THE PATENT SLIP.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 244, 8 July 1908, Page 8

THE PATENT SLIP.

AGREEMENT ARRIVED AT. • HARBOUR BOARD TO ULTIMATELY . . CAIN POSSESSION. SOME INTERESTING FACTS. ■ At a conforence botween a special committee of tho- Wellington Harbour Board , and the ■•Wellington -Patent. Slip Company. (represented by Messrs. .G. .Holdsworth and W. A. Kennedy,'general and local managers of . the TJnion Steam Ship Company, and Mr. H. .D. Bell), an agreement was arrived at as to .the terms'and manner in which the Board shall ultimately take over the property of tho Patent Slip Company in Evans Bay. As tho agreomenthas'yet to be ratified, by the Harbour Board, no details.are available, but it.is.not expected that the Harbour Board willl assume the control of tho works, until such time.as tho Union Company has 1 made adequate arrangements for tho continuation of that part of its business affected,• by 'the transfer,of the controlling>.■ authority. 'A- .-special fleeting of tho Harbour Board will bo held to receive the committee's-report, and ratify (or otherwise).the agreement. - =

I HISTORY OF THE PATENT SLIP COMPANY.

'.THE UNION COMPANY'S: INTENTIONS.

; Now- that the negotiations ■ between tho Harbour Board and the Wellington Patent ■ Slip Company (in; which. tho Union Company has a controlling interest) are practically at - an end; it is'interesting-to recito;tho history • of -the' Shp Company, which together with v some important announcements/having refcr- ■ enoe to the Union Steam Ship Company's inv tentions-regarding Wellington, are. embraced v/' in a potition, which has, been drafted for

submission'to Parliament in opposition to . the proposed - Wellington • Harbour Board -Ee- *•; ■ • clamation and Empowering Bill,; 1908. The petition states: — -i -l. In the yoar'lß63 an Act was passed by the General Assembly of New Zealand intituled -"Tho-. Wellington- Slip Act, 1863 i" .tho'preamble to which is in the folfollowing terms:— V'"^.-, ''-?K .v ' ■.; - • '■v ■■■,: " Whereas the .crection of a.patent, slip:... I , : for .tho 'repairing of: ships in tho harbour . | ; of Port Nicholson would be of great . benefit and.it has,been.ascertained that: ; - a portion of. the allotment of- land- de- ■ , scribed in tho schedule - hereto, would .: • •'<form the most suitable sito for the con-. ■ struction of such a slip and. the buildings-, ' connected, therewith .andi that the quan-> . : ; tity of land required for such purpose- ■. ' would not exceed - twenty acres ex- ~ • ■;ttent.";.: ..■ .. -i--; ■■- • • ■.> and tho V Act .provided ithat i the superintendent of :thO' province- of Wellington- was em- • powered, to tako compulsorily twenty ; acres v. part of country -section numbered 3 on'the -. plan of :the Evans Bay- district-in such - manner and at such time as .should bo pre- ; scribed : by an; Act to bo passed by tho rrovincial Council .of -tho Province of Wellington. . History of the Company. :2. In.the year 1864 the Provincial Counoil of Wellington passed-an • ordinance, which empowered- the superintendent " to' .buy tho -V. , 6aid . twenty, acres "for the-purposes of a patent slip with the -works and buildings necessary for ; the efficient working thereof," : - ■ and.to convey tho land so taken "to -any ■ person or body corporate who will' undertake "to erect thereon a patent slip and the works and buildings necessary, for the'- efficient : . working thereof." - •'KS.'ln'.tbe same year, the Provincial Council ~ of Wellington passed another ordinance, by •; . which it-was recited that'it was expedient - ..-.that inducement; should ..be,given .by' ine!ipro't'J.;.]k ••- vince: to -any person' or' body-corporate .who < /would undertake to erect 'a "/'patent/slip.

- This .ordinance provided for'a- guarantee of interest upon the -expenditure oi a' sum not ■ exceeding £40,000 for a. term not exceeding .twenty-one years. : - '' '' . .', _- : ;4::ln.the year 1869, the Provincial Council of. Wellington. passed another/ ordinance by ' which'-special provision was jnade empower- . .. ing 'the\superintendent to .contract with. an' "English' firm, Messrs.' Kennard Bros., for .' the erection,'.maintenance, and working of a • patent slip on the aforesaid site. ; Pursuant : .to'- this Act; a contract was . entered into by '■the: superint'endent\ with ]Messrs..:Kennard 'Bros., ,ahd that' firm imported into Welling- . ton the material for the erection of ii patent slip. Subsequently the. petitioners' company 'was formed to. takd over-and purchase tho Tights of Messrs. Kennard Bros., and a contract was entered into by, deed dated May • 11, 1571, between the superintendent and ■ the ■ company . whereby i the- company coven- .. anted .to;erecfc'.ancl maintain a patent slip on the said site, and the superintendent . covenanted that he would "so '• soon •as the . said- slip should be completed 1 convey gratui- .: tously to'tho company :th6 ; inheritance in fee ' .simple,in tho!said twenty acre's of land.? ■ . o. In 1872 the General Assembly of. New Zealand - passed, an -Act. entitled " The Wellington, ratent: Slip Act, 1872," which Act empowered - the superintendent to extend the ;..time prescribed by that contract for- the completion of tho work. The. time was so extended and the works -were duly completed, ; and Iby ■_ deed• dated. February li), 1874, the ■ ; superintendent conveyed the - said: ■ twenty : acres .to petitioners..'-, to hold u'nt-o; the 'said , . ' company, its .successors and', assign's for ever absolutelv." - ... •' i\'- / , : • ; 6. In tho vear 1879 the General Assembly passed an Act entitled "-The : Special Powers' and Contracts Act, ;1879," -by. which ithe r Governor was empowered ..to grant to. peti--. tioners ten acres one rood and- twenty-nine perches adjoining tho said twenty' acres and "being land below, hjgh water, mark situated - in Evans ■ Bay on-which the ways ,of the slip are constructed." Pursuant 'to this Act, tho '■'.'said ten acres, extending' a-, great,., distance into t-ho harbour in Evans .Bay was granted by Crown ;grant of April 21, 1880. 7. In the year 1879 tho Wellington Hariybour Board was constituted by. statute. , 8.- From the foundation of petitioners' -'■' company it has performed in every respect the' work entrusted to. it by. the statutes above mentioned.lt has always maintained :. its-works in a high state of. efficiency, and has materially added from timo to time plant suitable for .-it's, purposes and the rcquire- . ments ..ofvthe port.' _ For many-; years"it ; carried ; on, its-operations at a loss, and but for the guaranteed interest grave difficulties would have. arisen; and the severity 9f its earlv struggles is proved by, the authority,,of the/Supreme' Court' of New, Zealand granted to petitioners on March lfi, 1894, to' reduce tho Comnany's 'capital from-. £37,000 to -£9150. "Eleven ''years' - liter, in, the yesjr 1905,-the positiou had so :much' ,improved - that the. Company, was' able to increase its capital, to £18,312.i • ' 9- In the year ; 1902 tho General Assembly ; passed an Act intituled " The Wellington Harbour Board Empowering Act, .1902," by which-provision :was . mado for the 1 constructs by the Wellington Harbour Board of a dock ."in the port ofWellington, and th( • Harbour Board- were empowered 'to;-.purchase and petitioners were empowered to sell th( ; undertaking'of petitioners'. company.

.Dock Not Suited to all Requirements. 10. Notwithstanding these provisions; it is manifest and'beyond dispute 1 that the! dock to be constructed by the Harbour Board, will not provide the requirements ;of the vessels repaired and cleaned at the Patent Slip, and that it is still necessary that the Patent Slip should be continued. But the Harbour Board by the Bill now presented to yonr Honourable .House seeks to expropriate petitioners' "property and to itself undertake and. perform .' the operations of petitioners.. -r- • : 11. Towards the end of 190/, the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Limited, acquired by purchaso of'the shares a controlling interest in : petitioners'' comthe growth .'of. the Union Combanr's: fleet and the increase of its trade,.

a-state of things has arisen. which renders it essential that'somewhere in Cook Straits the Union Company - should establish the class of works hereinafter referred to. Uno principal factor creating such necessity is that a number of the D.oats of tho union Company do .riot, except, casually, go to Port Chalmers at all. . The Present Repairing Yards. 13. In 1894,* the Union Company acquired, by. purohasO from - Mr. - J. >H. ■ Williams his nglrs in-a-picco of'land with, frontages to Taranaki Street and "Victoria • Street, and there' they' established - works for the supply and: repair of-their fleet; - and they subsefluently purchased- and f took.-leases .of. further pieces of: land' adjoining their said purchase from-Mr. Williams. - Tho land- was used* for repairing shops,, stores, boat buildirig;/ engineering,- making-of-sails;.and rigging! and, generally-for the. purpose of pro-, vision of .requisites for the, fleet which xould bo-more conveniently supplied from a central position -than from the Company's works at Port Chalmers. ; '. .. • ' ■ ■14s'-In .1907 -the Crown established its Tight to part of the land purchased by ;the Union" Company frim Mr. - Williams,, and re-covered"-possession thereof by action-in-the Supreme Court.; Even with; the- possession of .that, land it had. been already proved that the site was unsuitable. ; Tho. expenditure of, the Unipn Company .in connection with its Wellington '.yards r-nas; constantly-increased; and ff or the - year ending • May . 31, 1908, • oxceeded £43,000. ■ 15; The Union . Company,, haying; lost - a large .part' of '• the r > site of its Wellington works, arid desiring to expand, its operations, and .finding that. it.-■ required: -considerably, greater - space for its shops, yards, and works than could be provided within the city, and above all desiring access by water-to the' place where; its works should be carried on, entered Jnto negotiations with petitioners. A Suitable Site. 16. -The .site is in every way suited to tho UnioirCompany arid to' the^'works which it proposes to - establish' therearid while the whole-harbour arid its shores" except only tho small . area ; possessed ,by petitioners is open for any operations of the Harbour Board, and though there is no other site suitable ; for the: operations of the ' Union'. Company, - the effect' of the proposed Bill' would he, to prevent a user of petitioners site in a manner -most . beneficial to the city and port. ' ■ 17. The constitution' of petitioners' company has. been..preserved in order that it may be clear' that :tho public duties which it undertook: have still to be performed; and petitioners and the Union Company .have, arranged 'that-all the .same advantages heretofore provided for vessels not_ owned by the Union Company shall be continued, as heretofore, and shall- .indeed be increased 1 and- extended. " And" further' that .the- fact \ that ' tho Union" Company "is the principal' shareholder .shall .:nqt confer. any privilego or- priority, in frespect of tho .use of ■ the Patent; Slip'; qri/.the^Hlmpn:: '.Company: as against - the'public. . And petitioners .. are prepared, if' desired, to grant facilities, un-' 'der suitable-cpnditions for the erection on parts of . their site of repairing shops, machinery and plant by persons other than the Union Copipany. The Union Co.'s Intentions. 18. The Union Company's intentions "andi objects in connection with-the Patent Slip site are as follow: — "

(a) To erect there its ' shops, repairing,, yards, : and- repairing works; and' to estab-; lish'" its • engineering arid other plant - and. its storage yards./. (b) To erect there a laundry at a cost of about £7000 for the purposes of the Company. / * i (c) To erect there a number of workmen's residences to be occupied by men employed on the. site. ■ (d) To erect,, establish, and equip a second and smaller patent slip adjoining the present Slip so that. the. smaller class of vessel owned generally->by persons other than tho Union Company may be always provided for and at less cost. , ' 1 \ , , (e) To place there, as the most central port in: the Dominion, its salvago plant and I appliances,;, and in that case to make Wei' lington'the headquarters of itssalvage.plant and operations and of its tugs, lighters, and launches. . „

Petitioners humbly submit: to the House •: ' That at a time- ivhen there was no other method for .the provision of a patent slip, petitioners were induced by the Government to' undertake the work for the consideration principally, of the -conveyance ; to : petitioners of the si\e and of the future benefit to be derived from the possession thereof. . That, petitioners have faithfully observed and-performed all thd conditions and obligatioris undertaken -; by them/ and are prepared to" continue: their operations and to provide further facilities for the public convenience, and that .there is, no. public benefit .or advantage to be gained by. the transference- of -their property and functions to the Wellington Harbour Board. . " ■ ■That it is to the advantago of the. Port of Wellington -that; the Union Company should be enabled to'carry on in this port the works and operations described in this pe'tition, and that there is no other site withr in the Harbour .at all suitable for .that pur-, pose,; and/;that the effect of tho passing of the proposed' Bill would'be to-prevent the establishment' by the Union Company of its works in'.Wellington and to drive it to-dairy, bn its operations'in another port.'' '•' That petitioners' submit that it is without precedent that Parliament should confiscate and rights conferred by Parliament itself exefept only -where there has been a failure of tho grantee' to perform his consequent .public: obligations -or where. the statute, which .created, the right 'conferred tho power to resume by purchase.-... ". ' That'petitioners have not yet reaped the benefit-of'the future'.'trade which was the inducement 1 offered to-contractors by..Parliament, hut on tho contrary for many years petitioners 1 received • a small annual return and-were forced'to write down their capital; and that it.is !only when it is proved'that the" operations•' of' petitioners aro, not only beneficial -to the'public but are* likely to be profitable, and'that the.land and water frontage have greatly increased iii value, that the Harbour Board, which has been constituted for hearly thirty .years, 'seeks,-the authority of Parliament to cancel petitioners' .statutory rights and powers. .J ' The petition is signed by Messrs. H. Beauchamp, D.'?J- Nathan,-, and ..Edward llichardson; ' • ' ■>.