THE HARBOUR EMPOWERING BILL.

Northern Advocate, 3 September 1919, Page 2

THE HARBOUR EMPOWERING BILL.

(To the Editor.)

Sir,—iMdght I be allowed a small s|>ace in your paper to give Mr D. W. <). Fag-a.ii the light >he requires in connection with this matter, a-nd also to disabuse liis mind and that of the t-'t.'neral public as to the correctness of his statements as published in the

"Advocate" of September 2. I quote .Sections 8, 9, and 10 of "The Local KSodies Loans Act. 1913,"'which reads :ks follows: —

(8) Before raising a special loan the consent thereto oi the ratepayers of the district shall be obtained by the 'local authority, and for that purpose the steps hereinafter mentioned shall be taken.

(9) The local authority shaill publish in any newspaper circulating in the district, once in each week for

four successive weeks a , notice setting forth —(a) the particular purpose or purposes for which the loan is required;; (b) the sum proposed to be borrowed for each purpose; (c) the proposed security and the provision for repayment of the loan; (d) a statement whether or not it is proposed to pay out of the loan the cost of raising , the loan or the interest, and sinking fund for the first year. (10) A poll of the ratepayers shall be taken upon the proposal.

Then follow machinery clauses,

This Act will apply to "The Wha-ng-arei Harbour Board," if the bill is passed, as to any other local authoi'ity, and it would be absurd if such were not the case. Does Mr Fngan really wish to make the public believe that as soon as the bill is passed the Harbour Board cam raise and spend the £150,000 or any part. of it without consulting the ratepayers a*s to the contemplated work? No Parliament would give any local authority such wide powers, even If V.r Fagan were chairman of it.

The statements in Mr Faigan's letter are absolutely incorrect and misleading, except for the one statement that the bill did not contain a proviso for consulting , the ratepayers on any contemplated or specified work for harbour improvements. This one statement is quite correct, but as I haive pointed out the position is governed by "The Local Bodies Loans Act." It is certainly very clever for Mr Fiagan to have the bill beside him—read it over carefully:, word by word, re-read it again and again, and then boldly challenge the world to find in, the bill wihat he knows isn't there. If the opponents of the bill would try to get and publish all the authentic information possible before making such wild statements as those contained in Mr, Fagan's letter, the progress of the North . might be greatly accelerated instead of impeded.—l am, etc*,

S. GEAYTON-THJORNiE.