Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1893 THE HARBOR LIABILITY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6770, 6 September 1893, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1893 THE HARBOR LIABILITY.

In 1885 the ratepayers of Cook County (which th«n embraced Waiapu) sanctioned tho raising of a loan of L 200,000 to construct a harbor at Gisborno. Their sanction involved liability to rating to meet tho interest on tho borrowed money. Be fore the poll took place, a statement was prepared by the Chairman of the Harbor Board, who was ono of the leading busi" ness men of the towu, showing that after a few years there would be no occasion for striking a rate. We do not for a moment argue that the Board is bound to fultil tho promise of a former Chairman, which was given at a most important period ; but reference to it should throw some back light on the .subji-c" The property- holders of the district hium probably wouli not havo voted for ih loan had tho prospect of rating for ;ii! indefinite period been held out to them. They backed the bill of the Harbor Board under the assurance that the special assistance of rating would be only of a tear poiary nature. The loan could nob havi be«n raised without tho guarantee of tin* ratepayers, who are really guarantors. The actual debtors are the whole com inunity ; and this is the principle recognised in practice by nearly every Harbor Board in New Zealand.

Not another Harbor Board in t lie colony would raise a shilling in rates if all the money required could bo obtained through wharfages or shipping dues. But there are special circumstances which prevent some of these bodies from obtaining all the funds they require from tolls at their sea gates. Prospective loss of trade through competing ports has to be reckoned with. As we have often said, there is no contingency of the kind to be taken into account here. The Coast trade could be fostered by a system of drawbacks, and we think that the Board should have adopted Mr Matthewson's suggestion in this respect. The loss of revenue would be very trifling indeed. Our merchants have every right to claim that the Harbor Board should place them on as advantageous a footing as possible in competing with importers of other places for the Coast trade, for in any case the local importer is at a disadvantage through the inferiority of the port. The total debts of the Harbor Boards of the colony amounted to L 3,166,200, 166,200 at the end of 1891. The rate of interest averages ok per cent., so the annual liability is betweenLl7o,ooo and LISO,OOO. During 1891, the sum raised as rates on property by the Boards was L 20,621, or less than one-eighth of tho interest liability. Of this sum the Gisborne Harbor Board contributed over L6OOO, the bulk of the balance being contributed by Taranaki and Oamaru. There is close on three millions sterling of harbor debts for which no rate is struck, though most of the loans were raised on the condition that property could be rated in the respective districts if necessary. But that condition in other places is regarded as only a contingency, in the event of other sources of revenue being incapable of meeting the liability. Wharf and shipping dues arc the world over made not only to \r\y working expenses but to meet the charges on cost of construction. As a matter of fact, the wharfage tariff has been lower ;vt Gisborne than at some of the larger ports in the colony, whilst at the same time this district has been subjected to rating to meet the interest liability. A. rato for harbor purposes is an abnormal thing, and the fact of such having been submitted to here for years past does not. make the case any stronger in its favor. The toll at the gate reaches everybody to whom a harbor is of any service, and a rato does not

This is not a question between town and country ; but between ratepayers and the public generally. The town is subject to double-rating, and it stands to reason that the property- holders of the place will bo benefited by the proposed change in the incidence of taxation. Suppose tho whole of the Board's revenue had been raised from wharfages, what an outcry there would be from ratepayers of Gisborne if ifc were proposed to change to a system of direct taxation on a basis^of double rating for the borough. The recommendations of the tariff committee go most certainly in the direction of relieving the town by making consumers all over the district pay in proportion to the quantity of imported woods they use. To sny that traders will havo nininly to bear the increase is ono of the lamest arguments conceivable. Why they have constantly to adjust their prices as wholesale values go up and down. An argument advanced by one of the speakers at a meeting of importers on Monday was that the new tariff would increase the cost of the staff of life. As it is only contemplated to put an extra 2s Gd a ton upon flour, there will certainly be no justification'for raising the price of the loaf. Bread is now selling afc fourpence per 4lb loaf in some parts of the colony, whilst the price exacted in Gisborne is sixpence if you pay promptly and sovenpence if you don't The baker would still have a large margin of profit if the Harbor Board increased tho wharfage by fifty shillings a ton instead of half a crown If the Board raise L2OOO extra by the proposed tariff, the town ratepayers will be relieved to the extent of about LbOO a year of direct taxation, the contra to which will be an extra 2s 6d a ton on the imported goods they consume. Really, the ratepayers of the suburbs have the most cause to complain. By a reduction of the. rate, they will only be relieved to half the extent of their fellows in the borough, whilst they will have to pay the same increase on imported goods. But the half-a-erown a ton extra will not be appreciably felt. Think of the settlers m tho Motu who have had to pay Llo a ton for the conveyance of goods to their holdings Even the Wainnta farmer, who is almost nexfc door to the port, has to pay from LI to LI 15s a ton for cartage from Gisborne to his home Residents in the towu and suburbs get goods from the stores delivered at their doors free of cost. This enormous advantage is owing to livin« within a mile or two of the harbor, find ft should afford much cause for reflection in connection with tho matter now before the Board. AbouL half the population of Cook County are congregated in the neighborhood of the port, and surely

it would not bo asking; too much to require thorn to contribute in proportion to the amount of goods they consume which pass through the harbor.

Members of the Fire Brigade meet for steam practice to-night. The Gisborne Rowing Club hold their thirteenth annual meeting on Wednesday evening next. The annual meeting of the Waerenga-a-hika .Jockey Club will be bold on Saturday afternoon at two o'clock at the Masonic hotel. The schooner Spray (Capt. Urquhart) arrived this morning from Taima with timber for Mr W. O. Skeet. ConstablcjNorman, of Gisborne, isanophew of the new Viceroy of India, Sir Henry Norman. The constable yesterday entered the bonds of matrimony with Miss Fraser. The Gisborne District Licensing Committee mot at Makaraka at noon to-day, and granted a transfer of license to the Kaifeeratit.lil hotel from Arthur Devery to Owen Dwyer. Mrs Rosie announces that she has just opened up a large consignment of spring and summer goods, selected by Miss Rosie on a recenfe visit to Auckland. A northern member of Parliament — I'd like to havo my picture taken. Photographer—Cabinet? The member (blushing)— No ; just a plain, cvery-day M.H.R. A useful application of the electric motor is that of giving easily controlled power to the invalid tricycle chair. A storage battery under the seat supplies, it is claimed, force sufficient for fifty miles, without recharging, at a speed of eight miles an hour. The programme of the Spring meeting of the Gisborne Racing Club appears in another column, having been approved by the Metropolitan Club. The amounts to be given away in stakes are substantial, and should prove attractive to owners. The Gisborne Football Club's team choson to represent them against the Caledonians will consist of Abraham, Skeet, Murphy (2), Fisher, Tutati, Hari, Cole, Bayly, Robinson, Toka, Misbctt, Rua, Macdonnell, Jack. Emergencies : Hcnare and Thornton. An address on "Are we a Christian people ■:" and "Is it the duly of a Christian Stale to give public recognition to the re-' ligion of the people?" is to be delivered in VVhinray's hall to-morrow evening by Mr J. C. Reid. Canon Webb will preside. The .iddi-oss has previously been delivered at Ormoiid andPtitutahi. The following players will represent Turangauui against the Caledonians on Saturday next : — Full-back, Mayo ; threequarters, Poynter, Zaehariah, and Mtuligan ; halves, Burns, Loomb, and Hepburn ; forwards, Maynard, Martin, Crawford, Woodward, Rodgers, Weston, Caulton, and Eaton ; emergencies, Poswillo, Sheen, and Featon. The disagreement between Mr Zeal, President of the Legislative Council, and Mr Thomas Bent, Speaker of the Assembly, in Victoria, over the occupancy of a room, has been settled by the intervention of Mr Gillies. The matter had reached so acute a stage that the Speaker had asked the President to " come outside." A miraculous escape from death occurred in Argent street, Broken Hill. A Mrs Robertson was out shopping, and left a baby 12 weeks old wrapped up in a shawl and lying asleep in a perambulator. The footpath at this point is on an incline, and the perambulator suddenly ran off of its own accord, and struck a horse which was standing opposite. The horse plunged violently and smashed the perambulator to pieces, but, strange to say, the child was picked up unhurt, save for a small scratch on the arm. The Mangatu No. I Empowering Bill has been skilfully piloted by Mr Arthur Rees past the rocks and shoals of Parliamentary procedure and criticism which so ofcen wreck local Bills, and is now merely waiting the Governor's approval. The Bill finally passed the Council yesterday, one alteration being made by that body to the eiFect that the committee of seven members who are to administer the Native estate shall all be owners in the block. The result of the passing of this Bill should be that 100,000 acres of land in this district will soon be thrown open for settlement. "We are the Sufferers'"' writes: — "I think the general public should be aware, and take heed — that mischievous persons have commenced to destroy property and otherwise damage people's goods. On Monday night in Carnarvon street, the water was drained from out of two tanks, and the taps and spouting destroyed. The same evening a tradesman's window was broken, and the goods inside taken away. Those who suffer these things don't like it, 'pon my word they don't, and we hope they won't do it agaiu." Persons who havo been in the habit of remitting money to the various Sydney sweepstakes should take a note of the fact that not only are these drawings prohibited b}- the law of New South Wales, but the Government, in order to suppress them, have resolved not to carry letters addressed to sweep promoters. The clause of the Postage Acts Amendment Bill under which this decision was "made operative, was carried in the N.S. W. Parliament by the huge majority of 34 votes to 13. The steamer Tanjorc, from J'cddah, with 913 pilgrims on board, arrived at Bombay on the 15th ultimo in a bad way. There were five deaths from cholera on board between Jecklah and Aden. Small-pox was noticed on the 9th ult., from which there were 7 deaths. One of the sufferers while in a delirious state jumped overboard and was drowned. During the voyage thei'e wore 15 deaths from all causes. The pilgrims aud crews were vaccinated and their clothes washed before they were allowed ashore at Bombay. A large number of the pilgrims who arrived in the Tanjore were in a very destitute condition, and their bodies boie ample evidence of the privations they had suffered. Cholera is very prevalent in Jeddah, it being stated that as many as 1000 deaths daily are taking place. The Pahiatua Herald of Wednesday has the following : — : " A curious discovery was made by the co-operative workmen on the Coonoor road last week. They were making a cutting in the side of a hill when the removal of earth laid bare the opening of a large cave. With natural curiosity the men entered the cavity intent on a complete inspection. Before the}' had proceeded many yards from the entrance they came upon tiie complete skeleton of a huge moa. — one that when living must have been a giant among its fellows. With a little care the skeleton might have been preserved intact, but the men were too eager for that, and the osseous remains were soon separated beyond hope of a correct rejoining save by an export. The shin and leg bones, together with most of the other large bones, were secured by Mr Tucker, of Makuri, who intends sending them to Tasmania. The remainder of the bones were divided amongst the other men. The cave is of considerable size, and beyond the point where the skeleton was found has not yet been explored."