The Globe. MONDAY, APRIL 2, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 864, 2 April 1877, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, APRIL 2, 1877.

At might have been expected after the expression of opinion at the public meeting on the Morten block question, the result of the polling has been decidedly in the negative. To please the obstinacy of some few, the citizens have been put to the trouble and expense of a poll on a subject which was practically decided, and the outcome ol which was a foregone conclusion. It would have been far better for the supporters of the scheme to have gracefully yielded when they saw that the majority of the public were decidedly opposed to it ; the rejection ot the proposal is so marked even considering the small number who voted. Had it been on any other day but Saturday we have no doubt that the negative number polled would have been largely increased. And this also, it must be remembered, after Mr Hobbs, the prime mover in the matter, had laid baio at the last moment the calculations upon which he based his support of the purchase. Therefore the ratepayers had the statement of those in favour of it put clearly before them, and upou theissue thusraised have voted most uumistakeably in the negative. We are glad of the result, because we have, from the first, held the opinion that the proposed purchase was premature and unnecessary. This opinion has been endorsed by the ratepayers, and the result is that the expenditure of the money proposed will not take place. As some little difficulty was experienced with regard to the voting papers used, it is only fair to the Keturning Officer to say that they were, word for word, similar to the form given in the schedule to the Act. Mr. Lee, therefore, had no alternative but to have them printed in the form complained of.

The fire on Saturday evening alfords another proof, if it were required, of the urgent necessity ior some steps being taken in the matter of tire prevention in those parts ot the city adjacent to the belts. In no portion has so much building of a suustautial character in the shape of residences been late!}' done as that referred to, and yet it is left eutiiely without the slightest protection against fire, as far as an adequate water supply is concerned. In the locality of the fire on Saturday evening tiie artesian supply is of the most limited kind, scarcely rising to the surface. Hence, m case of a fire, the delay caused in going such a distance as had to be done on Saturday evening is most disastrous. The supply at the Gloucester street school is of course available, but it is only useful in its immediate vicinity. There is a large and thickly populated portion of the city extending to the southward, which is, to all intents and purposes, utterly unprovided with means of extinguishing tire. Had water in any appreciable quantitity been at hand on Saturday evening, it is not too much to say that much less damage would have been the result'. As it was, the Brigade, though on tue spot with tlieir usual promptitude, could do little or nothing, awaiting the arrival of the water from a long distance. We urge this mutter on the attention of the city Council, in the hope that they will be able to see thenway to establish, at various points m the vicinity of the belts, tanks for fireprevention purposes. There can be no doubt that the residents in the vicinity of fhe proposed tanks will be glad to pay a portion of the cost. Hence the expenditure will not be very large, and the establishment ol the tank® may be the means of saving thousands of pounds’ worth of property, and even life itself.