NEW PLYMOUTH IMPORTS

Taranaki Daily News, 1 August 1930, Page 4

NEW PLYMOUTH IMPORTS

DECREASE IN CUSTOMS DUTY FALL IN LAST SEVEN MONTHS. COLLECTIONS OF PETROL TAX. A decrease of £2221 12s. lid. was shown in the Customs duty collected at the port of New Plymouth during July compared with' the corresponding period last year. The total revenue from direct shipments in the two months vas £7754 15s. lOd. arid £9976 Bs. 9d. respectively. •Since the beginning of the year three of the months, January, March -and June, have shown increases. Up till Ikst month, however, a slight increase had been maintained in the half-yearly totals. The heavy drop last month turned the increase into a- decrease of £1521 19s. 3d. for the first 'seven months of- this year as Compared with the same period last year. Details for the month .are:yJuly, IJ+3O £7754 15 l ; 0 July, 1’929 ■ • £9976 8 9 Jjceroaye' £2221 12 11 Comparative Customs figures for the first seven months of 1930 and 1929

'Excise duty on beer totalled £ll2 Ids. 6d-. last month, compared -with £124-2s. 3d.vin July, 1929, a decrease of '£ll.ss. 9d.

The figures for the collections of cx.cise for the first seven months;, however, show an increase of £307 3s. Id., Compared with the corresponding period of- 1929. No duty was collected in May, 1929. Details are: —

The collection of the tax of 4d. a gallon on petrol has assumed very large proportions at the New Plymouth Customs office since last October, when it •became the practice to ship bulk petrol direct to under-bond tanks instead of transhipping from Wellington or Lyttelton. Last mouth no less than £2577 3s. 6d. was collected for the Main Highways Board. In July, 1929, the tax amounted to only £415, so that it is-apparent that the .under-bond tanks make a big difference. During the last seven months the tax paid on petrol imported direct to New Plymouth for the use of motorists has amounted to. £21,570 10s. (Id.,

RATE ON OVERSEAS SHIPS NEW PLYMOUTH’S CHEAP RATES. NOW IN LINE WITH OTHER PORTS. . After 1.3 yearg. of cheap rates overseas ships berthed at the port of . New Plymouth from to-day on will, have to pay Jd a ton daily in harbour board dues. Up till the present the charge for an oversells ship to stay in port for a week or a fortnight or any period has been no more than the charge for one day. Every other port in New Zealand had. a daily charge, said the secretary of the New Plymouth Harbour Board (Mr. C. S. Rennell) to a News reporter yesterday. Timaru charged 4d a ton daily, Wellington charged a Jd, and Lyttelton charged 3-Bd. The move was simply bringing New Plymouth into line with the other ports. Coastal and intercolonial ships had always ’ad to pay a daily rate for berthage, but the rate had been lifted from overseas vessels in 1917 to encourage them to call at the port. It had been part of a policy to build Up trade. With this object in view all the rates a New Plymouth had been cons'ste'.itly low, makino' it one of the cheapest ports of .call. Pilotage at New Plymouth, for example,-was 4d a ton, and in most other ports 5d to ;"id. The port charge at New Plymouth was only ■ld a ton and. at other places the lowest was 3d. •. U . The shipping companies had benefited up Wil. the present. Now, however, the port was -sufficiently well equipped to prevent any delay in discharge, and it was considered the port should have the same privileges as other ports. The extra rate should result in an increase in revenue, but how uaueh it. was difficult ' to estimate.

are:- - ■ 1930. .li s. <1. 1029.' d. C s. January . .. . 8799 0 3 6260 16 11 February . i... 5888 15 7 ' 8275 8 9 .... 9674 18 0 7805 16 7 April .... .... 9037 6 9730 13 : 5 May .... ,... 3'742 12 3 6313 18 6 June .... .... 9730 15 11 7778 0 10 July .... 10 9976 8 9 Totals ... 54,628 4 6 56,150 3 9 Decrease 1521 19 3

1930. 1929. £ s. <1. .£ 'S. ■ <1. •Tan nary . . 166 13 1 190 17 2 February . ■ 106 11 3 154 11 6 Ms rch .... .. 160 4 8 159 7 0 April .... .. 150 11 6 S3 19 0 Alav .. 192 19 9 June . . 92 14 7 34 1 •J July .... . 112 10 6 124 3 Totals .. 1054 1 4 740 18 3 Increase 307 3 1

made up as .follows: — £ ■ s. d. January ........... . 3041 16 4 February .......... , 2538 6 4 March ............. , -306G 11 0 April , 3790 11 4 May i , 3172 6 0 June ............... , 3383 16 0 J uly • 2577 3 6