The New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4952, 5 February 1877, Page 2

The New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1877.

The cablegram from: Sydney, announcing, that the, Government.;of New-Zea-land have obtained, on "favorable terms, an advance ?ofh»lf a .million ftom the r Bank of .New South Wales, isja financial "fact: of-some-significance.! It is pretty well'"understood that-the somewhat frequent visits, of the New Zealand Government t;o the -London money market had aroused a feeling Very much akin to distrust, afeeling certainly not at all calculated to "facilitate any financial operations we might wish to make in the immediate future. 1 This feeling, too, was enhanced by the cautionary articles which from time to time appeared in the London ' Times 'and journals Jthat endeavor,' and '.pretty successfully too, to act as monitors to the investors of Great Britain. Bat; as : regards New | Zealand their monitions were /scarcely called for. ; Few in the colony .'who." bestowed any thought upon, the; matter but felt that some such feelingi must, result from the large amount "of; accommodation which our necessities compelled us to obtain during the preceding years. It! must be obvious, 5 'therefore, that our, policy was by "all""meansr to; remove any feeling'of distrust which might,'have been created; inline money market.} Under the circumstances,, it" would appear that the Government. hav.e /acted as (wisely as it was; possible"; to do. For sorhe'-ti'me l back the land; sales and flourishing Customs'revenue* of Nejw South .Wales Have left her' with a plethora of funds which 1 her' expenditure \ did not seriously diminish. As the Bank of New fSbuth could not, fappafehtly discover any satisfactory mean 3 ofjinyestment, i our; < .Goverhmdnt have .stepped in and 1 taken advantage jof a dis< position idni/the partf of that |bank to utilise, in; afloah to this "colony; ajpprtiouj of the accumulations of the Government of New' south Wales,; and witK which it has; ..actually 1 hampered; ' 'The advantage'of L this transaction is, that theposition of the Government! will be' strengthflned in-it^/dealings^with either the.£ondon money imarketl qr !its own bankers. uiThe' precise terms upW which, this- : loan "has'been concluded are, it rriay be ; giteßliraed/i: not- ( ,dis- f cipsed.'j^but : if; [ as - fe'portedj it has bdeh' two years, it. k would r appear to be the of the; Government , irgCrainlfqm issuing; any further; loan'in jLpndp"ndiiring ; 3hatJpeHod. If such is ;their; intention,:,-and it successfully; carriedooutj there can;l)'e no doubt but that it will be of the utmost advantage ."to/lhfl Jcredit. :of .thiCTOlony. Of-'course half-a-million would be quite inadequate to. meet: the.; various-provincial liabilities taken, ovei; 'by thP 'General-Government,•' together,'vritih;: the f public wbrkis which of'"necessity;, be<- proceeded o with 'years' jrbut it' may' ibe^prpsunied,ihat'with;"thiß .aniount in aid, thej-resourqes .pf-'thefvGpvernment .baiilfersj will be found equal to [event thV somewhat heavy demands which are likely WffimMo~lip6W'tW"Gßf%mSetft, if our conjecture: aslfo the Government-'irit&ri-' -tiojis be correct;;-". j

\'o 7. '■ J "i ■■■ ■ .'" .: ■■ . <■ \ >''';.-:.«[ ! The inhabitant* of this cite:have' waited long and patiently'for the long-promised ■Water supply thafriwbuld be "equal to the •requirements of the'city. During this %>'eri6d of aiispense the vast majority of citizens, especially thbße'who <'reside in the inore' elevated, parts'; 'haV£ continued:to; pay for_ a necessary, while; in/reaUty JhevJiavA; j'jiiid ' ordinary domestic;; purposes, -, i-In ihesefparts _, ,tuwed:pnj;p4ly for a short itime;ieach>:day, and in some in- ; stances'hot at'alli there'fore of JJ whenj lit v annouaced tne'DtheJ? 1 day that the pfncreai<ted< to be ! inadeV Mie' 'occasion tit iiicfeased (taxation 'in ,^nioit li ob^ecU6«abl<i i f 6jf W,'in;<f e shape charges''ip£}"feathS[''fajnd such riikeViuses,; ,'jwfi'ieh" properly/jComja under vtne'rdenomination,'>-;o| purposes.!' m- Wihat . does[, r the] tjlayon 1 tneani' tbjil the r;term rlif.' domesfcica ipttrposes 1" means water (for drinki% ; an'd the few culinary gurposeaiflfathß househ'old^'tHen 1 .we'-venture to tell Him that it which m these"

things L M?,ltib%', borne:'/uiiderVthis head, we ate &i JJ &--losk'.io i'h'ow, JiOjwytp classify spent a considerable syim of public /mpijey tp-^n-/, .crease the.water-iautolyj* wd.in this they did fwellyt<and rwould doubtless be supported by the i good;! sense; of 'the public, whatever might be the'cost'Of^hfemn^er-.* HaMag' i 'provided' alwayS'thafc' no cheaper m'o'de'of supplying" im de , scienfcy< could' be devised.,, r ßut ; in're'turh >I 'for' this the public !to, and have! a' right so|expepty and liberal supply lojE-watei^ior^^ '"poses." ItßpiciiJ" charge" "for" bnmWp,, - garden tapß,..and. manufactures.no rwwm* 1 'able pcftSsott Icotild object J ttf;,?'But even these should be made as A. light as poas'ible' (with' a' due "regard Ito the 'interfest£! r J of > '"the' general 'public, and ,the !l siiiipj^ :1 at' ( ' in"6rder-to-encWrage trade'aM quite agree with.f^e .n'&eSslty'bf idopting tjxei'jEQOst to prevent ~the 'M,>vrfot#s_ by careless and -unprincipled -people. —-We are of T opihto'n-that' supply of this to BSlafin I, exce% v^f'il;h'e I; d6mftid J ,and f .persona,,.who t'ill'l'continue to waste thisM-iiipbMant element of domestic economy, while their neighbor* Want;,*

should be visited with the severest penal-; ties that the, law permits, and that without respect'of persons. It.appears to us thatphe Council have .either not much faitlir-% the abundance of, their newlyacquirecl supply, and hence\wish to discourage, its too liberal that they wish to drive a hard bargain with the citizens. Possibly a few instances might be cited where extra charges were made for the purpose ; indicated,- as,, for instance,' Bathurst in -a neighboring colony, and Dunedin. But these happily are the exceptions and not the rule.—We do riot know whether this exceptional state of things still continues in those towns, as-our informationi is not of recent date ; but this we know, that in the great, cities of Australia no such arbitrary taxation ■ exists. In Melbourne, Sydney, Geelong, and Hobartoh, every > facility is afforded the citizens to make a liberal use of water. In Melbourne during three months of 1874-5, the water supply showed signs of exhaustion ; the; use of water for purposes other than domestic was prohibited, but no objection was made to the use of it for private bath's. 'ln a sanitary point of view, the liberal use of water is of the first importance. This is a truth so generally admitted that "it is scarcely necessary torepeat it. Respectable and enlightened people are so fully cognisant of this, that they will not deprive themsevesof their accustomed-bath,; cost what it may ; and they will submit to any exaction rather than. 5 do without _ it; -i .But the poor for the most part are not jso particular ; and it is on their behalf more particularly—that we now speak. It is of the utmost moment to the commonwealth, that this class of the community should be encouraged to make a liberal use- pi water-for cleansing purposes. Their houses' aire small, closely! packed together,; .and generally filled With inmates. There is too frequently a tendency in such, cases .to liye in a state of uncleanness. These places; are ,the i haunts of disease; epidemics of a'fatal! nature are engendered, the direful effects of which are felt by all classes of the community, and the public are put to the expense of sanitary measures which far outweigh the most costly water supply in the world. It. would Joe wiser policy to supply water in such leases at less than the prime cost than to make excessive charges, r. Prevention is better than cure, and cheaper in the end. We have said enough to bonvince the'kiost unreasonable that | a wise and liberal policy in respect jof the water supply is most, desirable. We' trust, therefore, -that the Council will, reconsider this matter, and place no prohibitory conditions on the free use of water for those purposes which!conduce to the health and comfort of the people. While on this subject, a word or two may be allowed relative to the source of pur supply, and (the probability or otherwise of its being able to bear thVstraihof an increasing population. According to our present scheme, we are entirely dependent on stream, a stream of no great volume at best, tile water being' intercepted at a certain ppirit.arid led by .a tun,nel. intpthe receiving .basin; • in Polhill's-Gully; and ; thence by pipes, into the town. We have before us the report of the City Surveyor, dated 1871,! wherein the present scheme is propounded. , ."VVe have no desire to call that gentleman's engineering sMUiuquestion, but from a perusal of the document we are led,to the: .conclusion that (his relative to the capabilities of that stream tojirieetthe requirements-of a large city are notlikeTy-" to be realised. The report certainly speaks in r the most positive mannfer bf.the 'stream and the "rainfall of the combined with ; proper reservoir accbmirio-; datiori, "being " able to supply i a town ,of . 47,0f10, inhabitants., ,We h4ve bur- ' selves' visited tlie "locality, and we .can v ,ouly ,say .fwp, .hope. 0 the. jautharV | anticipations may prove correct.'<■ MBut'lwe shall, not ,be .surprised; if / they, do not. It is very easy to make calculations on paper,j ;;but unfortunately, experience often proves the falsity of suchj calcuia-. tions when ibased.upon F merely theoretical formula. The report estimates the mini- ' mum annual rainfall at 40in. j This is. 'proDablytather under the mark, and is an error on the safe-Bide. But when we read of two-thirds of this, or even onereckohed ; upon' as it the probable quantity thatVan"be saved from this; and impounded in the reservoir (for.; the., supply-of the city ; during periods' of drought,-it' occurs .Hb us that jhe estimate is altogether too high. .In ! sucli r calculations', loss ; by evapoyation,,: percolation arid similar agencies! have to be taken into account. And the loss from these causes J far exceeds one-third, i or even one-half of-the rainfall; it is ÜBual for to reckon orily-upon-'■'i >'Bii'th,' : or'. ; at- the most a fourth^, of Lthe average l rainfall. Jn the Yan Yean reservoir (which supplies Melbourne), evapora-. tiqn was found so strong as to suggest the necessity," a" year or two ago, of rpofing'it to prevent the loss of water by that means,' This js an r agency, c too,,,whieh is most powerfur'in hot aria dry we'ather,"when the supply is .at. the lowest ri ebb |afld-'the'' dram upon it for domestic purposes much, Jarger.thanusual.,. ,Of,course,in estimatirig \he percentage" that 'can* be f relied upon local circumstances must be considered. Evaporation will not! be so rap a cold as in a hot one. 'Winds,' too; exercise- 5 a influencein promoting evaporation. Th? geplo-r gical character of the drainage basin'is not without its influence; some jSoils,re-' tain a large percentage of the rainjfal], and' give it .off slowly, while otherp'retainonly a small quantity, and discharge tlie ■ greater sart at:.once, ; vlit/jnust | be, ad-' mitted that an area of a square niile is an «exceedingly-small space to draw rooq'fpr an extraordinary supply. This of jcpurse r cton6t r be 'aVbidcSar-■'» But it is important; that we should look the facts fairly'in ,the, f faceV fahWnot de'tfeWe'burselves by[ expect-, ing from this source auch a quantity of water as "experience proves we |are' !ri6t? likely bo obtain. We have not jyet exhausted thjs,subject, T but we .have 1 already 'extended"tliis article Tieyond its proper, limitsil>JKe(will'conclude by saying there are other sources of supply at our which/at,«trifling could be made available for the purpose,, J terday's-rain; but the letter of His WorshfjfttfeMayor'y ! wlU6h appears in ano.ther column, does not at all affect thei general question.] ; ( ;■