HARBOR IMPROVEMENT SCHEME.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 September 1918, Page 5

HARBOR IMPROVEMENT SCHEME.

UNANIMOUS SUPPORT AT INGLEWOOD. Tliere was an attendance of about 69 ratepayers at the meeting .held- at. In» glewood last night to discuss the proposed New -Plymouth Harbor development scheme. _ The Mayor (Mr. George Young) presided, and, in welcoming the chairman and members of the Harbor Board, said that everyone in the room recognised what a great thing it would be for Tarana-ki to possess a deep-sea, portAfter the iHcfflbers of the board had explained the scheme, he had no hesitation in ( saying what the result would ho when they were called upon to record their vote. i Mr. New-ton King contrasted the jsent •position' of the harbor with the jposition 10 years ago, when the board [proposed;: raising its loan, of .4300,000, ( wMtih - created tjie same-oppc-MtiOn-then j; as. the present one 1 doing. 'The gripping companies had.proiirfeed that : if certain wort was done: thejr would send their 'boats, and they had done The companies now asked, that certain other work should be done, when they would send their regular boats.- This was what the board wanted—viz., re-gular-boats that would bo able to coma and lift tlie dairy produce at any state of weather. At present the Overseas' Committee had arranged with the Oorinna to cn.fry this produce to Wellington, and until regular boats- came they could not break this arrangement. The 'rerarae of the port was not sufficient to carry out the proposals, and the board had "brought down the proposal for- a loan of £3OO/100. Nos. 1 and 2 areas would be taken together, but No. 3 had the power of veto. If it did not come in, the 'Bill would die. However, he was confident they would score ■heavily in that area. It had been argued by an ex-nrembcr of the 'board that thoy should carry on the improvements out of revenue and strike a rate to pay the interest on the old loan, but tliis was impossible, owing to most of revenue having been pledged for. jthis interest, and tho liability -was in'finitasiaiaJ, ibein£jonly_. fSffl&ilia&iSlfl&j

so that their liability under this was practically nil They would' Wtllfa liable to %d rate on ihe new the board- had gone carefully into .IHaJIH question and were -alisfied that Wujfsffl the increase in I rude and incre«isfi2J value of endowments, the xeT6njs|gffl would be so great that the rateTafllal any, would be infinitesimal. Tha JwfiSj bar had been going along quietly, ajitflfjra farmers hardly realised the saving in manures, etc., wiiich ihe %ctf>&ss| sidered represented £1 per ton, '&%QB deed, a* Mr. Masters said at Stratfors&9 the saving on the two shipload* of bnUrfl zine represented £2300, a saving of (fi-o| most Is 8d per ca=e. He had fidkedoM out these lines because they V#(|lHJ brought toy direct (boat already,. fct&Sfl when the Home liners came Jf| there would be an equivalent saving linsb« all lines for the whole province.' , .jB •■Mr. C. A. Wilkinson, M.P., said that'll after travelling the world, he had vmtofM back to Taranaki firm in the belief it was the greatest- province in Dominion. If it pooled its promHitia'fjM and shipped them through one part,, would be the fifth exporting the Dominion. Though its ropnlatioa?j|| was small, it produced more per than any other province in the minion—possibly in the world. Hd''v| stressed the need of being able port and import our own produce requirements direct, considering thisft,;! direct importation would mean a) fag of £d per ton. There was now /&*!£& sinking fund of £30.000, which Wa*'M| well invested, and in the course of i%'"'M few years the whoJo loan of £SO6,OOiDf ? would be paid off.' They had done TWjk-Ja well with the means at their but they wanted to go further aaAvlll make the port an all-weather one. Tle;*J|j first ships tliat bertlied at th,e farealß* !|S water only brought cement, and they' $& were followed by general cargo The first Home liners had only meat, but they wanted them to be foi*.j»*« lowed by boats taking all cargonaki had over £3.000.000 worth of duce to export. There was a HO?Bi*-|ffl bility of a fast ferrv service l«frwfce|& ; ya Australia and New Plymouth, ! beca , New Plymouth ; was 100 miles nearer,' ;,S§ Sydney or Melbourne than and there were no outlying daogßrf.' : nU39 had been suggested that the rate on the old loan was made ni fc" 'M threat to induce ratepayers to go? iii "~M for the new loan, but that was not-M, '-'ll as the financial position of the boklmKra would compel them 1o strike a they did not care to do this, owing W'jJj the cost of its collection. It was pip 1 " '?WI posed to keep the dredge 'going oral; #? the new loan. If he could say; v deft^ v JS nitely that there would be no %t g% Would do so, but the land fund wjifci.-'ll not a fixed amount. He cbwridfcJw' ''M they had a valuable asset in the which was the gateway to the majtotl.'.•'.*« of the world and the makings of •finest artificial harbor in iho IDpyijSg minion. I' £Y's!ij| Mr. J. Blaif Mason, engineer to jjie', V| board, explained the scheme from ih&'M large plan, and was closely followed';':-is ■throughout. * , s \^| In reply to Mr. Trimhje, the <jhajr4 <M man said that "the sinking «fund on. old loan was 1 per cent. This was p46*'J« in afterwards. For the present loan it' "•?! was % per cent., whicli was as sufficient. - '% Mr. Trimble asked whether it, waft*^ 'm fair to leave out ,of -the loan .all thai? &*% country north of Waitara. '. '£ Mr. King pointed out that Waitara,- " and Opunake bad their own districts i •) i with their own_ responsibilities ,>''<, could not bo disturbed. ' ~£*j , Mr- Wilkinson, in reply to a further • & question 'by Mr. Trimble, said that ths .t'(i position in these districts was distinct '.';.:' from the third area. Opunake, eviep'i '?i if it had a railway, required protection p ;' *| for its Wharf- It hiid its own.troubles, and had endeavored to borrow £50,000, - y yjjj but, being unable to raise thia witMtt ,- ?j the limit of interest specified, the auihority had lapsed, and a fresh poll to"' borrow at a higher rate had been lost. i§ Without Opunake, which was a small • -| | district, the New Plymouth district? -M had a valuation'of between £ia,000,0«»; iS» and £12,000,000 as security. The postf j.M tion in the third area" was different. 3t \fj& could only be included in the preßentj -H loan if it wished to come in and could, , Ti,* not be outvoted by No. 1 and No. £ v ,3 areas. * ' , Jj| Mr. Connett considered that the #co« -m <luce from Waitara and Opunake tlis-v JJ% tricts would assist in providing reveauej ■ -H for the port. ' ,'^jj Mr. Wilkinson pointed ont that-the "«g board bnd power tn charge extra wharf 'zi dues, but it never intended to do this/ " as it could well afford to be bigger tlian-i' %'J that, v ',' 'ffl In reply to Mr. F. H. "vVilkinson said it would not "Ho fair toV-c|| allow Nop- 1 and 2 districts tf bear the»\ whole burden, when -the No. 3 with half the valuation, would benefit-. <,&| equally. Six of the nine members the 'board represented the third area._ %& ahd were agreed upon this. -s? "5H Mr- Henry Brown then moved—"That tMs meeting, having heard the semtatives of the New Pl\ mouth Hdi<|; :, |* bOr P>oard and the engineer, explain tliejpHl Scheme for the develnumenl of the P OJ of New Plymouth, and for borrowi?! ,£300,000, is st-roii'dy in fPvor of iti(.',.'J adoption, and will "lpport the pro-| ,rj posnl? outlined." J.'.*? '. Mr. A. B. Oamlin ecconded ihe ri>---|;f/-a ln+inn. wTiiHi was unaniinovslj' carried,a ',,| amidst applause. ' j J