The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1870.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2271, 17 August 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 1870.

There is something radically wrong in the personnel or 'morale of a municipal Council, when, one-half of it ignores one of the plainest duties that devolve upon it. An observer, interested only so far as watching , the development of the social organisation, can arrive at no other conclusion than that there must be some-'interest at work adverse to the general good. What that interest is'might' not be very difficult to discover. We do not say that it ought not to be considered, but we do say it ought not to be allowed to stand in the •way of a higher and more pressing duty. But whatever that interest may be, or however individual members of the* Municipal Council of Port Chalmers may be’ personally or relatively concerned in it, there can be no excuse for burk|pg,,an inquiry into the best mode of bringing water , to the Port. A municipal council is elected for the

general good, and ngt.to play into tlie hands or pockets of particular men. In every point of view, a full supply of good water is a necessity to the wellbeing of a place. It is essential on the score of health, of morals, and of economy. People may endure the plague of darkness, although, in these days of gas and kerosene that is bad enough ; but those very discoveries that render that darkness intolerable, enable them personally easily to supply a partial remedy at comparatively small expense. If under no necessity to traverse the streets at night, they stop at .home ; or if obliged to go out, they carry their lights with them. Water cannot so easily be attained, or stored, or used. If report be true, it is obtainable for town use at almost no cost except that of laying the mains and service pipes ; and even if it were twice as expensive as it is likely to be, it would bo cheaply had. It is found by analysis that, in no case is artificially stored water without impurities. The rain descends, and could it be retained in the same condition as it falls from the clouds, it would be invaluable; but men have to gather it after it has come in contact with slate, or wood, or metal that has been exposed to the wearing action of the atmosphere that has become tainted with dust from a hundred houses, or raised from earth ground to impalpable powder by hundreds of feet. It washes from the roofs the soot from scores of chimneys, and becomes poisoned with the decomposition of metal, or wood, or minerals. And even thus tainted, and holding in solution matter detrimental to human health, it cannot be gathered in sufficient quantity for domestic purposes without involving outlay that few can command ; or if a month’s drought renders artificial supply necessary, the price is so high that the utmost economy in its use is requisite. Under such circumstances there is an almost imperceptible neglect of cleanliness apt to creep into even the purest household ; and every medical man knows how intimate is the connection between cleanliness and purity of mind and thought. There is not on this earth a more potent demoralise!’ than. dirt. ‘ Wherever it is allowed to reign, degradation follows ; and selfrespect once lost, the descent, socially and morally, is rapid and enduring. It undermines the health, is the parent and offspring of idleness ; it separates men from social fellowship with the elegant and refined, and leads them to form a low standard of social wellbeing. On sanitary and moral .grounds, therefore, it is one of the first duties of a, municipality to secure a full supply of pure water, and to dispense it liberally to every class. Especially is it their duty in view of the requirements of the bumbler classes. Those who are rich can always command it, in comparative purity and in any. necessary quantity. If is those who are living by their daily labor that ought to be considered. But if these considerations fail to balance an imaginary self-interest or false economy, the immunity from fire that an ample supply of water at great pressure affords, forms a very important motive in securing it. In fact, to secure this immunity is equally a duty with a municipal council as providing means of health and morality. The folly of neglecting this precautionary measure might be demonstrated by dozens of instances. It need but he remembered that there have been four great fires in Dunedin, by each of which property was destroyed, the value of which would have sufficed to supply the town with water, to see the immense loss that results from false economy. But even if no such loss took place for many years, it is only prudent oil the part of insurance companies to guard themselves by charging heavy premiums, and in some cases by refusing to take risks. In a sei’ics of years these high premiums amount to more by far than the cost of water supply, and thus, in any view, the community loses. But in the case of Port Chalmers, this loss is aggravated by tlie difficulty that shipping have of obtaining supplies at reasonable rates. It is the bounden duty of the Corporation to sec to this on public grounds Everything that tends to cheapen supplies helps to render the port attractive. Make it an expensive port, and not only the municipality, but the Province suffers. Add to th6se considerations that machinery could be worked at a cheaper rate, no matter whether by steam or water power, and that by this means an impetus would be given to manufacturing industry and concentration of it there, and it is abundantly evident that in the interests of tlie ‘town, and it may be truly said of every member of the Corporation, including those who endeavored to stave off the motion, the sooner a water supply is Obtained the better.