The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1882. THE HARBOR BOARD LOAN.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1039, 5 December 1882, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1882. THE HARBOR BOARD LOAN.

The proposal of the Timaru Harbor Board to raise a loan of £IOO,OOO to complete the Breakwater, is the most important question that has ever been submitted to the public of South Canterbury. On its success or failure depends the future of the district. Its success will give additional value to property, infuse fresh life and vigor into the district, and give an immediate impetus to trade and commerce ;its failure will lead to depression, want of enterprise, and depreciation in the value of everything in the district. In fact, it is a question of life and death to the district. We, therefore, would ask our readers to consider the matter carefully : to look at the question from that point of view that will show the good it would do if floated, and not to be led away by any other influence than the good of all the district. The position is as follows : £130,000 has already been spent on the Breakwater, and it has been admitted on all sides that it is so far a great success. All doubts as to its capability to serve the purpose for which it is intended have long since vanished, and there is now uot a man ready to stand up and say that the money expended on it has not been well spent. One fact is thus proved, and that is, that it the Breakwater were completed South Canterbury would have the safest aud the best harbur in ISsw Zealand . There would be no sand bars to cross as in Dunediu and Lyttelton, no headlands or dangerous reefs to avoid as in Wellington and Auckland ; vessels of the heaviest tonnage could sail up to the very wharf without being exposed to the slightest peril, and the Timaru Harbor would then be the safest aud the most popular in the colony. The insurance rates would be less, and several other advantages would be gained. Towards the consummation ol so desirable a state of things the best part ot the work has a'ready been done, and, -what is more, there is not one penny of debt on it, and the district has not to pay one penny of direct taxation on it. Now the district is called upon to give authority th the Board to raise £IOO,OOO more to finish the work. Last year an Act was passed giving the Board power to borrow £IOO,OOO, on condition that it obtained the consent of the ratepayers first, and it is this consent the Board is seeking through the various districts at present. The public meetings which are being held have for their object the ventilation of this subject ; they are called to discuss the desirability of granting the borrowing power to the Board ; and after all these meetings have been held, and the subject put properly before the ratepayers, a poll will be taken to ascertain how many are in favor of it, and how many are against it. If the number in favor of the proposal is one-fourth greater than the number against it then the proposal will be carried, but if not it will I) 1 lost. The Harbor Works will have to be stopped, and what has already been done will be almost useless. The only cause which could possibly induce ratepayers to veto the loan is that the Board have power to levy rates to pay the interest on it. If this subject is looked at in a sensible way, we do not think that that consideration will weigh with many. All the members of the Board, and others who have inquired into the matter, assert that no occasion will arise for levy- , ing rates, because the dues from the shipping will be sufficient for that purpose, and the Harbor Board has no power to levy a rate except when they have no funds to pay the interest. They expect that the money can be got at 5 per cent, and that by paying 1 per cent per annum into the sinking fund the debt will be completely extinguished in 30 years. At 5 per cent the annual amount to he paid would only be £SOOO, and this the Board expect to be able to raise from shipping dues. [

At present it is true that the revenue from, shipping is swallowed up in expenses, but the cost of working will decrease and the trade increase as the Breakwater becomes useful. It is the Landing Seryice that swallows up all the revenue of the Board at present, but very soon that will be dispensed with, when more vessels can be loaded and unloaded at the. Breakwater. The anr»ual revenue of the port at present is £7OOO, and it would not surprise us to see them saving a good round sum out of that to pay interest. And, besides this, there is another way in which the Board could get money to pay interest. When the loan is raised they could invest all they would not immediately require ot it, and that would be another source ot revenue. By investing the money , they have had in the past they netted iu four years nearly £25,000, or as much as would pay interest on the £IOO,OOO for five years, and what is to prevent them from doing the same with regard to the money proposed to be raised ? Whatever way the wind blows there is not the slightest clanger that any rate will be struck for the next .four years. That fact is certain, bat even if the wovst came to the worst the rate that it would be necessary to lavy would be mere bagatelle compared with the benefits that would accrue to the district from having a first-class harbor. The value of the rateable property of the Harbor District is £400,000, and a rate of 3d in the £ levied ou that amount would pay the £SOOO interest ; so that if things did not improve one iota, the worst that could happen is that a 3d in the £ rate would be levied. At the Washdyke meeting, the other evening, Mr Moody, than whom there is no better business man on the Board, said that it cost 20s per ton for transhipment and carriage | of goods from Dunedin and Lyttelton more tlnn it would cost if the goods j had come to Timaru direct. He estimated that 20,000 tons of goods came annually into South Canterbury, and thus £20,000 had been lo?t. The ratepayers had to pay this at present, while for the loan which would complete the Harbor works they would only have to pay £SOOO even if a rate had to be struck. We will refer to this subject again, but in the meantime we trust

that no influence will prevent the loan from being floated.