CORRESPONDENCE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1275, 23 July 1914, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

(To the Editor.)

Sir, —I note that our late gas manager resigned because the Council passed a resolution that he should not employ any labour on the old mains or new services, but I hear that the new manage* - , as soon as he arrived, put on a man to do the services. Is this consistent ? If the late manager was wrong in employing labour, surely the new one is wrong, too. Is the Council going to insist on the resolution being carried out ? If not, it savours of persecution. The late manager trod on tne toes of certain councillors re Sunday bowling, and for this crime—or, from my point of view, taking a manly stand —his position under the Council became intolerable, hence his resignation. But, sir, has the new man done any better than the late manager ? The hotels and business places on Saturday night were very near in darkness, and the smell from the gas at the present time is abominable.—l am, etc., Gas.

[The Council passed a resolution to the effect that the manager and his assistant should do all the necessary work in connec- , tion with new services on the present mains, or work connected with the present mains, without employing outside labour. This was the reason of the late manager’s resignation. The inference of persecution on the part of the Council for certain private actions on the part of the late manager, we refuse to believe, and will leave the Mayor and Council to clear themselves, or ignore, as they deem fit. The smell from the gas and the poor light last Saturday was not singular. The same thing occurred time and again in the past, and will continue at intervals until purifiers are erected, and the works enlarged, No blame in this connection can be attached to the past or present manager. Ed.H.]