THE FIFTH PORT.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1918, Page 7

THE FIFTH PORT.

Ho considered that the whole-'outlook of the New Plymouth harbor had no>V altered, and he contended tliat they had no right to depend on any other place for their imports and their exports. If the whole were centralised in (New-Plymouth, Taranaki would rank as the fifth port and r,o shipping company could afford to ignore Taranaki as a shipping province* It should not 'be the hack door of (Wellington, hut one of the biggest and best provinces of the Dominion. Mr J. S. Connett stated that he had followed his father, who had been a member of the Board for 10 years, an r l he had looked forward to the day when the whole of the imports and exports would be dealt with a,t New Plymouth (Applause). The Board had appointed an engineer with the highest attainments in Australasia, tvhose views the whole Board aproved of. They had prepared a completed scheme, so that whatever was done now would be part of a whole, Hs referred to what had been done in making the harbor available for deep sea. shipping, and showed that there was ovtfr 23,C00 tons of produce per annum available from North Taranaki, sufficient to warrant a fortnightly service with the Home liners, which, though they hoped for n weekly one, was as good as they were accustomed to. It was claimed that boats would not come to lift 1000 tons, but he pointed' out that on an average 15 boats visited Waitara to lift 8000 tons. It was stated they had entered into a compact to be free from further loar, but at that time very few expected to see a deep sea port. Wellington and Auckland were continually spending large sums to increase the facilities of the port. He had no desire to belittle Patea, and did not desire to deflect any trade fr-.-m there until the Home liners came, when it would naturally come to New Plymouth. Taranaki was the highest valued, most fertile and progressive province in the Dominion, as wa<! shown by

tlipir concrete bridges and roads, in which they were held up as an example to the rest of the Dominion. The gentlemen who opposed it did not do so whole-heartedly, as thev stood for progress all the time. The whole Board, six of whom were in (he third area, were unanimous in recommending the scheme, and he asked the ratepayer? to consider what their attitude as suppliers of a factory would he if their directors recommended a progressive move. He asked them therefore to make this province .on a par with the j-est of the (Dominion. THE ENGINEER EXPLAINS. Mr Blair Mason started to explain tha scheme. In looking into the possibilities of the harbor he considered the district and not New Plymouth. So great wera the possibilities that he considered tha area of 300 acres in the hail>or itself would prove too snlall.. Thev wanted to he done with transhipment and double handling. They could not look at the map without seeing how admirably situated New Plymouth was to be a parent port, and lie hoped that the small ports, such as Patea. Mokau, Opunake and Raglan, would he developed 33 feeders. He considered this district would command the trade as far as the Main Trunk.

Mr McPhillips asked the cost of the whole completed scheme The Engineer said that it would be an in=:\ne policy to construct what would not be required for many years. All they wanted now was berthage and wharfage. When extra facilities were required the trade of {lie port would b? such that ihere would he sufficient security in reserves and revenue to enable the Board to finance without approaching the ratepayer at allMr Murdoch asked whether the propos- | ed scheme would ewe shelter from the north and the west. The Chairman «nid that this was absolutelv certain. The Board proposed to build un sand hills and also sheds which would he wasted. Mr Astburv also asked for information resarilinir the direction of the current. The Engineer said that, the time would eventually come when the sand would go round Moturoa.

SFEECH BY MR POWDRELL. >Tr Powdrell, who spoke at some length, stated that he felt that he was on sufferance and would endeavor to bo very fair. If ho had made any statement tlm was not quite accurate, he regretted it, because in the heat of argument he trotted out figures. Not being .a walking encyclopedia lie might have made mistakes in mileage or rates not worth mentinning. He felt flattered that all the artillery had been concentrated on lilm, probably because he was tho trustee of large interests as chairman of the Koupokonui Dairy Company and Patea Freezing Works, tlie shareholders of which v.'ere entitled to 'hear both, sides. As a member of the National Dairy Association. he was able to give valuable facts rot otherwise known. Every member of the Board except Mr Connett had endeavoured to ridicule him, but lio would say as regards the "duds" that hp bad only attended two meetings, viz., sit Okaiawa and Otakeho, and both had gone against the Board; in at the fortaer place a member of the Board had to second it Mr King had talked of the cheapness nf benzine, but this was due to the cheapness at which it was bought. He believed that he bad said superphosphate could lip got cheaper at Wanganui. His manager had told him he got his benzine and super through Wanganui. From Australia boats were just ns able to come to Wanganui with super as to New Plymouth. Wansranui Harbor Board did four times as much trade with the South Island ns New Plymouth. He had not ?aid that it was not possible to rail meat 50 or #0 miles, but he said it was not practical to send it to Wellington by train, as experience had told them that their trwlrs might get in behind HO or 70 trucks and be delated sc long that it would cost thousands to re-handle in the flear Tompmy's works. Ht recognised that it bad to be frozen harder to keep, and this cost extra monev. The fact that the works were started five ve r *'s ago wilh £l-2,000 c.sii and wore now free of debt showed rhat thev knew their business ,He bad said at Otakeho if. they sent their produce to New Plvmouth thev would be expected to expend another £75.(100 in New Plvmouth as at Patea, and referr : n<r to ihe £23.000 expended at the 'Smart Road Meat 'Works in «tnra»» for the dairv companies had said that thi? would be ■paid by storage in one yar In support be showed t.hnt tlie cost of storage at Kaopnkonui was £3370. :'tnil in seven months this earned £9500. Did not that pav for it? Mr Kin": We have shown that wo are charging 12i less than yon. Mr. Corrigan: We challenge that! INTERESTS IN PATEA. Mr Powdrell said that ;r*. Patea they had erected storage at a cost of £7OOO, and it bad earned £10,500 in the storage meat. If Mr. King couldn't do so, well, he : could not be as good a business man. Mr (.Wilkinson had said the speaker was In-

tfristed in Patea. Ifc owned a third share In 353 acres. ProMbly'Mr Wilkinson referred to the Freezing Works, which he started and l was a guarantee that the extent of £'l6o, 1 000 because the farmers had only subscribed £12,000. With others be had lent £45,000, and so had obligations and really helped to carry the interests of the farmers. Mr Wilkinson ridiculed the idea that companies had the large interests in Patea that he had mentioned because they had not put it all in cash. Well his company recently paid £3COO for a store, in which the owner had originally put £250 cash. Would Mr Wilkinson say that £SO represented that man's interest Mr WiL j ldnson had also said at Otakeho that the lerenue of the Patea Harbor Board was £2OOO per annum, that they had borrowed £flo.ooo and their rate ; waß £ 6000, and they would have an eternal rate. The result showed that Patea made a profit. _ At this stage there was a little sparring between Mr Hughes and the speaiker, the chairman remarking that they did not want any interruptions, as it was getting late. THE PLY IN THE OINTMENT. Touching on Mr Wilkinson's remarks, he arked any shareholder or director of the Kaupokonui Company to say whether during his ten years chairmanship he;had ever treated thein in a dogmatic way. ('No). Mr Wilkinson said that it was an outrage to charge such high freights to Wellington, Well, as Mr Wilkinson considered Patea a dangerous port should not the freights be 'high They had a dredge at Patea and the net results of the year's working showed a profit of previous year, the deficiency being due to the mosquito fleet at Wellington having hold their boats up for ten weeks. The exports showed a shrinkage, but the imports weTfe about equal. The revenue was £5531 13s lid, and,as leases would soon fall in it would .soon be greater. Their ioan was £80,000; they had spent £35,552 10s £d and had £47,447 3s 4d yet to ex> pend, and some of this had to be invested at a loss. New Plymouth knew Patea was the fly in the ointment, and sought tc- concentrate their fire, but we are going to knock them out.

Mr Hughes: I suggest —— Mr Powdrell: I suggest you sit down. You don't like it. Continuing, he said that he understood they were questioning his and Mr Corrigan's status as ratepayers in the area Well, he was a representative of a factory, and Mr Corrigan had 1100 acres in the 2nd area and would not support the loan. A voice: Would Mr. Powdrell tell us his objection to the New Plymouth harbor? THE CRUX OF THE POSITION. Mr Powdrell said that it was Dot snown to. every one ttot the" shipping companies paid the coastal ireiguts so uo w centralise the shipping, and lie ehoweu that JiaupoKoiiu; iiau saved £1319 as. 3a, and tue wiiale district nad saved .by Pa- , ita £tii>o7, and that was the reason they objected to send their stuff to New Plymouth. (Applause), iney uui not waut to pay, to scrap their works, boats, etc. Tile coastal freight was tile crux of the position and the doing away with it was the only chance tliat Ne»v Plymouth had of getting them to send their produce there, ana lie suggested at Okaiawa that they should promise not to do anything to endeavor to get this done away with.

Mr Maxwell: Repeat tha question you asked, it was quite different. Mr Powdrell: 1 asked was it not natural that they should try to get the payment of the coastal freight done away with! It was only natural. They were only human. Mr Maxwell: Diametrically opposite questions. Mr Powdrell: Mr Maxwell repudiated the idea, but had said at Eltham that members of the Board were able to say definitely that the shipping companies were not going to continue paying the freight. 'Mr Astbury: This has been repeated again and again, Mr Maxwell: It is quite correct. SHIPPING PREFERRED TO CENTRALISE. Mr Powdrell said that as a member of the National Dairy Association ihe could say there was no suggestion of taking oif the coastal freight. The ship, ping companies preferred to centralise When the agreement with the Imperial Government was fixed up eight years ago, the question was not raised. He challenged Mr Maxwell to give some proofs. Either the statement was made to mislead the ratepayers or he must have been to the shipping company. Which was it? The shipping companies had held a five years' contract with the National Dairy Co., who controlled the produce, and so anxious were they for a renewal that the head manager came to New Zealand a year and a-half before its expiry. Mr Powdrell pointed out that this extra loan would make ratepayers liable to a halfpenny rate which on £SO per acre laud meant 2s Id. It | seemed to him that Mr King was merely holding out a rope for them to hang themselves. They already had their produce taken to Wellington for nothing, and if they wanted it cheaper they would be like the dog and the shadow. ADVANTAGES OF NEW PLYMOUTH. As showing that the Patea Harbor was not unreliable, he stated that all space allotted on Home steamers during the past two years had been filled except one line of 500 crates via Wanganui. There was a saving of 2s lOd in favor of New Plymouth in cheese if they did not get the coastal freight paid, but would not the refrigerating company reduce its charges to meet this? The ruse applied to tallow, which was 3s 9d cheaper via New Plymouth. Hides, which cost 19s via Patea, would cost £2 2s 7d via New Plymouth. There was an advantage in New Plymouth over insurance as the Government did not pay it at Patea, where the factories 'had to pay it. That was their only sound argument, and we had to tell them that. (Hear, hear). He pointed out that Moturoa bad given the 121tham Co. a rebate so as to secure their produce, (but Patea had not resorted to that. He then contrasted the trade of Wanganui with New Plymouth, pointing out the quantity of produce that came to South Taranaki that wav. He had not criticised New Plymouth, but they had criticised F'atea, which had a good record and would do good in the future. It had sent 25,000 tons of produce to Wellington, and the various works there had made a profit of £25,000, *o that sooner than scrap the works he thought they could make a reduction of £1 per ton rather than send to New Plvmoum. There seemed to be an element of unfairness in the Bill, as Opunake, who sent their produce to Nev; Plymouth, was cut out. He had not expected the railway during the war, but was con-

trasting ifc with the Stratford-Main Trunk "liixe whichi had taken over twenty yeaxs. He remembered Mr .Wilkinson had hung up the Patea Bill. Mr Corrigan: Ho helped us over-that Give him the credit. Mr Powdrell: He got Omona cut out because it did not use that port, and we are asking the same favor. There would he no rate as long as they continued dredging with loan money. He considered that the annual dredging should not be taken out of capital account. In concluding he said if they supported the scheme, they would be sorry men. (Applause.) NO COMPARISON. ' :r i ' Mr Wilkinson said that there could be no comparison between the two ports. Patea was only a small river port, and, notwithstanding the proposed improvements he was sceptical as to whether it would ever be successful. Mr Powdrell had said that ten years ago they were told that there would never 'be a rate. He had never said so. He quoted from a speech made ten /ears ago in which he had said: "In- conclusion, I do not say that there will not be a rate levied, but it seems to me that, under the new proposal, there is a good chance of no rate being collected." He thought that statement had stood the test of time. Mr Powdrell: While you are working on borrowed money. Mr Corrigan: We don't pay our interest out of loan. Mr Wilkinson: You struck ten years' rates in one, which is illegal. A good deal of camouflage had been used to throw dust in the eyes of ratepayers, He had not the last bqjance-sheet of the Patea H&rbor Board, but he quoted figures from the 1916 returns which showed that the revenue was £IB4B, and the debt £lll,OOO, convincing him tliat in all probability there would be a perpetual rate. He had held up the Patea Bill temporarily because it induced country at the 'back of Elthara, and deliberately left out valuable land close to Patea. Mr Corrigan: I'll give you credit that you did the right thing. Mr Wilkinson said that a lot had been said about payment of coastal freight, but they could not bank on it always being paid. Mr Powdrell: It has been paid for the last twenty years. Mr Wilkinson: Do you think it will be paid in 20 years more? Mr Powdrell: Yes.

A SAFE PROPOSITION. Mr Wilkinson: Then you have more faith in shipping companies than I have. (Laughter). It is at any rate an unsafe proposition to bank on. By adopting the New Plymouth harbor scheme they would have two strings to their bow. They could ship to Patea if it suited them or through New Plymouth. Even if the coastal freights were paid he believed it would be cheaper to ship through New Plymouth. The harbor board offered them a safe proposition with no prospects of rate. Shipping to Wellington was not good business if they could ship through New Plymouth, as the produce depreciated through the handling it got at Wellington, where he had seen the rough treatment it sometimes received. Moturoa could handle their produce as well as Patea and 12s per ton cheaper. Those figures had never been denied, and he defied the chairman of the Patea works to disprove Uliem. The high freights which Mr Powdrell admitted were charged condemned the port as not being a good one to work. He also referred to the differential rates charged to people at Hawera, Eltham and Stratford. It should be made illegal for any differential rate to be made. In some cases there was a concession of 5s per ton to outsiders against those who owned'the ships. He quoted at some length from the Royal Commission's report in the Te RotiMoturoa railway, showing that the commissioners recognised that New Plymouth would become the port for ocean liners for Taranaki, and this had influenced their report. New Plymouth was likely to become the second to last port of call for Home liners, and in that case there was likely to be some modification of the contract. He pointed out that, after the war, there will be plenty of manures required and, with the railway to Manaia, which he assured them would come, farmers would obtain these at 12s per ton as against £'l 14s 9d via Patea. After the relative value of the trade at Patea and New Plymouth had been discussed, Mr Wilkinson asked those present if they were not satisfied with the New Plymouth scheme would they be satisfied to go into the Patea district. THE LOGICAL OUTCOME. He wanted to put lliem on the horns of a dilemma. When the Bill was before the House if they said they got all their produce through Patea and were not satisfied with the New Plymouth scheme, it was likely the House might say that they must go into Patea, and they would be foolish to think of that.

Mr Powdrell considered that this could not be done. IVIr Wilkinson said there was no telling what Parliament would do if the arguments were sound knd were endorsed by ratepayers. He thought even the Patea advocates would say "stop In New Plymouth." (Applause). When they advocated a certain course they must be prepared to take the results. THE OLD COMPACT. Mr. Marx did not think the Government would go past the compact. Ten years ago he was a party to the compact, that the district should not be liable for any further loaus. There was too mue'h of the Patea-New Plymouth element in the discussion. He could not see eye to eye with the present proposals, but favored New Plymouth going ahead steadily and developing on more modest lines. Ten years ago it was claimed that the loan would enable ocean liners to use the port. It was then a good coastal port, and was now equal to all that was asked of it. Regular boats did not bring manures. The harbor had done good work and as time went on and the need arose it would yet get the business that was its due. At present it would be a mistake to go in for an expenditure of £300,000. He was willing to pay his share of the rate and let the revenue and land fund be devoted to develop the port. Mr King pointed out that mail boats did bring "manures. They, could not use all their revenue for development purposes because, as Mr Marx knew, a proportion had to be earmarked to pay the interest. They should not be eontent with what was done. They wanted the port to take the top class of steamers trading here, of which three, averaging 11,500 tans, were being built. Mr Corrigan: Now you're twisting. You told us they were building smaller | boats.

Mir King: You've no chance. I'm not twisting. CAMOUMJAGE. Mr King: considered that it was peculiar the ratepayers were all represented ■by Mr Powdrell, whom he considered the personification of camouflage; for he had been invited to address the ratepayers on the proposals, but had endeavored to blind them by personalities and throwing dust in their eyes. He (Mr Powdrell) had said that he did not know if Mr Maxwell was the same man wfho had moved the resolution about wool a,t the Farmers' Conference, and, not having an ounce of wool, was prepared to sacrifice his brother's blood. Well, Mr Powdrell knew he was, and though he was not in a big way had had wool every year for over 30 years. He also flatly contradicted Mr Powdrell's innuendo about in-, surance. In connection with freights, Mr Powdrell's figures had proved in almost every instance to be wrong, though perhaps not intentionally, and possibly Mr Powdrell had not learnt that there was a through freight to the breakwater. He detailed his connection with the 1008 Bill, denying that he had changed his coat, but stating that he had opposed the Bill until the clauses rp differential rating were inserted, and in that he had done great service to the; district. H 3 had not promised that a rate would not be struck, but had said that if it were it would be a small one and (he doubtedwhether it would ever be collected. He urged ratepayers to support the scheme, which would make Taranaki the fourth, if not the third port in the Dominion, instead of paying toll to Vvellington and Auckland. Mr Corrigan said there was no denying that the Bcheme looked all right, but where was it going to end? In another ten years it might mean another £300,000. It would, he thought, cost millions. Some discussion then ensued as, to when the compact regarding the exemption was included, Mr Maxwell holding that it was at the 'hoard's table, while Mr Marx held that it was at the Manaia meeting. Mr Gorringe said that it seemed the whole question touwcl on th#.,,aoa»tal Wit,

"'l Mr Maxwell stated that he had mot''% been to \ the shipping companies,' Silt 'I from information which he could not di-'* vulge, he knew that it would bo witfw'fs drawn. Mr Powdrell: I leave you to judged-: 'f tween Mr Maxwell and myself. i HOSTILE MOTION" CARRIED. Mr McFhillips said that no one knew ■ the cost of the complete scheme, and ifc 1 seemed to him that one £300,000 loan after another would be required. Hs then moved: That this meeting of New - Plymouth Harbor Board ratepayers ig determined to stand by the' compact en- i tered into with, the <N T cw Plymouth 1 Harbor Board ten years and sot out m Clause .19 of the New Plymouth Har--bor Empowering Bill of 1908 that,if any • ? further loan is required by the board ba- ' i yond the amount authorised to be raised, under the provisions of the Act this 1 -• area described in 14th schedule thereto ' "< shall bo; exempted from any liability in . regard, to such further loan. ?2S I his. was seconded by Mr McKay. '': Mr Ge® moved as an amendmentf That' * ■, Wring heard the explanation by the members of the New Plymouth Harbor Boar 4as to the proposals for providing . accommodation for the largest ocean ' liners trading to the Dominion, thia . e ®ting fully supports the scheme, and,' ' further, is' of" opinion that the Port of New Plymouth, is the only one on the West Coast that is capable of develop* ment which will provide such accommo-' dation. Mr Christie seconded. m h 6// h 6/^ en<lme ? t was lost VS* to and the motion carried.