The Globe. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1878.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1457, 17 October 1878, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1878.

From the date of the commencement of public works by the colony up to tlie present time there have been rumors that many contracts wore not carried out according to specification, that this or that contractor had scamped his work in one form or another, that consequently the colony had paid for what had not been done, and that tho works, whatever they were, could not be as stable as they would have been if faithfully carried out. Of the amount of credence which is to be attached to such“reports it is impossible that the general public can judge without official inquiry made. Equally impossible is it for the Press of tho colony, even whore tho testimony is strong, to point directly at this or that contractor, and say, “ You, sir, are accused of defrauding “the colony by such and such means!’ The journalist who ventured thus into the breach would lay himself open to action at once; and, indeed, even if he were only to put into print a rumor which might bo in everybody’s mouth, and acknowledge that it was merely a rumor, he would be actionable. Further it is open to any contractor to plead that his work was passed by the Government engineers, and that he did not receive his money until it was so passed, and consequently if any work was not carried out according to specification the fault lay with tho engineer. “ Is it a worse crime,” ho might ask, “ for a contractor to take “ advantage of Government laxity, when “ he finds it, than any other man ?” On tho other hand, it may be rejoined, that Government engineers, like other mortals, might possibly be made to wink in the strong glaro of proffered gold; that their blindness was not caused merely by carelessness. Wo have no wish to cast an imputation upon any body of honorable men, and would on no account allege that this has ever been so. On tho conti’ary, it is more pleasant to believe that all the reports on the subject which have been in circulation at any time during the last six or seven years had their source solely in fertile imaginations, and that contractors have never duped engineers, nor the two classes ever combined in New Zealand to obtain public money for work certified to, but not performed. Taking this ground then we ask —Will it not be in the interest of tho contractor, whenever any of these very uncomfortable rumors are put abroad, that the Press should demand a public inquiry ? Knowing how highminded the contractors are, how immaculate the engineers, and how readily both would court inquiry, if it were not that they are too delicate to put tho Government to the trouble of making it, it is surely the duty of a sensitive and right-minded public to take up the question on behalf of tho persons traduced, and demand that such lying assertions as those referred to shall bo utterly dissipated. It is self-evident that, whatever might be tho result of scrutinising tho facts, such scrutiny is absolutely required when these assertions are of a persistent and positive character. It is required ou the one hand for the vindication of upright men unjustly suspected of playing practical jokes ou the colonial purse. Ou the other hand, if unhappily the event should show that such an ill-timed witticism had somewhere boon perpetrated, the enquiry and exposure could not but have a beneficial effect, as a warning to others, and might at the came time prove the salvation of tho persons implicated, by inducing them to abandon such objectionable pranks for tho future. As however wo cannot believe that such consequence as the second supposed alternative could ever follow, in this part of tho colony at least, wo are the more bold to ask that in regard to local tales of neglected specifications in important public works, tho fullest hivestigatiop should bo made. How such stories originate is beyond conjecture; they may be born of or they may

bo the children of dreams. How they gather body, as it wore, and at times possess every street corner and meeting place of men, is yet more inscrutable. Have our readers heard of any such rumours of late ? If they have, surely their duty as citizens is sufficiently jdain. At all hazards they should compel investigation, in order that the unjustly aspersed may bo cleared without delay. Wo cannot for obvious reasons speak more directly, but we have no fear that anyone will misunderstand the drift of what has boon said.