Clooo, endowments and port charges .C&O. total C 3250. I lie deficiency could easily be met by a

harbour improvement fund of Gd a ton, bringing in tr.oo per annum. On that • estimate tlicy would be elitirelv rati? free, and lie calculated there would bo effected a s ,vinf! of £5737 on the present diar!Te» for Roods. For one instance if flour could be obtained at Opuniike at the same price as in New VI vmoutli tin- district would save C.WO per annum, .ind general goods u.iiild show a -avmg of 17s I0 ( | per ton: or L'2linii a year. |) find been state,l that he was afleiupting to boom (1,,. town. but lie didn't care a d about town: lie wanted to I in th,. counl.v. The town was (lepre.scd. inn could anyone say that was because the counliv wax prosperous; The truth was that the country was not making the pr.v

' grcss it should. Much more prodticlion could be carried mi if the stulf could be got away af a decenl price. Jle would 1 ik,■ to pul u very plainly to flic ratepayer-: firstly. Were thcv in favor of a safe port al iipunake. and. secondly. were t li,*y prepared to pav -onielliing for if? If thcv sii.l lio't,, l„,f|, lie reckoned they Would never L .e| free of New l'lyiiiiinlb. If fhev 'wanted ".'l'' without tlier tlic.v were inconsistent. M r Mo,ire -aid .Mr. Marx re"i'etl"d that lie could not be prc-cnt I owing to a previous engagement, and he I informed 111,, speaker lhal lie W.I, of "pillion thai tho-c and Iho-e io ),c -erved bv Opunakc [ shoubl l,c excluded from the New- Vlc- | mouth distriei. IVfcrriii:.: to the scone of Hie iipunake Hill the" speaker said | lh;lt I I' I '' thoughl Hint thcv I -hoiild not go outside a certain area for fear of opposition, but he was suIMM

that Opunake could put forward such a good sthenic that a very large area would be perfectly willing to join in owing to the projected large saving. In 1000 would come the lasi chance of a lifetime; the «IU years was up, and unless they were free of New I'lymotiih nothing could be done. (Applause), lie moved— U That this meeting forms itself into a committee to oppose (lie New Plymouth Harbor Bill to increase the loan over the district; and to promote a u ( Ipuiiake Harbor Bill with a district having a valuation of 000, iind with a view to tho coiiitriulion of protective works at Opunalce., Mr. K. Ching seconded. 'Mr. Conaglen thought the Opunake Harbor Bill of last session should be revived. Ho did not know what had happened to it, but he thought it had been, dropped because their mom her had, , thrown over the district. Mr Major, perhaps, could.give a better explanation. 1 Tlie chairman, in answer to Mr. Conaglen, said he was a member of the Bill Committee, said he could not tell why the Bill had been dropped, but th" promoters had done their Ix-sl, and it would he re-introduced next session, Mr. -1. Guy said the area in that Bill was Jar too smalls There was no prospect beyond just the taking over the property of the present company. lie thought it was totally inadequate to meet what Opunake wauled. Mr. Hughson (Hahotu) said he had brought up tho question of a port at Opunake at Mr. Maxwell's Kahotu meeting some time ago, but lie - had been defeated. He thought some action should be taken without delay. Storekeepers had to pay heavy freight, and oi course that was charged on tho goods. Freight cost him 45s per ton from New Plymouth, while from Opunake it cost 235, or a saving of 22s per ton. He estimated that liahotu and Tiistriot took 20 tons a week, on which they wore losing regularly £1 to 23s per ton. Ho did not. think they should oppose the Now Plymouth Bill, hut they should strive to got a larger exempted area. (Hear, hear). For the making of the port Opunake had plenty of raw material, and the cost would he very small iu comparison with the pre-enf, loss. He thought an effort should be made and the centres adjoining visited. Thov should rate themselves with not a '/jd or '/>d rate, but %d in the X, for they were losing more than that now. (Applause), Mr. S. Forsyth said he would agrc.? with Mr. Hughson that they should not oppose the New Plymouth Bill. The responsibility for the loan with a graduated rate was leas on their side of the

l 'hiir than it lmd been before. He would like to see the scope of their present Bill (Opunake) extended, but he thought that £2,000,000 valuation was too great. 'Mr. Hughes condemned the New Plymouth Bill generally, and blamed Mr. Maxwell for not discovering on what terms £150,000 could be borrowed. The present proposed loan was only a forerunner of others, and should be blocked. Ho reckoned Pa tea and Opunake should jtiu hands and lake over the coast. Mr. Conaglen asked if the ratepayers in the llawera ward were against the presout Bill. Mr. Hughes said the recent election showed they were. Mr. lironnan asked Mr. Hughes if he. with his property on the Mauaia road, would be prepared to join in with Opunake. Mr. Hughes said he would like to compare their scheme with Patea before he answered. Mr. Brennan said Mr. Hughes should know what (he position was. If he didn't us a member of tho Board how long would the people take—ten years? Air. Hughes said he would prefer Opunake to New Plymouth. Mr. borsyth moved as an amendment— That tho first part of the resolution (referring to the Opposition of the New Plymouth Bill) be deleted. Mr. Hughson seconded. The amendment was lost on the Acting on a suggestion Mr. Moore onered to compromise to the extent that if meetings of ratepayers objected to his scheme the committee should have power to reduce the £2,0nn.00 valuation area. Mr. Brennan pointed out that if the resolution wore carried it would simply show ipivrliument that they were stiil divided, and then the present Bill would be lost until they arranged what they were unanimous about. The motion was subsequently carried bv 11 voles to B.—Star.