The Daily Telegraph FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1882.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3504, 29 September 1882, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1882.

We are not disposed to quarrel with what was done in the Municipal Council last night, though we cannot but think that it would have been far better to have allowed the original motions to be carried without amendment. The motions of which notice had been given had at least the merit of leaving it open for tbe next three months for the Council to decide upon the actual course to be taken with regard to retrenchment. They committed the Council to nothing. The amendments, apparently, were the outcome of a fussy desire to put certain officials at ease with regard to their future prospects. The original motions had been calmly and maturely resolved upon ; the amendments had been made in haste at the last moment. We have said that we are not disposed to quarrel with tbe Council for what was done, for though, we believe, some important modifications will have to be made in the cut-and-dried disposition of offices, a very large saving has been, or rather will be, effected in salaries. The result of last night's work can be better seen by a reference to the following 6gures: —

Total .. ijiiuo ■■• , It will thus be seen tbat when thereauctions come into force, a saving will be

effected of £626 a year in salaries alone an amount very nearly equal to tha which would be produced by a rate of 3d in the £. A saving of fully another £600 or £700 may be effected by doing away with day labor and by a more careful attention on the part of the Council to the value of the work for which tenders are called. It is not always that the lowest tender is the lowest price at whioh work can be done, and this is a matter that may well engage the especial attention of councillors when in public works committee. If, as we think, something between six and seven hundred pouads can be saved as indicated above, the Council will then have effected a retrenchment in expenditure that otherwise would have had to be provided for by an additional sixpenny rate.

Present Salaries Future Salaries. Town Clerk ... £400 ... £350 Mr Parker ... 186 ... Nil. Mr Williams ... 200 ... 150 Mr Black ... 180 ... 180 Engineer ... 300 ... *?° Ganger ... 140 ... wu - TWni -P.id.nfi ••• £ ? 80