The Taranaki Herald. TUESDAY, JULY 30, 1907. THE WAITARA HARBOUR BILL.

The Waitara Harbour District and Empowering 1 Bill, which the New Plymouth Harbour Board ut a special meeting held yesterday decided to oppose, may be divided into three parts, two of which in no way concern the New Plymouth Harbour Board or any interests it is its duty to protect and conserve. Of these two, one part proposes to authorise the Waitara Harbour Board to borrow, on the security of an endowment of one hundred sections in the* 'borough of Waitara, a sum of £7000 for the purpose of rebuilding the bridge Over the Waitara River within the borough of Waitara. Apotfcer part of the measure is intended to validate certain leases granted or to be granted by the Waitara Harbour Board. If the Bill now before Parliament had been limited to these objects no opposition would have resulted. With regard, however, to the other section, the New Plymouth Harbour Board was bound , to enter a protest. Clause 4 proposes to constitute, "for the purposes of this Act," a new harbour district comprising certain portions of the counties of Clifton and Taranaki, including the borough of Waitara. Most, if not all, of the land comprised in the proposed new district already forms paTt of the New Plymouth harbour rating district and is liable to be rated — and is actually rated — for the purpose of payment of interest on the New Plymouth harbour loan of £200,000. i Clause sof the Bill says that " nothing herein contained shall prejudice or affect the right of the New Plymouth Harbour Board to continue to levy rates over the area comprised in the harbour district hereby constituted for the purpose of providing payment of interest and sinking fund on the existing loan of £200,000 borrowed by the New Plymouth Harbour Board, or on so much of any future loan or loans as the New Plymouth Harbour Board may hereafter raise for the purpose of paying off the balance of the existing loan of £200,000, but for no other purposes whatsoever." It is these two clauses that the New Plymouth Harbour Board opposes, and we think we shall be able to show that it is its duty to oppose them. Thirty years ago Parliament, recognising the want of a deep-sea harbour on this coast, passed an Act constituting the New Plymouth harbour district, authorising the Harbour Board to borrow £200,000 to construct a harbour, empowering the Board to levy a rate on the lands comprised in its district for payment of interest on the. loan, and endowing the Board with a fourth of the land revenue of the provincial district, also for paying interest on the loan^ The main purpose of the Act, the construction of a deep-sea harbour at New Plymouth, has not

been completed, more money being

required, and the New Plymouth Harbour Board, as 'trustees under the Act, is bound to protect, so fair !as lies in its power, the interests of the port. Therefore, it canndt acquiesce in a proposal to cut off a large portion of its district, and thus appreciably limit the security it has to offer for a further loan. I The promoters of the nev/ Bill giving further borrowing powers to the New Plymouth Harbour Board recognised the hardship of making Waitara town property subject to a rate for New Plymouth harbour, and proposed to cut the borough of Waitara entirely out of the rating district, for both the present and future loans. But the Waitara Bill proposes to cut out of the New Plymouth harbour district a very large area of country, including all the land to the north of the Waitara river as fair as the boundary of the Stratford j County, several miles beyond Taraita. Lepperton and Tikorangi are included in the. proposed 'new district, which extends as far -as the mouth of the- Waiongona river in the direction of New Plymouth. To cut off so' large an extent of .country must . appreciably reduce the value of the New Plymouth harbour district, and so curtail the Board's powers to carry out the functions Parliament set it up to discharge. Were the rejection of clauses 4 and 5 of the Bill calculated to inflict an injur- upon the Waitara people or their harbour, were it " killing a useful port," Mr. Thomson might well hesitate to oppose it. But, it dees nothing of the kind. The. constitution of a Waitara Harbour district,, as proposed in the BiII ; will not help to improve the river or make the roadstead any safer for Home liners ; nor would it do so if the projposed district was made twice as large; for the seaaoii'that it is tiot proposed to ta^ke. power 1 to borrow or impose a. rate, . The. promoters of the Bill propose, td put it plainly, to take from New Plymouth what will be of no practical use to Waitara, and, as a consequence, to throw upon the r-e'st of the district the burden, of providing a harbour for the whole. If Parliament permits the district it constituted for a specific purpose ,to be cut into by Waitara, it may also permit Ojpunake aoad Patea to define new districts., and so reduce the New Plymouth district until the carrying out of the purpose of the New Plymouth Harbour 6oard Ordinance is rendered almost impossible, except by placing an undue burden upon a small part of the >, district .benefited. The discussion .at the Harbour Board meeting i yesterday elicited some important admissions. Mr. McLean . stated that " had the Waitara Bill been a rating Bill he would have supported it, "from which we gather that he recognises the value of a deejl)-sea port and is not averse to further rating for the purpose of providing one. It becomes, then, a question of locality, and upon that, of course* we differ from Mr. McLean, who appears to think that a loan would be well spent at Waitara. But no amount of money that Taranaki can raise will make Waitara anything more than an open roadstead for Home liners,, while for £150,000, or less, accommodation can be provided at Moturoa for the largest vessels trading to New Zealand. In a few years these vessels will lie at a wharf at Moturoa, and then the wool and. meat from Mr. McLean's district will be v shipped there. Therefore we look with confidence for his ultimate conversion to our way of thinking, that a deep-sea harbour at Moturoa can be obtained at a moderate cost and that it will pay the district to obtain it. Then Mr. Thomson admitted that " they could make a port for the vessels to come into," but he is in doubt as to whether we shall get a service which' will benefit the butter trade, and he wanted to know what assurance the Chairman had that the Home boats would call here. What assurance will satisfy him? The shipping companies sent their vessels to Timaru as soon as accommodation was provided for them, and now they are sending them to Oamaru, although the accommodation there is not very much superior to what we have already at Moturoa. If the large steamers could lie at a wharf at Moturoa, all the wool, frozen meat, and dairy produce of the district would be shipped there to the adyantage of the farmers. The existing arrangement, under which the shipr ping companies pay freight on dairy produce to Wellington, works admirably, and nothing less

satisfactory will be acceptable to the industry. But common-sense 'tells us that if the shipping companies could save money by sendJing- the big steamers to Moturoa, instead of paying for the butter and cheese to be sent to WellingI .ton, they would do so. The jfreight on 1000 tons of butter and iiqheese to Wellington, at ten shillings a ton, is £500, and if the big ships could run up from Welling•ton to Moturoa and ship the produce at half the cost they would cjo it. The only difficulty is the want of accommodation. If we provide that the rest will follow; ■vfre can depend upon the shipping companies for t Hat. It may be said that we look at this from a local and selfish point of view. Well, we can't help that if our point of view is also best for the province", and it is. Nor will a <ieep-sea harbour at Moturoa injure Waitara in the least. Rather the reverse', because the concen-^ tration of cargo at Moturoa will secure a better and more frequent service,' and there will be much less risk attending the shipment of frozen meat than at present.

- The Fire Brigade wishes to acknowledge receipt of a donation of two guineas from Mrs S. Dowling: The New Plymouth Drivers' Industrial Union of Workers was registered last Friday. Lovers of flowers are reminded that the annual show of the Horticultural Society will be held this year, on TniirsV day, December 12th. The Technical School Committee is making arrangements for a series" of* lectures to be held in the Technical School. The first of these will be given by Mr T. Sandford one evening next week. The Minister for Lands has given instructions to the Land and Survey Department that the name "Middle, Island" is not to be used i& future, South Island will be adhered' to in all, cases. There were 9210 charges of drunkenness brought in the colony's Police Courts last year. Prohibitionists say the- charges of drunkenness • represent only a small proportion of the aggre* gate number of "sprees" indulged in I by the populace. The new bridge over the Waiwakaiho River is almost completed. The conI tractor has been> unable to get the iron railings, but when these come to hand the contract will be quickly finished. Only about a week's work remains to be done. ' James Welch, the actor, -says 1 ': — I "When I see the same huge crowds | round a piece of statuary in the gallery of the British Museum, I will then be convinced tha,t the crowds which nightly gather" to " see the -so-called living statues do- so with no other idea than that of a lover of art." ! At the meeting of settlers at the . Egmont Road School last night, when Ijhe collection of subscriptions for a new hall was mentioned, Mr J. R. Hill cynically suggested that it would be a good idea to wait till the next general election. Then, donations of "fivers" and "tenners" would be easily got. In their weekly report, the directors of the Taranaki Petroleum Coy. commented thus: — "Shareholders are advised Itfpt to pay attention to reports emanating from any but the directors, who wili see that they are fully informs ed of any developments at least once, a ! week, and oftener if required, for their" i protectibn. While matters are satisfac*" tory to-day, there is nothing calling for a marked increase in the value of stocks, nor, on the other hand, for any depression of same." - The renewal of the Vancouver mail agreement for one year, with the additional proviso that the Miowera be replaced by a faster vessel, leaves New Zealand 'in exactly the same position as before — there being no New Zealand port of call in the itinerary. The new Sydney weekly Australia remarks that the connections from New Zealand by steamer to Fiji, where passengers ana mail" join the Vancouver steamer, is prompt an 4-; #a^isfact.ory — >tlie mails leaving Wellington about the same time as they leave Sydney. -Butithe inward mail makes no connection with a New Zealand-bound steamer at Suva, and is carried to Sydney, where it waits several days before being despatched to its destination. This delay is surely need* less.

Some interesting " finds have been made recently in various parts of the colony. A very old muzzle loader, was found at Takapouniii lately with the year 1856 imprinted on the' barrel." The' number of the rifle was 4066. It .must have lain in the place where it was discovered for many years. Beyond a decided bend in the barrel, both barrel and stock were in a wonderfully good state of preservation. The Southland isews states that Mr JL Whipp, who works a beach claim at Pallia, unearth? Ed some interesting relics recently white conducting sluicing operations. One of the most curious was a metal plate that had apparently been affixed to a sol" dier's helmet, bearing the lettering "Closeburn Sharpshooters." Near by were the remains of an old flintlock rifle. How long these had been deposited there it was impossible to say, but Mr Whipp thinks /rom the depth at which they were discovered on the beach — namely, 9ft. — that they must date back to Captain Cook's time. "Closeburn Sharpshooters" was probably the 'title of some old regiment of which there is no local record. In addition to these articles were found a greenstone sacred mere, a beautifully polished Maori chisel, and a bone spear, about 2ft. in length, the end of which was missing. None of the Maoris in the Colac Bay district have any knowledge of bone spears, and it may, therefore, be taken for granted that the relics date a long way back in New Zealand's history. !

The agony of an aching head drives away every thought of pleasure and causes anxiety to the sufferer's friends. Steams' Headache Cure brings quick relief and makes life endurable. 1

The wutcr main which burst a day or two ago at vlie Henui Bridge has now been put in order. > The next meeting of the Monument Committee will bo held on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. at the office of Mr J. C. Davies. Nearly all the puriri from the old Waiwakaiho Bridge has been disposed of. The price obtained is said to have been very satisfactory. Captain Edwin's weather forecast, telegraphed at 12.35 this afternoon, predicted moderate to strong easterly winds. Glass will show Tittle, movement. Tides and sea moderate. On account of the long spell of dry weather, the Taieri Peninsula Dairy Company is unable to complete its British contracts to supply butter. The North Island vill be looked to for supplies,for the local market. A large number of our lady friends having expressed a desire to inspect the new Herald offices, the proprietor will be pleased to welcome all those who can mako it convenient to pay us a yisit to-morrow (Wednesday) afternbon from three to four o'clock. Visitors who were at the Mountain House cm Sunday report that the track is in good order for walking, though in places rather heavy for traps. Snowballing was largely indulged in, the snow being a foot deep round thehouse. The caretaker, Mr Morris, and Mrs Morris have resumed their duties. The tree 3 planted on Marsland Hill last week by the Scenery Preservation Society were:— l 2 yellow kowhia, 12 lace bark. 6 native miUbery, 12 ngaio, 12 tainui, 12 cabbage trees, 24 ake ake (2 varieties), V 2 totara ? (2. varieties), 12 karaka, 6 cordyliri (2, varieties), 6 grisselineer (2 varieties), 6 .pittosporum (2 varieties), 6 puriri, 3 kaio, 3 red birch, 3 ginwopd, and 12 pohutukawa. Cfty vendors of firearms have found the rovolver market full of movement v since the cokl'lumpers' strike commenced (says the Sydney Morning Herald). This is not to be taken to mean that 'anybody contemplates throwing up barricades and opening a revolution.^ As far as can be ascertained, the revolvers were in nearly every instance purchased by free labourers, who feared violence at the hands of the more excitable of those supporting the men^on strike. One shopkeeper states that during the past month he has disposed of na fewer than 2dO : of the,, weapons'. There is something profoundly pathetic in the published accounts of the home-coming of Mr Chamberlain after a Jong stay in. the Riviera i? search of health and strength, n .<s,ays Mr W. B. Lucy, writing to the Sydney Morning Herald). The shock is the sharper tor those who have been long familiar with his virile form, hiS long, quick strides, his -vigorous advance along any pathway on which ho found himself. It is pitiful to think of the slow dragging of the partially paralysed figure across the railway station, and the gallant but iutile attempt to raise his hat in response to the cheer with which he was greeted. His return was evidently hastily de•fcermined upon. Only a week earlier official notice was circulated of prolongation of his stay in the south of France, In this sudden home-coming there is something painfully suggestive of the wounded lion, the hand trf death upon it, making its way back to its lair. - A skit on colonial Premier* and their waye appears in a halfpenny illustrated London paper. Says a pictorial:)— "It now appears that the colonial Premiers and their wives and daughters come to London simply to buy clothes. Then occur two series of awful pictures showing the colonial Premiers "before and "after", being Londomsed. Ine first series represents the colonial Premiers and their, wives looking like a mob of escaped mental hospital patients garbed in clothes of the pre-Victcnan period. It is flattering to New Zealand that Sir Joseph Ward is the least "quW? of them, and he is wearing a frock coat in conjunction with golf socks and'chbpped-off paiflfc. The ladies are beyond belief. The second series show them duly "Londonised," looking like tailors'' and dressmakers' dummies. Sir Joseph Ward's moustache is alone "worth the price of admission."— Free Lance.

The following task, which was set the candidates for the position of junior clerks in the service of the Melbourne Wtrter and Sewerage Board, is commended to the Premier as the standard for the Chinese educational test:-—' "This celibate waß a licentiate in medicine, and held other scholastic diplomas. His characteristics and idiosyncracies personified — one - day taciturn an 4 the next garrulous. ■ To-day his facile pen evolves' a garfrfent distich m piquant satire on some literary genius, to-morrow an economistic effusion on an illiterate voluptuary. His studies in concrete science were .exoteric, hjs researches in natuial^pnikM^h^^ot^pc, if not chimerical. Thougp OBffin*nt himself the; oputetfce -of ,pthers mvoked his scathing oMo^uyV l^nuijjous^m respect to organised ;'alissgiving, yet he promiscuously 'Uwisned his wealth to tn<T "tenacious VolicTtStions $1 those whose, desserts* were^. in inversfe proportion 4$ their f iegr gs&ive clamour, - Mr E. May, baker and confectioner, inserts .another tflfe*&a competition poems. . WJiii^s qtfStumes claim your v attention in* -the advertisement on, page 3. The* prices ensure their speedy clearance. _ „.,,,.«* The Rifles' long night, assembly takes place to-morrow. Lady friends are providing supper. Amusements are being found for non-dancers. The flqQr is in excellent condition 1 . - Mr J. W. Henrions, of the Dresden Piano Company's Building, Devon St., advertises a clearing sale of stationery and fancy goods. He is about to relinquish business- in New Plymouth. There will be a concert in the'Omata Hall this evening, July- 30, in aid of the Omata Sunday School. 'Buses will be leaving town at a quarter past six from Ambury's corner. In another column will be found particulars of a clearing sale to be held at Bell Block next Monday, by Mr Newton King, on account of Mr.J. Monk, who is leaving the district. Special attention is said to have been paid to the quality of this herd". i The lolanthe Assembly will hold their | usual fortnightly dance in the Old Freemasons' Hall to-morrow night — A. F rf Courtenay, Hon. Sec. — Advt.