GISBORNE HARBOUR BILL COMMITTEE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9123, 3 August 1888, Page 6

GISBORNE HARBOUR BILL COMMITTEE.

This committee reports that the harbour works carried out are practically useless, that the evidence taken goes to show that if the breakwater is taken out a length of 1160 feet, at a cost of £40,000, small steamers could use it in ordinary weather, which would be of some service to the district, that the present income just meets the present expenditure of the Board, that the expenditure of £40,000 involves increased charge on the district in wharf charges and port dues, or an increase in the present rate of £2000 per annum. The Committee, therefore, recommend thatf subject to the following conditions, the work be allowed to proceed : A poll of the ratepayersthe work not to proceed unless a majority of the ratepayers actually on the roll, both as to number and value within a radius of ten miles of Gisborne, ratepayers outside the radius not be liable for a rate greater than id in the £; that the unexpended balance of

the original loan, after deducting £40,000 for the proposed work, to bo invested in an independent board of trustees to be appointed by the Government, such board to have power to invest the said money in freehold securities to an amount not exceeding one-half of the ascertained value of such securities ; that as the matter is one of urgency to the inhabitants of Gisborne and surrounding district, the committee recommend the Government to introduce a Bill this session giving effect to the above recommendation. On the motion of Mr. Fish, chairman of committee, the report was referred to the Government for consideration. NORTH AUCKLAND RAILWAY. With regard to the petitions from O. F. Pilling and others, Arthur H. Nathan and others, and Josiah Hudson and others, on this subject th® Public Petitions Committee report in favour of these petitions being referred to the Government for consideration. THE TOTALISATOR. A petition was presented by Mr. Moat from residents of Kaipara, praying for the abolition of the totalizator. LOCAL INDUSTRY. The Public Petitions Committee report in the case of Scott Bros., of Christchurch, who had the locomotive contract, that in their opinion the strict wording of the contract was infringed, but they believe that the contractors ordered the material used in the construction of the engines in the ordinary manner from the manufacturers, and consider that the amount deducted under the amended contract, viz., £350, should be refunded to the petitioners. THE LEGISLATIVE ESTIMATES. The Post, under the heading " A Legisi lative Joke," throws some light on the recent proceedings of the Speaker in the matter of the amended legislative estimates. It says:—"The Speaker of the 1 House of Representatives is understood to have played a very amusing kind of practical joke upon the retrenchment party in the House in regard to the legislative estimates. He had them sent down to the House in precisely the same form as last year's, without a single reduction being shown. The paper was headed 'A summary of the amount that will be required in the year ending 31st March, 1889, to defray the salaries and expenses of the Legislative Department, as proposed by the Speakers respectively.' The economists were furious when they saw the document. A special meeting of the ' Skinflint Committer ' was convened, and sensational telegrams were sent far and wide, to reform associations, newspapers, and others, denouncing the Speaker's conduct in unmeasured terms. After a brief interval had elapsed—sufficient, however, to permit of the excitement and indignation being worked up to fever heat—another little paper was put into members' hands, showing the reductions which the S{>eaker proposed to move in Committee of Supply, and which would reduce the total even below the Government estimates. The indignant ' skinflints' quickly realised the situation, and felt that they had been mildly 'sold.' They had to incur further expense in sending telegrams to correct the news previously forwarded, and they did this with a wry face. It is hinted that the interval which intervened between the circulation of the two papers was not entirely accidental."

THE NATIVE FEUD. The Native Minister ha.? received telegrams to-day from Mr. Clendon, R.M., reporting everything quiet in the Whangarei district, and that there is no apprehension of a renewal of hostilities, both sides patiently awaiting the arrival of Mr. Mitchelson. RAILWAY GRAIN RATES. The grain rates question is being revived by Mr. J. McKenzie, who has given notice to ask the Minister for Public Works—(l) Whether the promise to charge grain by actual weight has been given effect to ; (2) is it a fact that the rates of freight generally on goods in this colony are very much lower than those now charged in all the Australian colonies, and, if so why our farmers are charged grain freights for the average distance carried (50 miles) 60 per cent, above those of Victoria and New South Wales, the rates being 5s 4d and 5a 6d per ton, while for this colony it is 8s Bd. NATIVE GRASSES. It is suggested by Mr. Bruce that the Government should supply all the libraries in the' colony with a valuable work just being issued—being a Manual of Grasses and Plants indigenous to New Zealand. THE RATING BILL. I hear to-night that nothing has been definitely decided as to the Crown and Native Lands Rating Bill. Three compromises hA/e been suggested—namely, the one already telegraphed ; a second, to the effect that, for the first year after the passing of the Bill, one-half of the rates that would be due on Crown lands should be paid to West land ; and the third, that there should be one-half of the rate for the first year, a quarter rate for the second year, after which aid should cease. SHEEP INSPECTION. It is pointed out in the Press that Sheep Inspector Drummond carried out his duties in the Wairarapa district with marked success and that, though now in the Auckland district, he is not in any way responsible for the fact that scab had lately broken out a* Miranda."