THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1879.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1700, 1 August 1879, Page 2

THE GLOBE. FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 1879.

It seems on consideration rather a matter for regret that the committee of the Chamber of Commerce should have considered it advisable to discuss the veiy important question of the removal of the head quarters of the railways of the Middle Island in private, and not openly. The question is one of the greatest public importance. It affects not only one class of the community but all, and, therefore, nothing should have been neglected which would have added weight to the protest of the Chamber against the prayer of the Dunedin Chamber as contained in their petition. That body discussed the matter openly, and the arguments in favor of the course they advocate were made public through the columns of the local journals. Here, however, our Chamber adopted precisely an opposite course. The representatives of the Press wore unapprisod of the meeting, and all that was handed to the local papers for publication was simply the one telegram forwarded to the Hon. Minister for Public Works on the subject. Nothing has gone before the public but that. Had the meeting been an open one, no doubt the many cogent and weighty reasons which exist in the public interest for the retention of head-quarters at Christchurch would have appeared, and thus added force and weight to the Chamber’s decision. This was the more necessary when it is considered that the -leaning of the gentleman who now occupies the office of Minister of Public Works would, if anything, be in favor of Dunedin. Therefore, it was of importance that everything which could bo brought to show the necessity of things remaining unaltered should be produced. It has of late become the fashion with public bodies in Christchurch —and a most pernicious fashion for the general welfare of the community it is—to evince a most unaccountable and wholly unnecessary dread of publicity when dealing with questions of importance. Surely where the interests of all are concerned, the greatest publicity should be given to the arguments used in favor of what is for the good of the community at largo. It would greatly have strengthened the hands of the chamber had this been done, and, even now, should the telegram sent by them have no effect, we should counsel the Chamber of Commerce to invoke the aid -of the public by obtaining an expression of opinion from the citizens by means of a public meeting.

A correspondent, in a letter published in another column, calls attention to the manner in which the sums collected in aid of the unemployed have been expended. It must he confessed that the state of affairs revealed by the balancesheet is not satisfactory. With every sympathy for the unemployed, it is impossible not to see that the sum swallowed up by expenses is ridiculously largo. Out of £llß lls 4jd collected, only £77 15s 9td was distributed among the distressed. The cost of collecting is set down at £27; £8 14s was paid to the secretary; £4 9s 7d was paid for sundries and 12s for advertisements. The last item is of course very moderate, but how about the cost of collecting, and the amounts paid to the secretary and for sundries ? The main body of the unemployed have apparently every reason to be dissatisfied with the manner in which their affairs have been managed. Not only has a considerable sum of money which should have reached them been frittered away, but the public at large, should another call on on their pockets eventuate, would not bo so ready to contribute, having seen how the money they have already advanced

has been expended. It is, we think, duo both to the unemployed and the public at largo that the Committee who have carried the matter through should offer some explanation with regard to the state of affairs revealed by the balance-sheet.