PATENT SLIP.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 258, 24 July 1908, Page 8

PATENT SLIP.

. ' TERMS.OF:AGREEMENT. .PURCHASE.FOR £30,000 AT END OF 25 YEARS. . ' :; CONTRACT SIGNED AND SEALED; ' ; DISCUSSION'-BY'-HAEBOUR BOARD. ' Tho agreement for the acquisition of the PatenthSlip Company's property was finally ratified at tho meeting of- tho • Harbour Board yesterday afternoon. Tho. terms of the contract, was signed'-.and soaled after the previous emergency meeting of. the Board, are set/forth' in tho.. following report of the Board's .Special Committee, , which was before the meeting yesterday:— ~ SPECIAL COMMITTEE'S REPORT. The Patent Slip Acquisition Committee No. 2'reports:— -. ' : ■ 1. 'That it has/mot." the ; representatives of the Patent Slip. Company in conference, and that the two paftie's havo mutually drawn lip terms upon which the committee considers the Board might 1 afcqii'ii-oJthe/Slip property, and which terms , are " embodied in the accompanying draft agreement. ' , • , 2.-That the, main,. joints of the draft agreoment are as ; folloiys • ' (a) That thg"Slip,;Company be left in ; undisturbed possession'' for a term of 25 years'?as" from' Sppt'onjber .30, 1908, sub- :', ject. and provi- ' below, ; / i'j(b) At tho end of the. said term the wlioloi 'of.tho property/shall, vest in tho /.'Board, arid"tho.'rlJoard,.shall then pay ■'/■.to ,tho Slip Company the sum of £30,000. " . V (c)/A portion of.jthe land not occupied by tlio Slip sliairjie '^defined,• which' por-, 'tion shall be, s"ei';asido for tho use of the ' '/Union Steam,'Sh'ii? I 'Company. The sea- "; ■ward 'boundai' i y"6f- this defined area may ' ■• .riot) be within .ten feet of the water's ledge."' '-"tho '.area'.'so'' 'denned may be .sincreased'or'-''diinirtished' from timo to. '• time,- as may be mutually agreed be*- ' Hwecn the Boardrand the Company. /./' ; (d)i'Within tho defined area tho Union , ,/Company..mayujqroct/;what buildings it ./thinks fit, and-ftfcthe' oxpiration of the' 25 years period tho Board sli.^ll. offer to , ; tho Unipn Company a Glasgow lease of !the;' defined' area'. or: such, part, thereof. ■ • as the • "Union '.Company, -may.-, elect .to.' ■ 'occupy ; '.the'/leasq »to ' be, for successive . ; periods of 14 years. !ft' 'rentals equal t'o.,' .. ': s'.por/.'cent. : of tho.uninlproved:.value,of ■ the'land' at tK comniencemont of each .. . period.'• •' " '. '. ~ •• . .. . ' (e)',Oir the bdlari'celof the land outside 7 ,the'defined-area tho Slip Company'may erect., huildingspandicarry out ' improve-.. ' 'moiits'provided that'ttho" consent and-.ao- . proval' of tlio. Bo'ard:'be; given in each ■ i,ca50..... .t« * j, i.. f , , V(f) '-Tbe -'Company ';may ' rdclaiin with-' • -the,consent,and'- i'approval of/ the; Board ■ ■. ; /' land . immediately. fronting and; adjoining ';:..tHe ■property'.'' :. " (g) oTlie 'Compariy'.'may" erect : wharves" i, ; ; ;: ana .jet'ties.'eitSriding'ifrom the property . ; / providing ' that • the plans ,and, position - .; thereof shall' have, beori ;first approved ' ■' by . the Board. / -.. ~ j. (h) The Company ! sh'all, : if: called I ' upon • by'4he Boarfl'so :to,do f 'after the/first'four I .'. y.eats'- of the, erect and;■ :-'.eguip .to ' the .Board's^. -;a"-.secoiid ' smaller'l;; /. vessels../.:. •/•;"'' y y!' (i)/The. Company shall not' givo, any ; / ;• //'preference or priority,,to,'the Union Com- . ■; papy or/any .other company in the use of V thp"S)ips,: : 'arid called upon . ' 1 byZ.lhe . Board ! furnish a.' .list of all'/ves- . / sejs wliich have been slipped,. arid' also ; of /'those'H;Hich' have'.been , refused, with ~ reasons; fbV refusal and .dates,.and par- !;'•• ticulars :of . application, to, prove that .no preference has .beenrshown; , : . ,for: the present Slip shall not,, during /the ,25 years' period, exceed' J those"-' iri 'useat n -thb ■ present time ' "except with-the express permission of : tho Board. Thoso for /tho smaller Slip ~ are,, .t.o!,.be/ agree'd' upon between the " Board -and - .. . :i,-. ; add' to or renew, its''.plant/: arid„;appliances to such extent',as,.;riiajv.;;be v --approved ■ -by. the-. ' Board, arid shall-maintain the whole of . tho 'present.'plant', l aiid : all. additions arid' v improvements;in ; a thorough,state of efficiency ' and repair throughout the 25 . yoars;.i-period.',;rr ' ! -V ':"' . .(1)..N0 .goods'. ~may|. ..be.,". , landed . on, ,or ..... shippod from any wharf or jetty erected ' on the' .property,' except' such as' are re-- . quired for: tho.uso of tho Company or ' the' "Onion 'Company I ill' the carrying out ~of then 1 . business. On all goods so " landed or shipped; shall bo. paid to -the , Board all ■ the ordinary ■ rates and; dues , leviable- under the Board's by-Jaws except ;: that:no ! bfcrthage:or.'other ra'te-essenti- ■ ' ally forthe-uso'.of"a'wharfsshall be pay,';./abJe.^;i!iM.!i/;ii/':iuM" "<>.&':■ /.:. ■'; ■■• •'■ •■ '■ ~.(m).,At,.'the.end of >thoi 25 years'.period : 1 tho Board shall pay. to.the Goriipany/the •'. v^luo-of-all buildings:and improvements . made with'the Board's consent on such. '■ 1 part of the "land as is. outside/the'defined 1 area! ;';'such ;'valde' to be - assessed .by two 'arbitrators,, and in :no, ease, to. ••• oxceed 'actual ■ cost, 1 less - depreciation. , •No• buildings :or 'improvements . witfiih; ' ;tbe defined !area '"arb '.tb;.' be.:paid. for by ... tho Board' oven lif "afc-tHo • end' of 'the .25. - years' poriod thoy be not within the urea ' leased »to 'the 'tJnion-Company ,hy. the Board. ."- "■/•;. v(n) Throughout^the/,whole.-of -the, 25 : : - years' period, the secretary and engineer ■ of the. Board, to'!haye Tight of .access to / every part . . 'of . .',the.-/ property i '' . ' (o) In the event of the Board withholding its consent;, t.o the making of !; any suggested improvement, 'the Com-/ ' p'any. have tho appeal to tho , Minister of Marino, ifjpse decision shall' " lie final arid binding. 4 ' i' 2 ;"3." That the' committee "reeomiriends the Board to'eritor/iinto.'.an, agreement' for jacquisitio^',.wit^'/they.W'eliington' Patent. Slip Company, Limited, on the above terms." : MR, ,V/ILF.ORfI'S PqSITION. . The • Chairman; of' -thfe,. Board (Mr. T... M. AVilford,''' ; M:P.)l;' m<)ved!-^ i ''That' the /Board approve-of-the'resolution'passed at the cmergencyi irieetii'g:'of : tho,' Bb'ard on Jiino '15 : — 'That .the-Board enter-'into an agreement: for acquisition'-with 1 ; the'j'Wellington { Patent Slip Company^/Limited!'in the terms/of the'draft agr'cem-e'nt'.submitted,'' and that! the seal-of tho .Board bo affixed'thereto.'" Mr; Wilford said-that he'.'WMshed'. first', to -place on :■ record .the^^/Board's'-appreciation "of , those members i .tii'-.whomi tho,' .duty."'hatl ; been delegated of on the 'negbtiations. At' the co'mmencementi!of..'.: i the proceedings, on.'account of his position'as,solicitor to the Union Company . arid a -JargnVshajreholder,' in the . Patent Slip Company','' Be. had delegated, his .powers in the : matter to"tho-'Special' sub-committee, and be'had. takennno part.iri any'of the negotiations. .There bad-been frequent meetings, time unprecedented- almost had been given by the members' of tho l committee to the negotiations,' arid -the agreement, arrived at had been approved at the special meeting of ,the Board, and now camo up for ratification, thoug,h meantime the contract between the Board'iind the Patent Slip Company had been signed and sealed. He had not: voted either-way during tho whole course of tho negotiations. - - Tho' agreement was in .'termsuwhich,-the,Board had considered satis- . .factory; ~;;.-. •'„':'. f-.=r

MR. BOLTON,DEFENDS ACREEMENT. , Mr'; Bolton, in seconding tlio'motion, speaking as one of the original members of tho committee, . endorsed whit Mr. Wilford had said.' '""Thei'committce. had endeavoured to make the very' best bargain: possible. The various points, of;; the 'agreement had been threslicd • at great .length, and several tiinesV.th'ey,'.'thought,ihat,.it would be impossiblo to'.'arrive, at. an agreement. The prico 'agreed, ~bn,,; was,. he , thought, exceedingly reasonable.. Tbo only possible drawback was that for. a term.-of.. years. the. Patent Slip : Company would be left. in possession, but the Board had itself by providing for a fixed price at the Slip would be taken over at tte.end of twenty-five years. The-'interests/,of ship owners were protected as far" as possible by Clause, (i). The two main-points wHich' thc ccimmittee liad in 'view.

were that the whole of the foreshore should be the. property of tho Harbour Board sooner or later—sooner, if possible—and that tho other owners should bo safeguarded. Ho claimed that both thoso objects had been met. In, coming to the agreement they had had to deal'with .the men ih possession; they had no'compulsory right of acquisition; they would have had to get that from Parliament, and thero'was a big probability that tho Bill would be shelved. There was also a big probability/that the Union Company, might not coirio; here if tho agreement was not made; _ : The committee had acted in tho best interests of the public, arid lib was personally satisfied that no better agreement, could have boon' made.'' Almost every clause had been contested, .and at one time the negotiations were absolutely broken off. , MR. FLETCHER PROTESTS. Mr. Fletcher said that at the special meeting" of the "Board ho had desired to speak, but owing to tho restrictions -which surrounded the position then he did not feel justified ih making any comment. While ho recognised that the committee had worked hard, he did not think .that they had arrived at a proper solution of . the. matter, and tho agreement, in his opinion, '..-was entirely contrary to' the spirit in which the Board entered into the negotiations. .. ■'* . What Misht Have Been. •In March, .1907, a special meeting was hpid, at which the Board approved of the purchase of that piece of the foreshore of which the patent Slip Company had posses-sion—-the. only: piece of foreshore not owned by the Harbour Board—and decided to commence negotiations for the purehaso of the Slip" property ■as a going concern. Several meetings'were held, in connection with the' scheme, but--it was afterwards -hung up, owing to their -, not coming to terms with a particular company which ho need not name. Meanwhile; a-scheme of much greater magnitude was brought forward by Mr.' Luke for 'reclamation - ,; at' Evan's Bay. This project overshadowed the other scliome, which was hung up , aiid lost 'sight ' of, whether intentionally/or';: npt ho could not say, but had;/it'"not been for the attitude 'of./ .a. certain:, member, of' tho last Board,, the Wellington Harbour Board could liayp . acquired . the property with'the greatest/ease for: £25,000, and all the present trouble been saved. In December last, after the Union Company had obtained a preponderating share in the Slip, a motion was passed 'to ; take stops to acquire tho property either at a price to bo agreed on, or compulsorily by means of a special Bill. 1 "Tinkering with the Subject." The • agreement now submitted did not represent .the'.spirit of tho Board's, resolutions.'^! "They !liad only been tinkering' with the subjtet ;• thoro had been a'game played, and -the, Union Company had' shuffled the cards .^nd'won . the tricl?. Ho did not blame the' Union; jdofcpany; they were. a business concern,'and'had'to mako; the -best ';bargain possible,: but he . did blamo the Board ; for parting with.'such a property as the Patent Slip; property. '... . ."A'.Member,: Buying it, not parting:with.it. Mr. Fletcher: Well, .it's a, matter 'of opinion./, I'.,'cannot, endorse tho handing-over of. a property, of, this-kind to private owners for .25 years; -and I think, that' the 'Board has''Tailed/.in; it's ditty to the public in allowing tliis' ./.to be.! done. I think, that every',member,.of the Board is : actuated 'by, the,best;'ipotives, but. a>, mistake has been made. ; . , \ - • •"

Maohi.nery Crowing Obsolete. .. ; i: -Mr. I thoy' might as'wcll-havo let;,tho. matter- alono.- -At the lend; of'"2s ; .years;;the-'machinery • of .-the -SJij}. .'Would'Be'pfesolete." Tho Union, Company,' who were nftw 'taking possession of tho property, > wbnld -'h'av® to keep tile -plant in good'condition, but it ■ would still becomo obsolete in that time. Clause (i)' provided that lio priority or preference' should bo claimed by. : the' tJnion.Company; : :Was there ever'yet a. m'onopoly that did claim' priority of, anything else? He submitted that the clause'-as drafted was absolutely, 'worthless. -How .'would the Board prove that the Company;:had, : had, priority? How could,tho Board proceed against tho Company? : The Chairman : There is right of action. : Mr.-li'letbher Yes, and■ a nice chance of proving an action. . Effect on the New Dock. Again, tho * Board was spending £350,000 upon a dock. , Several of the members looked on that expenditure as practically worthless. Now;'they,.were going to make it worse, for they wero.giving a/private company the opportunity to cut them out "of their'business. They might, as well close'the dock gates as give' this', agreement .to' the' Union Company. .Ho", .was'. sure that when tho public became seized''of. ''thVfacts' 'they would 'not. be' too pleased;. had! had -no. band -in the • negotiations, and 'tb'e speaker- took ,'no exception' to 'his'position. .-He complained, howeverj. of the undue haste with which-the .agreement", '.mi;- brought -.'down at';'the' last .meeting,''without the menibors having time : peVuse;.iti. ''.The. document..was' signed, and sealed,', and .it was -;no Use "discussing it'- now, but' he. th'ou&ht"that it was an unwiso"'step.; The Board should • have- secured the' Slip, and 'given",the Union. Company every'facility, and he'thought that ;that was all the Company Ead warited/_' ; Before,very'long tho Company's, headquarters. ;would 'bo.' here . in fact; if: not in name.; The,;agreement was absolutely unsatisfactory; " and " inimical to : the; Jbest i interests; of .;the 'port and! the, community. ' THE MAYOR IN REPLY. . The Mayor (the Hon. T. W. Hislop) said it- was notra'.question whether' the -agreement was ■.absolutely' satisfactory and .'gave tho Board'all it; asked. ' Ho'had: no hesitation in saying ; that-it'was the", best agreement which the Board ,• could • have . obtained 1 in ' the circumstances.- .If they ha.d bought the . plant at! once, it would 'become obsolete just tho same. The. revenue returned by the-Slip at present was not more than a reasonable 'interest .on £25,000, and tho ,Board could not havo purchased it for, that amount. Tho Board " was . not giving tho Slip Company a leasefor 25 years; tho Company liaij, the freehold of .the property at tho present time, and.the whole right of using v it. ' It was not a question-tof'" granting a now right at all. }Vhat .thoißoard-did vwas, to .limit-am existing monopoly -t0..25 years.;, If they, had gone to.Parliament forj compulsory power to pur; chaso,: and.'had had to go to tho Compensation Courtj,'would they, have - got the' proI perty '.for Y£2s,ooo—or £30,000? The Court would havo. had to consider what the property, was .worth-to the owners, and after going 'into.everj". point very"'carefully, and getting'the advice of the Board's solicitor'arid also of another/solicitor as to what the valuation-, would;.probably bb, the Committee wcro satisfied; that' they would havo got off very cheaply ;if-they bad .secured the , property for £50,000." Public interests were just as much safeguarded" as.. if they had obtained' the Slip at. once. In that case the Board would have 'had'to cater for the Union Company, as the Patent'- Slip Company would now havo t0.,d0, and'to givo the same privileges to the Union Company as to any other ship- ; : I . ". Making the Slip Pay. Mr. Fletcher:. We should have had no competitors against the dock.The Mayor: Then how could we have made it pay ? 1 They would. have had to make use of the Slip'every day to make it pay anything like, interest on £50,000, which would have been' its prico. If a legal opinion which tho Board had received was ! correct, the Patent-'Slip Company could, have conveyed tho property to the Union Company, who could then have used the Slip for their own purposes; 'and shut out any other ships if thoy liked.- - Tho Patent Slip Company could :iiave.'. given, priority to the Union Com-pany-alii the 1 time if that view of the law was fright.- At all events the Board -would have been 'faced - with an exponsivo action, which''probably could have been decided only, in" the Privy Council. Now every shipping company would have the same rights as the ,Union Company. Tho clauso forbidding preference was as perfect as any clauso of this kind could be made., It was practically the wording that had been adopted from the'rulings of judges in the Old Country, and similar clauses had been enforced ill England from an early date. The Board also had the power, which was not included in the English laws, of calling on the Company to give information when the exercise of preference was suspected. In addition, tho solicitors consulted b.v.tbo Board had agreed.

that if tho Company did not carry out its duties under this clause, and if the, Board's powers of enforcement were not effective, it would bo a proper case in. which tho Legislature might interfere. Ho thought the' Board had been unanimous that tho price to be paid twenty-five 'years henco was not much more than half what they would have to pay to obtain tho property at once on tho valuation of the Compensation Court, and as tho'revenue from the Slip was worth only interest at o per cent, on £25,000 they would hayo had to lose a groat deal of money whilo they worked tho Slip, and in the end they would have been worse off than they would bo under tbis agreement when they took it over. Both parties had given up somothing, but that : was necessary in the making of agreements. The chairman (Mr. Wilford) had in no way influenced or attempted to influence the committee in its finding. HON. T; K. MACDONALD. The Hon. T. Kennedy Macdonald, as chairman of the Special Committee, said that Mr. Fletcher had no conception of the difficulties which the committee had experienced. After referring to the Evans Bay reclamation pro.: posals, Mr. Macdonald said it was clear to him that a Bill containing contentious matters would not get through the House in a short session, and tho question then was what arrangements could be made so as not to injuro important interests. The Board had been willing to do certain things in order to secure the freehold rights of the Patent Slip Company, which were approximately valued by that company and the Union Company at about £60,000. ... Altogether they would have had to spend some? thing like £100,000 of public money to give the Patent Slip Company the rights they wanted. Ho referred to the price now fixed, ( .and stated. that he did not think so clieaD and good a bargain could have been made in .any other, way. The Union Conipany would have .been infinitely better off if tiiey had adopted the original proposition made by the Board. The vacant lands included in the agreement were alone worth more than £30,000 to-day.. It was impossible to take too sanguine a view of the 1 state of' Wellington twenty-five-years hence. If. tho Union Company did. not oxcrcise wisely and prudently the prcfer'encp clause, and the Board .had-to. find fault with their conduct in ! that respect, the Board could erect a slip beside the dock for £15,000 which would serve all the'purposes of smaller vessels. He did not think that the dock would bo affccted by the agreement, or that there would be the enormous deficit on the dock which some people prophosied. ' ■ . . Evans Bay Reclamation. - He was very sorry ' that' the Board .had been led off the track by the proposals in regard to Evans Bay reclamation and foundry sites. ■ Every step of the way in regard, to those proposals had been marked.by-greed on the part of owners of property, and thcro had been opposition to everything proposed: The Board had held meetings till ho had-got sick to .death of .the whple .business and; lie thought they should' abandon to-day everything except those clauses in , the '. Harbour Board's Bill that related-to the loan moneys, required for the development of- the harbour and construction of wharves and sheds. They should ■abandon the reclamation arid-abetter-; ment clauses,' arid everything' elso, and- ."lot' these.people stew in their, own 1 juice.'- ,Thby deserve it for ■ their' selfishness -and desire to get to windward 'of the Board in .this matter affecting public interests." He hoped that Parliament would not be led away in tho matter, but would give them all the;' powers they needed in respect of the harbour, and 'that next year, when sweet reasonableness, following pri contemplation of their, conduct; returned to' local 'bodies and public /com-' panics, the Board : would introduce : a; new Bill. The opponents of the' Board's proposals had been behaving like • roaring lions, hut he-doubted if they had so much Muerice! in Parliament as their actions suggested. No doubt a few months'contemplation'would induco them to support tho next Bill that the Board brought" down regarding tho development of the harbour. CONGRATULATIONS. i i Mr. M. Cohon .thought it was a matter for congratulation that the Patent Slip business had been brought to so satisfactory a conclusion. ' V • Mr. C. Jones expressed his cordial agreement with the arguments of tho Mayor.' 1 Mr. MlEwan considered that tho Board had made the best bargain possible'under tho :j circumstances.' Like Mr.. Bolton,' he - had been strongly impressed, with tho .necessity', of conserving the interests'of the smaller ship ownors. 'It was unfortunate that the late Board had missed' the splendid oppor T tunity of acquiring the > Patent . Slip f0r£25,000. Who. was to blamo for: that he was; not prepared to. say/ : In'fact; tho Board. aS a wrhole had missed its chance. , •' ■> Mr. Fletcher: We ■ all. know' who was to ■ blame for it.'. ; ', Mr. Eraser thought that tho'committee', deserved thanks. '~• , . -, ;'l- - Chairman thanked the members,of-tho Board for their expressions in regard ;to 'him? self. - .■ •' •. • • -; ■ .' 'i ■ '■ ■■' Tho.motion was'carried, , only Mr.- Fletcher; dissenting.- ' • • .>