The Globe . THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1879.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1631, 13 May 1879, Page 2

The Globe . THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1879.

If there was one thing mojejfchap another upon which the present merabors o£ the City Council laid stress it wag thoir determination to carry out what they asserted was a very necessary re-organisa-tion of tiie gtaff. This had been bequeathed to them as a laga.cj from their predecessors, and it may also bo taken for granted that public opinion was pretty strongly in favor of a move being made in the direction stated. Our readers will remember how, after allowing the matter to b« dormant for soma time, the City Council at last suddenly determined to procood most onergctic;iily in it. Meetings wore held at which the public time and gas woro wasted most recklessly. Charges woro made of a mysterious nature, which as mysteriously disappeared into thin air when tli6y came to be tested as to their basis ou facts. A whole evening was wasted in discussing the host mode of procmjinjj to consider whether the reorganization

was necessary or not. A committee of enquiry sat in full forco, and took evidence and an elaborate report was submitted to the Council. One would think that after all this deliberation, considering the assumed air of importance with which those proceedings wore invested, great results would have followed. Once moro on the report was valuable time—and gas —wasted, and the outcome was two recommendations involving the dismissal of one official and the appointment of anothor. The exact position to bo occupied by the latter was scarcely dofined with that cloarnoss which usually characterises the decisions of the City Council. Ho was to be, as it were, suspended midway between the chair of the Town Clerk and that of the City Solicitor. The truth was, the whole investigation was to the committee a white elephant, with which they were sorely puzzled how to deal. They entered upon the investigation of a mattor of considerable import to the citizens without the remotest idea of how they wore going to deal with it in the interests of the city. They concluded their labours, if possible, in a more hazy state than they began, and the result is— nil. After spending a large amount of time in useloss discussion, they now propose to cast the little they have done to the winds, and return to the old system which they themselves admit requires re-organisa-tion. It is now proposed to rescind tho resolution as to the appointment of a solicitor, which was the solo outcomo of all tho cackling in tho municipal henroost. What can the citizens think of a Council which does not know its own mind for two consocutive meetings together. Here wo have Councillors coolly proposing that the result of nights of consultation, causing, no doubt, an untold and unheard-of sweat and travail of intellect should be swept entirely away. If, as many of the present members as well as those formerly belonging to tho Council assert, reorganisation is necessary, then the Council is failing in its duty to the public if it abandons the remedy proposed, and deliberately adopted by itself to remedy the evil. If re-organisation is not necessary, then the Council has recklessly squandered public time and has needlessly held fruitless enquiries. We leave it to the members of that sapient body to decide on which horn of the dilemma they will be impaled. We are not discussing here the question of the appointment or otherwise of a solicitor; that is beside what we have boon considering. What we want to point out to the ratepayers is this, that by their very conduct the City Council are proclaiming the whole matter of this enquiry a sham; and, further than this, confessing their utter incapacity to deal with the question on a broad basis. Wo do not know whether the public will be satisfied to allow matters to remain as they are. To our mind, the present position of affairs in connection with the staff of city officers is unsatisfactory in the extreme.

That portion of the public who delight in freo performances have good cause for complaint. The company of comedians who have for some time past performod with such success at the City Council Chamber last night failed to appear in those characters which have so often brought down the house. The audionce were in their places crowded and expoctant as on the first night of a new " star," but, alas! the management had to apologise. The screaming farce which was on the bills, and which had drawn so large a house, could not be performod in consequence of the low comedian not having studied his part. Those who went expecting a tumultuous burlesque saw nothing but courtesy of the most polished type. The lion, as personified by Cr. Wilson, and the lamb, typified by His Worship the Mayor, metaphorically reposed peacefully side by side. The calm which pervaded the arena of so many fierce battles was soothing to the nerves of the councillors, and there was positively not a single angry word exchanged and the curtain was finally rung down somo hours before the usual time If the Council persist in this course the ratepayers will be doprived of one of the most diverting places of recreation in the city. The legitimate purveyors of public amusement will however bo the gainors, as the most formidable opposition which tlioy have to contend with hero will have disappeared. We trust this halcyon state of thiugs will continue, but wo are afraid that it is too good to last.