THE OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD'S PROPOSALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2007, 11 August 1892, Page 15

THE OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD'S PROPOSALS.

iNVEBCAnaiLL, August 9. gThe Bluff Harbour Board exhaustively discussed the proposal of the Otago Board to ask Parliament to impose a primage duty on imported goods, the proceeds to be devoted to the assistance of harbour boards, and unanimously passed the following resolution, moved by Mr W. Craig : — " That the proposal to allocate a portion of tho customs receipts for the relief of the Otago Harbour Board, and further supplement its income by the imposition of a primage rate, meets with the unqualified disapproval of this board for the following reasons : (1) To allocate customs revenue for the use of harbour boards would result in a dangerous precedent being established, inasmuch as other local bodies could fairly lay claim to similar concessions, and the colonial finances become embarrassed thereby ; (2) that as the primage rate would cause an increase in the cost of living, and the main object of the movers . is to divert portion of the export trade 1 of the Bluff and Oamaru to Dilncdin, an act of gross injustice to the two former ports would be perpetrated by the said rate becoming law, seemg 1 that those two ports havo to a great extent to depend on export dues to meet current local expenditure, and to discharge obligations to English bondholders."