The Globe. FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 857, 23 March 1877, Page 2

The Globe. FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1877.

Few people will, we think, be more astonished than Mr Fisher himself at the remarks of the Lyttelton Times upon his speech at Woolston the other evening. In fulfillment of his duty, the representative of Heathcote called the electors together, for the purpose of giving an account of bis stewardship ; and at the close of a very confused as well as fragmentary but well meaning address, be received a vote of thanks and confidence. Having thus discharged his duty, Mr Fisher would, we think, have been quite content to retire for another year into his accustomed privacy. But, unfortunately for him, the Lyttelton Times could not afford to allow sucli an excellent opportunity to slip of having a fling at the majority of our Canterbury members ; and so the few expressions of opinion to which Mr Fisher committed himself are treated with the utmost respect and deference. His speech, we are told, is “shrewd, practical, and earnest; it has no flowers of rhetoric, but it has sense.” His profound remarks regarding the county system seem especially to strike our contemporary with admiration, for he says “The only result which he (Mr Fisher) can find in the system for Canterbury is that it concentrated the wisdom of the whole province, for the purpose of building a sheep dip which he might have added, had been projected by the Provincial authorities before the County system was born.” Comment is unnecessary. Personally, of course, Mr. Fisher is an honest as well as useful member of the community. But he had the misfortune to be placed by the electors of Heathcote in a position for which he is scarcely fitted. To treat the few remarks which he made the other evening as fraught with deep political meaning, and as worthy of the moat serious consideration, is beyond ajoke. But then the Canterbury members belonging to the Opposition are rather scarce, and the most must be made of the most unpromising material.

We are pleased to find that milder counsels prevailed at the meeting held last evening to consider the drainage scheme. To have precipitately passed a resolution asking the Board to resign would have been to stultify the public. A deputation from a public meeting has waited upon the Board with two requests. The first was that the plans should be lithographed, which has been acceded to; and the second was that delay should take place in the carrying out of the scheme, which has been declined. As the elected representatives of the ratepayers the Board should be treated with every consideration, and every care taken to fully understand their position. If the plans will help to make the scheme clearer to the general public, by all means let them be placed in the hands of the public before any steps, one way or another, are taken; the more so as we learn that no delay whatever has occurred in taking action to have the plans, asked for, lithographed. To request the Board to resign now under these circumstances would be unjust. We are glad, therefore, that the more enthusiastic oppositionists listened to the common sense arguments of Dr Turnbull, Mr Nathan, and the chairman.

We are not quite clear as to the duties of the newly appointed Cab Inspector, but, we venture to bring under his notice a nuisance. We have repeatedly called attention to the serious inconvenience, not to say annoyance caused to foot passengers by the congregation of cabs in front of the Criterion Hotel. It appears, however, to be useless, and we now make a final appeal to the Cab Inspector. That the practice is a nuisance no one will deny, and it is high time it was stopped. The footpath is crowded with cabmen, who indulge in horse-play and language not of the choicest, making the passage, particularly for ladies, most disagreeable. We are aware of the absurd provision in, the bye-law as to cabs standing near places of amusement, but certainly it was never intended to act as a positive annoyance to the citizens. We hope that, though late in the day, the new Cab Inspector will earn the thanks of the citizens by removing, if in his power, what has become a positive evil.

WB direct attention to the reply of the drainage Board to the resolutions passed at the late public meeting held in the Oddfellows’ Hall to discuss the drainage question. It will be seen that some definite information as to the total cost of the scheme has been made public. The engineer estimates it at £167,000, and this can be reduced to less than £IOO,OOO, by omit-

ting some branch sewers. We are also informed that the Board has no intention of discharging solid sewage into the rivers; nor have they any desire to hurry on the completion of the works in advance of the ascertained necessities of the localities. We think there are now indications of a disposition on the part of the Board to pay some regard to public opinion, which may result in a satisfactory compromise being arrived at.

Another of our County Councils—that of Akaroa—has decided against bringing the Act into full operation in the district. We think they have acted wisely in so doing. If, at any future time, it is found that the E-oad Boards are unequal to the work they are called on to perform, it will be time enough to put the full machinery of the county system in operation. As the bodies charged with the allocation of the land fund, the counties will do good service to the district; and that, too, at scarcely any cost to the ratepayers.