ENGINEER'S RESIGNATION.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4676, 19 March 1924, Page 2

ENGINEER'S RESIGNATION.

(To the Editor).

Sir,-—1 (and 1 am sure hundreds )• other ratepayers) read with very great i egret in your issue of the 12th ’list, the engineer’s decision to sever his connection witli the Hauraki Plains County Council. At the present time, .with the council’s crying need for efficient work to be done, Mr Higgins is a man we can ill-afford to lose, he having proved himself a thoroughly capable and conscientious officer—he has been found giving information to ratepayers regarding roads, etc., all over the county, in all weathers, and listening attentively <o any sensible constructive criticism. When he took office there was hardly a shovelful of metal foissight, and nothing but drifting, sunken barges scattered along the Waihou River. He has had these overhauled or replaced, has had hoppers built, and has landed a very considerable quantity of metal along the riverbank at a price in keeping wifli a master-mind. No doubt the council was unfortunate in the selection of engineers in the past, but now that we have a mail who has evolved a system out of chaos, and has made “brick without straw,’’ let u,s hope everything possible will be done to induce him to reconsider his decision. V. YOUNG. Hikutaia, 17/3/24.

Sir, —In your account in Wednesday’s edition concerning the resignation of the county engineer Cr. McLoughlin made a statement that Tu rua was up against the engineer.. It. seems to be quite a habit to make Turua tiie scapegoat when any trouble arises. May I ask Cr. McLoughlin to what section he refers, and where he got the information, as 1, for one, have not heard Mr Higgins adversely criticised. Cr. Madgwick talks abou; a block vote against the machinery loan. May I ask him where, in Turua, has he heard enough to entitle him t.i make this statement ? If Cr. Madgwick gets his information at the Ratepayers’ Association meetings I should like to say that, unfortunately, Turua is scarcely represented at any meetin t of the above. . A TURUA RATEPAYER.