MOUNT IDA PUBLIC WORKS

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 366, 10 March 1876, Page 3

MOUNT IDA PUBLIC WORKS

It is a rather a bold thing to hazard a statement as to the exact state of the Mount Ida Public Works. So much has been written and said during the last two years for and against a possible completion within a lifetime that public faiih in a successful issue is a hardly existent possession at tho present time. There is .jao reason, actual or possible, why a definite goal should not be reached speedily. There is money sufficient for completion; the use of it has been sanctioned by the .General Government; the engineer's plans to complete have been sanctioned by the Provincial and General Governments ; nothing remains but. for the works department to get the various contracts specified for public tender. Any delay in the initiation of the completing work is not now political, but departmental. In the last report submitted by the department the concluding works aro stated as quite possible of completion within three or four months, if tho money is available. The report has been accepted in every particular, and tho money guaranteed. Wo will now see what, after threo years' experience in the work, the unfettered department can do. The management of the completed portion of the race and channel is a distinct question, apart entirely from the supervision of the remainder of the works. It is now recognised with surprise as quite possible to utilise the water that the new race can carry with safety during the soft winter months, whether the whole work is completed or not. To do so requires management. "What that management should be may fairly be considered an open question. Two modes suggest themselves management By Government Staff; tod Management by Local Board. Our view has been expressed that, considering tho number of local questions sure to arise, a Board would work better and with more promptitude than a Staff'. The mode of appointment may occasion a little difference of opinion, but the more important thing at present i < to get a management appointed. Difficulties will commenco to crop up immediately the water is brought in. These will be best dealt with on the spot. If a Board is determined upon it will be constituted by the Superintendent, and its powers defined by proclamation. Such a Board could slide in its entirety, or with such modification as experience would suggest, into a permanent management.

The present position of affairs appears to be that the works necessary to complete the race and channel will be in hand before the end of the month, and should be done by the end of June or July if the autumn is favorable. With regard to water supply, if thirty or forty men are at once put on the constructed race, to make good weak places and generally clean up, six to ten Government heads could be available,tor sale in June. It is essential that the management should utilise the water as soon as possible, so as to be put in possession of a little revenue to pay the first expenses. It is impossible to tell for how long the engineer's concluding estimate is made to curry the necessary maintenance of the whole work—probably not beyond the end of th- three month- estimated for the completing works. If this be so, there must be a deficiency in the spring in the Board's accounts. The wisest policy would be to relieve the Board from all responsibility on the score maintenance, by simply retaining control for a year or two in the Enginners' Department. The monies collected by the Board as revenue could be paid direct into the Government acrount. A char statement could be made monthly or quarterly, as iu the administration of the railways, showing the financial position of the works. It Would be impolitic to economise on the race in its earlier stages too much, in order to make it pay a good return. It should be borne in mind that much superior wnrk, which a private «ompany would make the race earn out of first profits, has been insisted upon—as many think unnecsssarily—by the engineers at the outset. Consequently, although tho maintenance charge will be great for the first year, it will not be proportionally as great as on any other race constructed on the same field. The supply of water available for consumers during the early spring months must not be supposed to be very great. If, during August, September, and October, the waterman can deliver constantly thirty-seven Hogburn heads a wry good start will have been made. From what can be learned at present, any quantity the race will carry will be readily competed for at a fair price.