NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 166, 4 July 1908, Page 6

NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR BOARD.

special meetlnu. compromise on the bill. - a happy~family. ! A special meeting of the Xew Plymouth Harder Board was held yesterdity morning at the recruest of Air. Maxwell to "consider the proposal to add to t'.ie Bill the provisions suggested by Mr. Marx at Mr. Maxwell's nieaLiiigs iu the South. There, was a full attendance of members.

The chairman, Mr. Council, in Opening proceedings, said that whatever was to be done must be agreed upon at once, as the Bill had been read u lir»t time in the House. Mr. Maxwell outlined the proceedings leading up to the calling or' the meeting. At his meeting at Manaia, -MrMarx had made a valuable suggestion which evidently fell in directly Willi tlte wishes of the ratepayers. He ei.'tii'ely | agreed with the proposals, one of waidi , the Hoard had already ailinued and the 11 other had been suggested to the Government bv the Harbor Board,' Contra- , Mice, aiid he understood would be embodied in a general Harbors Acl. However, he could not go further than pergonal] v accept Mr. Marx's proposal, and the meeting had accordingly been called in order that the Board might consider the propolis. Mr. Marx would, he understood, move to give effect t» the desires of the Southern ra tep.i yei Mr. Marx said it was hardly necessary for him to go over the ground that ' had already been fully threshed out at the Board's meetings, and would Duly refer to the difference of opinion that 1 had been held regarding the Bill all along. Hie objection had consistently ' been that while the differential rating proposals showed that the southern dis- ' triet should be treated differently to those nearer the port, there was no provjßba for differential liability. He assflßltoubors that there was a great to the Bill in its i»'--. sent fonii, and there was a complete organisation in existence to oppose the Bill in the Hous*. At the same time, he had always felt that if anything could be done to bring the contending factions on to common ground, he was prepared to work for it. At the time he made the suggestions at' Mr. Maxwell's meeting, he could not promise to support the Bill, even with the additions, until he had consulted his committee. The committee, therefore, met yesterday, and went thoroughly into the who'le matter, and the committee expressed itself agreeable to the suggested compromise. What they wanted was:—

I.—"That the Whole of the third Schedule area be exempted from all further liability than taat contained in the present proposed New Plymouth Harbor Bill, and 2—"That means he provided for the periodical adjustment of boundaries on an equitable basis securing lo e.ich of the six wards one representative for an approximate one-sixth of the whole of the Xew Plymouth harbor rating area valuation." Continuing, he said these proposals would have to be formulated and draft.-. Ed to suit the Dill, and to.«iny Out Further, he wished that these principle's be made vital claus-os af-THe Hill, which would bewithdraxstt'lf they were seriously fciterfered -Xvitii by l'arliaiuunt. He moved that the additions as read be drafted by the Board's solicitors and added to the Bill.

.Mr. 1). Hughes seconded. Mr. Thomson said he we., not in favor 01 the Hill now any mor:- than lie ~-. lielore. He took this view, liowch. . that if the Bill were to become law. ii should be made as good as no sible. He still contended that the liill en- in. wanted, and the Hoard was doing wrong in not redeeming tile old loan. a::d perhaps losing the opportunity of ■h'.-'p money. He reckoned the Hoard's lirsl duty was to go on and raise the £130',WW,' and keen Waitara in the rating district. He considered it a shame and a disgrace that the rest of the district had to go on shouldering the liability of Waitara. The position of- things now appeared to be one of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.'' jlr. Maxwell had been doing his best iu the Southern district, and Mr. King, by a petition, in his (the speaker's) district, promising there would be no rate. Hut they had heard the same old yam 22 years ago. In IS months the rate was on in full, and the Hoard defaulted, and it would be the same again. He was perfectly satislied that the harbor could be made without a loan. The revenue was increasing and would increase, and lie had no doubt the harbor could lie built out of revenue. Mr. Maxwell'said he hoped the rcso lution would go through unanimously. Allhui|g!i Mr. Thomson said he hated the liill, hc\it the same lime wished to see the best job made of it. Mr. Marx's suggestion was a valuable one. Mr. King said Mr. -Marx's suggestion got over the diliiculty. The southern ratepayers assumed there would be no rate and no further liability. He asked, however, that Mr. Marx do not make the ward representation a vital clause, the rejection of which by Parliament might jeopardise the liill. Thcv could n'ci bind the! House, but the' Hoard would loyally'do ali it could to get the clauses in. Mr. .Marx said I he' agreement had been arrived at by his committee, anil he could not make a 'promise to Mr. King at this stage. Sir. Maxwell said hi! had no objection to the iirst clause, nor pwSonally had he or any of tlm members to the second clause, but the position was that the Minister might say the second clause was unnecessary, as the identical clause

was probably going to be provided in a general Harbor Hill, and there was no necessity to have it also ia a special Bill like this. In that «asc Mr. -Marxwould see it would be very unfortunate to have the Bill withdrawn if all

Mr. Marx wanted was being provided for under a separate Act. -Mr. .Marx said he saw the for«c of the argument.

-Mr. King said he was in perfect agreement with the clause, but his idea was that if the Government had decided to make such si provision in a general Bill it was not likely to unni'cvssarilv include it in the New I'lvmOuth special Bill.

-Mr. Maxwell further pointed out that tin, proposed clause was not an amendment of any .New Plymouth Harbor Act. but an amendment of the general Harbor Mi. The Board need not go lurther than.pledge itself to see that the clause became law. whether in the general or the special Act. .Mr. t'onnett said the matter had been discussed at the llarbo,- Boards' Conference, and the Government Bill would provide in that direction. The Government Bill ■■yen went furl her, and it was possible would prjvidu for -even insiead of six elective members. He believed in making the |ir,t flau-e vital l )V all means Jmt it was quite possible' that the Minister might wish to refuse the insertion of the second clause in their Bill in the interests of the Government's Bfll.

.Mr. Thomson still thought the clause ought to be embodied in the N,'ew Plymouth Jjill as , v ,,|) ~„ jn tll( . „,.„..,.:-,, Harbor Bill. "

-Mr. CPi*i,.tt ],ointed oul 'siai (uev «'imv all in favor ol the clauses. ,

I Mr Jiiirx, while agreeing with' ilnspirit of Mr. .Maxwell's and Mr. Kin-:. contention, said he did not care abolit taking the responsibililv on himself until his committee i„„| reviewed it. He suggested that he he made ; ( ,f Ik--1 deputation from the Board to proceed to Wellington in support of the, flip and he would ask his committee for ,|ieretionary power with regard to urnUm" clause 2 vital to the Bill. " Mr. Thomson said all opposition to the Bill was not dead, as there was a petition against it i„ circulation j n J„s district.

Mr. Miii-N rf|,li,.,[ tM the petition !„.. loiij»iml tn tin- .sync orjr!ini*iti(iu , h tli=tfr. "I" I lie Southern clNtriel. dire.-lnl l,y his committee. The position now \va,, that these petitions were to be withdrawn.

Mr. lliif.li,.* -ni.l !„• |,;„| ~oliee,l Ilia! t! Jtoily -News- said he had been rouverted. The position, on the conlrarv, was that Mr. Marx and himself hud coil-

verted the Board. He was very pleased that the district lie represented was being freed from further liability. Mem-

bers would recollect there was a time when he had advocated the insertion of that clause in the Bill. While there were a dozen things in the Bill he did not like, he claimed to belong to a generation that desired to meet the Bill on business lines and put it through. Mr. Connett said it nHorded him great satisfaction that they were getting nearer and nearer unanimity, lie lielieved , the compromise would have a far-reach-ing effect, not only with regard to the present Bill, hut in removing an ill-feel-ing of long-standing. .Mr. Thomson said they did not need the money. Anyone who went about the harbor knew that a dredge-was a most urgent rciniircmeiu,' and those who watched the shipping knew that more hertliing accommodation was very necessary in order that boats might "berth without the delay that often hud to occur at presenl. It was decided that the Board adjourn till 2.80 in the afternoon, the solicitor in the meantime to bring the clauses into conformity with the Bill.

Tlie proposal that the clauses be included was put tu the meeting and carried unanimously. Mr. Iline moved that the Board authorise the chairman (.Mr. Conuelu, .Messrs. .Newton King, Ji. Maxwell, ana J. Marx to proceed to Wellington as delegates to support the Hill. ill'. Price seconded. Mr. Thomson opposed, especially, ho said, as it had been moved by the representative of Waitara. Voices: >"ot Waitara, Wliaujjauiumona!

Mr. Thomson: You can't get away from it, Waitar.v too. It was not a just Mill, and liu mast certainly oppose

The cliairniau ruled Mr. Thomson out uf order. The Hill was not now discussed, but the appointment of dclegates. Mr. Thomson reiterated that the |ivuposu- 1 came with bad grace from the .menibur for Waitara, to put on the shoulders of the ratepayer, what they themselves were escaping. The. motion was carried.. .Ur. Thomson alone dissenting. The Board resumed at 2.3 H. all tin: members being present. Mr. Marx read the following clause as drafted by the Hoard's solicitor:— , 18a.—If' any further loan shall be regarded by 'the Board beyond the amount authorised to be raised under the provisions of the Act. the lands 'within the boundaries mentioned in the third schedule hereto shall be exempted from any liability in respect . of such further loan.'' I Mr. Marx moved—

"That the foregoing clause be adopted as a cardinal feature of the Bi!l, and that the Board pledges itself to witkdraw the Bill if this clause :s amended in principle or deleted."

Mr. Hughes seconded. "Mr. Thomson reiterated that he was not going to oppose anything that might improve the Bill, but he must oppose the Bill as n whole, because it was an unjust and inequitable measure. "We don't want it," continued Mr. Thomson, "it's nod worth the paper it is written on anyhow, and a coach and horses can be driven through it anywhere." He said he had a heavy-feeling-that day. as lie found "that his friend from Waitara, whom he had voted to get out of a hole last year, was putting him (Mr. , Thomson) into one now.

Mr. Hine replied that he honestly beJ'icVed hj« was assisting to get Mr. Thomson and the ratepavers out of a hole.

Tlic motion was thou put and carried unanimously. Regarding the second clause, as outlined prcviouslv, Mr Marx mnvcil: "That llii- Hoard pledges its( ' lf tn (l ° its ,ltmost lo have this clause incorporated i!i the ]! : !1."

Mr. Maxwell seconded. This would, so far as 'he Hoard possibly could, he keening 'faith with, the ratepayers. Mr. Thomson said he did not underhand. Was it not possible thai under !h" novernment proposals, the number of wards might be reduced, perhaps to one?

The chairman assured Mr. Thomson Unit on the contrary the intention was .to reduce the Government members and ilKTcase the number of elected members.

In reply to Mr. Marx, members of the deputation emphatically stated they were opposed to any reduction of the number of elective members, and would, with him. oppose any such' suggestion in Wellington. The motion was unanimously carried, and the Board rose.