HARBOR BOARD.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 197, 18 September 1888, Page 2

HARBOR BOARD.

DECISION TO GET FURTHER LEGAL OPINION. A special meeting of the above was held yesterday at noon, to decide aa to what course should be taken with regard to the amended Act of Parliament. There were present: The Chairman and Messrs Chambers, Gannon, Dickson, Matthewson, Murphy,and Townley. The Public Trustee referred the attention of the Board to the amended Act, and request ing their early consideration of it, in order to allow him to carry out his duties. The Chairman thought that the primary matter requiring their attention under the new Act was that they were allowed to spend £40,000 nnder certain conditions, and he thought it would be very unwise to oppose that being done. If the balance of the money was handed over to the Public Trustee he was afraid that in the present temper of Parliament in relation to harbors, that it was not aU an improbable thing for the colony to take over these loans ; probably Parliament would tie up all moneys unexpended and authorise the Trustee to buy up the bonds. Hi thought the ratepayers of this district would be unwise if they lost the chance of retaining and spending as much as necessary of the £40.000. Assuming that Mr DeLautour’s interpretation of the Act was the correct one, and he thought that was open to a difference of opinion, and the fact of this £40.000 being spent, it seemed to him the position would be this . — Interest and sinking fund per annum, £2400; to be met, as far as necessary, by a special rate on the special district, in this way: 1. Deposit interest for year on say £30,000, say 4 per cent, per annum, £1200; 2. Rate in Borough, value £309,998 at 8-24ths of a penny, £425 17s 4d; 3. On special district at 4’24ths, £96717s 4d ; total, £2593 14s Bd. Really the rate required to provide for this would be 4 24ths and 8 24ths of a penny, and this should not be lost sight of. The special district being rated for this £40,000 neces. sarily reduces the rate for the balance of the loan. It seemed to him, therefore, to get the harbor works to a useful point it was well worth while to the special district to incur this expense, even if thev have to bear the whole of the burden. In 1890 they would not get so much interest on the balance of the loan. Then the work would be completed, and any benefit that would bo derived wquld accrue, and various other revenues would be derived, such as from the Tauwhareparae Block, for instance. Under the supposition that Mr DeLautour’s opinion were wrong it would relieve the Borough to a small extent because Tologa wouid have to bear its proportion, according to as 65 is to 105. He did not think it would ba very prejudieial to the district, even if rated In that way. He was inclined to the opinion himself that the rating in the proportion of 65 to 105 must be the true reading. It would be impossible to tell what would be I thq epact effect because the amount to be levied depend entirely on the other sources of revenue, am) the Secretary had produced figures to show they IjaA su’cli. Mr Matthewson said those figures were not correct.

The Chairman assumed they were—of course thev were an estimate. Mr Matthewson said they were £l5OO out in one item.

The Chairman thought there could be no besltatjpn about taking a poll, and he moved accordingly. Mr Gannon seconded, his understanding of the Act being that the only increased rating power given would be to meet the interest and sinking fund on the increased amount expended, and not on that unless th# ordinary revenue were not sufficient to meet it.

Mr Townley said the Chairman thought there would not be much rating necessary, but he forgot the fact that this rate would last for a considerable period. It was not for the first year or two that it would be felt, but after the money had been spent. If the settlement did not increase the present settlers would have to pay the rate, in addition to the other rates, it was not worth taking the ordinary revenue into consideration. It appeared to him they were r.ot justified in going on with the question of taking a poll' at the present time. The opinion given by Mr DiLrufour seemed to bin; not to touch on the subject on which they wanted to know more about—the opinion did not .explain awqy the difgculty in one way or SBOthev. He wanted to know bow the House of Assembly goijld flow take charge of tfie funds of the Harbor Board. Retqre they could consider the new Act of 1888, he thought it was imperative on the members of that Boasd tfl take the best advice on the following points, 1. The Gisborne Harbor Board formed by special Act. and also under the Harbors Act of 1878, and by an empowering Act pa sad in 1884. were empowered by said Act to take a vote of the ratepayers, whether the Board should contract a Loan of £200.090 for the purpose of the Harbor works. About April 1885 the Gisborne Harbor B oard did take a .vole of the ratepayers, the vote being largely in favour of raising the Loan. The Board took all the requhed steps by law. and succeeded in raising a Loan of £200,600 in Lon don. The Board engaged an engineer, fo pr pare plans of the Harbor works; the said plans were forwarded to Government for approval. The plans were approved of by

e Government and the works started. Som i doubts, about a sum of £25,000 being set | aside as a nucleus of a sinking fund, having arisen the Board went to the House of Assembly in the year 1887 with a Bill to validate same. 2. In passing Validating Bill the House of Assembly inserted a clause limiting the expenditure on Harbor works to £65,000, also a clause compelling the Board to go to the House before spending any sum in excess of £65,000. See Amendment Act Clause 10. Is such limitation binding on the Board, seeing that the loan is a local one,

secured by rates on private properties and sanctioned by the vote of the ratepayers of the whole Harbour district. Under what authority does the House get control of the Loan ? When the expenditure reached £65,000 an enquiry was held (see Mr Higginson’s report) as required by Amendment Act 1887• The interest is secured by an equal rate over the whole of Cook County, the rate being double in the Borough of Gisborne. 3. The Burd again in 1883 sent a short Bill to the House of Assembly to reped cla ise 10 of Act 1887. The House instead of repealing clause 10 passed Amendment Act which completely alters the _ conditions under which the Loan was originally raised both as to limiting the expenditure on the works, and also alters the - conditions • of rating by imposing an additional rate over a portion of the district. The Act also requires the Board to take a vote of the ratepayers as to expenditure of certain sums, as also to divest the Board of its funds by placing them in the hands of the Public Trustee. There appears to be no machinery clauses for such interference on the part of the House of Assembly by any of the Harbors Acts now inforced. So long as the Board pays the bondholders the interest there appears to be no power for any interference, The Amendment Act of 1888 appears to be illegal, tyrannical, meddlesome, and disgracefully unfair in the interference with the rates. That seemed to him to convey their position, and before submitting the question to the ratepayers they ought to get some advice as to how they stood. The Act had b :en put through in a great hurry, the member for the district did not understand it, and the Premier did not understand it; there might be some flaw in it, which when enquired into, would put them into an altogether different position. They ought to take every means to prevent a ! mistake at the present juncture. By th( 1 Harbors Act there seemed to be no power tc ' give effect to this amended Act. Even thi L bondholders must approach them through the ' Supreme Court—they had no power untie ! default was made. The Premier had stated that if a local body made a special rate t< meet a loan and that rate was not sufficien s the lender must take his chance. He woul: . suggest that they do not at the present meet r ing decide to take a vote—they should know f their position first, and not go to the rate payers with every member saying he did no r understand the position. It the Act was bv I, the less they had to do with it the better. H i,' for one was not prepared to go before thi ratepayers in their present undefined posi n tion.

Mr Dickson agreed in the main with Mr Townley. It was merely carryingout an idea of his own—-when the first restrictions were placed on the Board he had suggested that the thing be handed over to the Government. He had heard several opinions from men who ought to be able to judge, and they all seemed in a fog. As far as they could sec, she works as they had been proceeded with to far were useless. Mr Matthewson was very much in sympathy with Mr Townley. The Act was arbitrary, but they must remember that it was introduced by the local member. [Mr Townley : Not a word of it.] He knew it was different to the Act introduced by their membsr but it was the outcome of the Bill introduced by him. If the member had not introduced the Act at all this session there would have been no blame. The Board was to blame for having drawn it all on themselves. [Mr Townley said they were compelled to do so by the previous Act.] If Mr Townley could point out any way by which the works could be hung up he would support him. [MrTownley : I don’t want if hqng up.] The Chairman's statements were like those made before the loan was raised, and which had proved fallacious. If the ratepayers voted in favor of the works proceeding he would not say another word. [Mr Gannon : That ought to be an inducement.] The rates for the general revenue were not equal to paying the £lOOO refund. All the wharfages for the last six months, from January to June, were £3OO. Last year they had looked up considerably, but they must remember that all the Harber Board material had been charged wharfage for. The ordinary trade of the pore was falling. He hoped that this would look up, but they could not reckon on it. Everything considered he thought they should go to the ratepayers at once and decide the question, Mr Murphy thought they should have everything understood before going to the ratepayers. Most ratepayers thought that the northern ridings would only have to pay interest on the £65,000, whereas they were now paying interest on the £lOO,OOO. They had to find interest on £lOO,OOO and £lOOO a year sinking fund. When the £40,000 was spent it would mean they would be paying interest on £140,000, Mr Matthewson considered Mr DeLautour’s interpretation a very fair one. Mr Chambers agreed with Mr Townley. No doubt the ratepayers would take a heavy responsibility upon themselves if they decided to take a poll. If there were any possible way of evading this Act it was well worth trying. The Board should make a stand, and he did not think they should hand over the security of the ratepayers of this district to the public trustee. A little delay would do no harm, and might perhaps result in an immense amount of good. Mr Matthewson pointed out that they were protected from the trustee by a contract with the Bank that no money should be removed unless certain notice had been given. The Chairman said a great deal had been said about the Act being ultra'vires. [Mr Townley: I did not say so.] It practically amounted to that. He denied that there was qny limit to the power of Parliament. They might say what they liked and complain of the unfairness, but it was inevitable. Therefore ho did not think it was much good their spending money to get further opinions. As to getting an opinion as to the validity of the Act, to his mind it was simply beating the air. With regard to what Mr Murphy had stated he was entirely at one With him. The dqty would fall on him, and he Woulq take csrb tq explain the position exactly before the ratepayers were aekefi to vote on the question. He should feel bound to put the thing distinctly QU the lines of Mr DeLautour’s opinion, though perserially he might not ba inclined to accept that. Delaying the matter would only be incurring expense, and he did not see what good could come of it. He believed on the whole the ratepayers would consider it best for the money to be spent. ' M’r Tbw’nlqjr considered that in gny case they could harfity deqide at that meeting to take a poll, consistent with the notice calling the moating. He moved as an amendment that the Board obtain advice from one of the leading solicitors in the colony upon the Act, a Committee to formulate the points upon which opinion was required. The Board had been in a fog over all the Acts ; they had been brought to a standstill and it was time now to take some action. If they asked for a poll in their present fix it would be lost, so they might just as well take time and have the Act seen into. Mr DeLautour was not clear on some points. The ratepayers would want to have the matter before them clearly. kfr Matthewson said if they submitted the Act' to all the lawyers iri New Zealand they would probably not get tWo to agree. The point as to the validity of the Act was a fresh issue. He thought the best course would be tp state a case for the Supreme Court. The amendment was carried, the Chairman aqd Mr Maßhe'vsnn being against. Mr G»n non had previously retired. The following resolution was then carried on the motion of Mr Chambers, seconded by Mr Townley:—“ That the Public Trustee be informed, in answer to his demand to hand over the balance of loan, th it a c mtraot was entered into with the Union Bink of Australia, whereby the Board bound itself not to remove any portion of that £75,000 from the Bank’s custody except for the purpose of cons’ruotion of works. Furthermore, the Board is not satisfied that it will be justifi d in handing any portion of the loan rafsed on the security of the ratepayers' property in Cook County to the Public Trustee." The Chairman voted against.