CITY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5009, 13 April 1877, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

The ordinary fortnightly meeting of the ! City Council was held yesterday at the usual hour. Present—His Worship the Mayor, Councillors Dixon, Mills, Cteland, Rainie, Allan, and Allen. The minutes of the previous meeting were duly read and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. The Town Clerk then read copies of letters distributed since last meeting, and also letters received. WATER WORKS EXTENSION. The following letter from Mr. Saunders was " Wellington, April 5, 1877. "Sir, —I wish:to make' a statement re waterworks extension contract :—That three weeks ago the foundation for the main puddle wall was excavated to the required depth. I made application to the Waterworks engineer that I was prepared to commence the puddle wall, and have heard nothing about the matter till this morning. I commenced the puddle wall yesterday, April 4th, and was stopped by the Waterworks engineer, Mr. ' Marchant, saying the work could not be proceeded with until Mr. Blackett, the consulting engineer, returned to Wellington to certify as to the foundation. Nor, sir, I think that if the city is to be supplied with water within a specified time, I must now ask the Council how I am to comply with the specification of my contract if lamto be impeded in this matter. If lam to lose three weeks in fine weather, what is to be expected in the winter time ? I also acquaint the Council that I intend to claim compensation for detention of time.—l have, &c, "J. Saunders, Contractor." " Builders and Contractors' Association, Mr. Marchant, being questioned, stated that the part referred to was the soul of the work, and it was desirable that Mr. Blackett should be consulted. The matter was postponed. WATERWORKS. The following letter was read:— " Wellington, April 11, 1877. " Sir, —The City Engineer, in replying to a letter of yours on the 3rd inst, goes out of his way to lay what he chooses to term a charge of gross fraud against two contractors, and in such a pointed manner as to leave no doubt as to whom he refers to. One of those contractors so referred to, is amember of our association. Now, while knowing nothing of the truth or otherwise of Mr. Marchant's statement, that " a proposal was made to add three or four thousand to each of the three tenders," we hold that suce a proposal, even if it had been made or entered into, would not have amounted to any attempt at fraud whatever, but would have been a perfectly legitimate transaction, as it would simply be three men putting their united judgment together to compete for work for which tenders had been called in all the principal towns of New Zealand, as also against other contracting firms in Wellington ; and any sum of money they might add to their tenders would simply reduce their chance of getting the contract. Apart from this, a tender cannot be considered a fraudulent document, no matter what the amount, or on what data it was based upon, seeing it is only an offer to do certain things for a certain sum, and its acceptance or rejection is optional. In the present case, the City Council had the estimate of the City Engineer on the table, which should be a sufficient guard to the Council to prevent them accepting a tender they might think excessive. This matter has been very fully discussed at the annual meeting of the Builders and Contractors' Association, and they feel that an uncalled-for insult has been thrown upon them as a body ; and I am directed by the association to request you to call upon Mr. Marchant to retract the charge or statement which he makes of gross fraud ; and further, that you lay letter before the City Council for publicity.—l have, &c, " Samuel Brown, I " Hon. Sec. B. aud C. Association.

"His Worship the Mayor." The Mayor remarked that the letter being before the Council, it rested with members to take what action they deemed fit. On the suggestion of Councillor George the letter was referred to Mr. Marchant, the City Engineer, to report on. RE A COAL DEPOT. From Mr. Martin Kennedy the following letter was read : " Wellington, April 11, .18/ /. " Gentlemen,—l have the honor to inform you that I yesterday made application on behalf of the Brunner Coal-mining Company (Limited), Greymouth, to the Hon. the Minister for Public Works, for permission to erect a wharf or platform about 200 ft. square, in front of and adjoining the present breastwork, situate near the Lion Foundry, or any other convenient position, should it not be available, subject to such restrictions and conditions as he may think proper to impose. I may say the object of the application is to provide a wharf for the line of steam colliers the company propose to employ between this port and the West Coast, as it is imperative for each steamer to make four trips per month, and this can only be done by being in a position to deposit coals on the wharf, have a berth always at their disposal, and to discharge at night as well as day whenever required. We have purchased the Luna to start with, and if she proves a success, one or more of larger carrying capacity will be added within a year or so; meanwhile we purpose chartering sailing vessels to meet the demand for our coal which we antici-

pate. Thesuccessfulinitiatiou of a lineof colliers, os proposed, is essential for the development of our. coalfields, to make our colonial coal rail, ways payable ; and to Wellington it has a special'importance. At the present time there is .-aitrade, upwards of 10,000 tons yearly of merchandise imported from Melbourne to the West Coast, including Greymouth, Hokitika, and West'por't, valued at "upwards of £260,000 a year, which, by cheap freight and .frequent communication as. proposed, niust be directed | .to JNew; Zealand, and largely, to Wellington... Even supposing merchandise could be pur-" chased better in Melbourne, owing to the inevitable high' rates of .towage (20s. per ton) " freight is and will continue at 355. to 40s. per sailing vessel. Tliere is no reason why it should exceed 10s. from here ; in which case West Coast merchants could import via Wellington. The writerbeing largely engaged during the past twelve years in the merchant and shipping business at Greymouth, is enabled to speak on this subject with some degree of confidence, and I have no hesitation in saying the application is of very ■ great consequence to Wellington. Should your Council approve of my application I shall be glad for you to communicate to that effect with the Hon. the Minister for_ Public Works, as I have reason to believe his decision will be guided to a large extent according to your recommendation. The company do not seek to evade any post charges now payable, or to exercise any monopoly whatever. If you consider we should be exempt from port charges for a short period, to recoup the cost of the wharf, or some proportion of the cost, I think it wovdd only be ah act of justice. Any right we may obtain the company is willing should not in any manner interfere or hamper the action of Government, City Council, or Harbor'Board with regard to future wharf extension or reclamation.—Hoping this matter will receive your earnest and early consideration, I have, &c,

" Martin Kennedy, " Manager Brunner Coal-mining Co. - " (Limited), Greymouth. "His Worship the Mayor and members of the uity Council, Wellington." - His Worship said the letter had only just come to hand, and he had not therefore had :much time for consideration ; but it opened up an important subject. It was of great importance to encourage such industries, and he" thought the Council ought to signify generally its views regarding the question. He would move, —That the Council expresses its apjiitoval of the enterprise of Mr. Martin Kennedy, aad, with the reservation of the rights of the Corporation, will have no objection to any plans ■the Colonial Government may adopt for the erection of a wharf or jetty. Councillor Geobge Allen-suggested that the matter should be considered by the Wharf.. Committee, as the question could be by them gone into in detaiL - ; ;.' Councillor GEOKaE objected to any company; being allowed exceptional advantages. A company now existed in Wellington' who expected to have coal from the,West Coast delivered in Wellington in a.short period; and' if such rights were allowed at all, they should be given to that company in consequence of its local connection. He did not wish to be understood as desiring to throw any'difficulties in the way, but was anxious to see an equal distribution of favor.

Councillor Mills agreed with Councillor-' George to the extent that one company should.: have equal advantages with'•; another.: The question was one of considerable < importance, inasmuch as it was a large and. important trade, which it was highly desirable. to encourage in every possible way. .' ". Councillor Dixon quite agreed with what had fallen from the last speaker.: \ Councillor Greenfield proposed that the matter should be referred to the:Wharf Committee. Councillor G. Allen, seconded the motion. The Mayor said he had not the slightest objection to the matter being referred to the Wharf • Committee, or to the adoption of any course the Council might deem desirable under the circumstances; and, whiteon his" occasion to remark that Councillor George had evidently misunderstood him, or had not listened to what he said ia moving his resolution. What he (the Mayor) said was that the rightsand privileges of the Corporation should be reserved. It was entirely a matter for the Government apart from that ; what the Council had to look after was that the wharf dueswere paid. Ultimately the Mayor's resolution was withdrawn, and the matter referred to the Wharf Committee, on the understanding that the committee should meet on Monday. WORKS. A letter from Mr. Johns, respecting drains, &c, on Featherston-terrace, was referred t 6 the Public Works Committee. An application by Mr. McLean for the extension of his contract (laying pipes) for one month was granted. THE WHARF CONTRACT —A QUESTION. Councillor Mills reminded the Mayor that at a meetingjheld on the 16th of March it was determined by the committee that the notice calling for tenders be withdrawn, and tenders had since been called for without any notice being given to the Council of the alteration in the specifications. He personally had not heard a word about it, and he thought as so many errors had been made at first that it was a pity the amendments should not have been laid before the Council, to avoid the possibility of having to go through the same process again. It was a serious matter, having involved the expenditure of a considerable amount of the time of gentlemen who had come to Wellington to see into the matter, with the object of tendering for the work. The Mayor said the specifications had been remitted to him to take the advice of some qualified eugineer regarding them. He had waited some, time iu hopes of having Mr, Blackett's assistance; but finding that his return to town was uncertain, and being anxious that this important work should be proceeded with, he had obtained the advice of Mr. Hales, who had superintended the erection of the present outer T, and in whom he had every confidence, and he had also called in the aid of Mr. Climie and Mr. O'Neill, both of whom had professional experience in this class of work. He was glad to say that after a careful consideration of the plans and specifications, no change of any very great importance wag found necessary, and certainly no change which ~ could justify the sort of clamor which had been raised about the specifications. He would state what the changes were which he had sanctioned in the specifications, and under which fresh tenders were now called for. The changes were as follows : —l. The piles proposed for outer T to be reduced from 18in. x 18in. to ICin. x 16in., and driven I6£t. instead of 18ft. 2. The 14in. piles to be driven 14ft. into the ground instead of 16ft. as specified. 3. The waitings to be squared not sawn. 4. The transverse wailings in outer T to be in two lengths, instead of one as

specified, except the outer wailing; the larger lengths to be not less than 40ft. 5. The outer wailings at the end of each T to be in one length. 6. Scarfs to be shown on drawings. 7. The planking to be not less than 16ft. loug, instead of 35 as specified. 8. On page 5, under the heading "diagonals" the following words to be struck out:- " as the case may be." 9. The Muntz metal on piles to extend Ift. Gin. in the ground, instead of 4ft. as [specified, and to be Ift. above high water mark. 10. A price to be taken for any additional length of piles. 11. There should be either one contract for all the works embraced in drawing No. 1 ; or, 12. Two contracts, one for the extension of the T's complete, and the other for the widening of the wharf complete. 13. The clause referring to vertical fenders (page 7) can be embraced in any of the tenders. On one point he had made particular inquiry. It had been stated publicly at the Council table that the specifications were prepared evidently with the view of favoring some particular contractor. That, at all events, as he understood it, was the gist of the charge. He had now to state, on the authority of the professional gentlemen who examined the specifications, that so far as they could see there was no ground whatever for any such charge. He made this statement in simple justice to Mr. Marchant. He probably had occasion to differ from Mr. Marchant more thaD any other meir.« ber of the Council, and he could not doubt that Mr. Marchant considered him altogether

ft very disagreeable person ; but be stood up for fair play, and he hoped Councillor* in future would not make statements of this kind without having good grounds for doing so, as the charge to which lie referred, if it were correct, must disqualify the person,capable of such conduct from holding any office of public trust. He hoped the course he hadadopted would meet the approval of the Council. Councillor GtiEEXt'lKl.D thought that as a matter of courtesy the Mayor might have consulted the Council. Councillor Gkorce took exception to the manner in which the Mayor referred to the remarks of Councillors on this subject, and considered that the charges made were of much greater importance than the Mayor made them out to be. He also took exception to the fact that the nature of the specifications had been made public before they were supposed to be exposed to view. The Mayor said he had nothing to do with •what appeared in the papers. Councillor George said he had not been actuated by any personal feelings in raising this question, as the Mayor appeared to insinuate. But there had been very many complaints about this contract. Thus he had met men up country who had different conditions as to the contract from what he had seen. The alterations were very important, as affecting the cost of the work. The Mayor.appeared to attribute motives to • him very unjustly. Councillor Mills was of opinion that the Council ought to have had these specifications laid before them. It was left to the Council to find out certain errors made in the original specifications, and before fresh tenders were called for, the tenders should have been laid on the table, in order that Councillors might take them into consideration. He felt very strongly on the subject, as it was one involving large interests, and there was a possibility that something of importance might yet remain to be done in connection with the specifications. In speaking to the question, he was understood to say he was of opinion that the percentage on the contract remaining in the engineer's hands for three months was rather high. He thought a modification might be made in that direction. Councillor Clelasd thought the committee was entirely to blame. They referred the question to the Mayor, and it was optional with him whether or not he referred the back to them, although probablyit would have been better had he done so. He really failed to see, with all due respect to the subcommittee, what they could have done had the matter been referred back to them. The Mayor having consulted three professional gentlemen in the matter, he thought the discussion somewhat irregular and uncalled for. Councillor Dixon was of opinion that the Council was indebted to Mr. George forhis observations regarding this important question. The Mayor said he had understood that the matter had been remitted to him with full power to act, and he did what he considered best to expedite the work. He understood also that it was not usual to have the plans and specifications laid on the table. Councillor Cleland : Nevertheless I think that course should be adopted. The Mayor : It may be introduced, but it has not been the custom hitherto. "We have a competent professional man to assist us with his services in such matters, and having got what I consider to be sound opinions on the subject under discussion I proceeded to act; I had no personal feeling in the matter whatever.

CHARITABLE AID. j The Mayor said he had to lay before the , Council some important correspondence between the Government and himself on the question of charitable aid and other subjects The first letter read was from the Treasury Department, under date April 5, informing the Council that the subsidy of 10s. in the pound on account of rates collected, viz., ,£3473 16s. 6d., less contribution to charitable aid, £432 10s. 5d., had been lodged to the credit of the borough fund account. i In reply to the above, the Mayor wrote as follows ; " Mayor's Office, April 6. "Sib, —I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of a circular from the Treasury, of yesterday's date, intimating payment of subsidy to the city of Wellington Corporation for the half-year ending 30 th June next. In doing ; so, I have to express my astonishment at finding a deduction from the sum so paid, of £432 10s. 5d., for charitable aid, seeing I had entered into what I understood to be a distinct arrangement with the Hon. Mr. Boweu that no such deduction should be made provided they would take over the charge of the charitable aid for the city. The Council did take over this charge, and proceeded to make the necessary payments in connection therewith. It now appears I must have mistaken Mr. Bowen's meaning ; and a 3 there has been no such arrangemeut as I supposed and acted upon .in perfect good faith, of course any further charge on the part of the Council must now cease, and the recipients of charitable aid will be told to attend at any place you may be pleased to fix for the purpose o£ paying them. —I have, &c,

" William Hutchison. " The Hon. the Colonial Secretary." The following letter was received in answer to that from the Mayor : " Colonial Secretary's Office, April 11.

<i g lß; —With reference to your Worship's letter of date April 6th inst., on the subject of the Treasury circular, and the stoppage of the sum of £432 10s. 5d., to cover expenditure on charitable aid, from the amount of subsidy payable to the city of Wellington Corporation, I do myself the honor to inform you that as no reply to Mr. Bowen's letter of date February 16 was received from your Worship, the Treasury could not be advised that the arrangement therein proposed was complete, and in consequence fell into an error as to the precise amount necessarily to be deducted from the gubsidy payable to the city. " The item, charitable aid, in the books of the Treasury covers all expenditure for charitable purposes, and in this particular case includes payments made on account of the Wellington Hospital, the charge for the Maintenance of which has not yet been taken over and provided for by the City Council. "The payments made on account of such institutions as hospitals are necessarily deducted from the subsidies voted for local governing bodies, as provided by law; and I venture to express a hope that upon reconsideration of the question, your Worship will find reason to alter the decision announced in the letter now before me, and will continue to aid the Government in the work of giving relief to destitute persons in the city of Wellington. Except through an error such as I have indicated, no misunderstanding about money could, I think, have arisen between your Worship and the Government; that error being one of account only, can be easily rectified.—l have &c,

" Danikl Pollen. " His Worship the Mayor, Wellington." To this the Mavok replied as follows : "The Mayor's office," April 12. "Sir,—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, in reply to mine of the 6th inst., relative to charitable aid. I need hardly assure you that I have always sought to co-operate with the Government in this or any other matter within my power. But in the circumstances of this particular case, as causing inconvenience to a number of poor people, I had no alternative than to act as I did.

"Let me explain. I undertook to relieve the Government of any care or responsibility in connection v/ith charitable aid till the end of June_ next, on the disttnet uuderHtanding (distinct in so far as I was concerned, although in view of what has occurred I am bound to suppose that I must have misapprehended Mr. Bowen's meaning,) that no deduction whatever would be made from the subsidy payable to the Corporation. This, in fact, was the basis of the arrangement, as understood by me, and I may point out to you that it was r.'.'t likely to be otherwise. To agree to divburiu municipal funds for charitable aid, while the Government had money in their possession by Act of Parliament for that purpose, bears improbability on the face of it, although I am constrained to admit that the Treasury circular indicates that this view of the arrange-

ment must have been entertained by the Government. It was impossible, at all events, that I could be a party to it; and I fail to see why the Government has deducted the sum in dispute, unless they themselves propose to relieve the poor with it. , " You state that' as no reply to Mr. Boweu s letter of date February 1G was received from me, the Treasury could not be advised that the arrangement therein proposed was complete. I can only' reiterate • that I certainly understand the arrangement was complete, and proceeded in the most perfect good faith to carry out my share of it. The reason why no reply was sent to Mr. Boweu'a letter arose not from any incompleteness of arrangement, but because, as I proposed to enlist the Benevolent Society in our tentative operations, 1 waited to inform him of the result of my negotiations with that society. But whether successful in securing the services of the Benevolent Society or not, Mr. Bowen was assured that the Government should have no further trouble in the matter. "The only other point in your letter requiring notice is that which indicates, as I understand it, that assuming you paid over the money for charitable aid to the Corporation, you would still claim a deduction from our subsidy, for the support of the Wellington -Hospital. Such a deduction would be perfectly fair, had it not been settled otherwise for the following reason, of which I think you will see the force. It was pointed out that the payments to be made by me embraced claims for which the city of Wellington could on no possible principle of justice be held chargeable, but claims which, during a merely temporary arrangement, it would be unwise to disturb. Tor example, I have paid paupers resident in Otaki, Johnsouville, &c, and it was considered that these outside payments might very fairly be placed over against the Hospital charge, and the one accepted as balancing the other.

"I am sorry to inflict these explanations upon you, but the necessity of my doing so is none of my seeking. I venture to hope that, on due consideration, you will allow that I was justified in the course which I very reluctantly adopted, and from which, with every desire to aid the Government, I do not see that I can resile until we understand each others views more clearly. You will decide the matter as you think fit.—l have, &c, "William Hutchison. " The Hon. Dr. Pollen, " Colonial Secretary, Wellington. This concluded the correspondence re charitable aid. city boundaries. In reference to the above the following correspondence was laid before the Council : " Colonial Secretary's Office, April 4. «g IBj —l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the. petition of the Mayor and Council of the city oE Wellington, praying that the boundaries of the city may be extended. " I should feel much obliged if you would furnish me with an exact of, and, if convenient, a plan showing the limits of the proposed extension. —I have, &c, "Daniel Pollen. " His Worship the Mayor, Wellington." " Mayor's Office, April 7. "SIB,—I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 6th inst. this day, relative to an extension of the city boundaries, and in reply I have to state, that so early as the month of January last the information you wish for was submitted to, and the map left with, the Hon. the Premier; and considering that the application then made by the City Council was one eminently reasonable and affecting only municipal jurisdiction, I think I may be excused if I say that the Council has some cause of complaint that the matter was not gone into before this time. " I shall, however, be glad to wait upon you with another plan and map, and refurnish such information as you desire, if it is considered necessary,—l have, &<\, "William Hutchison. "The Hon. Dr. Pollen, Colonial Secretary."

" Colonial Secretary's Office, April 9. « g IR) —I have received your letter of date 7th instant, in which, with reference to the petition of the City Council for an alteration of; the city boundaries, you are pleased to say that seeing that so early as January last the information asked for had been given, 'the City Council has some cause of complaint that the matter was not gone into before this time.' I note that the City Council adopted a certain resolution on the 4th January, that on the 26th you asked for an interview in connection with it ' early next week ;' this appears to have been had with the Premier on the 31st. Your Worship is therefore verbally accurate in referring to the month of January as the time when this subject was first brought under the notice of the Government ; it was not, however, until the 16th February that the petition from the Council was recorded as having been received at this office. It might be inferred from a consideration of these dates that your Worship did not at first regard this matter as I being of such urgency as it must have appeared when on Saturday last you wrote the letter now under reply.

" The City Council will, I hope, be glad to learn that on the ground of delay no reasonable cause of complaint exists ; that the whole question, which I cannot agree with your Worship in regarding as one of merely municipal jurisdiction, had been carefully ' gone into,' and that it required for its determination only that which I asked your Worship to be good enough to furnish, viz., such a description of the boundaries of the proposed extension as would enable his Excellency the Governor in his proc amation to define them in words clearly and accurately. The plan fur-, nished does not give such description. " If your Worship will be good enough to comply with the request that I have made, it will not be necessary that you should take the trouble to wait upon me as you propose.—l have, &c, "Daniel Pollen. " His Worship, the Mayor, Wellington." "Mayor's Office, April 11. "Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 9 th instant, with reference to the petition of this Council for an alteration in the city boundaries. It appears to me that it would serve no good purpose to enter into the question of dates raised by you, although these dates are susceptible of easy explanation ; and if you think that no unnecessary delay, even on your own showing, has arisen in this matter, I am content to leave it so, glad of the assurance that it is now fully gone into, and only awaits a description of the boundaries to be definitely settled. This description, as requested, I have now the honor to forward to you in the accompanying schedule, which sets forth the boundaries of the city as it appears they should be proclaimed in terms of the petition of the City Council. I also send you herewith a map of the city, of the same character as that already left with the Hon. the Premier, showing the boundaries in detail.—l hare, &<;., " Willi Air Hutchison. "The 'Hon. Dr. Pollen, Colonial Secretary." " XB. —It may bo mentioned that beyond the inclusion' of the reclamations marked respectively—A, now proceeding; B, To Aro foreshore; and C, being wharf site at the northern boundary of the city within the same, no extension of the boundaries of the city is contemplated. The proposed change and improvement consist entire!.? in bringing reserves already actually within the boundaries, but specially exempted from municipal jurisdiction, within these boundaries." "Schedule. —Setting forth tho boundaries of the city of Wellington, as altered on the petition of the Mayor and Council of the said city, and addressed to his Excellency the Governor in terms of the 30th section of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1870. Bounded on the north by Port Nicholson harbor and the Harbor District; on tho south partly by the Ohiro District, and partly by tho town district of tho Hutt County ; on the east by tho Evans Bay District and Port Nicholson harbor; and on tho west by the Ohiro, Karori, and Kaiwarra Districts. All the land and foreshore, whether reclaimed laud or reserves, and whether subject to, or exempt from, municipal rate-, are hereby included within the I above boundaries, the whole as more partiou-

larly delineated in a map of the city of Wellington of this date, prepared to show these boundaries, and marked as accompanying this schedule, said map to be-deposited in the Land .Registry offiee for future reference." TE ARO WAItD. In reference to the proposed division of Te Aro Ward the following correspondence was read :—■ " Mayor's Office, March 2. "Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 2nd ult., requesting me to submit the petition presented to his Excellency the Governor for a division of Te Aro ward to the City Council for its suggestions thereon. I have done so, and beg to transmit to you herewith copy of the recommendation the Council has agreed to on the subject. I have asked the City Surveyor to trace the proposed division boundary on a map of the city, which also accompanies this letter. —I have, &c, " William Hutchison. " The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, " Wellington."

" Colonial Secretary's Office, Api-il 6. " Sib, —I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to acknowledge the receipt of your Worship's letter of the 2nd ult., enclosing the copy of a recommendation made by the City Council as to the division of the Te Aro Ward, together with a map of the proposed new wards of Cook and Te Aro. Dr. Pollen observes that the boundaries of the new wards include the lands adjacent to the existing borough which your Worship and the City Council have requested the add to the municipality ; and as no decision has yet been arrived at on that point, I am instructed to inform you that the question of dividing Te Aro Ward will have to bo postponed for the present.—l have, &c, "G. S. Cooper. " His Worship the Mayor, Wellington."

"Mayor's Office, Wellington, April 10. "Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 9th instant with reference to the division of Te Aro Ward, in which you state ' that the boundaries of the new wards include the lands adjacent to the existing borough which your Worship and the City Council have requested the Government to add to the municipality; and as no decision has yet been arrived at on that point,' you inform ine that the question of dividing Te Aro Ward will have to be postponed for the present. "Permit me to point out to the Colonial Secretary that beyond endeavoring to assist the Government and the ratepayers, the former having asked the City Council to do so, this matter is one entirely between the petitioning ratepayers and the Government. And it appears to me that the requirements of _ the Act having been complied with, the division of the ward, with such names and boundaries as his Excellency may fix, should follow almost as a matter of course. "At all events, I hope you will not think me importunate if I respectfully urge upon the Colonial Secretary that a simple act of justice to the half of the ratepayers of the city of Wellington should not be made dependent upon any question of boundaries as between the Government and the City Council; if there is any such question, of which I am not aware, as I gather from another letter of the Colonial Secretary, also of yesterday's date, that this matter of boundaries has been carefully gone into, and only waits for some information from this office to be definitely settled. " I fail to see how this matter of boundary interferes with the division of Te Aro Ward ; and assuming that it does, I would venture to suggest that the lands referred to should be excluded from one or both of the wards in the meantime, rather than that the division shall be postponed, or that any action of the Council could be urged as a reason for refusing to carry out what I have reason to believe is the unanimous wish of the ratepayers touching the asked for division. —I have, &c, "William Hutchison. " G. S. Cooper, Esq., " TJnder-Colonial Secretary, Wellington. The Mayor wished to make one remark respecting these letters. The City Council had, so far as he was aware, been ever anxious to' co-operate with the Government for .the benefit of the city. Pew favors had been asked of them, and he thought they had a right to expect that any reasonable requests should be attended to without delay. It was very unfortunate that the Government should at this time take exception to requests which, as it appeared to him, were very reasonable. THE WHARFINGER. A letter signed by several merchants was read, complaining that the wharfinger did not perform his duties efficiently, and stating it as their opinion that he was totally unfit to have the control of the body of men working under him. Councillor George said that the original charges against Mr. Peeves were in his opinion I somewhat intemperate. Now, however, they were put in a different shape, and could be fairly taken hold of. The better course, perhaps, would be for his Worship the Mayor to appoint some gentleman unconnected with commerce (say Mr. J. C. Crawford, R.M., for instance), with power to take evidence, and so inquire into the matter ; because if the statements made regarding Mr. Reeves were true, that gentleman was unfit to be in the employ of the Council. By the advice of the Mayor, the letter was iu the meantime referred to the Wharf Committee. TENDERS. Tenders for providing 10,000 and 5000 cubic yards of road metal were opened. The tenders for tho 10,000 yards were as follows:—Roberts, Bs. 6d., from Kaiwarra, 10s. from Nghauranga; W. R. Welsh, Bs. lljcl., from Ngahauranga ; J. McLean, 9s. 3d., from Ngahauranga ; Pudney and Carswell, 9s. 9d., from Ngahauranga ; J. Saunders, Bs. 9d., from Ngahauranga, 7s. 9d., from Kaiwarra; R. Scully, Bs. 9d., from Kaiwarra, 9s. 9d., from Ngahauranga; T. Johnson, lis. 6d., from Ngahauranga, 7s. Bd., from Kaiwarra. After considerable discussion Councillor George moved that Mr. Saunders' tender for Kaiwarra stone at 7s. 9d. be accepted. This was seconded by Councillor Clelanj). Councillor G. Allen moved as an amendment that Mr. Johnson's tender for Kaiwarra stone at 7s. Bd. be accepted. Further discussion ensued as to the merits of the stone to be provided, samples having been lodged with the Engineer by the tenderers.

Councillor Allen's amendment was niigati veil, and the motion of Councillor George carried. The following tenders were opened for the 5000 yards :—ltyan and Scully, 6a. UJd.; R. Duigan, sb. 5Ad.; Neil and Mahoney, ss. 9d.; Patrick Scully, 7s. Cd.; J. Saunders, Gs. 6d.; Carswell and JL'ndney, ss. lOd.; K. Seanlan, ss. 7d.; J. McLean, 7s. 5d.; -J. Doyle and Co., ss. 9d. The tender of Mr. Duigan at ss. s£d. was accepted. i'INASCrAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE COUNCIL. The Mayor made a statement of the financial arrangements for the years 1877-78, sayiug that he found them to be in a very satisfactory condition. The valuation for the year amounted to .£17t),310, and lie thought it was creditable to Mr. Ames, the City Valuer, to find that, considering the various interests concerned, there was so very little objection to the valuation. The objections were very few, the sum of £259 only being deducted from the whole amount, leaving a balancoof £170,051 to lie rated for the year 1877-78, The Mayor then proceeded to give an account of the estimated income and expenditure for the year, showing that over and above the ordinary expenditure the Corporation would have a credit balance of £0215 10s, for street improvements and other public works. In connection with this subject, he gave notice that at the next meetin" of the Council he would propose that a rate be struck of Is. in the £. PUBLIC WORKS REPORT. The above report contained no matter of importance. It was adopted. jut. clique's report. Councillor George moved that the report be adopted, and that arrangements be made with Mr. Climie for immediately proceeding with the work. Ho deemed it unnecessary to say much on the subject, as it had already

been freely discussed, and the opinions of; Councillors were pretty well known. Willi reference to the Medical Society's letter,,.he remarked that the Council should not attach much weight to what was said in it respecting the drainage scheme, when they considered what the society so called really was. VeryV strong opiuious were entertained as to the advisability of forming it at all; and he had discovered that ' the leading members of the medical profession would not have anything to do with it. He might mention, for example, that Drs. Johnston, Bradford, Diver, Harding, and Doyle were net connected with the society. That left Drs. Grace, Kemp, Newman, and one or two others perhaps as members thereof. He did not .think, under these circumstances, that very much weight should be attached to what the society said.

' Councillor DIXON moved, —That in furtherance of Mr. Climie's scheme of drainage, a meeting o f engineers be held, to consult with Mr. Climio before proceeding with .the work[; and that a meeting of ratepayers be held ,to take it into consideration. He thought the work would be facilitated by proceeding in the •way he suggested. After some little'discussion, Councillor DIXON withdrew his amendment in favor of one worded by Councillor J. A. Allan, as follows: —That the Council ask the Government to allow the drainage scheme to be laid before their engineers for their approval, before closing with Mr. Climie. Councillor Dixon seconded the amendment. Councillor Rainie objected to a further postponement. The whole question had been freely discussed,' and as a matter of fact nothing had been brought forward to show that the scheme was one that should not be accepted. Nobody had made any objection to it that was worth listening to, and he thought little good would come of the adoption of: Councillor Allan's proposal to lay it before Government engineers. They had had quite time enough to consider the scheme already. -, Councillor J. A. ALLAN said the question was one in which he took a deep interest. 'He should be very glad indeed to see the scheme carried successfully through, recognising as he did the inestimable benefit it would be to the city ; but he did not believe it could be accomplished by the- expenditure of three times the amount of the estimated cost. This he knew to be the opinion of a great many. Councillor Greenfield suggested that a meeting should be called so that the voice of the people might be taken on the subject. Councillor G. Allen was in favor of obtaining further professional advice. The Mayor did not agree with the amendment. To ask the'Government engineers to give assistance would be, he thought, to make confusion worse confounded.

Councillor George suggested that the Council might accept the report, and the ratepayers could afterwards take action in the matter—but he entirely disagreed with postponing the matter further. Councillor Greenfield moved as a further amendment that the ratepayers be consulted. The question was then put, and the amendment—that the ratepayers should be consulted —was carried by the casting vote of the Mayor, it being agreed, on the suggestion of Councillor George, to accept subject to the approval of the ratepayers. GLENBERVIE-TERRACE. Councillor G. Allen's motion in re the above was postponed by consent, owing to the absence of Councillor Moss, who was to second it, the Mayor stating that he had received a letter from a gentleman who desired that Councillor Moss should be heard on the subject. AFFECTING OFFICERS OF THE CORPORATION. Councillor A. CIELAND gave notice of motion to the effect that, with a view to the rearranging the officers of the Corporation, notice be given to the present incumbents.