TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13434, 5 November 1907, Page 2

TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD

A special meeting of tlis; Timaru Harbour Board was lield yesterday, to con : sider the Harbours Bill., but some other business whs attended to. Tlieio Avero present—Messrs J. Craigie (chairman), J. Eraser, T. D. Young, I>. Skmner. R. Tbe-w. F. J.- Rolloston. U >• Orbell. Apologies we're received from akent Members. . ; The Chairman stated tllat the meeting had been called because the Bill needed fttlie fconSideration at- the- hands of this Board before it- was .passed, and as it was likely to be pushed through this session tilery was no time to be lost. THE LATE MR GIBSON. The Chairman before proceeding with tlfe business made a few remarks on the late Mr J. S. Gibson, as- a. former member of the Board. Ml- Thew moved that the Rhai-d place oil record its .sincere regh:t> at the demiseof Mr Gibson, its appreciation of the. «r----slnees lie had rendered to the Board, and its sympathy with liis relatives in their bereavement. Mr Thew mentioned that he hud been ;t closs friend of Mr Gibson since the sixties, when they worked on several contracts together. He had never met a more straightforward upright man; and his private charities were much greater than ever became- known. The Chairman seconded the motion, and it was carried. ENGINEER'S SHOr. The conditions for the lease of sections on Hayes and Fraser street and sale of engineers' shop, plant, and material, were approved. DREDGE "350"' The Chairman stated that a letter had been received from Mr Douglas, > dredgemaster, stating that the Government Inspector of Machinery at Dunedin, bad inspected the dredge, and had pointed out that- there was no dooV of communication between the engine-room and the boilerroom, and said that such. a communication must' be provided, or an • extra engineer appointed to have charge of the boilerroonj. The cost of making the door was estimated at about £75, because it would mean a paasage through a water-tank, and the passage must be made water-tight. This, remarked the Chainnan, seemed to be an oversight of the buildens. It would be better, however, for the Board to pay for making a doorway than to pay an additional officer. There 'were several other things asked for, including u water-tight funnel, but this, the town members agreed with him must stand over for the (present. ' The Board agreed that the demand of the Inspector for a communication between engine-room and boiler-room should bo carried. , ■ i THE HARBOURS BILL. The Chairman made a statement regarding the proceedings of the late Harbours Conference at .Wellington, - which he and Mr, Young, and the secretary, Mr Bardslev. attended, on behalf of the Board. Consideration of the. Bill- occupied mont of the tame. The Bill ought to have been sent out to the Boards for consideration before the Conference as it wag .-determined to pass- it this session, several Boards being very anxious to have it made law. The Bill made many - alterations, and the Conference spent four days ever it. The Conference, said the chairman, was a strong one; there were forty delegates from thirteen Boards, eoine of whom, like Timaru, sent their secretaries; and two or three of them sent their solicitors also. Mr Bfirdsley .proved himself not only a vigilant officer in looking after the interests of this Board, but by his experience he wa6 able to throw- ligljfc on many other qu-estior.s that cropped up. He thought Mr Young would agree with him that Mr Bardslevwas a very useful membar of the Conference. ;

Tlis members, of .the Board,, -were :,su.pamendments, propcsecl 'by the Conference marked thereon, and the?: Chairman led the discussion of th€ : various amendments until it was seen that time would not permit of such. a detailed .consideration,. and after the luncheon; adjournment, the ■ rent of the Bill'w:is parsed jover,' and : Mr Kinnerney, the Board's legal adviser, who was present from the first, was asked to give the result of his consideration of the measure.'

During the forenoon sitting several nsw proposals for the general . statute were shown to be already included in the Board's special Acts, arid Mr Fraser said this Board had the best set-, of legislation of any- Board in the colony. Discussing the Bill and the amendments propooed by the Conference, the proposal that local bodi«6 shall furnish rolls for elections free of charge, -was' considered unfair; and members agreed that the rolls ought to be paid for or the expense shared, if special rolls were necessary. . The Bill .proposed that all Board elections be held in February. This is the thick of harvest time in this district, and the Board some time ago got the date of elections changed to April for that reason. The Boai-d opposed the February election, but agreed' to the. Conference's amendment o.f the Bill, making elections triennial instead of biennial.

A point of interest is the change, proposed in the date of closing, the financial year. The Timaru .Board's year. : ends December 31st, and . this was objected to at the Conference, on two grounds, first, that the Government auditors were too busy after March to deal • promptly with Harbour Boards' accounts, and March is in the middle ,of a production jsid export year. The latter , objection applies also to December, and - the Conference therefore propose-d theend of" September.. The Timaru delegates tried to keep their present date, but there were 14 to 4 against them.

The Bill made no provision for superannuation and the -Conference drafted clauses for the purpose. The delegates, however, said that these would be permissive, not compulsory, and the tone of the Conference discussion indicated that a compulsory system-- would not be acceptable. The Board agreed that an optional system need not be . opposed. The schedule to the Bill, it was' pointed out, described the Harbour district incorrectly, omitting the borough of Waimate. Mr Kinnerney said!that the finding of the, late Royal Commission on the inclusion of Waimate should be embodied; and the Temuka and Geraldine . boroughs were not . properly included. Mr Kinnerney, on being asked for the results of his examination of the Bill, said he only received a copy of the Bill last Friday, and bad not had time to consider it properly. The Bill, should have been circulated a month ago, instead of being sprung upon the Conference and marked "confidential." He could nob understand why there should. be so much mystery about a matter affecting a num.ber of public bodies. Mr Kinnerney drew attention first to the alteration proposed in- the manner of election of the Board. Mr Orbell said the county peolpe would prefer that the elections should be on the same basis as county elections, —plural voting being allowed. The Bill proposed one man one vote, and' Sir Tliew thought this fairer. After ■ some; discussion the Board agreed to the one - man one vote. system. Mr Kinnerney pointed out that the Bill failed to preserve the ward-system for the representation of the . Levels County, as well as omitted the inclusion of'Waimate. 1

The importance of tlie_ Board's powers of leasing lands - was insisted on • by Mr Kiimeraey, and some of tho provisions of the Bill were shown to be detrimental to the Board. The Bill, he pointed out re-

pealed some portions of one of the Boafd S special Acts, and left similar provisions in another Act untouched. In one. case a clause was proposed to be repealed that safeguarded debenture-holders, and that was quite improper. 'Hie Board s leasing powers would also be materially affected. After hearing Mr Kinnerney the Chairman said the Conference had not time to fully Consider the Bill an four days, and the -Board could ntit cbrisider it in eiiS. It .was clear from. wliat Mr Kninerney had said that the Bill would nbt benefit the Board, but in some cases would a,ft'ee_> its interests detrimentally. The Bill ought to bo delayed till next session; ana if at was to be pushed through, the Board must arrange for a strong protest it gainst the provisions that were detrimental to the Board. _ It was therefore resolved on the motion of Messrs Rolleston and Orbell That the Boai'd protest strongly against the passing of.tile Harbours Act this session, and that tile chairman! Messrs Yoting and Rolleston be appointed to tuke all necessary steps to conserve tile interests -of the Board, with power to act:' • " • Mr Young, said it had been. sin education to him to attend the conference, and meet, so many men well versed in harbour matters of different nature fioni their own, But a§ a conference it was too hurried. He saw' the value of Boards delegates being accompanied by legal advisers, and thought this Board should have sent theirs. , THE ENGINEER. Ml- Baynes, Resident Engineer, submitted his resignation, and asked to be relieved as soon as possible. As he had, not had the annual holiday!, he asked for a month's leave on full pay on- leaving. The Board thought this was reasonable ; accepted the resignatioii and agreed to pay a month's salary from the date of ill* BayHes leaving the Boards service. The Chairman moved the Board into Committee to relate a conservation lie bad had with Mr -Maxwell, and, and it was resolv<&' as the result of this that the chairman. •• Messrs and Young be a committee to report a.t next- m-eefeng on lbs question of engineering generally. The Board 'then rose.