MR. MARX ON THE HARBOR BILL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 143, 8 June 1908, Page 4

MR. MARX ON THE HARBOR BILL.

'lo tin 1 Kditor. , Sii, kindly nie spate to deal with certain jHMtiohs of your Huier of ■ to-<iay. \ou aevu-e me of misrcpre- . filiation a% regards harbor expemli- . lure, when the facts an* that I am being misrepresented. When I mentioned that the >um of upwards of half- ' a-willion had Im-oii expended on Aew ' | Plymouth, 1 pointed out clearly, and , oulv person* extremely careless or purposely deaf could fail to understand the position, namely, ih.tt of the mentioned upward* oi hall consisted of laud revenue and harbor rates, neither oi which ever had beeu or could be divert- j ed from payment of interest and sinking fund on the original JC£UO,OOi). iou will siv Mr. the leaving out nl this explanation ha* evidently led to the misunderstanding on your part. Now, a** regards my attitude toward* the proponed mea-*ur<\ unuh vou evidently disapprove, the contention ol myself aud tho-e with m«* j* that the Bill i* luijust, in thai it relieves a considerable area id their or its liability under the present I"in. Further, thai while for the lir-l wine neeeptiug lh«* principle of dil»<*n ntial beueiii with the consequent dilleivmiaJ rate, it fails in recognising dilleivmial liability. The re*dutiou parsed i>\ the Hoard at last meeting when dealing with tlie application oi the Oputiake debate* eiearly promises this limitation ot further liability in the «*veiu nl further harbor J loan?. VVc wh<» an- opposed to l!t«- loan say thai we should be exempted lioiu any lurbor loan liability otlu-r than that uow in foivr. A* regard* Mr. Maxwell's binkiug mnd proposal, it requires au extremely sanguine harbor enthusiast to see a reasonable linality to the proposed loan. f.iiven that the estimated laud revenue within the next • teu years to have leached Mr. Maxwell's estimates of £B2s'), and half this sum, namely. ,C 4120. to be uuder tlie O.K.P. ,or like tenure, aud by capitalizing same we have, say, SSiUfIW a- an extreme estimate, as agam>t CW,Tin* diverting of the inteiv>t to annual revenue cripples the UH'tulness of the whuk proposal, ot course, we have th.possibiltie* of surplus revenue to augment the sinking fuud; but while on the one hand we have ilarbor Bill advocates seeing ships oi the Athemc ton- j nage lying at the wharf, with their attendant profit lo the Hoard. we have on the other hand the openly expressed opinion of Air. Maxwell that the New Plymouth harbour will never he visited by ocean liners, and, further, that should the necessary depth be dredyed for berthing large boats, the safety of the breakwater would bo imperilled, \ou see, Mr. Editor, it is a case of doctors differing. We in Ilawera waid, who are opposed to the proposed Bill contend that the measure of our liability should be commensurate with benefits derived, seeing that over threefourths of the sea trade of llawefa I Ward goes to other ports than New Piywoath. Our standing by our share of the present, liability, under present land revenues subsidy, should more than cover any just claim New Plymouth harbor has on us.—l aiu. &e., JACOB MAiIX.