New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4553, 23 October 1875, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23.

The proposal of the Corporation of Dunedin, embodied in the Act empowering it to borrow £200,000 on the security oAhe rates and city endowments, is one which deserves some consideration. Dunedin already owes £IOO,OOO, and it has power to raise a further sum of £IOO,OOO under a Provincial Ordinance:; but two obstacles intervened. The money is not sufficient, and the security is not good, , In other words, Dunedin city debentures, issued under a Provincial Ordinance, will not be looked at in London|; while Auckland Harbor Board debentures, issued under an Act of the General Assembly, sold readily at par, and aije now at a considerable premium. The authority under which the loan was issued was the only real difference between them. No better security for a loan of £300,000 could be found in the colony, than the rates, endowments, and other property of the municipality of Dunedin; but being “ Provincial ” to' the backbone, Dunedin preferred a charter from the Otago Provincial Council, and took authority to borrow from the same august body rather than go to the Colonial Legislature. It was only, however, when the example of Auckland was sought to be imitated, and the Dunedin Corporation debentures were sent to London for sale, that the money value of provincial institutions was realised.. The surprise of our Southern friends may bo readily imagined when the fact became known to them that their debentures..were unsaleable; but their practical character came to their assistance, and, sinking provincial feeling for the time, they applied to the General Assembly for further borrowing powers. Good provincialists [as they are, and enthusiastic admirers of Mr. Macandrew and Sir George Grey, they will sacrifice anything to principle except money. ' Money is the true gift of the gods ; and it would be an unpardonable sacrilege to part with a single farthing for a mere political sentiment. So the anti-abolition Corporation of Dunedin, with its provincial charter, came to the General Assembly and asked it to endorse their debentures. The request was a right and proper one to make ; and the Assembly, we are glad to say, made the necessary legal provision. We have little doubt, therefore, that Dunedin will be able to sell its next issue of debentures on much better terms, when its Corporation may assess the difference in value, represented by sterling coin of the realm, between an Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand, and a similar enactment if passed as an Ordinance by the Superintendent and Provincial Council of Otago. The lesson will be a useful one in the coming campaign to restore the waning glories of provincialism, which is to be opened in Dunedin on Wednesday. , If the good people of Dunedin learn, as assuredly they must, that continuing provincial institutions means the depreciation of their local securities down to the unsaleable point, there will be few found to record their votes in its favor at the ballot box, however loudly they may cheer Mr. Macandrew and Lis distinguished guests in their progress from Port Chalmers to their city. ) But the borrowing powers granted to Dunedin ought to be taken seriously into consideration by the citizens of Wellington. £IOO,OOO is to be spent in the drainage of the city, and in no other work whatsoever. This is a large sum, but it is no more than is needed for the purpose. Dunedin has become very unhealthy in comparison with what it might be, if proper sanitary works had been earlier constructed; and £IOO,OOO will barely suffice to overtake the more pressing necessities of the city on some comprehensive plan. But Dunedin has not made greater relative progress in population and wealth during the last three or four years than Wellington ; its natural drainage was even better than this city can boast of ; but while in the case of the Southern capital a large sum is to be expended in the drainage of the city and low-lying suburbs, in the case of Wellington, the capital of the colony, no precaution whatever is taken for sanitary improvements. The natural drainage is being impaired or destroyed every day by the progress of harbor reclamation. This absolutely necessary undertaking, however, should not be delayed or interfered with on any account whatever, but one cannot help regretting that it has not been carried out in connection with a comprehensive system of drainage. The fact, however, remains that Wellington is totally deficient in sanitary works. It is equally indisputable that no serious consideration has ever been given to the subject. There has .been a good deal of loose talk, and much looser estimates of cost have been made, but no serious consideration, with a view to work, has been bestowed upon the subject. Now, we hold that this state of things should not continue. Wellington, by reason of its position as the political capital of New Zealand, and of its already commanding position as a principal commercial port, cannot afford to remain undrained—a growing menace to the health of its inhabitants. On the contrary, much more will be expected from it than from any other city or town in the colony. And our civic rulers should rise to the level of their responsibilities. We do not ask them to work impossibilities. We know that the Legislative Council rejected a general measure which would, in some sort, have met the case; but so far as Wellington is concerned wo are not sorry that it is so. We are inclined to think that all the requirements of the city could not have been covered by it. We would suggest to our City Council, therefore, whether it would not be well to invoke the aid of the General Government in this matter. Auckland received professional advice from Government engineers regarding its water supply and harbor works ; Otago and Canterbury have been equally favored ; Hawke’s Bay has likewise had its harbor improvement scheme reported on; while Westland (meaning thereby the West Coast generally), has quite monopolised the time of at least one first-class officer of the Public Works department. Under these’ circumslances, we do not think Wellington should bo mealymouthed. Let a request be made to the Government to instruct a competent officer to report upon a comprehensive scheme of drainage for the city and suburbs, ■with alternative outfalls—one

into the harbor, which would be the cheapest but would poison the water, and one into Cook Strait. Abundance of fresh water is available at a high level to flush a main sewer to the Strait. On that report being made, one of the alternative plans should be selected, and a Bill introduced next session to give it effect. The Government are bound to see that the city in which the General Assembly must in future sit for six months in the year is moderately healthy. We anticipate no opposition on the part of Ministers, therefore, if the City Council make the request we have indicated. If they do not do so, however, and continue the present abominable system of getting rid of the filth of the city, a very serious responsibility will rest upon them. As population increases, and the breathing spaces of the city are built upon, the “fresh breezes of Wellington ” will no longer bring health and vigor to its inhabitants. Tim offence against the laws of health will have become far too aggravated for Nature to condone it. The soil will have become saturated with filth, and the heat of the sun will only exhale its poisonous gases, to be distributed abroad by the otherwise healthful breeze. 1 ’We do not in the least exaggerate the dangers of the situation. On the contrary, we are convinced that any physician in large practice in Wellington will corroborate all we have said.