DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68025#0092
86
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE:
Mr. F. G. erection of a jetty under whatever conditions the
Dumayne. Local Government may approve as necessary in the
- interests of the port.
31 Dec., 1907, Under section 111, for the amount of all tolls, dues,
rates and charges leviable under the Calcutta Port Act
in respect of any goods, the Commissioners have a lien
on such goods, and may seize or detain the same until
such dues are fully paid, but this lien is gone the very
moment the goods are delivered or removed. It may
afterwards be found on audit that all the proper
charges have not been recovered, and there is a diffi-
culty sometimes in recovering these charges. The only
way of recovering them is by a suit against the owner,
a very burdensome process. The Commissioners are
of opinion that they should be given the same powers
as are conferred upon railways under section 55 (1) of
Act IX of 1890, viz. :—
“ If a person fails to pay on demand, made by or on
behalf of a Railway administration, any rate, terminal
or other charge due from him in respect of any animals
or goods, the railway administration may detain the
whole or any of the animals or goods or, if they have
been removed from the railway, any other animals or
goods of such person then being in, or thereafter
coming into, its possession.”
Powers should also be given to the Commissioners
to grant remissions of tolls, dues, rates and charges to
meet cases of hardship, e.g., when an importer through
the non-receipt of his bills of lading and other docu-
ments is unaware of the arrival of his goods, and con-
sequently incurs the special rent charges which are
leviable with the object of hastening the removal of
goods from the wharves to prevent the wharves becom-
ing congested.
Under section 35 the works to be constructed and
carried out by the Commissioners should further
include :—■
(а) Light-houses, light-ships, beacons, boats and all
other appliances necessary for, and incidental to, the
safe navigation of the port and the approaches thereto.
The Commissioners now provide light-houses, dredgers,
and fire engines holding that they are included in “ all
such other works and appliances as may, in the opinion
of the Commissioners in meetings,” be considered to be
necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act,
clause (8) ; but they consider it desirable that such
works should be specifically stated.
(б) The building of vessels for the purpose of carry-
ing goods in the port by inserting the words “ of goods
and ” in clause (7a) after the words “ carrying ” in the
first line. When in 1905, the Commissioners obtained
power by the Calcutta Port Amendment Act IV, 1905,
to build vessels to carry passengers and their personal
effects, the Commissioners sought to obtain power to
build vessels for the carrying of goods also, but this
was not proposed on account of the ob Actions that
were made at the time. The Commissioners would
not undertake the duty of providing vessels for the
carriage of goods within the port so long as the
requirements of the trade were adequately provided
for by private agencies and at moderate cost, but the
power should nevertheless be given them, so that they
might undertake the duty whenever they considered it
to be desirable that they should do so in the general
interests of the trade of the port. The Trustees of
the Port of Bombay are given this power under section
45 of the Bombay Port Trust Act, VI of 1879.
(c) The construction and application of dredgers
and other machines for use in the docks and channels
by adding to clause (6) after the words “ river bed ”
the words “ docks and channels,” and further adding
the words “ and the approaches thereto ” after the
words “ within the port,” as the navigable channels in
the river leading to the port may require attention as
well as the docks and channels within the port.
(d) The equipment, maintenance and use of en-
gines and other appliances for the extinguishing of
fires ashore on the property of the Commissioners, and
afloat in the port and in the approaches thereto.
(e) The building and equipment of vessels, tugs or
other boats, and the use as well within the limits of
the port as on the river and the high seas beyond those
limits, for the purpose of rendering assistance to any
vessel, whether entering or leaving the port or bound
elsewhere, and for the purpose of saving or protecting
life or property. This may be done by a modification
of clause (7). At present the Commissioners are only
given power to build vessels for the purpose of towing
vessels in the. port, but it is desirable that they should
also be empowered to render assistance to vessels in
distress, as when a vessel may be ashore or in other
difficulties outside the port.
The Commissioners would urge that the administra-
tion of the Pilot Service should be transferred to them.
To the Commissioners are entrusted the conservation
of the River and its approaches and their improvement,
the improvement of the conditions and facilities
required for the commerce of the port and its future
needs ; and the study of the economical advantages
of the locality and of the best methods for insuring
the despatch of vessels and the handling of their
cargoes. The Commissioners, therefore, are in close
touch with all the requirements of the shipping, and
all the resources of the port are theirs. The Pilot
Service is but an integral part of the general opera-
tions of the port, and it is an anomaly that it should
be under separate management. The Port Trust of
Calcutta should administer all the affairs of the port,
and, as at Liverpool and other large ports in the
United Kingdom and in India, be the controlling
authority in regard to all matters connected with the
pilotage of vessels. It is a change that would also be
likely to result in considerable economy in admin-
istration.
The Port Commissioners are of opinion that they
should be vested with the same rights and privileges as
are mentioned in section 72 of the Bombay Port Trust
Act, VI of 1879.
(f) Clause (8) should be modified to give greater
latitude in the works that the Commissioners may
carry out, so as to cover any works which, in the
opinion of the Commissioners in meeting, may be de-
sirable in the general interest of the trade of the port.
16493. You represent that a good many of the
references which now have to be made by the Trust
to Government could be easily dispensed with and the
work carried out by the Trust itself ?—Yes, we should
like to get rid of a good deal of the check over detail,
but the control of the Local Government and the
Imperial Government should remain in regard to the
larger works of the Trust.
16491. With regard to the dismissal or appointment
in the intermediate stages of officers whose monthly
salaries do not exceed Rs. 200, or in fact with regard
to all such officers whose salaries do not exceed Rs.
500, would you like matters to be dealt with by the
Port Trust ?—Yes. At present, up to Rs. 200, the
the Vice-Chairman deals with them, and he is the final
authority—there is no appeal past him. But from Rs.
200 to Rs. 500 the matter goes to the Commissioners,
and above Rs. 500 to the Local Government—in no
case to the Government of India.
16495. With regard to the sections you have quoted,
and the duties of reference which are imposed upon
you, could all these matters be dealt with by an
amendment of your Act in the local Legislature?—Yes.
16496. As regards some of the references, which are
now imposed upon you by the existing Act, do you, as a
matter of fact, first carry them out, and then get sub-
sequent sanction?—Yes. Many of them are now
referred pro forma ; they were introduced 30 years ago,
and they are no longer of any consequence to the
Government or to us.
16497. With regard to the limit of cost of works,
you now have to go to the provincial Government for
sanction for works over Rs. 50,000, and you want to be
able to finish works on your own responsibility up to
two lakhs of rupees ? Notwithstanding any other
restrictions, either upon the Local Government or upon
the Government of India, with reference to the orders
of the Secretary of State, do you think the experience
of the Port Trust is such that you are perfectly capa-
ble of dealing with works costing in sterling £13,000
or £14,000 ?—I am certain that it is.
16498. If a Bill was introduced into the Legislative
Council dealing with all these questions, would there
be any opposition on the part of the Local Govern-
ment?—None whatever ; we are really doing the work
now with their approval.
16499. Have you ever promoted a Bill in the Legis-
lative Council to do any of these things ?—No, but we
have no reason to anticipate any objection whatever.
The fact is that the Commissioners take this oppor-
tunity of representing points which they'might have
laid before the Local Government at some convenient
time.
MINUTES OF EVIDENCE:
Mr. F. G. erection of a jetty under whatever conditions the
Dumayne. Local Government may approve as necessary in the
- interests of the port.
31 Dec., 1907, Under section 111, for the amount of all tolls, dues,
rates and charges leviable under the Calcutta Port Act
in respect of any goods, the Commissioners have a lien
on such goods, and may seize or detain the same until
such dues are fully paid, but this lien is gone the very
moment the goods are delivered or removed. It may
afterwards be found on audit that all the proper
charges have not been recovered, and there is a diffi-
culty sometimes in recovering these charges. The only
way of recovering them is by a suit against the owner,
a very burdensome process. The Commissioners are
of opinion that they should be given the same powers
as are conferred upon railways under section 55 (1) of
Act IX of 1890, viz. :—
“ If a person fails to pay on demand, made by or on
behalf of a Railway administration, any rate, terminal
or other charge due from him in respect of any animals
or goods, the railway administration may detain the
whole or any of the animals or goods or, if they have
been removed from the railway, any other animals or
goods of such person then being in, or thereafter
coming into, its possession.”
Powers should also be given to the Commissioners
to grant remissions of tolls, dues, rates and charges to
meet cases of hardship, e.g., when an importer through
the non-receipt of his bills of lading and other docu-
ments is unaware of the arrival of his goods, and con-
sequently incurs the special rent charges which are
leviable with the object of hastening the removal of
goods from the wharves to prevent the wharves becom-
ing congested.
Under section 35 the works to be constructed and
carried out by the Commissioners should further
include :—■
(а) Light-houses, light-ships, beacons, boats and all
other appliances necessary for, and incidental to, the
safe navigation of the port and the approaches thereto.
The Commissioners now provide light-houses, dredgers,
and fire engines holding that they are included in “ all
such other works and appliances as may, in the opinion
of the Commissioners in meetings,” be considered to be
necessary for carrying out the purposes of this Act,
clause (8) ; but they consider it desirable that such
works should be specifically stated.
(б) The building of vessels for the purpose of carry-
ing goods in the port by inserting the words “ of goods
and ” in clause (7a) after the words “ carrying ” in the
first line. When in 1905, the Commissioners obtained
power by the Calcutta Port Amendment Act IV, 1905,
to build vessels to carry passengers and their personal
effects, the Commissioners sought to obtain power to
build vessels for the carrying of goods also, but this
was not proposed on account of the ob Actions that
were made at the time. The Commissioners would
not undertake the duty of providing vessels for the
carriage of goods within the port so long as the
requirements of the trade were adequately provided
for by private agencies and at moderate cost, but the
power should nevertheless be given them, so that they
might undertake the duty whenever they considered it
to be desirable that they should do so in the general
interests of the trade of the port. The Trustees of
the Port of Bombay are given this power under section
45 of the Bombay Port Trust Act, VI of 1879.
(c) The construction and application of dredgers
and other machines for use in the docks and channels
by adding to clause (6) after the words “ river bed ”
the words “ docks and channels,” and further adding
the words “ and the approaches thereto ” after the
words “ within the port,” as the navigable channels in
the river leading to the port may require attention as
well as the docks and channels within the port.
(d) The equipment, maintenance and use of en-
gines and other appliances for the extinguishing of
fires ashore on the property of the Commissioners, and
afloat in the port and in the approaches thereto.
(e) The building and equipment of vessels, tugs or
other boats, and the use as well within the limits of
the port as on the river and the high seas beyond those
limits, for the purpose of rendering assistance to any
vessel, whether entering or leaving the port or bound
elsewhere, and for the purpose of saving or protecting
life or property. This may be done by a modification
of clause (7). At present the Commissioners are only
given power to build vessels for the purpose of towing
vessels in the. port, but it is desirable that they should
also be empowered to render assistance to vessels in
distress, as when a vessel may be ashore or in other
difficulties outside the port.
The Commissioners would urge that the administra-
tion of the Pilot Service should be transferred to them.
To the Commissioners are entrusted the conservation
of the River and its approaches and their improvement,
the improvement of the conditions and facilities
required for the commerce of the port and its future
needs ; and the study of the economical advantages
of the locality and of the best methods for insuring
the despatch of vessels and the handling of their
cargoes. The Commissioners, therefore, are in close
touch with all the requirements of the shipping, and
all the resources of the port are theirs. The Pilot
Service is but an integral part of the general opera-
tions of the port, and it is an anomaly that it should
be under separate management. The Port Trust of
Calcutta should administer all the affairs of the port,
and, as at Liverpool and other large ports in the
United Kingdom and in India, be the controlling
authority in regard to all matters connected with the
pilotage of vessels. It is a change that would also be
likely to result in considerable economy in admin-
istration.
The Port Commissioners are of opinion that they
should be vested with the same rights and privileges as
are mentioned in section 72 of the Bombay Port Trust
Act, VI of 1879.
(f) Clause (8) should be modified to give greater
latitude in the works that the Commissioners may
carry out, so as to cover any works which, in the
opinion of the Commissioners in meeting, may be de-
sirable in the general interest of the trade of the port.
16493. You represent that a good many of the
references which now have to be made by the Trust
to Government could be easily dispensed with and the
work carried out by the Trust itself ?—Yes, we should
like to get rid of a good deal of the check over detail,
but the control of the Local Government and the
Imperial Government should remain in regard to the
larger works of the Trust.
16491. With regard to the dismissal or appointment
in the intermediate stages of officers whose monthly
salaries do not exceed Rs. 200, or in fact with regard
to all such officers whose salaries do not exceed Rs.
500, would you like matters to be dealt with by the
Port Trust ?—Yes. At present, up to Rs. 200, the
the Vice-Chairman deals with them, and he is the final
authority—there is no appeal past him. But from Rs.
200 to Rs. 500 the matter goes to the Commissioners,
and above Rs. 500 to the Local Government—in no
case to the Government of India.
16495. With regard to the sections you have quoted,
and the duties of reference which are imposed upon
you, could all these matters be dealt with by an
amendment of your Act in the local Legislature?—Yes.
16496. As regards some of the references, which are
now imposed upon you by the existing Act, do you, as a
matter of fact, first carry them out, and then get sub-
sequent sanction?—Yes. Many of them are now
referred pro forma ; they were introduced 30 years ago,
and they are no longer of any consequence to the
Government or to us.
16497. With regard to the limit of cost of works,
you now have to go to the provincial Government for
sanction for works over Rs. 50,000, and you want to be
able to finish works on your own responsibility up to
two lakhs of rupees ? Notwithstanding any other
restrictions, either upon the Local Government or upon
the Government of India, with reference to the orders
of the Secretary of State, do you think the experience
of the Port Trust is such that you are perfectly capa-
ble of dealing with works costing in sterling £13,000
or £14,000 ?—I am certain that it is.
16498. If a Bill was introduced into the Legislative
Council dealing with all these questions, would there
be any opposition on the part of the Local Govern-
ment?—None whatever ; we are really doing the work
now with their approval.
16499. Have you ever promoted a Bill in the Legis-
lative Council to do any of these things ?—No, but we
have no reason to anticipate any objection whatever.
The fact is that the Commissioners take this oppor-
tunity of representing points which they'might have
laid before the Local Government at some convenient
time.