FERRY CHARGES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 282, 26 November 1914, Page 4

FERRY CHARGES.

STAND BY THE HABBODB BOARD. sew bylavv adopted. A special the Auckland Harbour Board was held yesterday afternoon for the purpose o." confirming the resolution carried last week adopting by- I Ja « which base the new charges for the I useof ferry wharves on the number of |. passengers carried by each ferry boat. The by-law provides that on and after December 7 boats liceDKd to carry over 1000 passengers -shall pay 25/ per day and others according to the down to o/ for a boat with a licenced capacity of 250 passengers. The chairman (Mr. J. H. Ounson) formally moved the adoption oi the by-law, And Mr. H. D. Heather seconded. The discussion was on similar iine. to that which took place when the by-laws were adopted. Mr. E. W. Alison said it was his duty as a member of the Board to again | oppose the adoption of the by-law—a by-law by which unreasonable, excessive, harsh.and exacting charges would be im posed upon the Ferry Companies in the Auckland Harbour. His grounds for objection were:—U) There is no necessity for an increase of ferry shipping whariage charges, as tbe chairman stated at meeting of the Board that the revenue of the Beard, was well maintained, and that it was not trom shortage oi finance that these increases were oeing imposed. (2) The policy of the Board should be to encourage and assist shipping, not to unduly penalise and oppress. (3) That the imposition of these enarges is not only oppressive to the Ferry Companies, but is inequitable, being so markedly disproportionate to the wharfage charges payable by other shipping. (4) That the increased charges are in direct contravention to the clear, definite and reiterated statement of the chairman of the Board in 1908, when the raising ol the £1,000,000 loan was contemplated for the purpose of carrying out harboui works of which ferry wharves and stage! formed part. The statement then mad< by the chairman, the Hon. E. Mitchelson was as follows:—" The financial position of the Board is such that your commit tee have no hesitation in rccommendin; that a bill be prepared for presentatioi to Parliament at its next sitting, autho rising the Board to raise the sum o £1.000.000." That the Board would b Ijustified, "in undertaking, without an; heeitarion, the expenditure of the larg sum now proposed, and the operation ca: be carried out with perfect safety with ! out in any shape or form increasing th present scale of harbour charges, ana, i further, great care has been exercised in I preparing the accompanying table, and if it errs at all it errs on the prudent side. It must be satisfactory to>all concerned to know that the steady growth of tbe port is such as will enable such large and important works to be undertaken without inflicting increased rates and charges." (5) That th e estimate made by ,tlic Board of >"H>B, s as to increases of- the' Board's annual" revenue, by which the proposals would be carried out without increasing the harbour charges 'has been more than borne out as the estimated revenue -for last year was set out at £125,000, whilst, as a matter of fact, the revenue last year was over £160.000, or £35,000 in excess of the I 1908 estimate. (6) That whilst the . Auckland Harbour Board is richly en-! dowed. and controls the finest harbour in Xew Zealand, the charges imposed on the ferry companies at Auckland under this by-law will be over 700 per cent higher than those existing at Dunedin. (7) That the imposition oi the excessive charges under the by-law are opposed to" the interests of the several districts to which the companies ply, and to the welfare of the inhabitants. (8) That at a critical time like the present, when, through war conditions, every 'business is detrimentally affected, and such a financial stringency exists, it devolves upon this Board and all public bodies to be considerate, not arbitrarily oppressive in the conduct of its affairs. It is certainly not a time for the imposition of outrageous charges." Mr Alison said, further, that the proposed charges would be 700 per cent, in excess of those existing in Dunedin. He taxed the chairman with having incorrectly stated at the last meeting of the Board that the charge in Dunedin was £5 per day for a boat the size of the Peregrine. The Dunedin by-laws showed that there wa*i an alternative provision whereby the ferry companies could" pay an annua] charge of £75. Mr. J. H. Bradney, __*~ supported "Mr. Alison in Tegard to his contention that ' the charges were excessive. They would come back on the public. Mr. P. Virtue remarked that M>. Alison bad said that the Board should be considered, but he evidently overlooked the fact that it was their duty to consider the public. He slated that* continual reference was made by Mr. Alison that .shipping . wharfages only contributed £7355, but he overlooked the fact that the Harbour Board received in revenue Jfrom this source £105,000 per annum, in the shape of port charges, wharfages, etc Mr. J. S. Bond thought it only reasonable that the Board should expect to get three per cent, on its outlay for ferry facilities. He thought the company could still pay a satisfactory dividend. Messrs. W. E. Hutchison. A. J. Entrican, G. R. Hutchinson, and H. D. Heather also supported the resolution for the confirmation of the by-laws. The Chairman said th*t a very effective and sound reply had been made "by | members to the points raised by Mr. i

Alison. He pointed out. however, with regard to the forecast of the Hon. Mr. Mitchelflon 'that mot only Iliad tlic revenue from the ferries exceeded the prediction, but the expenditure on the provision of facilities had also been in excess of the forecast to an even greater extent. What Mr. Alison had said about the Dunedin regulations was quite" correct, but be (the chairman) ensured the Board that he had made the ; statement in perfect good faith, not having noticed the alternative provision ; for *cnu«J payments. He wae sure that the «t»t«ment had sot influenced the Board. Mr. Guneon contended that the 1 cases of Dunedin and Auckland wvth • regard to ferry services were ■ not • parallel, as there wae comparatively very little trans-harbour traffic in the i latter city. 1 Replying to Mr. Virtue, the solicitor i to the Board (Mr. E. JR. Russell) ex- > preaeed the opinion that the Board had 1 power to fix by by-law the maximum • fares to be charged on the ferry boats. c The motion wa» carried, with Meaers - Alison and Bradney voting in • th« > negative.