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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5181, 30 October 1877, Page 2

Oor contemporary,' the Evening Post , is very facetious about a communication we received, signed Titiro Marire,’ and states for the information of its readers .that there is no such place as Tapu Taupo,. .Tauranga, in the Tauranga District. We never said tpere was any such place, there. Wa are'prepared to prove that there is such, a place’as Tauranga Tapu at Lake Taupa, " -Our .very particular and correct contemporary will .also perhaps note that the document' was dated Tauranga.Tapu, 'Taupo, .21st October,,' and notTapu 'Taupo, jTauranga, 23rd Gctoher. It is a pity that the jletter of Whakapona xvas not published.. It inifty be that’ it is intended by Whakapona to show that his statement is truthful.' For fear he should again bo guilty of inaccuracy jn this ’respect, we would suggest for the future that, he sign himself Whakapono (faith), instead .of Whakapona (make joints)/’' A' devilled ibone of a political opponent may go very high 'occasionally, especially when the writer is “ he Itangata whakapono ki to kai tangata” (a jperson who believes in cannibalism)’; but we 'hardly give the correspondent of the Evening ■Post’ credit for wishing to joint or disjoint the 'editor of that journal. Instead 1 of studying human anatomy with an eye to the Copper, 'maori, we would suggest- to Mr. Whakapona, 'or Whakapono, whichever he may he,, that- he, should procure a map of New Zealand, and ilearn correctly.’ the' geography- of. his own 'country, and .lie will then be able to find a -settlement' knoWix 'nV Tauranga Tapu at Taupo jon the east side of that , lake, about half-way between Tapuaeharum and Tokano. We hear that Mr. Sheehan read a telegram from Tawhioo, Sri • wliich' that 1 dusky ’ potentate 'requested Sir George Grey to meet him at Kopna on the' Bth November; and also stated that this was the first communication received from Tawlmo since the Waikato war Of 1863. How kind

of Tawhiaoto ask Sir George Grey to go up so soon, especially when he knows the session will last longer than that date. , \Vc expect the xvhold- Story ja about as accurate as the assertion has neverksent‘' : any letter or telegram since 1863.

The Waterworks, to which so much attention h now being directed, are rapidly approaching completion, and' there appears no doubt that in a very few weeks an abundant supply of water will be available for the town. ■ All that now remains to be done at the reservoir is the putting up a bridge from the bank to the concrete tower, 'a little extra work in removing some loose stuff lying at the base of the embankments, and the finishing the stone pitching which slopes from the top of the wall to the bottom of the lake formed by damming up the stream. The process of laying down the large pipes in the tunnel connecting the reservoir with the distributing basin on the Polhill Gully side of the hill, is being rapidly pushed on, and will bo finished in a few days. The present deficiency in the supply of water to the town arises from the fact that the water has to be run off in order that the men may get on with the work of laying the large pipes. The additional supply made by impounding the Polhill Gully stream near the distributing basin will be immediately available, and will be very useful; but when the whole works are completed, there will he after the first rainfall a lake of water capable of supplying every reasonable demand that could be made upon it by a population much larger than that of ; Wellington at the present time. Mr. Saunders, the contractor, may certainly be complimented on the manner in which he has carried out these works, which will be second to none of the kind in the colony. Those who are agitating for a small auxiliary reservoir at the Thorndon end of the town should remember that long before such an undertaking could be finished —to say nothing of the extra cost entailed—the main work will be completed.

; A QUESTION of considerable importance to all persons working on contracts was recently decided at the Supreme Court. Two men who had been working for a sub-contractor on the railway at Pakuratahi, and had not been paid their wages, sued the original contractor in the ’Resident Magistrate’s Court, which tribunal decided that under the Contractors’ Debts Act the contractor was personally responsible for wages due by the sub-contractor, and gave judgment-accordingly. This decision was reversed by the superior Court, which held that the men could only recover out of monies owing by the sub-contractor, and then for not more than sixty days’ wages, and in this instance the contractor did not owe anything to the sub-contractor. The judgment is doubtless a correct interpretation of the statute, which is obviously defective in attaining the chief object for which it was passed, viz., to prevent working men being deprived of their wages though the fault of a sub-con-tractor. At this late stage of the session, it appears unlikely that there will be time to amend the Act/but it certainly does appear that it needs alteration. If a clause were inserted providing that a contractor should retain in hia hands a sufficient sum to pay the wages, of all men. employed under.the.sub-con-tractors, the workmen would be better protected than they are under the Act as it stands at present, which really is of little benefit to them; and it was in their especial interest that it was passed. An, amendment in the direction we have pointed out seems very desirable.