The Globe. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1876.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 754, 20 November 1876, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1876.

The announcement made by the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce respecting the public buildings must, we are sure, have been read with great satisfaction. For some long time past, the proceedings in regard to this great want in the city have gone through a process of circumlocution and red-tape formality, which has all but succeeded in extinguishing any hope of their erection. From the Provincial Government to the General Government, and back again for the process to be repeated times out of number, the matter of public buildings has resembled very much a shuttlecock. As, however, one of the players in the game has now retired, we may at last hope to see the practical realisation of the many months of official correspondence and reference. The plans, so says the chairman of the chamber, have been forwarded for Mr. Richardson’s approval. This is, at any rate, a tangible step onward, and we are thankful accordingly. The people of Christchurch have the reputation of being patient and longsuffering, and no better illustration of how they deserve this character could be given than in connection with this matter. We have been content to go on for years with inconveniently situated offices, utterly unsuited to the purposes they are devoted to, and a perfect disgrace to the city as specimens of architecture. This has been patiently endured, whilst other parts of the colony have erected commodious and elegant buildings for the transaction of public business. We venture to assert that in no other city in New Zealand are the Government offices so totally unfit and inconveniently situated as in Christchurch. Placed in all quarters of the town, and destitute of the remotest comfort either for the officials or the public, doing business is rendered as uncomfortable and tedious as it well can be. With all these facts before us it is hard to understand why so long a delay has been allowed to take place. The money was voted, and the site purchased. It would seem, therefore, that only a few months, at the outside, would be necessary to complete the erection. But it has dragged its weary length along until even the most enthusiastic began to lose heart. Now, however, there is a gleam of hope that we may some day see a pile of buildings worthy of the city erected for public purposes. We trust that those who have agitated this matter, and, foremost amongst them, the Chamber of Commerce, will not relax their efforts. It is only by dint of perseverance that we shall get what is so urgently needed. It has taken some time to arrive at the point of getting plans prepared, and, if now the energy of those who have taken the matter in hand is allowed to flag, the question of public buildings may again relapse into a sleep like that of Rip Van Winkle. To the Chamber, and particularly to the chairman, the thanks of the community are due, for the zeal and persistence shown in urging the Government to carry out this work. Now that their labours are so far crowned with success, we hope they will push on still further, and not relax their efforts until the buildings are actually in course of erection.