THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1881. PETTY ECONOMY.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2201, 16 March 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16, 1881. PETTY ECONOMY.

That peculiar body, the Wairaakariri Board of Conservators, have again distinguished themselves by their anxiety to save the ratepayers money. Lately, it will bo remembered, they carried out a reduction in the salary of their overseer, the chairman remarking, with that foresightediiess and great knowledge which are characteristic of him, that plenty of men out of the street could be obtained to fill the place, or words to that effect. Now the sapient members of the Board have ventured upon another saving. Well it is for the ratepayers that they have chosen such careful men. It is very probable, looking to the enormous saving effected by the last turn of the Board’s screw on the “ ’orny - ’anded sons of toil,” that the rate to be struck will be a very infinitesimal one indeed. The staff of laborers employed

by tho Board ia so largo that the munificent reduction of 6d per diem on their wages must produce quite a large sum. So far as can bo learnt, the number of men in the employ of tho Board under ordinary circumstances actually amounts to four! Let the ratepayers consider the enormous saving thus managed by the economy of the Board. Two shillings per day, or twelve shillings per week, saved! Oh, magnificent saving. Now the ratepayers can plainly see that the late Board did not do its duty. Why did not tho members of that Board see that this large and important saving was made. However, it has been reserved for Mr. Henry Atkinson—such true patriots deserve to have their names in full —to stand forth and show how the ratepayers’ money can bo saved. We are especially careful to give tho name of this distinguished gentleman most prominently, because it deserves to be handed down to posterity in company with that of other distinguished benefactors of the human race. The man by whose agency twelve shillings a-week is saved by a Board dealing with thousands of public money deserves canonisation. To erect a statue to such a distinguished statesman would bo but poor reward; besides, everyone almost now-a-days gets a statue. Mere commonplace founders of settlements and other small fry have had this honor paid to them. But the services of a man who can save twelve shillings a-week by taking sixpence a-day off the wages of the overpaid holders of such a sinecure as laborers on the Waimakariri river cannot no compared for one instant with these. These highly-salaried officials have still further advantages besides the munificent salary paid to them by the Board for their trouble. They enjoy what is popularly known as “ high times.” Their life is passed amidst the beautiful scenery, verdant plains, and cool shades of the Waimakariri. Their duties are light and their hours short; and when tho natural advantages of the part of the country in which their happy lot has been cast is taken into account, they have truly cause to consider that their lines have fallen in pleasant places. Then let the working men as a body sound poeans of welcome to their new champion, Mr. Henry Atkinson, the devoted friend and follower of tho people’s saviour, tho great Sir George. He has lightened their rates by the great saving he has made, and when the tax gatherer calls around for the Waimakariri rate, blessings unnumbered will be showered on the head of the new apostle of economy—Mr. Henry Atkinson. But what shall we say of the audacious proposal of Mr. White to thwart tho great work entered upon by Mr. Atkinson ? If the former had had his way twelve shillings per week would have been lost to the ratepayers. What does it matter that he pays as an employer the unheard of sura of eight shillings per day ! His employes have not the felicity of residing in so beautiful and Arcadian a locality as on the Waimakariri. That place, perhaps more than any other, recalls to one’s mind the description of his palace by the Lake of Como given by Mr Meluotte in “ The Lady of Lyons.” It is true there are no alabaster lamps or orange groves, but perhaps the fervid imaginavion of Mr. Melnotte might conjure up a description of the protective works as “ a deep vale shut out by Alpine hills.” We can only trust that reflection and solitude will bring Mr. White to a true conception of the enormity of his crime in thus impeding the onward march of economy led by two such distinguished patriots as Mr. J. L. Wilson and Mr. H. Atkinson—arcades ambo. Above all, let him remember the twelve shillings a week saved and tremble.

THE DRAINAGE BOARD STATE,

That the Drainage Board have at last determined to get rid of the anomaly—to use a mild term —of one of its engineers being connected with a large contracting firm, is matter for congratulation. It might be urged, it is true, that they should have done so at a time when public opinion spoke out pretty strongly on the subject. But better late than never. It is somewhat difficult to understand the reasons which guided the Board in allowing a continuance of a practice which placed both it and the officer in question in a very peculiar position. As one of the engineers, of course, he would have a pretty accurate knowledge of the estimates made with respect to any work, and though we do not desire for one instant to impute any wrong motives to the gentleman in question, his business connection would bo sure to give rise to some unfavorable strictures. Now that the Board have extricated themselves and the officer in question from a very unpleasant position, we trust they will not again allow such a state of things to exist.