MR. McGUIRE ON THE NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR RATE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 7963, 6 September 1887, Page 4

MR. McGUIRE ON THE NEW PLYMOUTH HARBOR RATE.

The following letter appeals in the Hawera Star: — [Continued from yesterday.] By "The New Plymouth Harbor' Board Ordinance of 1875," the New Plymouth Harbor District wa» constituted, including only part of the province, "the Waingongoro being the- southern limit. But, although the harbor district was then reduced, the quarter of the land revenue of the -whole province was still continued as an endowment to the Board. By this last mentioned ordinance the Board WBB empowered to pledpe (inter alia) the'revenue 25 per cent, of land revenue— and to raise a satn not exceeding £350,000. In 1879 a loan of £20,000 was raised by the Board. * Now my first contention is that whether the Government disposed of the land " by sale" or "occupation" or "other disposal " the Board and -Board's creditors were entitlbd to demand either the quarter of the proceeds of the " sale " or quarter of the " rent " for the " occupation "or a < quarter of the value of the land " otherwise disposed" of, whether such other disposal were by endowment to a school, or by gift to the natives, or by taking for the purpose of a railway, or other publio work. To hold otherwise would, it appears to me, lead to the most dangerous conclusions. If it were- held that the Government could give away a portion of the consficated land without paying a quarter of the value to thb Harbor Board would they not be equally justified in so " disposing " of the whole of the confiscated lands without paying over any Sortion of the 25 per cent, to the Harbor oard? If that were done then what would become of the bondholders' security or of the unfortunate ratepayers, whose circumstances wonld be bo terribly altered; The fourth and fifth grounds speak for themselves. . Jh reference to the criticism of my figures by the New Plymouth committee, they appear to have, confined their calculations and enquiries to the land lying within^ the " harbor district, " forgetful, apparently, of the f act that the endowment was of 25 per cent, of the lands within the whale province. A casual reference to the endowment act of 1874 would have saved the committee from such a blunder. Again, the committee's information as to the area of the land perpetually leased was (as they admitted) " taken from the only available printed returns, " my information was taken down from the lips of the Commissioner of Crown Lands, upon whom I called tor the express purpose of obtaining the latest data. Again, the area of deferred payment lands within the province I obtained from the Commissioner of Crown Lands himself on the same oecasioD. The committee condemned, as too high, my estimate of the value of the land in question, which I put down at £3 10s per acre. Now, I never said all the land would brinp £3 10s per acre. Again, I would be sorry to say that the continuous reserve would not fetch more. What I did say, and still say, iB that £3 10b would be the average price per acre of open aid bush land together. ' With regard to the > blunder of the surveyors in laying off the" confiscated line, it must be evident, notwithstanding the committee, that if the surveyors had laid off the line correctly, some 18 square miles would have been within the confiscated line, and would have been Crown land available for sale, 25 per cent, of the proceeds of which would hare gone to the Board; whereas, owing to the blunder in question, it is now outside the confiscated line, and is now private native laud. I am sorry that, owing to the discourtesy of the committee in not sending me a copy of their draft report, or letting me know of their doubts, I was unable to save them from falling into the morass of errors in which they now find themselves so helplessly floundering. In conclusion, I would ask all thoughtful men to candidly consider this question (which is one of such vital importance) and the arguments in favor of it, with a mind free from all personal or party feeling, and to inform themselves personally upon those matters I have referred to. If this course be adopted, I have nothing to fear from any attacks that have been, or may be, made upon my scheme. I feel convinced that' honest enquiry cannot fail to strengthen the ranks of those who already agree with my proposals. — I have, &c, F. McGtJiBE. Hawera, Ist September.