DEPUTATIONS TO THE MINISTER FOR WORKS.

Evening Star, Issue 7474, 19 March 1888, Page 3

DEPUTATIONS TO THE MINISTER FOR WORKS.

THE Bt)ARD, A COMPENSATION CLAIM.

At eleven o’clock this forenoon the Minister for Works (the Hon. E. Mitchelson) received a deputation from the Harbor Board consisting of Messrs J. B. Thomson (chairman), A. H. Ross, M.H.R., J. T. Mackerras, E. M. Barr (engineer), and J. L. Gillies (secretary). There were also present Messrs Hannay (assistant railway manager) and Low (engineer of working railways). The first matter mentioned was a claim on the part of the against the Government for land taken for railway purposes. Some years ago the Harbor Board did some jetty work forthePtovincial Government,at a cost of L 7.100, and for this they received four acres of ground fronting Stuart street. Three acres of this land had somewhat recently been taken by the General Government for railway purposes, but no compensation had been received for it. The Harbor Board very naturally considered that they ought to be recouped for the outlay to which they had been put, and, though repeated applications had been made to the Public Works Department at Wellington, no understanding had been arrived at. This matter had, with other claims, Been referred to arbitration ; but the arbitrators (Messrs Blair and Reid) struck it out on the ground that they had no power to grant compensation for anything else than improvements. Mr Ross: The position is this : In the Provincial Government days there was an extension of Battray street wharf required 1,140 ft required to be extended at a cost of L 12,000. The Provincial Government agreed that the then Harbor Board should make an extension of 652 ft at a cost of L 7.100; but they reserved to themselves the right of paying by cash or of giving land. The alternative of giving land was taken, and subsequently the objection was urged that the money had not been expended on the land, although it had been expended on the wh&PV6B. Mr Gillies : There is no dispute as to the facts. Mr Blair, the arbitrator on behalf of the Government, has repeatedly acknowledged the correctness of our statement of the facts. The Minister : What promise did you get from the late Government ? Mr Ross ; That the matter would be kept steadily in view. Eventually they decided to consider it favorably, but unfortunately for the Board they were turned out of office. The Minister : I should not like to give an answer right off’. I should like to know a little more about it, I shall go into the question thoroughly on my return to Wellington, and if the Board has a legitimate claim I see no reason why it should not be recognised. Mr Gillies ; The justice of the claim has never been repudiated. The Hon. Mr Mitchelson : If there is justice on the side of the Harbor Board the Government ought to recognise the claim and pay it. , . Mr Gillies : The difficulty the valuators had at the time was that the Public Works Act limited them to improvements on lands taken. In this case the four acres were given to the Board in payment of an outlay on another place altogether. The Hon. Mr Mitchelson said that there must have been some doubt as to the validity of the Board’s claim, or undoubtedly it would have been recognised before this. As already stated, he promised to go into the matter thoroughly on his return to \\ ellington. CONNECTION BETWEEN VICTORIA WHARF

AND THE RAILWAY. The deputation next brought under the hon. Minister’s attention the necessity for connection between Victoria wharf and the railway, and also the goods-sheds. If this connection were made a great saving would be effected in the shipment of produce, and the action of the Government in declining to make the connection at their own expense was represented as being exceedingly arbi-

trary. . The Minister for Works pointed out that there was no connection with the wharves at Wellington, while at Lyttelton the Harbor Board paid portion of the coats. Mr Mackerras : It seems absurd that the direct ships which come to the Dunedin wharves to discharge should have to go to Port Chalmers to load owing to the want of this siding connection. The Minister; If that siding were in would they load at the Victoria wharf ? Mr Mackerras ; Certainly. Mr Thomson knew of three ships that would have been prevented loading here had they been compelled to pay the grain carriage from Dunedin to Port Chalmers by rail. The Hon. Mr Mitchelson promised to look at the siding and at the correspondence with a view of seeing what had been done in other places. The Harbor Board were entitled to get what had been given to other places, land taken at the heads. Mr Thomson said that another small matter was that of land taken at Taiaroa Heads. In order to secure a proper landing place for the pilot station the Board had purchased a piece of land at a cost of LIOO. This land was now included in the area taken for defence purposes, and the Board thought that they were reasonably entitled to be recouped portion of their purchase money. _ , )i The Hon. Mr Mitchelson: I dont think there need be any difficulty about that. It can be arranged satisfactorily j it is a very small matter. The deputation then withdrew.

COAL RATES. A deputation representing coal-owners, merchants, and coal importers, and consisting of Cantain Fox, W. Watson, D. Swan, Scott, T,‘ Tomlinson, Smellie (Burnside), Gibson, and Mitchell, were introduced to the Minister for Works by Messrs Allen and Ross, M.H.R-s. Captain Fox explained that the deputation wished the charge on coal landed at the Jetty street wharf reduced. At present for sea-borne coal Is was charged as haulage from the Jetty street wharf to the railway yard, and 6d for landing. Then the Railway Department put a man to stand with a shovel in his hand to watch the coal being landed. This was wholly unnecessary, but a charge was made for it; and those taking delivery of the coal were willing to load the trucks themselves. About 20,000 tons of coal came here annually, but it was only a question of time when none would be landed at the Jetty street wharf for the railways, all of it being carted away. The Hon. Mr Mitchelson : We are getting very little of it now, # Captain Fox said that this was owing to the excessive rates charged. The Union Steam Ship Company were now carting their coal away, some 12,000 tons annually; and the Westport Company were likely to follow suit soon. There was the charge in the first instance for the coal landed into the railway yard, and an extra shilling if it had to go to Port Chalmers. This he claimed was very unfair. Then the charge on Newcastle coal was 3s 6d per ton, while on native coal it was only 2s fid. This he thought unfair, and he asked that a uniform charge be made. The Hon. Mr Mitchelson said that he would not have expected such a proposal from a red-hot Protection centre such as Dunedin was. Mr Scott denied that all the people, or even a large proportion of them, were Protectionists, while Captain Fox proceeded to say that the proposal of the Protection League to place a duty of 2s fid per ton on coal was outrageous, and he was satisfied that if the public were consulted and the matter placed before them they would never sanction anything of the sort. If the Government required a duty of Is per ton on coal, the proper way to collect it was through the Custom house, and not on the railways. , The Hon, Mr Mitchelson : The department are advised that to carry coal at a less rate than Is fid per ton from Jetty street to the railway yard would not pay, . Cantain Fox pointed out that a saving of fid per ton could be effected if the man placed at the wharf by Government were fo Tbe Hon. Mr Mitchelson :In that case, would yon guarantee that all the coals lindfld on the whuff would be carried on the f Mr Scott gave a satisfactory assurance on behalf of the Union Company.

The Ron. Mr Mitchelson pointed out that low rates had already been made in order to encourage the local collieries. Captain Fox ; 1 am quite prepared to say that the Protection League have acted in ignorance of the requirements of the people. Had they known, they would never have carried a resolution that an extra duty of 2s Cd per ton be put on coal. , Mr Mitchelson : Five shillings, is it not ?

Captain Fox : The Shag Point Company wanted ss, but 2s Od was carried. I have been all over the world, and I never knew of a tax of over 10 per cent, except on Spanish coal. After consulting with Mr Hannay, the Minister eor Works said, with reference to Pelichet Bay ; We have agreed to reduce the price to Is Cd, and at the railway yard The deputation thanked the Minister for their courteous reception and withdrew.

PELICHET BAY STATION. L large deputation, introduced this afternoon by Mr Allen, M.H.R., and comprising Messrs Cohen, J, Richardson, Dr Hislop. Treseder, W. Swan, P. Fredric, and others, waited on the Minister and urged that the Northern express should stop at Pelichet Bay going and coming. Mr Allen referred to the great convenience that would be felt by the large population living at the northern end of the city if the request were complied with. Mr Cohen assured the Minister that the residents at the northern end had complained grievously of the inconvenience they were subjected to in having to journey to town to meet the out-train, and being carried, when returning from the North, so far away from their homes, which they often reached nearly an hour after arrival. He read a largely-signed memorial, which set forth that a population of 23,000 were affected by the matter, and the only answer hitherto returned by the officials was that the stoppage at Pelichet Bay would involve a loss of six minutes. The memorialists made answer that that time could easily be made up tn routs if the officials desired, os stoppages at wayside stations, in order to make up the timetable, were of frequent occurrence. He desired to point out that owing to the station being misnamed, persons at a distance were apt to think that it was merely a wayside station, whereas in fact it served a large and populous district, and should now be known as North Dunediu. If the trains were to serve the public convenience they should mee their reasonable requirements, and if the Minister wished to be assured on that head the requisition would, if time had permitted, have been signed by hundreds instead of tens. The only valid objection would be that much time might be engaged in looking after the luggage ; but that objection could be met if the department did its duty in this matter and took the entire charge of the receipt and distribution of luggage. Seeing _ that Kensington had been accorded this privilege, it was only reasonable that the most populous part of the city should receive similar treatment; and the Minister might depend on it that the question would yet become a burning one. The Hon. Mr Mitchelson replied that Pelichet Bay was only a mile away from the main station, and that was much too near to expect an express train to stop. He was opposed to the stoppage at Pelichet Bay, and would not sanction it, if he had his way. Mr Ric hardson, in confirmation of the statement that Pelichet Bay contributed a large portion of the traffic, mentioned that during the past twenty-four weeks 10,000 persons hai hooked at this station. The Hon. Mr Mitchelson said he would inquire into the statements contained in the petition, and would visit the locality ; but he did not (for the reason before stated) hold out any prospect of the request being acceded to.