New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-03-09
RATES or WHlRFAGE.

PATEG or WH4RFdGE.
,,eozner, Of THE CITY sad Brooklyn are Pc
ionre the Legislature '0' an isees'e IN Tue rates Oh
Wharfage. They hsve snecssdea 10 procuring re-
pc,t from, majority Of the Committee on Commerce
and Navigation IN toe Senate, Ia favor OF bill watch
doub,.s the existing rstea sid creates charges in
The osdipg and unos 5ng Of cargo for the benefit Of
The VII srfowner. The practical result viii be- II the
bill becomes law, that vessel Which nOT pays four
dollars ger dsy for Ehsrlsge ei pay, under the neF
system, nine dollars and half; didsreace which,
upon tie entire shipping Of toe port, Will amount u
an increase Of abou, million Of dollars per snnUn
THIS il spug for the Legislature to put mo The
pockets Of our worthy feDowcitizers who, together
with the Corporation, osn the whsrves a. which the
commerce Of New-York does its chief business. II
may sse rather strange thing % some persons that
priyste individuals should have anything to DO With
the rental of the public wharvol which would appear
10 be one Of the most direct and Legitimate sources CT
public revenue. The explanation is historical. Most
of the present water froLts each SIDE Of the city
are upon lard which has been made by filing out from
the original water line by the riparian owoers Who
FOR tho expense Of making tns soil, became is 0wners
and the nght Of extending piers and whervs into the
rivers wac in many Instances incident Of the
did not however acquire any title TO them beyond the
right 10 collect such Wharfage a. the Legs ature might
direct TO be paid ard tue use Of the whsrves was Of
course open 90 all ves.els The Legislature, in per-
hitting private owners to build the whsryes and col
Iect tue rent simply intended to for the benefit
of commeroe, proper accommodations for all vessels,
and 10 give 70 those who we're at the expense Of BULL
ing and maintaining tbsle accommodations 2 proper
-. Il for .ok no
supposed that the entire commerce OF the city 10
be taxed upon any supposed value Of the WARES as
property. beyond tho cost Of their construction and
support Accordingly, the raes established 10 1901,
and which regulated the wharfage in reference 20 the
tunpaee Of the vessels, have remained unchanged to
this day so far as the scale method Of computat0n
IL concerned; but as the sizs Of vessels and the
Der Of vessels increased tue receipts OF the wharf
Owners have been vastly sRelled, and the ncesssut
demand for berths secures 10 them constant sue
oesson Of tenants and provides unfang source Of
income.
The HarbOr Commissioners recently estimated the
average rent Of the whyes at fourteen per cent upon
their cost This does not safety the wharf owners
They want 10 double upon tho amount. IL 1911, they
asked the Legislature TO advance the ses tbrtythree
and third per osnt the application was unsuccessful
The wharf owners to suppose that 1t failed be-
cause they asked too little, and to correct the error
they now very cOo!ly propose hundred per cent ss
the scale Of increase. WHAT do they propose 20 do in
return? million Of dollars iudiciously expe-3ed on
the whsrves and in dredging out the slips &c, would
very materially improve their capacities ana Useful
ness and would thus benefit commerce. Bat, by one
Of those strange fatalities which seem destined to At
tend Oil the legislative scbt,4ies OF our euterprsng
citizens for their own advantages, the public interest
is entirely overlooked Tie little section which ought
to be in this little bill providing for something to be
done BY the wharf owner where there s 60 much TO be
paid by the shipowDer, been forgotten Commerce
is 10 pay lis million into private pockets and to the
Corporation, and there Is the end OF the law.
The shipowpers and merchants VINO concerned
In foreign commerce very naturally complain Of this
summary method Of raising the rent, without any
covenants for repairs. Bat tho imposition though at
falls first on the shposners will reach the producers
of all the great staples of expectation by dirtot anu
certain process Whatever increases the expenses of
the chipping must be felt by tue shipper and borne
by him in the shape Of Increased freight aad charges.
The amount which the proposed increase would add to
the wharfage of vessels during the next twelve months
equals the entire annual canal tolls of the State upon
ali agricultural products The present condition Of
our foreign trsds does not justy any such new tax
A sharp competition is now going on between the
;ybeatgrowipg countries on the Black Sea aud our
own for the supply of breadstufs 10 Western Europe
The Russisn Government are adiog, by the constTuo
on Of raroadr 70 render this rivalry still more for
mdabs. la the face Of such competition, ard Of the
depressed condition Of the whole shipping interest tire
proposition to levy new tax upon our commerce
seems singulsIly inopportnne and oppressive.