HARBOUR BOARD ELECTION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 118, 11 February 1908, Page 4

HARBOUR BOARD ELECTION.

.. Sir,—Your, correspondent ■ " Shipping " lins treated you to a repetition of somo former corrospondonco signed "Fair Play,", mid published hero somo timo ago. I exposed "Fair Play's " methods then, and, would reply briefly to " Shipping." . At the timo the shipping peoplo wero a. dominant influenco on the Wellington Harbour Board, tho Hoard received 3d., per trip from such steamers as tho Aorere, which lay for a day and .a half loading and. discharging cargo, making about 80 or 90 trips a year, and handling over the wharf over ,GOOO tons of cargo, and paying tho Board, as I say, tho handsome sum of 495. per annum. Tho Mararo'a and tho ilotomahana, which woro then on tho ferry sorvioo, and got the best berth on tho Queen's Wharf,: paid on tho average over tho ..year, including- Sundays, under 7s..Gd. per trip. And yet it was not, we are told, a free port for ships.- Perhaps you, Sir, would say what you would call it. when a ship, like the Mararoa could make over 150 trips to Wollington, lie 150 days or. more at tho. wharf, handle 30,000 to 40,000 tons of cargo, and over 15,000 passengers, and_pay tho Wellington Harbour Board the handsome sum of £70 a' year.' it was not a free port for ships—but, Mr. Editor, lt was within £70 of it. Look at what the; cargo paid at ovon Is. por ton, as comjiared' with tho dues on tho ship. ' Now, Sir, tho shipping companies do not pay half the revenue of tho Wellington Harbour Board. Tho total revenue last year was ... £152,375 The wharfage, etc. ... £100.059; Pilotage , ... , £421 Port ; charges ... . 9,560 Harbour Slaster 5,305 'i ' J Berthage rato ... 6,611 Harbour Impvt. 5,607 Ferry boats, ctc. . 496 . • • ' : £28,030 Paid by ships ... £28,030 Weighbridges ...£1,053 Interest, etc. ... 1,027 ' . Baling wool ... 9,422 : . •Rents, various ... 4 27S' .Water •- ... 6,566 ' Bond rents u' 1,940. ' £24,286 .• Other, income.. i'£24,286 -' ~ '* Total £152,375

\ou will, notion from this, that 1 tho ships' contribution is 18 per) cent. ;'of -the. .revenue— not-, 50. The figures I have given you are' from Page 20 pf the Harbour Board's report of last year, and'aro correct. i Of icourse," there arc sonie - of: the' shipping companies who press their steamers very hard, _and work them at.-alljiours, without regard for damage to tho cargo, and ihese companies Ijavo to'.-pay: .'ovortime; but" they" get their boats away; promptly, anS save-in that '.way. Mr. "Shipping": also gets his wool dumping done.hero, ahd. he calls thal -acontribution of the ; ship ;, but ; ,in Lyttelton' ho does it himself,, So lie does not''pay. tlio Harbour Board, _ Poor ' Mr, ."Shipping," it is a pity-to see him reduced to this—but,ho . cannot help it'. ' Ho . won't ; tell you ' how much cargo he handles at each port', and he' wont toll;-you why he wants .to"-send tho'' Athenic twice into Lyttelton'arid Port'.Chalmers. Why, Sir, the diiforonoe in stovedor-' ing the. cargo in 'Wellington':alono will nay' his harbour charges. • ' ..... ... . ... _.Mr. -"Shipping '. speaks of my antagonism,, Sir. My attitude has always been fair,''and' my criticism . founded on • justice 'to' all" inCan Mr. " Shipping " snytlie'same? Some little- time ago the shipping: companies sent a letter to tho Board drawn, up . on somewhat, tho same lines as Mr. letter, and I thon gave notice that'l' would move, at tho next mooting of the Board, that wo adopt tho samo. methods as other ,poits-r-Auckland and Lyttelton—and thon the shipping companies would .'got 1 their ; hearts' "desire—cheapness for. the ship. What ~ happened.? ;Every, ship' agont and owner m Wellington signed a round robin and, sont it. to theißoard praying to bo .left alone—that Wellington was tho,-finest and bcst-h.indlad ■ port in,,the Dominion,- and .they.; d.\d' riot want: anything cheaper. , About two; years -ago I -.t-ook ;out .some | figures, of l the various ports,; showing - tho charges por ton of goods handlod at each' port,, and it ran out- as follows:—; ' Paid by Ship. .Paid by Goods, i Per ton. 1 Per.ton., ■ Wellington ... ,6jd. •. ... 1/9.J • . Lyttelton ..„ 9}d. ... 1/lj ' Auckland 5d;" : '-11(3'''- ■ Otago 2/7 . ... 3/3 Napier 1/4 ... r ., ; .',l/6 .... Timaru 1/5 • V ''1/10

Wellington takes'dolivery from the ship, and savos about sd. jior ton.stevedoring to! the ship 'oil inward cargo,,.and delivers frpe to • -the-SMn'sjgneei- :-slving <him' again .' about'; 9d. per.tori/ as charged at other ports/ No other' port does this work. / Auckland. -only supplies the wharf, arid the- ship docs• the storing in the sheds of inward cargo. Stcvodoring here costs about lOd. per tonkin Auckland about Is. 3d. per ton on inward cargo; _ '. ■ • ; - • ■ -■■ ■ • , Mr., "Shipping" asks at ;tho !,end.„o J f.'Jiis, letter: "Do tho Wellington cbnsum'ers' ,g(;t ! the benefit of the (differences,?" Yes,.. Sir, they 1 do; aniil ■' what' l is- 1 more; they nro - now getting over £12,000 :a''year divided among them which,' if Mr ("Shipping", had his;' way, tho companies would .keep.; ' And/ Mr.-. Editor,, this £12,000 is now paid, ,hy the;,ships insteaiif of by-the goods,'and the 'rates of freight'ate still tho samo, .arid ' justly so. ' Notwithstanding all Mr. "Shipping" or anyono olso can say to the contrary, ' Wellington is the 'finest and "cheapest port in tho Dominion for the /ship arid for the consumer' per' fen" of goods handled. —I am, etc:, ' Feb. 10. j "■ JAS; M'LELLAN.