The Daily News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. THE OPUNAKE HARBOUR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 190, 23 September 1909, Page 2

The Daily News THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. THE OPUNAKE HARBOUR.

The promoter* of an improved narliur for Opunake arc again ia die lield with proposals thai, ii granted by Parliament will render operative tile burrowing power* conferred on the proposed board by tile Opunake Harbor Act of last .session. The Opunake Harbor Act, which was passed last year, cu/isiituted a harbor district within the area roughly bounded on the north by the Xguriki road and on the south by the Geo stream, being portions of the Opining . Oeo and lvaupokonui survey district i. Tne Act gave the Hoard, when set up, power to acquire from the Opunake Wharf Company the wharf and all material owned by the company at a price to 'be fixed by arbitration, and payable "out of any moneys which tile Hoard may from time to time borrow.'' l'p to tliis point the wishes of the promoters of the harbor were mot, except in relation to the boundaries of the harbor district, which Parliament considerably curtailed. It is with regard to tiie borrowing powers conferred on the Board' that the prospects of the harbor have been temporarily blighted, for while the Board, with the consent of tlie ratepayers, is empowered to borrow up to .£40,000, at a rate not exceeding 5 per cent., the Board only has authority to levy a rale up to one penny on the capital value of the rateable properly in the district. Presumably it lias been found that the rate revenue on a ha'tiis of a maximum of one penny in the pound would be insufficient to moot the in!<"-st charges, etc., on the amount required In be raised to render the harbor worka! ie. Accordingly the promoters have circulated an amendment Bill, which will be brought before Parliament during the coming session, pro- I I viding, inter alia, for differential rating,) on the basis of threepence in the pound over the Opunake town district and one ycmiv in the pound ever the. res! of the harbor district. If the ratepayers in the town district are agreeable to this basis of taxation, no objection is likely to be taken to it by anv other section of the ratepayers, whatever may be their ultimate attitude on submitting , to be rated at all for the purposes of a loan. The prospects of various other proposals in the Bill receiving ParliaImentary endorsement do not. however, seem *o bright. It is verv much open to doubt, for whether Parliament will compel the Public Trustee to act as rate collector lor tlie honrd over lands vested in him under the West Toast Settlement Act. | volved in this provision of the Bill, how ► ever, that we s'iionld" like to see con--1 ceded to th« Bonrd. n* i* involves the ► wliol" of the vexed question of collect- ► ing rntes from Native lands. Section 7 I of the proposed amending B'll stiitcs:- - ' "To compel the Public Trustee, out ► of the rents lo be received by him. ► for or in respect of all renewed leases ► granted by him in or about the ,ve;ir ► 10U, under the West Coast Scttle- * ment Weserves Act, 1002, to pay to ► the Hoard one-third of the amount re- * quired by the Board for interest and | >inking fund or any loan raised by ► the Board, and authorising the said J Trustee to ciiarge the .him.uml *»> paid i by him to or against the account of ► tile benetieiaries of the laud* in re- ► *pect of which any >uch moneys shall * be paid."

We may be wrong in our interpretation of the clause, hill it seems to us to 1 ik",in that the Board u asking that a special endowment bo created for its benefit, to consist of a considerable proportion of the increment of West Coast Settlement leases—land which i,s the property of the Natives. If that is so. wo utterly fail to see the equity of the | proposal to penalise certain lands simply , because it is Native uind administered by an oll'ieer of the Crown. It is evi- i dent also that the promoters of the Hill are not sanguine regarding tin* unanimity with which the ratepayers in the district might receive future borrowing proposals. The Opunake Harbor Act provides that the provisions of the Local Bodies' Loans Act, 1!)0S, stfall apply in regard to the raising of loans, ; and section 12 of (he latter Aet makes it necessary (hat a tliroe-lifths majority shall be secured before a proposal is carried. The Opunake Amendment "Bill proposes to modify section 12 of the bodies' Loans Act in order that a majority of valid votes recorded at a poll only shall be necessary to carry the proposal. We anticipate that objection will be raised to this proposal by a considerable section of the ratepayers. At the same time our sympathy is with the Opunake people in iheir endeavor to improve their shipping facilities, hut we are afraid there will be anything but a cordial co-opera-tion throughout the district regarding the present proposals.