THE NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR

Patea Mail, Volume XII, Issue 14, 19 May 1886, Page 2

THE NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOUR

V <, TO THE EDITOR. - sißrr?ln a subheader day’a «is'sue, entitled 1 “ New Plymouth Harbour,” you essay tp criticise, oFMr'McGuire to tbe Hawera Star advocating. (the-'.completion' of' the. Plymouth Harbour by the colony. After cgrcfully. ...perusing -. .the . -.sub-leader in question, I have cdme to f the Conclusion thhtrtHe .wliten of itiposseseei many qualifications, not the least among: them being the “polished pessimist;”- and, jthe “ mediocre satirist.” ,

’’ In'th'e fcohcluding paragraph of ybur critique you eay—“ Wo are quite alive to the immense. advantage the’'New f Plymouth Harbour would be to the district aroupd Hawera and : the. Plains,” : and towards the. top of the column in whish the - above words appear, you alao.sayrr- “ And we' think no one will doubt it,' that the additional tax required to pay interest and sinking fund on an extended '/pan, if spread over the wholexolbriy/nTould be jnfipitessimally small,,it could not .be less 'than 3 ari. additional rate, accurately de r scribed by the word nil, which is the present position'of the settlers within the released: area;’’;-' -

The above quotations pretty nearly convey, the j substance -of Mr. McGuire’s two letters, only he goes a little'further and says , the-cpnetji-nctipn of, the Plymouth Harbour wbulid not only benefit “the district around Hawcra and the Plains, but also the whole , Taranaki Provincial' District and the colony likewise. The progress of ■ this part of the colony has been heavily handicapped from the want of a suitable harbour, and it is to overcome this evil that Mr McGuire urges ' 1 us to take united action. It is quite true, as you say, /( ; that colonists, ns a whole, have ,an undoubted-right. to object to being saddled with an additional tax, no matter how: small it may be, to secafe the prosperity of a single district,” But ’then'/ if the colony can speculate in district railways, then, why not specul&tein district harbours'? ; Would not .the.state derive. as much direct benefit from a harbour as from a railway line ? I dread to contemplate the future of the colony if your selfish precepts are ad.hercd- to,s namely,.-for :the colony to' object to being saddled with an additional tax (which can accurately bo described by the word nil) simply to secure the prosperity of a single district.” It is the prosperity of these singleidistriets that io : the aggregate make the prosperity of the . w£pl ©'.colony..,(\ t.,*, y Mr McGuire has, certainly declared hjs intention of contesting the Sgmont seat/ and I presume as a candidate he has a right to play his trump cards when he can, and in giving his views of what is said to be “ the ■ fashionable subject of' the day with the Egmpnt electors,” .he affords those electors an opportunity of judging of his abilities. It must be gratifying ,to Mr' McGuire to know that ho would “ make a fine specimen of the genius of the West Coast Settler ” after being manipulated by a taxidermist and set, up in a museum. I venture to think he would equally well represent the Eginont electorate in Parliament in his quickened state.—l am, &c., , ‘ - .. Nota Bena.