VOICE OF "THE SHORE"

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 59, 10 March 1915, Page 2

VOICE OF "THE SHORE"

AGAINST HARBOUR BOARD'S PROPOSALS. FARES-.AND PROGRESS. . CASE OF THE CHILDREN. -' "\Vhen the Commission of Inquiry into "the new- by-la-«-= of the Auckland Harbour Board was continued in the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon before Mr. Justice Hosking, the evidence, for the Devonport Ferry Company \v~aV concluded, and witnesses on behalf of the North Auckland Municipal Association were called by Mr. J. C. aiartiii. Tiiv 15sf wTrneT>~"eaTTetl by the esmpanv was James Henry Bradney, monJbiT of the" Harbour Board and of liio tirai of Bradney and Binns. who deposed that he had opposed the charges on ]iublLc grounds, holding, that it was not good policy to tax an important public facility when the financial state of the Board did not call, for it. On "behalf of the North Auckland MuifToi pal Association, -lames Wilson, -sefretaxy- of that- body, and town clerk of DrvonpoTt. stated that since the new charges came into operaxion, the Takapuna Ferry Company had increased the r.'m::lp ticket from 3d'to 4d, and had -to say that although in consequence of the Board modifying their original proposals, they had decided to allow the matter of fares to remain in abeyance for some time. ' Jt might be necessary to sligMhL increase the fares later on. . ... THE MAYOR OF-DEVONPORT. When the Commission resumed this morning— WilK*m Handley. Mayor of Devonport. and chairman -ef the North Shore Municipal Association, was asked "by Mr.'Martin what would "be Ihe" effect on the advancement of the borough if thei<chaTaps were-brought into effect, -an'd-replied tn-it the interests of the torough would be "very prejudicially •affected. The Judge: That is if they were. passed on. -•-■■-"••••-■ ■''"■"Mr.' Handley intinlafcpd that he had been given an opportunity of acquainting himself with the effect of the charges on the finances of the company, and he "realised that the charges would have to be passed on. Since then the "com"|Sny'"had'intimated "that this would jfidjeSlie'Zfhe "effect: - -As a resnltof the representations of the Association the Harbour Board ihad substantially modiJksL its .original proposal. The -S'orth .bftroughs were unanimously of "opinion that if any increase in the charges were made it should not come into effect until after the war. The Judge: Has the Municipal Asso-t-iatiou.Jorm.ed any idea as to the. prin-ciple-on which the ferries should be -charged?- . — Witness; The Association is of opinion that the ferry eompTCny-sbouldTJOt-te eh-.ireed -more than . any other shipping instance," more than the .Northern Steamehip ■ Company. ...The Judge: But the>; also pay on the . . Mr. Handlejij But v ,all pay that. Keplving. to Mr. M. G. McGregor -"(counsel "for the Eerry Company), -witness 'said thai undoubtedly the low" fares charged by the "Terry Company had made the northern suburbs what they w-erc* - ...._... T'As*fccS""wEetKer " the population considered that they. Twerel being carried at ''ridiculously cheapskates, witness replied"Thiit the~feeling was that_ the' rates were reasonable. Against the cheapnes* I>f' the-' "fare - was the ineonXenjenee ~of .ea,tching bpa.ts and connections on the Auckland eide. ~ -The- -Judae: And -there-is the-discom-fort of theieea-passage. IN CASE OP DEFICIENCY. Continuing, Mr~Handley said that if the fiorougha-were going to be taxed on a convenience they should have a foice in the expenditure. He was of opinion that reasonable facilities could have heeia" provided with a less expenditure than the Harbour Board had gone to. Cross-examined by Mr. R. McVeagh fwhe. with" Mr;- E. RnsseH, represented the ljajrbour Board), , what vri tr.es« "wouT j suggest "supposing" ib;# it was found that the present system of charging was unjust, Mr. Handley de-ejared-that) considering the- fact that the present fares were the cause of the population" going" tp" -the North Shore, he would' not suggest that the charges ebouldr.-be raised. . --.Mr- M£Yeagb.:.;But supposing they ■were unjust"to' "the BcUrd? —I should Dot recommend them to- do anything. Mr. McVeaghT That is. submit to a de-fitiencxt-I. do not- know what I should 4(h- —lf- I were in-fee--aetual position-of facing a deficiency I might come to soHie^finality. Yoir'will not commit yourself to the statement thai; 7 yoii"would'increase the charges'?—l certainly would not. " Witness- explained"that Tie was of opinion .th*t~ the Harbour Board should be prepared to bear some of thfl burden. in view of. the importance of the matter to lhie"!Sbrth .Shore suburbs. ' ■ Maye, barrister and solicitor, imd'fi resident of Devonport, said there was an enormous traffic between city and 6uburhs in "the" carrying of children to secondary schools in Auckland. There wasategahig-trafficae a resplt of all the forte -tet-enel being on the north of the harbour. As a landowner, he had l»d-two concrete instances of the depreciation in valuation that would result if there were an. increase in fares. Replying to the Judge, Mr. Mays derlared that the HaTOour Board should pay some part of the cost of the ferries. " John Henderson, storekeeper, of Devonport, and a member of the Borough Council, was of opinion that if contickets were raised considerably valuations would go down at once. He stated that a certain house in Victoria TV>ad had been Ipi for 25/ a week for thirteen months. The owner offered the 'house at 18/ a -week to people in town, but they would "not even look at it heeause of the uncertainty as to the lares. Henry Bond, sawmillcr. of Devonport. also gave evidence as to the threatened depreciation of property as indicated by the unwillingness of people to rent fievonport house*. ■--_■■■ MORE MAYOEAIi "TESTIMONY. William Wallace, Mayor of Birkenhead\ and a member of the Municipal Association, stated that his experience s* a land and estate agent had shown Th'iu "the annual ticket was the main Inducement io people'tii lire' Jn the fcuburii, which was Almost, entirely, pecupeople." -In cross-ex-annnattptf;; Mr: .IWafflajre: also;.exp.r(«sed . JSe" opiiiioii that the; terry company ekpjddfbe, charged -upon the same prin- ■ OffleJSW_-the other shipping eompanie=— ■X a- iaithmg a. ton pe T day ■A . , Although the company H • exclusive use of these wharves!

'Witness added that there could-ke do question that if the fare went up: "at the present time, when ihe cost "of living was rapidly, rising, jt. would seriously deplete the population of jßirkenhead. George Eraser, Mayor, cf Xorthcote, wa s of opinion that the extra facilities' provided by tie Harbour Board improvements by no meane compensated for the extent of the increase in the. charges. The main- advantage derived wae that passengers stepped on to concrete instead of ivood. The new charges would be oppressive, in that in the case of families of ordinary size the suggested alteration with "reference to the concision tickets -would put 6/ to 8/ ■weekly on to thereat. fHe thought that facilities might have been provided at a less cost than £90.000, and -that in some instances much of the expenditure oh. shore construction should bo'charged to reclamation. Asked by Mr. Mc-Veajrli what principle he would charße on. Mr. Fraser suggested, that the Board should charge £100 per year per 1.000 of the population, which would V.c £1.200 per annum on the present population of the three boroughs.HARBOUR BOARD'S .PRINCIPLE. In the course of Mr. McVeagh's cress-, examination, his Honor interposed with an inquiry as to whether the""Harbour Board's contention was that this portion of the Board's -work should pay interest., and Mr. Mc-Veagh replied that thi3 was not so. "What we do say m that the charge will provide for the -cost of upkeep and depreciation. With the exception of a small sum it will not provide a fraction of a penny in the-way of interest. That is the present charge. Of course, we cannot bind future boards." This concluded .the. evidence : for...the ■North. Auckland Municipal' Association, and Mr. T N. "Baxter" (who appeared for the. petitioners), called .lames Gilbert, proprietor of the '-Birkenhcad | Xews/* -who declared thai the reeling of--the puWic in that-suburb -was that the new charges would seriously miltlate against the progress of the place. Other evidence to a similar effect wae given by Charles Primrose Murdoch, painter, of Devonport. Several other lvitneeees called, and the evidence for tb.e_ Harhour Board wag ■opened 4is the "Star" went to press.