New Plymouth Harbour District.

Opunake Times, Volume I, Issue 47, 11 December 1894, Page 4

New Plymouth Harbour District.

We extract the following from the Egmont Settler on the subject of dividing the harbour rating district into ridings :—Our readers will remember that for a long time the members of the Harbour Board have consisted mostly of residents in and around New Plymouth. At the last election it was pointed out that the interests of the ratepayers demanded that an effort should be made to secure the return of one or more members from the country, and Mr Maxwell, although quite unknown to the ratepayers as a body, particularly in this part of the district, was returned by a large majority. Since his eleotion, Mr Maxwell has done good work in looking after the interests of the country ratepayer?. During the last session of Parliament an amending Harbour Act was passed, which contained some very important provisions : one that Harbour Boards may borrow by way of overdraft, and another (and one which at the instance of Mr Maxwell was strongly supported by the New Plymouth Harbour Board) giving Harbour Boards power to divide the harbour district into wards for the purpose of representation. Strange to say, at the last meeting of the New Plymouth Harbour Board, by a majority of fiue to three, the members of the Board decided not to avail themselves of the power contained in the Act. The ground upon which they declined was that the country districts have very little interest in the harbour, and that it is advisable that the control remain in the hands of the people of New Plymouth. This appears to us to-bring the ratepayers face to face with a very serious position. Hitherto they have seen no hope of any relief from the burden of the rate unless the Government came to their aid; but during the past couple of years hope of an appreciable reduction has arisen, owing to the rapid increase of settlement and the increase in value of the settled lands —in other words, the rate has amounted to more than the interest on the loan. Ratepayers were justified, therefore, in expecting that after the next valuation the rate would be decreased to at least one halfpenny in tht «£. A feeling is, however, growing that the long-looked for relief is as far off as ever, that the Board will continue to levy the full rate as long as the law will allow them to do so, and spend the balance, over and above the amount required for interest, on extending the harbour. We venture to say that if a poll of the harbour ratepayers were taken this course would be opposed by a large majority. As we have often pointed out in the past, the Waimate district, which pays about one-third of the rate, and the districts served by Opunake, Waitara, and around Stratford, which are mostly served by Patea, and together pay fully another third of it, are most cruelly treated in the matter of this rate. Had the Harbour Board seen its way to divide the district into wards, it would have appeared as if they wished to do what was fair; but the only construction which can be drawn from the attitude taken up by them is that they intend to bleed the country settlers as long as they can. The remedy, however, lies in the hands of the settlers if they will only act unitedly, and not allow local jealousies to interfere or themselves misled. A general election for the Harbour Board takes place in March, and judging by the lesson of last election, if the country ratepayers only unite and select a suitable number of candidates, nothing can prevent them returning a majority of the Board.