HARBOR BOARD ENABLING BILL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10587, 17 October 1910, Page 4

HARBOR BOARD ENABLING BILL.

(Special to the Oamaru Mail.) Wellington, October 15. In the Legislative Council the Harbor B.oard- Enabling Bill was passed .-without serious opposition. -" ■. The Hon. Mr Jones in moving the second reading of this Bill said he would endeavor to be concise, and to, as tar as possible, divest what he had to say of that monotony which was inseparable from an arithmetical exposition. Under Acts of 1874 and 1878 the Oamaru Harbor Board raised two loans-of £IOO,UUU each One was secured by a first mortgage, and the other by a second mortgage on the ordinary revenues oithe Board. It also, in the years 1882, 188., and 1903,' raised three other loans ot £50,000, £40,000, and £17,000 respectively, which were secured on special rates. The aggregate of these loans was upwards of £300,000. In connection, with- the first loan of. £IOO,OOO, interest had. been paid to date, and a sinking fund of £23,600 had been established. Then occurred an extraordinary diminutiondn the '. The rents from the Otematata run, which was a pastoral endowment, tell from £3085 to £1647, at whielr figure ifremained for a number .of years, and it now realised £2126. , All the, other endowments suffered a similar, depreciation, and certain of them were seized by the Government for railway and Under what authority? . . ~ r , The Hon. Mr Jones said by the: Government authority. A railway rate,. ot 12s.6d:was fixed for all/classes by the Railway Commissioners instead ot i--2s 10d, £1 15s lOd, £1 0s 2d, and £1 3s Bd. the average-being about £1 los. This resulted in the discontinuance ot considerable steamer trafhc Oamaru and southern ports, and the diversion to the railway of tlicv carriage of timber from Southland. There was also an increase in size of oversea steamers, which necessitated continual expenditure with a view to adopting the port to their accommodation. Added to aU this were a succession of bad seasons and low prices. The last straw was the appointment ot a Receiver, with all its indignities as well as expense. If"the Board's sources or -revenue had continued normal—and there had bceir every reason to expect they would increase instead of diminish—its obligations would have been easily met. It should be borne m mind that the Board's enterprise was one ot -the first of its kind in the Dominion, and by reason of the success of costly and successful" experiments, it led the van m harbor-construction. It was well to remember that at this period the community was full of the buoyancy ot youth and it was not more optimistic" than was justified by the bright prospects'and the possibilities ol a large and exceptionally fertile district. An Hon. Member said they may have lost their heads. ~,,,>■-, The Hon. Mr Jones replied that he did not know whether the honorable gentleman intended that as a serious interjection. If so, the inference was that the Oamaru Harbor Board did something at that time which was unjustifiable, but what the Board did afforded a conspicuous instance of that enterprise which had made the British nation —the Anglo-Saxon people, indeed — as wealthy and powerful as. they were to-day, and by common cons'ent, placed them in the front rank of colonisers. Unrealised expectations, however, in consequence of inability to meet honorable obligations had weighed heavily upon the Board and upon the community of' Oamaru during all the years' that had intervened since 1892. In addition to the principal of £IOO,OOO of the defaulted loan, upwards of £IOO,OOO interest had accumulated in connection with it, and the community was threatened with a growing inde- . finite and - intolerable burden unless something was done. . In this dilemma the Board approached the bondholders, and it was unanimously agreed, after some negotiations with them, that they would accept- £50,000, or its equivalent, in place of the £IOO,OOO loan, and forego all interest. The chief object of the Bill was to give effect to this compromise, .but there w r as a feeling that, as a matter of honor, tho other half of the principal should, if possible, be- paid, and the Board had voluntarily ■ ■ agreed to make an offer to pay that but of any surplus revenues which they might derive, in the future. It was his solemn conviction that that money would be paid in due time —that the Board and the community would not rest until they had wiped out the whole of the debt, so far as the principal was concerned. For the several purposes of the Bill, the ratepayers, would bo asked to sanction a loan of £225,000. Honorable gentlemen would remember that the original loan was for £300,000. The new loan would be devoted'to pay the £47,000 for which the Board had compromised, with interest from the 31st December, 1909, and to meet the first loan of £IOO,OOO, and tho three loans secured by rates. Payment in connection with the first two Joans would ab- „ sorb £137,000 and the other three loans £BB,OOO. If the ratepayers, however, declined to authorise the proposed loan of £22.5,000, the £BB,OOO necessary to pay off the loans which were secured on special rates could be raised without submitting to any vote; but the position would be: so improved by the Bill ili its present form, that there was little danger of the rejection of the proposal bv the ratepayers. At present a sum of £2700 excess of rates was paid into . the general fund and devoted to harbor improvements. This had created some dissatisfaction. The Bill very properly provided that if more rates should be levied in the process of adjustment than really required to meet obligations in conuectiqn villi tlie loans, or, if more loan money should be raised than was required for the purposes of the Bill-, the surplus should be devoted to tho sinking fund. By means of this legislation Oamaru and district would be relieved of distressing obligations amounting to some thoimiiurls of pounds a year more I ban would be payable under the new arrangement, and he thought he'might say that under all the ei re urn stances a bare majority should suffice at the"poll, for" the proposals were such that all should gladly, welcome them, as they were for the general welfare. The Bill provided for a majority of 'one-fourth, which ho thought, in consequence of the amendments in tho Bill, should certainly not be required. No such majority was required by the Municipal Corporations or Harbors Acts, or in the Acts under which ,tho Timaru Board operates. He viewed with satisfaction the sympathetic and generous references which, had been made in another place to the Oamaru Board's action, and to the unfortunate circumstances in which the whole community had been placed through default -in -regard to the £IOO,OOO kan. He also wished to acknowledge'the good honest work that had been_ performed by the Committee which hail gone in the direction of immeasurably improving the Bill. By this legislation n cause of deep regret and obloquy would be removed from the district, and the honor of the Dominion would be preserved and the hopes of the community renewed. He would bo glad 'to answer any question in relation to the Bill in his reply, if reply was necessary.