CITY POWER RATE

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 65, 14 September 1934, Page 14

CITY POWER RATE

MANAWATU DISPUTE

END OF LEGAL ARGUMENT

DECISION KESEBVED

Legal argument was concluded in flia Supremo Court early, this afternoon in! tho caso (which had been bet'oro the Court sineo AVcdnesdiiy morning) between Iho Palmcrston North City Conn.oil and the Mnnawatu-Oroua ISlcetrie Power Board. Tho Chief .lusti.ee (Sir Michael Myers) said he wished to read carefully through the affidavits in tho e.iso and tho notes of. evidence "taken at tho hearing. He would reserve his decision and put his views in writing. Though relict' originally was also sought, by the council in respect of a reduction of -Id per unit in the power chargo for milking machines and in rospect of a uniform rate of l-16d in the £ decided upon by tho board, the issue was narrowed to whether tho council was entitled to an injunction restraining the board from collecting a /ate of 7-20 din the & on one part of tho board's area, namely the city of Palmerston North. Mr. J. B. Callan, K.C. (Wellington), with him Mr. H. R. Cooper (Palmerston North), appeared for tho Palmerston North City Council, and tho Mayor of Palmerston North (Mr. A. E. Munsford); and Mr. H. P. Richmond (Auckland), with him Mr. J. P. Innes (Paluicrstou North), for tho power board. Mr..-'Richmond addressed tho Court today. A report of proceedings yesterday afternoon appears on page 13. APPLICATION TO COURT. Mr. Richmond, applied in the first place to have the motion dismissed a>id the action struck out upon tho ground that the- pleadings did not in any way como within the rule, and only one ground of relief could-bo claimed in an action of this kind, not'an. injunction and eertiorari in the same proceedings. That, he thought, was clear under rule 466 of the. Supreme Court procedure. "Well, you are asking that a practice of many, years should bo .disturbed," commented tho Chief '.Justice.' .■'■■ ' His Honour asked Mr. Richmond why ho had not applied by interlocutory proceedings to have the claim struck out, instead of waiting three days and incurring the expense of trial. "And what is the use of it, anyhow, because, supposing you were successful, there could be proceedings do novo, couldn't there?" inquired his Honour. Mr. Richmond said ho thought not, because of the lapso of time. Like Mr. Callan, ho would much prefer to have tho matter decided on the merits. Mr. ; Callan relied on a technical objection under the Act, and Mr. Richmond said ho equally relied on a technical objection. His Honour said that Mr. Richmond's application looked like an after- ' thought. ■ Mr. Richmond: It may be, sir; but I ; am bound to take tho objection. Just as with Mr. Callau 's technical ' objection under section 55 of tho Act, ' so with Mr. Richmond's technical 1 Objection, said his Honour, tho Court ' would strive against adopting it. ] "I don't in the least complain, your : Honour," replied Mr. Richmond. "I ! concede it has to bo forced upon the : Court." Mr. Richmond passed on to deal with '. the question of the board's estimates. ] IMPORTANT ASPECTS. • Although ho made it plain that he j was not deciding, anything, his Honour j said he thought it might bo helpful to j indicate what; ho felt about the mat- ( ter at'thO".moment. Minds had Ijecn > made up, said his Honour, to equalise ( things if possiblo between tho citizens t of Palmetston North and the rest of i the people in the other portion of the / board's area in so far as charges Were c concerned. When the cominitteo mot in i 1933: three of them actually pressed not \ merely for a reduction in the chargos c to the dairy farmers in respect of power j supplied for milking machines; they 1 wanted also to make a reduction in fay- i our of everybody throughout the dis- t trict in respect of all classes supplied, c and that would have meant, that the t deficiency must have been made good c at tho expense 'of Palmerston North, c Four of the board were not prepared to ] [do that then, but they inserted the thin ;, j end of the wedge. The question was, t I supposing ho adhered to that view, what i was the-effect? . Would the separate t rate on the city be in order in the cir- i cumstances. Those wero tho aspects of i the case on which he woxild very much c like to hear Mr. Richmond and aspects 1 of tho case he suggested ho ( might i stress. They seemed to him as at pre- t sent advised to 'be the important mat- T tors. ; - > 5 Mr. Richmond contended tliiit it was A tho duty, of the board under economic i necessity to apply its power of special 1 rating to such part of the district as p could bear. it. '■. . s '■■'. His Honour., said.it appeared to him that the strongest way Mr. Richmond i cjould put his case • was- that if tho s board had matle a reduction in respe.ctf c of Ml its classes of supply .and had : tried to put that on to Palmerston by i special rate it would have been bad. s The board had not done that, however, t CUSTOMERS AND BOAKD. \ Mr. Richmond said he recognised that t as a strong point, but he did not agree 1 entirely,^hat .it was the strongest ■( of putting hia case. Ho claimed that his strongest point was that it would have been an absolute failure of duty on the part of the board to allow its ~ customers to disappear ' because they , were not willing to resort to a separato > rate. His Honour: That may bo, but isn't that part of what I suggest is tho major proposition? : Mr. Richmond: It is a big stick in a i faggot which I hope to bo able to tio ] together. i i Mr. Richmond contended that the c psychology of tho matter was -that by ] tho obstinacy and selfishness of Palmerston North they wero endeavouring to a ruin the power board. They were selfish i to an' amazing degree and-shut their 1 eyes to the necessity of the board. - Palmerston North had something so t good that even though it had a vested interest it could not bear to part with a pouivd. That was the truth of the matter. The truth was not that there was any. dishonesty or desiro to break a contract: The truth was that the J] farmers wished for the best for all and j. Palmerston North, refused. v His Honour: There is uo doubt that s three of the seven members' of the 3 executive committee wanted to make n a reduction to everybody in the board's I district outside tho city of Palmerston cl North and throw the whole burden On C the peoplo of Palmerston North by a separato rate. ... It, cuts both j; ways—at its best or at its worst. F Of course, it cut both ways, replied y Mr. Richmond, but bias was not dishonesty or even muddle-headedness. f Before the City Council could .succeed £ it had to show that the board had acted ultra vires. In his submission tho Power Boards Act gave a discretion so wide ,and absolute that it left no place for interference by another authority. The flavour Mr. Callan had introduced was that the board was more of a judicial body instead of an :i elective body, the members of which c knew the needs of their respective J I districts and took their scats with the 1

[object of giving effect to them if possible. That could not bo said to be a dishonest policy, eveu if blundering. BOARD'S CASE SUMMARISED. Summarising the points ho took, Mr. Richmond said lie contended that the action taken by the board was entirely within the statute on the face of, it; that no question of jurisdiction arose; that every factor existed under which a separate rato could be levied; that the board was unfettered in . its power of selecting 11 district to be separately rated; that in fact'there was no alternative stud that none liad been presented; that tho electioneering statements of..members of the board mo-far as they were relevant did not indicate an intention to act corruptly or malalidi.'; that the most they indicated was an intense desire by • persuasion or by political effort to bring Palmerstou North into line with the rest of the board 's consumers. 1 "My submission is that the levying of the rate was intra vires and that an injunction does not lie," concluded Mr. Richmond. Replying to tho preliminary point raised by Mr. Richmond, Air. Callan contended that the procedure that had been followed was not contrary to the rules. Even on Mr. Richmond's submission, a defect, if any, ho submitted, could be cured by amendment. In this case eertiorari had been applied for in respect of the reduced charge for milking motors, ■ and that had been abandoned. Mr. Callan contended that ono of the most important, if : not the "important, purpose dictating the whole activity of the board was to get rid of an agreement they did not want.