CORRESPONDENCE.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 281, 25 July 1874, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

We do not hold ourselves in any way responsible for the opinions and sentiments expressed by correspondents. • ' ■ Ail communications must bo accompanied by the correct name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. HAMILTON. (To the Editor of the Mount Ida Chronicle.) July 20th. Sib, —'Our Committee have great satisfaction in placing at your disposal for pubbc information, a communication from the Government on the subject of the Taieri Bridge, which, we trust, settles the question, and further shows our wire pullers the futility of any further action on their part.—l am, &c, .;■■■■. B. S. Booth, : Chairman,to Hamilton and Sowburn Miners'As- \ \ sociation. Provincial Secretary's Office, Dunedin, July 14th, 1874.. Sib, —I have been directed to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the Ist July, on the subject of the vote for the bridge over the Taieri River betweo i Naseby and Hamilton, and I am to infoi m you that the site of the proposed bridge is immediately below the junction of the Hogburn Creek with the Taieri River, and is intended to meet the requirements of traffic between Naseby and Hamilton, and Naseby and Hyde. The" necessary steps are now being taken preparatory to inviting tenders for the work. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, Alex. Willis, ■. Under-Secretary. B. S. Booth, Esq., Chairman Hamilton Minere' Association. ■;■•■-.' ■ : * ; _ MOUNT IDA PUBLIC WOEKS. (To the Editor of the Mount Ida Chhoniole.) Sie, —It is a matter of surprise to myself, as well as to the majority of the people located in this place why the Government allow contractors, more especially Dunedin contractors, such latitude in the way of carrying out and completing contracts. I at present allude to the head race and sludge channel, works which the requirements of the district necessitate being completed with as little delay as circumstances permit. On the other hand, I would not deem it wise policy on the part of any Government to compel their contractors to rush throngh and complete contracts at any cost within the time specified. Contractors are entitled to certain privileges in the way of being allowed sufficient or reasonable, time to complete their contracts ; but the Government should see that such privileges are

not abused. Ibelieve I shall be able to show presently that they have been grossly abused, and that the Government was greatly to blame for the manner in which some of the contracts here were let, and the slow progress that is now being made. About eighteen months ago the first contract on the head race was let. There was no security for carrying out the works required. The wise Government, then in office possibly.thought, by giving the poor man an opportunity of competing with the rich, the works would be done much cheaper. One man secured three or four contracts—their combined length amounting to about twenty-six miles, at a price that did not much exceed half the estimated cost. The contractor soon found that he had entered into a bad speculation, and did not care to proceed with the works. Moreover, as the Government held no security from him for their completion, the upshot of the matter was that, after ten months had elapsed, no progress being made, the works had to be taken out of his handsj and re-let. Section No. 2, on contract No. 9, also deserves some comment.. This contract, or section, was let about nine months, ago, the time allowed for its completion being six months. What do we now find? One mile constructed out of seventeen. Sections, Nos. 3, 4, and 5 from the termi;n'us are. finished, and section No. 1 nearly so.: Why section No.. 2 is allowed to; ;stand over and retard the progress of the whole undertaking, requires ahexplana-' tion. Surely the Government cannot he vblind to the fact that this obstruction precludes the water of several large and im■pqi'tant streams, .now to, be found along the portions already- constructed, ifrom I being, turned immediately into profitable account; If an impediment, such as the rone just described, occurred on the Clutha railway, or on any of the public works around Dunedin, would not the • Press and people/ raise their voices, and cry put against it P Would the Govern:merit'tolerate anything of .the sort j any-where-outside-Mount Ida P I think not. Now that we have a Goldfields Secretary, it is he will see into the matter, and attend to our wants.

During last session of the Provincial Council this matter was brought under the notice of the Government. The Provincial Secretary then promised that the Government would see that the contracts on the head raGe and sludge channel were completed within the contract time, as near-as' possible. lam not aware that anything has been done up to the present time towards fulfilling this promise. • When the contracts on the head race were let, a number of claims were taken up, under the impression that water' from the side streams would be soon available. .After cutting tail races, and making other necessary improvements, several have abandoned their claims, and left the district in disgust. It is to be hoped the present state of affairs here will be soon altered.—l am, &c, < An Old Sluiclee.

LAND PETITION. (To the Editor of the Mount Ida Cheonicle.) Sie,—Having inadvertently signed the above-mentioned, ' without reading the same,, until I read it in your Friday's paper, ,I_was. surprised to find, .from the wording of the petition, that I was precluded from signing the same—being a shareholder in the Mount Ida Pastoral Gpmpany: Several others being in the same predicament; not only so, but one at least of the shareholders is on the Committee. Does it not savor of animosity, that one portion of the community should exclude the other from participating in what they (the petitioners) may consider a public benefit. Ido "not exonerate myself from blame in signing a paper without acquainting myself with its contents ; at the same time I think the person should have been instructed not to ask signatures in direct opposition to the wording of the petition—in fact, the allowing those signatures to remain, shows the petition carries a gross mis-statement on the face of it.

In regard to the mucli-abused surveyor's report, I, with many others not shareholders in the Pastoral Company, differ entirely from the petition. On thecontrary, I. think, on the whole, it is a most truthful and correct report—your own opinion, Mr. Editor, to the contrary, notwithstanding. A few words on farming, and I have done. To' put the matter fairly before the might have given us the experience -of those who are engaged in farming in our neighborhood, some of them for years; for instance; Messrs. .Malloch, Preston, Cogan, Creighton, Mulholland, Currie, and Law. I venture to say that the. almost unanimous answer profitable. There are the few paddocks on the Hogburn Flat; The fine crop you noticed of Mr. Inder's last year he tells me was not an average, and that was by far the best of the lot. ; • ° I understand also the Clarei.-'^lat■settle-ment is in ,,a, very languishing state. :We all know that it requires something more.than.a few large gooseberries and monster turnips to prove the suitability Of the soil and climate for profitable farming. There is no stronger advocate for; settlement on the land than I am; but I wish it to be a success, and not a lingering life of poverty, and a miserable failure, as I much fear it would be on the Maniototo Plains, from the nature of the soil and climate.

I apologise for trespassing to such an extent oh your space.—l am, &c,

James Thomson. [We nave as yet_ expressed no opinion as to the general accuracy of Mr. M'Kerrow's report, though*, if challenged, we may do so; A public officer, debarred from publicly replying by the rules of.the service, is allowed great leniency by the Pressr The Committee referred to was not in existence when the petition was signed andsent away.—Ed. M.I.C.] "♦ LAND PETITION. (To the Editor of the Mount IdaCheonicle.) Sie,—ln your issue of last week I read the petition for the first time which, some five days ago, was sent through tlie town for signatures. Being tol i that it was simply got up for.the purpose of getting a piece of land thrown open, I signed without reading it, and was not aware that it introduced a clause to the effect that the petitioners emphatically denied being shareholders in the Mount Ida Pastoral Company. Now, as a member of that company I had no right to sign the petition, and it was wrong to solicit and obtain signatures of its known members in such a way. My name, and the names of several others, were obtained under false

pretences. Therefore,- the petition is Dot true, and consequently unfit to be laid before any Government. In re opening land, I should like to see it, and would take up a section myself if a block was opened at the Wetherburn, where I understand most of the people want it, and where tliei*e are facilities for settlement not to be found on the plain.— I am. &c, Petee Law. [Mr. Law cannot have read the petition : there is no such clause in the copy handed us to print.—Ed. M.I.U.J