SANITARY MATTERS,

Evening Post, Issue 10, 18 February 1865, Page 2

SANITARY MATTERS,

' TO THE EDITOB OP THB EVENING TOBT. " Sir — The -sanitary condition of the City very naturally engages the attention of the inhabitants generally at a time like this.when our population is being decimated by fever, the causes of "which cannot be ' traced. It is stated, and pe.rtia.ps- with some degree of truth , that the dieesse~which has carried offao many of our population, in thia and other cities of New Zealand, wat imported 1»i»r« whttt. tor

troops arrived from India, twelve or eighteen months ago. It is quite clear that, whatever the original cause may have been, the pestilence has made fearful ravages. It 1* not an unfrequent remark to hear that that our City is not sufficiently drained, in fact, that our sanitary arrangements are bad, and that fever is engendered in consequence. To this remark I wish to make a few observations. For several sessions I have, in the Provincial Council, directed the attention of the inhabitants to this all-important subject. In the early days of the settlement, houses were built on the top of a hill, perhaps in a gully, by the side of a stream Or on the beach ; in some cases, surrounded by every obstacle that nature leaves for the hand of man to remove. Streets, in those days, were through the forest or across some native cultivation ; they were not defined ; and it is only within the last few years that many of them were known. Gradually improvements have been made, till at last it became a matter of importance to the City authorities to see that encroachments are not made, and that, in the formation of streets, the proper steps should be taken to insure correct levels and good drainage, and the power should 'be placed in the ¦hands of a properly constituted body to carry out perfect sanitary measures. This can only be done by granting full corporate powers, not a mere taxing power (the only qualification which the Town Board Act ¦ pos«edies),but.full corporate powers, with endowment! for corporate purposes. At present the only fund available for City improvements, in addition to the annual rate, and the amount from the Provincial Government, is that received from the Town Belt and a portion of this is now lost to the City, for by a recent Act of the Provincial Council the Tinakori portion of the Town Belt is handed over to the General Government aa a portion of the Governor's domain. The necessary corporate powers I allude to are— that all the public property within the City, including j the Town Belt and the unreclaimed land, be vested in the Corporation, excepting only such as belongs to the General Government. With substantial advantages of this nature, and with the publicans' and .auctioneers' licenses added to a rate raised for making and improving,, the Corporation would be in a position to carry out those improvements absolutely necessary. These powers would include the suggestions made in a recent communication by Mr. Borlase respecting a water rate $ they would also include full power to taoki by-laws for the prevention of fires, regulation of slaughter-houses, markets, &c, and would necessitate a proper survey of the city, shewing all the levels required for the construction of public works, and the formation of streots, denning tho drainage ; for as long as the present Town Board patchwork system proceeds, no good result will ensue. I remain, Sir, Your obedient servant, J, S B. Walla.o».