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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5279, 25 February 1878, Page 2

One surprise succeeds another when the affairs of the Waterworks contract are brought under the notice of the Qity Council. Mr. Saunders sends a letter to the Council asking for the £2487 awarded him for extras by the Consulting Engineer. , It may be perfectly natural that the contractor should ask for the money, but under the circumstances most people would hare felt surprised if he had got it The Mayor proposed that Mr. Saunders' request be complied with. Now, Mr. Mayor Dransfield in doing so advised that' the Council should commit an illegal act., It is distinctly stated in the: specifications that one-fourth .of the total amount of the tender should remain in the hands of the Corporation'till the work was completed and passed. The City Solicitor has stated that it is clearly laid down in' the specifications that all payments on account of extras should bo subject to the same conditions as payments on the original contract—namely, that twenty-five per cent, should be retained. The amount of the tender was £17,195, and to this has to be added £2,487 for extras, making a total of £19,682, which will be decreased to some extent if Mr. Blackett’s recommendations are carried out. However, on the full amount stated, Mr. Saunders, according to the specifications, would be entitled to receive £14,762 until the work was completed and passed. Mr. Saunders has already received £15,000, although the work is still in progress ; and yet the Mayor coolly proposed that Mr: Saunders should receive a further payment of £2487. The free-and-easy style of dealing with the" Corporation funds which was in rogue during Mr. Hutchison’s Mayoralty appears in some degree to extend to the present occupant ef the office. It is all very well for Mr! Saunders to complain about losing interest. We venture to think that if this question were gone into, and an interest account made out, that the balance would be against Mr. Saunders instead of being in his favor. When the next certificate has been issued, he will only hare £3698 15s. 7d. to receive, and three months after that payment he will be entitled to draw the balance of his contract, say £984 2s. lid. It is absurd to talk of its being to a man’s credit to refund money which he has obtained wrongfully. Mr. Saunders must have known, when he claimed over £4OOO for extras, that the amount of the original contract had been materially reduced by Mr. Blackett’s report, say £2OOO. Mr. Dransfield ought to be careful,. and avoid appearing to ally himself with any section of the so-called contractors’ ring. Unless ho acts in a perfectly impartial manner, his influence for good will soon cease, and his present popularity begin to wane.