THE CITY RESERVES.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1503, 27 July 1912, Page 6

THE CITY RESERVES.

AN INQUIRY. REI'ORT OP SPECIAL COMMITTEE. Some time ago (ho City Council appointed a committee—consisting of Councillors A. J!-. Atkinson, G. Frost, J. Trevor, J. E. I'itzgerald, J. Godber, and K. Fletcher— to investigate certain charges which had been made against the administration of tho City Reserves, and the report of Hie committco was presented to the City Cotincii at its meeting on Thursday evening, consideration being deferral for a future meeting , . The Allegations. Tho charges wero of tho domestic nature. Mr. P. Mnlcahy, ono of the reserves custodians, and foreman at the Botanical Gardens, alleged that he had been discriminated against and victimised by Mr. Glen (Superintendent of Reserves) from about one month after he was made foreman at the liotanical Gardens, and that men from England (engaged- by the superintendent) had been given precedence over him. Further (alleged Mr. Mulcahy), the superintendent treated tho men harshly, and spied upon them while they were at work. Mr. Mulcaliy also complained that ho had had to work 13 hours per day, and only succeeded in obtaining alternate Sunday und Saturday aiternmms oft'after an appeal to Councillor Luke (chairman of the Reserves Committee at that time). Trees and cuttings which had been bought by the superintendent had been allowed to go to viiste, alleged Mr. Mulcahy, and subsequently burned, at a loss to the council.

Mr. Hardy, another employee, alleged that tho superintendent had aMced him to spy upon the men, and ait as a. telebearer; private work at Mr. Glen's houso took up, on an average, the whulo time of ona man; ;ind valuable plans < nl l.ein given away by t'ac super mi miitut to private individuals. The Answer. Tho answer of the superintendent was that he had recommended tho transfer of Mulcahy to another position because he was in bad health, and his work had not been properly carried out for some timo befoTO-fch'at; despite his opinion that Mulcahy had not been doing his work pro-, perly. as custodian, he had not advised his removal from the cottage; lying slanders had constantly been circulated against him (Mr. Glen). The staff was disorganised in consequence, ami he had asked for the removal of .Mulcahy from his position. The Investigation. The Inquiry Committee, in. pursuance of the powers conferred upon it , by •ue resolution of the council,'"that.an.inquiry into tho.conduct of ;the reserves, ; and intiro particularly with regard'to "the treatment of eonie of tho men," made a very exhaustive investigation of the r above charges,' and into the general administration.of the city.-reserves. .The'committee met .on ten consecutive occasions, and exmaiued in all G3 witnesses—the principals concerned in, the inquiry desired that !)9 should be called, 7G for Mr. Glen; and 23 for Mr. Mulcahy. Conflicting and Irrelevant Evidence. Tho evidence, it is gathered, was of a very conflicting nnd irrelevant nature, but from tho testimony submitted nothing was moved against either Mr. Glen or Mr. Mulcahy. Tho matters which formed the subject of the inquiry were spread over a long period, and it was indicated that for some years there had been acute feeling •between , Mukahy and the superintendent —that there had been a conflict of authority between, tho two was -proved, in the opinion of the committee, and this conflict appeared to havo been created by the fact that Mulcahy's position in the service had not been properly recognised., Thero was no proof of the victimisation alleged; against tho superintendent by Mulcahy, and the most that had , been shown against tho superintendent that in his manner towards the men ho had been brusque and blunt. It was shown that Mulcahy's hours had been excessive, but those, conditions had obtained prior to the advent of Mr. Glen, and, as a set off; Mnlcahy had had a free house. , ' With regard to the allegation that trees and shrubs had been wasted/the evidence brought forward did nqt substantiate this. The evidence submitted in respect of Mr. Hardy's charges did not, in the opinion of the committee, sustain the allegations—that ho had been used ns a spy, that men had dono private work for tho superintendent in corporation time, and that 'plants had been given away to privato individuals, wero wholly disproved. If anything, tho evidence supported the suggestion that the ' donations of plants from private individuals were considerably in excess of any given away. The evidence regarding the sscrctar/s performance of his duties disclosed no clenr proof that he had neglected his , work except on one occasion—some years ago— but recent ill-health had placed his fitness in some doubt. Tho general statement of tho superintendent that the custodian's duties had never been properly attended to was not-sufficiently supported by tho evidence. ' Administration of Reserves. Referring to the general administration of tho gardens, reserves, and town belt, the Inquiry Committee, on the evidence, came to tho conclusion that the wardens wero very well kept, but that there was not, apparently, sufficiently closo supervision with regard to tho..work on tho town belt. The keeping of records in connection with. tho employment, transferring, nnd discharging of men, tho purchase and disposal of material and supplies, and tho "charging-up" of work to the special locality concerned, appeared from the evidence to have been somewhat lax. The superintendent ■ did not seem to.have had any special directions on these- points from the council, regarding the several reserves as one establishment, and it appeared to the .Inquiry Committee that tho Reserves Committee, mainly in the person of the chairman, had unnecessarily concerned itself with small matters of administration, instead of dictating the general policy of its department, and invoeting the superintendent with administrative responsibility.

The Committee's Finding,

The net result of the inquiry is a series of recommendations by the Inquiry Coinmitteo to the effect that the Town Brit work should be separated from the Botanical Gardens and other reserves, and that Mr. Jlulcahy l>e. given a position beyond the authority of tho Superintendent of Reserves; a better and , more exact system of keeping records is advocated; and the Superintendent of Reserves, it is reconimeiided, should be made directly and fully responsible for the administration of the gardens and reserves, subject to the provision that his instructions shall only be such as are dictated by the council. No plants, trees, shrubs, cuttings, or flowers, it is further advised, are to bo given to any persons, unless on the authority of an order from tho Town Clerk. ,