THE NELSON WHARVES.

Colonist, Volume LX, Issue 14865, 12 September 1918, Page 6

THE NELSON WHARVES.

pitorbswD mTjicuASK rs- hakiiOUli JJUAUJJ.

CITY XIUTEPAYERS' iLraaTNa.

The public: mooting held at tho City Council Cliambei's last cloning for the purposo of c onsidorii»<T t!io proposal to raise a kan o; £ 1 (I.yX-VJ i"<»- tift-]>ui-cha.-V| of xho -wJianos was not ktruoly attend-; od. .Me T. A. fl. Field, .','i.V.. occupiedl the chair, and aonowp; Lhu-^o preriout woru | Messrs Ci jNiacmaivon, A. P. Allport. i K. 15. .Jack.v.m. .1. 'inrr'Vuii, 11. V.\ ■\Va-shbonrn. I.'Tuuuwliife, «vv.i I[. M ; Field; and other representative citizens. : r.iho chair'nan said th(.>v had met at the invitation of the Harbour Board to' consider ouiv of the most important mat-, tors that had c-\er been placed before! tno ratepayers, 'because it whs one that' had to do with the future- prosperity of tiie whole district. Tho dovelupment of, the iruit industry i&scli' was marvellous, I and jtlwve wove maiiv \\ lio did not realise what The industry "Vioukl moan io the district in the .future. Ho then asked i the chairman of the- Ha"bonr Board "to | explain tho proposals. Mr 11. I. Duncan, chairman of the Harbour Board, fcaid tho members of j the board were there to address them, I mot o-uly as members, but us ratepayers and parfcnei';-., t=o.to speak. ■* iLa!!y inter- ; ested in V:\? welfare- and prcspority yf the district? and it was in iiiai. spirit , they, desin-.l to place- StvU)-':* tiio raLepayers in ;> phiin and b>:xi?!iv;--.iike wny . the pi''jpcs;il to [;urci-,;;sc' x\v> -v.'hurw^ from the G'ijvcriiiiufni. Tiw iumrd, ho said, nfterI';.> ::i-;-iiig fulj-r;-)i:.«idoii .'itum to tho.v,-i::jlo !-:<;;ijcct. v/er^ ..i-n.-iuljiiuitsly cir opinion chat, il: won!:! he- niw, hoih from a present- as v.e!l p.k a prospective poir.t of viuvv, to acquir-;1. the, wharves at tho .price at which they wore offered. To fail to acquire them v.:o\ild bo to lose for over an opportunity of doing so at; anything like tho p»-ic« at which' they were nov^ oifered. It- v/a« no now ques-! iion. No .sudden inspirat-ioii had in-: ducod them to brinn; it forward at this time, for tliey rccogniiscyl tliat tho time ' was inopportuno to nsk ratepayers to I sanction a loan when everyone was feel- ■ "ing the burden occasioned by the war ! and the extra cost- of living, heavy taxes and coirivulsory v-.;u- loans, but the board had no alternative-. The option to purchase the- wharves expired next. October, and if .thpy did not make ; up their minds by that t;mp the opportunity would be lost. Mr Duncan"pro--ceeded to give a short history of what liad led up to the present proposals, in « the opinion of many, be said, it had always appeared, even before harTjour im- : .provonients were efFt-ctod, that the Ayharves sliouid' be made over to the: board. He remembered that whan, the ', board, put before the rate-payers the | proposal to raise a loan of £35,000 for.| the completion of the original scheme,l it was-inot with the argument that to further improve the liarbour would only be putting money into the pockets of the Government, bccaxi.se trade, would be in-, creased on "which tho Railway Department would secure a larger amount of revenue. Although he did not quite agree with the argument, yet he confessed that there was a certain justification for it. Even before, that--time the Government had been approached on the subject, and a deputation had waited on the Ministf-jr, jmd at last on Nov. 3rd, 1913, the wharves were offer- ; od to the board for £100,171. The price; •was arrived at by capitalising the revenue at 5* per cent. .On November 13th 1 the board asked for an option for 12' months, and were given six months. In j January, 1914, the board was informed' that- the offer could ni>t remain open in-; definitely, and the department would re- ' quire tho board to promote a Bill for the' purcho.se. On October 14th application \ wa3 made for p.xi oxteiLsion to 1916. The j Government pointed out, in reply, that' the revenue had increased, and that the-' price based on net rp.vemic capitalised would "be £155,^00. In June, 1916, tho j board got the .option extended to Octo- I W; 191?§ Dn October ..27%-. tho Harbour Board Emprnveraig Bill wasj passed, and the board., .^-hougnt -that svorything had beenjdonD lliat :could"j reasonably be expected until the end off the war. But on May^iir■.'•iast ■ the: iboard received a letter from the Minis-; ler of Railways, stating that, he did not j consider any serious attempt to raise! the money for the purchase had beenj made, and before considt?ring any fur- j ther extension of the option he thought | tiie board should make a.strong effort to j raise the necosscry monoy to. purchase,! and suggested that the board should' interview the Secretary fco the Treasury. The board took the hmt^sent' a depiitation to \Vellington, and tuere found I that the Public Trusted would be pre-' pared tq,leiid the money an the security i oi a rate. The next question, continued Mr Duncan, was', How *as the interest on this loan to be financed ? The rate of interost asked by the Public Trustee for a loan of £103,000 was 5^- per cent., with : a sinking fund of 1 per ce.nt. to ex-1 tinguish the ioan in 36.^ yeai\s.. That I meant an annual interest charge pf J56437, plus 10 per cent., or £7080. To provide security for tius amount it would be necessary to a-sk "sanction i or ] a rate of 13-32 of a penny in the £. But the board would not roouire to levy anything like" this' .'rate.". AJI that the board proposed to levy was 4-12 of a .penny, equal to^£l4lß," or roughly 8d in ""«v.er.y £100 capital" value. That was the. board's first, estimate, ijct"ou. ■•"looking into the .matter; more clbseJy they came iiq the conclusion that tJfey-could safely-' promise that they would *iu»t even levy, this Bci in the £109 juitil June, 1920, smd possibly "then, if tho revenue should return to what it was prior to tho outbreak of war, they "vvouid not require to levy it for a further period. They would see that the board had not been hasty in the matter, and had given it .every \ consideration. .Even now tho board! would not put it before the ratepayers, i only they had no alternative but losing the option for all time. The next question, said Mr Duncan, was whether the purchase of the vrharves was a'good investment for thei district. He considered it would be, and the whole board was with him in that. Dual control .in any tiling was fatal to efficiency, and in regard to 'Harbour Boards it.was more so. As they were probably aware, from time to time difficulties had arisen, especially about dredging the 70ft outwards from the.wharf,,but he was ,g?ad to soe that "the Government had'secured the Lyttelton Harbour Board's dredge to do the work at tho northern cud of the wharf. Then again there was the -question of revenue, at present £o-562. Why should this go out of .Nelsuii--' Kvcn the most "unimaginative person could see that when tho war was over -the revenue'from, the wharves would largely increase. There 'would he a vast amount of imports to make up shortage of stocks, ' and exports would increase with the development of their-freezing works', wool, and particularly fruit. J.le anticipated a. very prosperous . time for.'Nelson'for - the next-,■five or ten years after.tlie war was -ovv.</. Surely, now was- tho time to provide fur tho future, so that the men who -were coming' back and those who -came after them. should obtain the 'foest"-advantages.. The harbour was the open door for the trade of the district. Thore v.a-; mo other in lot or outlet for y-cir. imports and exports,- find on keeping xli-s door well oiled, by efficient- management much depended. In orik'T to have the harbour efficiently, manm-ed to secure the" full/benefits', -of increased trade, mid to meet tho fuUreauirements <ii 'the district :as ; a whole the ""board ■should o',vn thev:wharvo.s alnd, adjacent properties, j The -latter "in : future-years avould he or- considerable value, as colfi stores^ for produce;-of all kinds would be :■■ 'T:b.e possession /pf the wharves

| would aid the district in every way, and to him it appeared they shoulu-do e.ervthmg possible to make .Nelson .tho best of all districts to live m. Thov must develop then\ natural advantages Ts To district in Now Zealand had such harbour iacilltios at so .-.mail a cost but they wanted tho wharves Lo make thorn I complete. It was a matter of urgentl concern.-and they should not be satis- i Jod mmi they got thorn. R o trusted: Jt hat the proposal would be carried. Leti i there be in tnis mutter, said the speaker I ,a union of identity and sentiment and! | interest, remomoenng that it would end! 'dual cvmi-ol; that it would secure to I jtiu- people ...o full revenue of the pore! ; now and lor all t>mo and make us sell-1 •contained, and give our boys and tho?e' who came after them a iree, efficient port anri harbour ■ JtocrrJug to criticism that had boon I ; levelled at the board for lowing tho! 1-lfa of a penny rate, Mr Dunaan%aidi the cluer complaint was thai the board i i spine years-ago told the ratepayers! that fchoic would bo no rate fo • lSoir improvements. He had looked up the SS° Sl thY Wl,ancl could' find nothing official in regard to this statement. It was correct that the chair;l9o3, said: "it would seem that if the [board desired to keep faith -with, the ! ratepayers and avoid levying ante ■. economy and extreme watchfulness oP expenditure would have to bo the ml- I TV hen tho 'board wont to tJio rateuavers the ktcer wei-e told that-.the revenue or the boara would, meet the^xnonditurej -and xhi> heard should redeem "tjmt ulfd"o .-«« I-Jir aa. possille." That 'said Mr .Duncan, was .quite a proper" statement to inako.- and tlio bean! 'had HllcvH I ami would continue to folliro- a policy of economy and wntcluuluess. ' Jiut what- fKid been/tJie circumstances s"tc« that statement was made?, Tho world had been convulsed by tho most terrible war in history, shipping had boon destroyed to a disastrous extent and all overseas shipping had been more or less commandeered, the result bein« that at : .Nelson alone, the tonnage bad decrei^d! :since 1912-13 by 120,600 "tons, whichl meant that the board's revenue had decreased by from £1000 to £I*oo vor ; annum, and with the curtailment of tlv> Union Company's and the Anchor Company s services the board 'was faced wit!< ■^further loss of from £460 to £500' liie rate had been levied purely to enab.le tho. board to meet interest' charts on the loan of £65,000 for the new luu.jbour, the total expenditure on ■■ which had been £72,000, the balance beimpaid out of revenue. There was nothing else for it, Every harbour board had lost heavily over the war, and ratepayers would have felt sorer if they had : had to appeal to the Government to take = over the harbour. Critics . would say, j What has been done with, the monov •that v,-as left to -the board? lie, would ■jtell them. On' the advice of the En-igineer-m-Chief the board dredged the ?^rh 0f he harbour *° a, width' of 1000 ft tapering -to 500 ft at the entrance removing 247,000 tons of stuff at a : cost of £4991, or at 4.43 d per tonkas against 2s per ton if their own dredge had.dorio the work. This had the effect oi allowing large ships to be brought; m with a safe curve instead of a sharp dangerous, right-angle turn, and increasing the depth % y from 4ft to sft further, owing to.-...several of the steamers touching the- bottom on coming up the inside fairway, the board ; employed the Mawhera dreHge to clear the accumulation, at a cost of £1429. i This accounted for the funds they were ;told should not hay© "been touched. Besides, if one had a property or business i was it not absolutely, necessary to kfeep it in repair? And so it was with a 1 harbour. In conclusion, Mr Duncan said he hoped tho proposal would meet .with the hearty -oproval of the rate- | payers, and thai ne poll would be car;ned on Septemb • 25th. (Applause.) !In reply to Mr J\ C. Pettit, Mr Duncan gave returns showing the gross re- ; venue and expenditure In connection jw.ith tho wharves during the last four .> years, as ... follows:—Revenue 1914-15 |^lfi>343, expenditure £481S; ■ 1915^6, : £11,412 .and £5017 j .1910-17; £11,529 .and^Jl ;yL9I7-I8 y £3lssß7iand £6025: j -:-islr,.arV«ahbaarn:,:empfiasised vfcnat the >3>roposal .was.not., a: sudden .tiling, and -liad been ( v!ery-caretully considered Inj the board-. Members would have to pay j the same as other people, arid if it was jiiot a good thing they would not buriden themselves with a rate..- The board j was' -unanimous-' arid; strongly. endorsed j the _'v*ews expressed by the chaii-man. {Mr Macmahoa said that Mr Duncan • had given a very good history of the aitairs connected with the proposal. He [was a strong, advocate of doing away {With dual control. Harbour boards in j other i>laees. ov/ned tho. wharves, and jonly recently the Foxton:-Board carried a loan to purchase the wharves there. Since tire war shipping had become disorganised and the revenue had consequently dropped, but while the^harbour revenue had dwindled the wliarf revenue had increased. That was due to the ! cargo being, handled by smaller vessels ;IS ot with standing that our last Year's wool was still in store and the freezingworks was full of-meat, the revenue ol the wharf had increased, and it would .! continue to increase. At the present time expenditure on the harbour increased the revenue of the wharves If the loan was not carried he was conndeat -tnat tlic opportunity wouid not occra- again to purchase the' .wharves. .Mr J. Tunnicliff© endorsed the• statements of the previous speakers in -re- . gard .to ■ the. wisdom of purc-Basin^ the- ■ -wharves. It^might :4be ■considered' -an ■inopportune; time .to place a loan - before ■ the peopl©1, -but -the -board ting an:asfietof 'very great -value-"iot only now but for all time. Mr Allport strongly supported the' proposal, which he agreed was the most! important proposal that had ever been I placed.before the people of the district lit was a good, sound .business proposi•i:tion. that there had beenfour years of war. the wharf revenue had increased by £2000. If there had not been war the increase would have been much greater. If the same increase was continued, they wouid not have to levy a rate, and' the revenue would not only pay interest, but •xtin- ; guish the debt. If the board got the ; management of the- wharves in its own j hands it would tend to the prosperity ; I and development of the district and . I that was what they were all aiming at iHe strongly urged the doing away with what he described as the- pernicious ; system of dual control. The board might make the harbour suitable iV- tho j largest vessels in the world, but if fie ;. ■ Government did riot dredge'the 70ft at j:the wharves the expenditure would be j useless. In order to pay interest dn •.! tl.?Vv^. d? b*> the Prilnary lindustries !or the Dominion must be developed -?nd jin kelson it would be no use deVeiopliW 'lour industries unless the port was put |in such a positio|i that their products' > could I*j- despatched to tho markets of the irorld. He- was satisfied that they j would never get .such, an offer ao-aiii ;pelson was practically undcvolooedrand iCoulc: produce three times what it wis } - producing to-day, and the v.liarves v/oxila j prove » great asset and produce ?uffirevenue to keep the port ooen. >'m 1!^ 1 confidence in the future of ;; the-district there was only one tinn»-;to for the proposal. ° :■ Tlie chairman pointed out that to-day \ larger vessels were visiting the port than .■. Jf^J 1 th<?,- harbour improvements were 3 M-st mooted. Tho 'recent improvements had increased the depth of the harbour enabling vessels drawing up to 24ft to i enter the port. Although the'camoTOit ~ proposed to be uorrowod appeared to be i- rg& .^ ;reaily only l£l4oo a year J tor o^ years. :,:JU, hoped the ratepayers J wouid regard the;thing as a business - proposal^and.as a matter^of patriotism :• to/our. own -district vote for •iiie'-loan/ t (Hear,; hear.),, ;; :t ■ ' .

Mr F. C. ?»cttit"asked for iniohnation as to tho condition of the wharves. He . expressed tho opinion that, an efforij ■ should bo made to extend the harbour district to include districts which wouldget tho benefits of the harbour improvements. Mr Dunca.n said ihc wharves were ■ considered to 'be in a very fair condijtion, and tho average expenditure on ! upkeep for the last 14 years had Jbeen £019. He agreed with Mr Pettit in regard to the extension of the 'harbour ; district, r.nd said an endeavour had ; been made to include the Murchisou I county. At tho present time a- large ! portion of the Tasman district, which ! would get the benefit of tho port of Mapua, was in the Motueka harbour district. The board had endeavoured to [secure that area, but the price asked I wns too high. | In reply to Mr Joseph Taylor, Mr i Duncan said ho could not guarantee I that, ciijs would bo the only" demand j made for wharf extension and •harbour : improvements. If '-.vessels of 20,000 toils wanted to come to the port, they weuld have to consider the question of widening tho cut and doing further dredging. Ah; Taylor' characterised the proposal as unbusinesslike, and said it promised very little for an enormous outlay. The port v.as in very little different position 'from what it was 20 years ago. (Voices: } Rot). Vessels that came into the harbour 50 years ago could-come in to-day. (Laughter.) He. contended that ~,,-the iinrprovements. had shown no adequate .results for the expenditure. He believed if a rational system of harbour improvements as suggested by himself had | been submitted it would liave met with tho approval of the ratepayers. Mr ■'Duncan disagreed with Mr Taylor, and pointed out that vessels working the port now could not have done so 50 yeans ago. He added that the amount of dredging at Nelson was infinitesimal compared with other harbours-. • ■ ■ ;" ; -\ir -T: H. Cock moved, "That . this ! mooting of ratepayers approves of the ) proposal to purchase the wharves,: in the intr-Vests' of the whole district." Speaking to the motion, he said they wove indebted to the .members of the board for placing information so fully before the ratepayers. It was inconceivable that they' should return to the conditions which'obtained previously to the new harbour being opened. It was not long after the improvements Avere effected that Nelson got the benefit of the overseas trade, and after the war, the end oi which ho. trusted was not far distant, Ihey would see a resumption and an expansion of their pre-war trade. It .would be a mistake not to take advantage of the offer, and he preferred to trust the interests of the district to the direct representatives of th« ratepayers instead of the Government. He was strongly in favour of the board buying the-.wharves, aim was-thorough-ly in accord with those who wished to see the -wharves acquired for the, district. Mr F. A. Carlisle, in seconding the motion, commended the proposal of the Stoke Progressive Association that, the ■purchase money should be earmarked to extend the railway system in the .Nelson district. . ; Mr Duncan said the Harbour Board had already endorsed the suggestion ; The motion was then put, and after it had.been declared carried Mr Taylor endeavoured to move an amendment, which Vvae not seconded, and the meeting terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman.