The Short Title of this Act is “The Invercargill Corporation Empowering Act, 1888.”

In this Act, if not inconsistent with the context,—

The corporate body constituted by “The Harbours Act, 1878,” by the name of the New River Harbour Board is hereby dis-solved, and shall henceforth cease to exist.

All the real and personal property vested in or held by the Board at the time of its dissolution shall thereupon vest in and be henceforth held by the Corporation upon the same trusts and for the same purposes upon which the Board held the same.

All the powers, functions, duties, and authorities by “The Harbours Act, 1878,” and every amendment thereof conferred upon the Board shall and may henceforth be exercised and performed by the Corporation, acting by and through the Council, in as full and effectual a manner as if the Corporation had been constituted a Harbour Board by and under the said Act.

The Corporation shall henceforth be liable for the debts and liabilities of the Board as fully and effectually as if such debts and liabilities had been originally contracted by the Corporation.

The Council may, by special order, for the purpose of defraying the said debts and liabilities, raise by way of special loan, without taking a poll of the ratepayers, any sum or sums of money not exceeding in the whole the sum of seven thousand pounds.

The Council may, for the purpose of defraying the cost of constructing any harbour-works which by the said “Harbours Act, 1878,” may be constructed by a Harbour Board without obtaining a special Act, raise from time to time by way of special loan, in the manner provided by Part IX. of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1886,” such sum or sums of money, not exceeding in the whole the sum of five thousand pounds, as the Council may deem necessary, and, in so doing, shall comply with and be subject to the provisions of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1886,” in respect of special loans; and the money so raised from time to time shall be deemed to have been raised for the purpose of constructing or establishing public works necessary for promoting the convenience and health of the inhabitants of the borough within the meaning of section one hundred and seventy-seven of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1886.”

The provisions of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1886,” shall, in so far as the same may be applicable to, and not inconsistent with, the provisions of this Act, be deemed to be incorporated with and to form part of this Act.

This Act shall be deemed to be a special Act within the meaning of “The Harbours Act, 1878.”

This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Governor shall appoint by a Proclamation in the Gazette, which shall be issued only in case the Colonial Secretary shall receive from the Mayor of Invercargill a notice certifying by his statutory declaration that a proposal to bring this Act into operation has been submitted to the ratepayers of Invercargill in the same manner as a proposal to raise a special loan is prescribed in Part IX. of “The Municipal Corporations Act, 1886,” and that the ratepayers have consented thereto in the manner prescribed therein.