CITY COUNCIL.
;i ■ THE .DRAINAGE 'SCHEME.* .ri * ' . A special meeting of - the City Council was held last evening, to, consider, .the .following notice of motion given by Councillor Diver—- “ That Mr, Clark’s drainage sohemebe adopted; and that immediate steps i; bo taken- for giving effect to the same.” _ All -the* members - were ’present,; excepting Councillor Moss,' who was prevented by indisposition from attending.It was agreed. to > consider ; the : matter - in committee,-,to- enable Councillors jto- speak - more than once to the motion. Councillor, Diver .had,,much .pleasure,.,in moviag'tbo adoption of Mr. Clark’s report, and that immediate steps be taken , to give; effect to- it. The matter had been in tho mouths and minds of tho people, pf Wellington, for a long time,'and it Was one ,of great importance. They should. congratulate them-, selves ’upon' the. .fact that they, had been able to obtain tbe services of Mr. .Clark,, a meiqber, of the Institute of Civil Engineer?, one Having a special knowledge of, the .subject of drainage, and -also- upon' the fact that .the Council had been able to secure him upon, such favorable' terms, : Mr. Clark ./Had ./not been specially sent for from England ; he had been in their immediate -neighborhood; and (has several hundred -pounds -had been’ saved. The Council now;,had a'report, which must be valuable, because it emanated from,a man of .such ''. experience.—The - removal -of sewage matter had occupied the attention of many of the leading .scientific,.m?n,in, the world, who all, agreed .that it , was absolutely, necessary 'that' the removal: oft; this matter should -be-'effected'as quickly .as possible after, its exudation'from;‘the• body, and,the.quicker tbe better, .because there -was .less -risk. Decomposition would-.not set" in '-if ’ it' were removed'quickly, and thua'there would be less danger, to life. - It was useless. to r draw comparisons l#Btween the sanitary state of country anddistricts in respect to drainage, for Iff country districts the mortality would naturally be lower, because the sewage was conveyed to the earth at once, and instead of being a nuisance, and dangerous to human life, it became a fertilising power,, and did .a very great deal i of igdod,Therefore the'mortality of town and country districts should not be compared- There were .now only two methods in existence for remo vingaewago matter : the one was by water,' and the' other by carting it away or hy hand. Beyond doubt water was very much tho better-method,, because the sewage matter was immediately dilated, and was carriedaway.before it. had time to decompose. : As instances, of this he would refer to London and Krigby,’where the' water carriage system was used. / -Itwas found by tests that there were only from Slbs. to Slbs. of solid matter per tori of sewage';' it never reached Slbs., andthat was a proof that the water-carriage system was the best, The fosoulant matter passed* hy ’ each petobn might be taken at 2ioz. a day, and the liquid matter at 400 z., which- for - 20,000 ’ people - the population 'ofthe city, would -give about 1J tons of solid matter and 6000 gallons of liquid in 24 hours, i - It could not be disputed that the method 1 proposed* in Mr, Clark’s report was very much the best that could be adopted, because the proposed, system would carry tbe sewage away directly 1 to la - place, be 'had proposed, where it would be absorbed by' tbe soil, and thus utilised. Speaking from experience he bad gained 'from seeing such a system at work-in 'lndia, he could say that after, a few, years, land winch had beep : perfcctly useless before'had‘been let by auction to people, who grew mo?t luxuriant vegetation upon it; and the incense , thus.obtained almost paid the expenses'of the tomovalof the sewage. Mr. Clark very -wisely objected to draining the sewage Into .the harbor; for that had been found, in .other places whereat had been tried, to be a failure when the tides' had' not been sufficiently strong to carry it away. Wherever there was a reduction in the rate of the current there the matter would ; be deposited, and wherever it got Into still water foecnlant matter was thrown on the shore, to be a plague, to people - who lived in the immediate neighborhood. As to expense, he quite thought tie cost of- carrying out Mr. Clark’s scheme would appear;-very great in the eyes'of the people, hut the outlay copld not be helped. Whether it would render necessary a 2d., 3d., or id. rate, the expensonjnsfe not-be considered. i The Council had obtained the opinion of the very best man they could get, a picked member of the Institute of Civil Engineers, and the Council would have very'little responsibility resting on their shoulders if they adopted bis scheme. Any objection raised to the plan would have to be a very good one indeed, 'otherwise they would bo looked upon with a great deal of suspicion if they did not adopt’ Mr; Clark's report. If it were not carried opt at once a very, grave responsibility -would rest-on the. shoulders-.of Councillors, and he would; say that tho, report must he adopted. He would move the motion of whichJm. had, giypn uotiqe. ; , Councillor- Dixon had much'pleasure in seconding the motion. About fourteen months ago, when he first sat in the Council, it was proposed that Mr. Olimie’s. scheme should be adopted. He then moved an amendment, and he .believed ;it was >with tho assistance of Councillor Greenfield that measures were taken to have further Inquiry made before adopting Mr. Climie’s scheme. An appeal to the ratepayers proved that it was acceptable to them, though there were many objections -to Mr, Olimie’s proposal. - Finally, "the - Council appointed -Mr. Clark, a man of great ability, to report. upon the whole question, and he thought the scheme of that .engineer ought to- be adopted. It would be very advisable to. take advantage pf, Mr. Clark’s offer to act as-agent of the Council in England, to buy the necessary plant. If the scheme were wisely carried out it would prove agreat benefit’ to the'people of Wellington, and in considering the matter Councillors should remember; the dangerous state'of the present sewers/many being large woodeii drains into which -water-closets -were-emptied.-This state of things was "dangerous- to health, and even ; to„life, .and. he, quite .agreed .with Councillor Diver that the-/sooner .drainageworks were carried out the better would- it be psto for tho inhabitant* of the city, Conncillot GMXNyxiXD thoughtthe Council had not met to discuss whether they should have a drainage scheme, for that had been settled some time ago. but they bad- met for the purpose of adopting- a - scheme/ There was no doubt that Mri Clark was an’able man, and that his scheme was a good one, hnt.be was not prepared to adopt it right off, -There were one or two objection*'to it In his opinion. Mr, Clark aaid.it would cost £131,000, but it might cost .trice that.’ A certain amount /of'-work was etnjmeratedjas.to.be. done, but there were bo details. There'were so many yards of brick work, but they were'lumped and' put down as a total '-’.The high . level sewer,, would run through 'private property from one end of the town to the other, - and- would paw through some of the piceat gardens in Wellington. It had tunnels'and” works of magnitude all along it, and,, would be a work of-vory greatcost. Mr, fluoric recommended that a certain number of. acres of land should he bought to put the sewage - on, but- there - were , very grave objections' to that.* If Mr. Crawford would be agreable/to take the sewage ; and use, it upon bis, land,.the city would be quite willing, to give, it to him; but for the 1 Corporation to take that land and farm it would - lead to eadleas expense, and they, would not : - know what jt. might' cost. He would most ' ; strongly/object to (that being done. -.He did i ■ not approver of Mr. ClarkV proposal to pump 1 the sewage, 37 feet perpendicular, and then to t force it through a 24 inch cast iron pipe a die- i vi lance of 1600-yards, neatly a mile. T'hat wae ■ a very gnytt objection to the scheme, for the i weight m/the'..pfpe.,wpuld-be'7oo or. 800 tons, 1 <or at all .events from 500 to 000 tons.' Tbe i wear and tear of a pump that bad to force 500 ; or 600 tons at"'every stroke would be enormous. ’ Mr, Clark’ proposed to' order; a- pump in ’ England, but whatever it was it would be a ; very serious expense to the Corporation in i working it. He''did not doubt that Mr. i Clark would pee-that-the pump-was a.good l one, and* workable-; but ?ny man who i knew anything about engines and. pumps j would say that the', wear and tear' would be i very great. He failed to see much difference , between Mr. Clark’s and Mr; CUmie's scheme. The former bad been very differently situated to tbe latter. Mr, Climie first took the level of the sti/eets, pod then submitted a scheme for draining-the’.city, and a great many bad approved of.it-. All the Council approved of ib the same’as/some now did of Mr. Clark’s ffr-, Climie bad a great many diffi- I culties to contend with- that Sir. Clark had not. Ho was not allowed to have the pumping elation on “ide of the 'range, and he was not to epmd morc thau a certain sum'of money, rhatwaevery different from'being : “mount of - money a man thought Emper.-cn- a scheme',', He hoped CoQucmora would givo.every consideration -to both schemes, and remember that'one engineer was restricted to a certain sum p{ money, and j placed upon, him. Mr. Clark had Mr, „G)igils t scheme and Mr. Bell’s report to He, .in fact, failed to eee /between ’ the * two schemes, lot Mr. Clark’a was Mr. Climie’s to all
intents and purposes, with inordlmoney spent upon it. — However, •ho ’-would, /not .put any obstruction inthe way of 'adopting Mr. Clark’s Bcheme,for the time had como'whou they must have the city properly drained,’’ but* they, must, while getting .the best plan, look' to expense. Mr.*-Climie’s scheme was esti-, mated to cost .030,000, and Mr, ' Clark’s £184,000.-''»'»’ '• '• ’ ' . ' Councillor Maginitt agreed with a great, deal | that; Councillor Greenfield "bad said. [ To a certain extent Mr. Climie had been rather -unfairly dealt with by the Council • Ho. was invited (jo devise a sieh'eme.ifpif!,di;ainin£[ i ,fhe city, and he was. limited as to'cost, the sum .named being £BO,OOO. "Two of the, most, eminent contractors in_.the city .were ,prepared .to carry out Mr. Glimio’s - , scheme at the / price stipulated. JVlr.;Clark’s was.a-well thoughtout scheme,,.and .probably they’ could hot' obtain a better . from, any enginner/cyet-he! agreed with Councillor Greenfield thattherewas very little differe’nce.between the. schemes, tvith two exceptions—the-extra main for.the higher levels and, ,the the' .Council 'committed itself to s an oxpensai of-£l-10,000 or £150,000 for carrying out tho work; they ought "to pause ; and if .it-were possible to carryiO-ut. Mr- Qlimie/s.-schema for .£BO,OOO, be,,.yfonld prefer, it to?adopting! Mr/ ’Clark’s at a probable cost of £160,000. They ought to pause before, saddling, the. ratepayers* with a heavy extrp mte.-which’.would/haveitd' be levied to pay interest and-.sinking fund upon /the loan,-wbicb.would have to bh specially rafted. During the, .discussion he would hear ColincUlo W,^xpreas,their, opimonsjandho-could-speak flirtner; but for the .present- He quite ngreed with CouncillorGreenfield; and. he. thought the .Council woulcj be .making a great nfatunr'u IH.cdmmitfecj ' itself. absolutely,'.to' -Mr. Clark’s -scheme;; ; 1 ’
"; Councillor Hunter asked Councillor Magi.mty to mention, the.names of the two,,conitraotorS.hO had ; referred to ? ‘ j" r ,,. * ConnoillOf”MAoiinTr had referred ( to‘Mr., Lookie- and Mr, Brown. He mentioned, the. latter bn'hearsay.- -After Mr. Bell’s report had been sent in Mr. Lockie said he was propared to/undeftake tb carry out Mr./Climio’s sebeme for jSBO,OOO or £84,000.' ' ' ' ' V.. / , Councillor, G. Allen said be had given fall consideration to Mr. Clark's report, and to Mri Climie’s. He did not approve of Mr. Clark’s. proposition to place the/sewage,on-the sand, for.thi land was at. present in thb qwnerahip. of a private : ; but they could let' it go intotbe sea-, : Bnd that might ’be the' best plau'tp ■adoph They all agreed,.when Mr/Climie’s re-; port was brought up,'that it was clever,' but it •'would not have beenwell/to take, the'opinion of one engineer only on so important a matter, foramistake might be fatal to the best interests of the city.lt would bo impossible to drain the city without using pumps, for it would never 'do to-discharge into a harbor where the rise and fall of the tide -was ; sob small as in Fort Nicholson, . Mach, bad been said about the 'damage that would be, done’’to private-prO-’ perty; but ifc would be impossiblerto'drain-'tha-city, without going through some private property j; and the little ! more ‘ than nominal,, Mr. Clark’s plan differed veiymd c )b irem ./Mr,, Climie’s in respect to draining’a'large part of the town by gravitation.,, ,The pump prpposed had been oh-, jected toj-but tHOrb'jvas no.'iear of,' Mr. CJark recommending a pump' that'w’o'tdd not db'tHe work required of it, and he, for was quite prepared to accept that 'gentleman’s kiowledge, of hyaranlics. ,M Tben, aa' s t6/tbe’.difference of the cost; lit bjniifon Ml 1 ./Climie bad jumped at the! cost of bis scheme/'for'he had given, no detail; excepting the size bf the sewers.,, Mr.. Clark; had'preVideilfor 52 mileiof drains, and Mr. Climie fm 35:miles; : ahd;the latter barf nof made |any for draining anything but tho higher'levels,-''the lowlevels at Thorndon and the ground in course oi reclamation being unprovided for/ 'No doubt'tb‘e expense of Mr. Clark’s plan'viotfll be large/ but it would tje. money well spenlr. The Council were,very much j indebted'/tp Cotm'cin6r;;i)iver for 1 .the, manner in which/ be had proposed bis motion/, whichi he abotild'oertainly support.. ~, Cotmcillor George ‘taid .he’ would support the preposition of -Councillor - Diver. He did not quite agree with the course ■ which, the debate had taken,' namely, /in discussing .the relative ■merits : ’cif a report by Mr. Clark, and another /report by ’ Mr.; Climie. Mr.. .Climie had furnished the Council with a report, which he (Councillor" George) 'proposed should be adopted and carried out/;subject/to the approval of Mr/ Bell - Mr. Bell declined 'to -endorse Mr/,Climie’s scheme/ -and Mr.'Clark followed on Mrj Bell, Mr. BeQ did not favor the Council with any/advice on the subject;: in fact he was not called upon - to do so, but ' Mr. Clark had given then very 1 valuable advice, and his report showed that the matter natt Been gone Into wltli a -groat-dear more care and completeness by Mr. Clarkthan ithad been-by Mr, Climie. As to some of the arguments used against Mr. Clark’s scheme, all he could say was that it all tha suggestions were .as wide of,thb/mark by/ObnW cillor Greenfield, as- to the' wght which thepipe would have to carry, their objection? to the. scheme were not worthy of much consideratiCn; becanse he?! (OouSoillor tfeorge)-’ found that tbe whole contents would be-e.bout ‘l4O tons, whereas Councillor; Greenfield put." it : .down at 480 tohs.' / tCouhcinoV’ FiBHER,; “ Fignres'will very eSsilydembnstrhto that-”]; Then there was an objection raised to pumping 1 the'sewage,,bn to the sand;. bpfc if they read of the .progress. of drainage works 'elsewhere, they'would find' that/this was the .system;which ,had been adopted/’ The Council had at a great expense engaged the services of /Mr. Glark.'. His services had'algo’ been engaged in large, towns' in Austrab'a and other, parts of the world, and ho (Couhoillor' George) thought the Council could not do better than adopt his.report.. As far'as the estimates of cost were concerned, .it. 'was 'said that Mr. . Clark’s scheme .was more expensive-than; Mr. Climie’s, but,He/.would like'to poiut' out;that the/latter gentleman was bound down’to’a’certan sum, and when that-was the case he had to make his scheme suit tho amount allowed Him.’ l ’• ’‘ ’
Councillor Hunter said he intended to support the adoption of the report, and he 'was in hopes that the Council would have been unanimous’ oniithe question: ■ He 1 attached - very great, importance .'la the consideration :of this question'to'; the-manner' in' - which they decided' to deal with- it, and he agreed with Councillor George to some,extent that' they Were' hot •' called ! upon 1 that evening to pronounce judgment either'onMr. Gllmie’s ‘or Mr. Bell’s scheme. Their object was to consider .the very interesting and able report presented to the Council by a gentleman who was fortunately able to’give them'snch a valuable expression of opinion on a subject that had to be dealt with in avcry decided manner.- .' He' had followed both the- speakers, who 'seemed somewhat to differ from -him' ; but he really did ndtjseo that'any strong or powerful arguments' had beenadducadagainstagreeing' to the '<■ motion , proposed’ by ! Councillor I 1 Dryer.' ‘ Something had been feaidabovxt the heoessity' of. carrying Mr." Clark’s scheme' through people’s!gardens:ti That seemed to him'to be a' very insignificant matter,and he did not think there were any persons in Wellington to whom, it’ would- bo ■ either a source .of 'inconvenience ■ or trouble, ’or 1 who woUld.’ raise an objection to ■ the’ scheme,- so long as the health of the' inhabitants of the city’ ‘was secured. The next .objection taken to Mr. Clark's scheme was'that with reference’; to the-land. He was free to admit that thoro might, be some differenceof opinion; as to whether it would , be better to take the sewage out and! discharge’ it oh this laud, or whether It would not he hotter to carry if but direct to' the sea, bat he could nipt imagine that the'cpst of this land - would be very’ excessive. ' If they ‘ were' to believe all they heard ’ and read and' studied on the subject; he thought there Could be no"question that' the'.land, could he rendered linbst valuable in the’.oonrse of a few years, attd that- therefore'it would-be a’soured of considerable profit ;• but he' did' not look upon' that as a material point, i There were alternative schemes given to them. It was just a simple' question?; of expense; -yvhether .the Council thought it -‘desirable either to deposit the sewage on this laud or to carry it to the ocean at 'once. :r Something had been' said with reference* to the relative .cost of'.the'.two, scheme subiMtted; fey Mr, Olimie and Mr.Clark.i He' certainly attached very great importance to the .estimate-made by Mr, Clark, because he' thought it would be scarcely possible to find a man more competent than that gentleman to furnish ah opinion, < Mr.-Clark had not dealt., with the subject in oho'particular place only,' but in all parts of the world,. < ■ He i had a; long and varied experience in India; and hadprepared drainage schemes one after ’ another.' Mention was made of Sydney, ’Adelaide, and one; or -two. inland: towns; and Mr; Clark’ was also consulted, in Van Diemen’s Land and Christcfeur cb, and ho (Mr, Hunter) I though t, ho. was-correct in saying, that Mr. Clark’s scheme, had been' approved in -every instance, ' Ho of course' spoke under correction,'' but he understood Mr; Clark’s- schomo bad, been approved in Christchurch;.When .Mr, Clark’was in Wellington be was. given to understand that, in Adelaide his scheme ( was 'approved, aird before leaving Sydney he was given to understand thabhia"plan -for .the, drainage of that ’city would be carriedbut.' ' ifilOJOOO'was no doubt a .very considerable amount o| interest and sink- '.
ing fund to pay, but then -they must consider -the verydarge area which Mr. Clark / proposed /to deaf with, compared with’ that which ’’would - be - dealt * with 1 by' 1 Mr/' Climie, > ahd i the perfect and complete,* way , in. ’'which Mr. Clark proposed to* deal with it.’ (Hear, (hear,) Various' .estimates had been; 1 made as to what tho present ooet of removing offensive matter was to*’the inhabitants, but, they/must recollect that it was not* all done/ that .it was only partially done, and that they also paid a large sum'indirectly. , They all knew well that the 'service was inefficiently performed—he was not blaming the contractor inany way; bnt it followedjas a matter of course that the scheme as now carried out could not he., so perfect or comprehensive as this would be,-. It was true the -burden would now fall pu. ‘20,000 or 22,000 people;.but they must recollect that the population/'\vould increase, and that ithey would bo receiving a largely augmented Amount bf fates. Therefore he did not think that in contrasting the two schemes the question of expense was one that they should be.altogelhen,frightened about. . ; They ; .would bave‘* to ’ take .'a .decided and effective ooursb. He did upt'-intend to say very much, with ‘regard to Mf.‘ , 'olimie , fl. scheme, but he might say at* : ’ ouco" that* he., did ...not believ-e in a scheme of drainage which was made!to suit a certain stipulated,.cost. A scheme prepared on’ ! subh' : a basis appeared to him not to have the .stamp' of authority or weight. The fact bf'Mf. Climie putting ,a ach,enae before them and ’’saying,/“This .can be done for £80,000,”' af dice gave’him (Conn.cillor Hunted reasons for ..questioning whether there j was* 8-possibility or; prehahility of its being /done. He was prepared to, believp .that, Mr// Clark’s scheme would dost ’.considerably uoj(e Ithan had* been "put' .down,; .but. that ought; not to deter them 'from.'going into it. Mr. Clark had gone into" the matter, much more minutely and exhaustively .than the gentleman whose'iiame h'o referred 'to. *' Mr.,Bell bore that out very much, in his, report/and pointed out very many matters . in .which ho thought the difficulties'Had* not been fairly, grap'pled with, or the’cost fairly'.estimated. He did not intend to go through the ..report, 'but it [was quite clear there* very grave objed-' tibfis 'urged by‘Miv Bell/tb. some portions of 'Mr. Ciimie’s.repbf't/’He'did not know-how.the question'' w6uld' ; go”befbre'' the ratepayers, or whether .jt was. , necessary* that it should go -befdre , /”them. : /; If he remembered rightly, a vote was taken* in favor' of Mr. Climie’s scheme, clogged .with" this cbnditiop, —that the expense "’should '/not exceed £BO,OOO, but’ ,, tHat i; was'*npt' the question theyhad to grapple with’that,.evening.As a ,'Coundil they bad fb give an .expression- of opinion as to whether it was desirable to. carry out Mr. Clark’s scheme,' arid probably it,would be ‘the'duty* of the" Council to consult their solicitor, and take -Whatever /initiatory, steps were necessary.' 'But he was pot afraid of appealing to the ratepayers in' this matter. Hb thought " the ’ratepayers* had sufficient ex•perience of the necessity for, something being done, j They were all, no doubfc. yery- glad to see the value of properties impfoyirig so ,muoh, but things might happen which * would be detrimental tb i ’the ! 'interes|s','of Wellington..if fchiedrainage questioh was not.dealt with in.as effieient’a'way as'jribssible.' "It seemed to, him a : portion of the scheme might be .commenced very shortly. The gentlemen/'whose'names he asked ! fbf 'ai being ll wiUirig ! tb'‘carry,put‘a scheme- of ’drainage/ fof, £80;000, , i wete reapeotable iaen, well / able to * term an opinion* on "the - subject,’ . But with; all 'd6fsenoe : ''to 1 theHF’ojtfiiiiSii,, p'/wM/ljoiiittid to shy that he attached more faato/to Mr. Clark’s, and would he mii6h ! mbfe"guided by, it than their’s/ There seemed to be ,a difference ,pf bpiriibn about the 1 puiripirig; biit to/him that did’riot seem a matter of very large importman’of Mr. Clark’ eriririehce 'in’ hih profession must'* be thoroughly competent * to, deal with the question, t Ho ofigHt to/kbow.'what power it wasri/eebssary to ernploy ; ho,had been.consulted bn works to which, the drainage* of Weilirigtbri was a mere fleabite, ■ and 1 he would not, r be astray on a point of such common; bccurrebce rin ? the' ■ course of 1 his professibnal care.ej-.j Machinery ..had been ~ supplied by iJbgllsb m^utacturerh-for l, all , ‘ riatioris "in" the world ; 'a* ’Galbrilatibn waa made of what that machiriery would have to, discharge/ arid it, was made ’abobrdlriglyi , ’ i He/ dare say that at Home 'fnd/gfuificant matter. He intended to support" the* adoption of Mr. Glark’s scheme, and ba helieved that it it.was ueceSsary to corisrilt the ratepayers oil" tho subject, or to refer to them in any-way, they would gladly authorise the Council to raise any funds that were necessary, and would afterwards be prepared, to bear .any burden that the'raising of ‘these funds* would upuu thorn. ~ —. J Counrallor FiSHEK said however.much'Courioillors might differ on subsidiary points, there was noj doubf jffiey agreed. onrthe, of initiating a systeia of drainage. ..He had gone very cayefuljy i into Gjnrk’s- /report; j and; althbugh 'it* was' emdent/tkatr/he Bss,stnnost scientino man on drainage,.question?, and had a thordugh knowledge pf/statistical informa-: tion bearing upon that* point, anil that he, had a thorough understanding of the laws of physi-, cal .science, still these advantages might;, be: purchased at too great a cost. Ho. had been very much opppsed, t to Mr. Climie’s scheme, as he objected to the pumping - station, and the expense it would entail; but as endorsatipn of that principle.cam,e from an authority of /blf., CJ ark’s standirigi if might be presumed that this was the most modern and approved principle of drain'age.’ That.beingthe case,- he would,;notbave 1 ■ pronounced any opinion ..between the reports! of Mr. Climie and Mr.-Clark but tor l the remarim/'thaf had been made that _He did. riot.recognise any material difference-,between’ I tbe T two, SobemeS. -Both included ,a/imaia sewer, they discharge, on to ’the sarid at *,the*, isthmus cbrili the” primping system.! He did not think;Mn-Clark had attached sufficient .weight to:the financial-aspect of ‘"the -question. -He proposed a - duplicate system of sewers, a, contour sewer, .with an intercepting sower to,I the, westward';ofr that; carrying - out ■ the idea - of, /gravitation. to; the greatest possibleiextent.., sWhile Mr. , Olarkuaed> gravitation-power, in ’the :tbwn, he exhausted! it; needlessly; byi carrying , the sewage toa higb level beyond the tunnel which would entail an expense bf £759-per annum.- He did not knowwhy-Mr.-Clark had found it necessary to carryibis -highest -elevation-ito ,37ft.;’but it would be sufficient to s have a level of 17ft. at Drummond-strcet.,. That would be a sufficient eleVatiori to.disoharga, sewage -into Lyell Bay. He;objected to • the <part!of ;the scheme which involved the discharge of-the sewage of .tho isthmus.' t ,Tnlthebfir#t, -place lit was .objection-, able on the ground that the land was in the hands* of a private person, who might demand ariy'rate;he liked ,fbr. it,. It was said that the Corincil were to be asked £2OO per aore for this'barton land. Then he objected-to the Corporation taking up thb position of -sewage farmers,; Contrasting tho working expenses: of tbe two (ichemes,- Mr; Climie’s woule amount to £I2OO per annum, and Mr. Clark's t0’£1434 The latter had provided merely for au engineer to work his valve engines, leaving out all mentiori of tHe absolute necessity of providing funds - for the superintendence of the drainsfor theycould not suppose that they were going to be carried oh year by year without superintendence of some sort. He also! objected to. tho back* drain system, for, the reasons that if a drain got put-.bf order, the 'drainage of so many houses would be going into it that it worild not be known by whose fault the* drain bad become stopped, ‘or where the stoppage had taken place. Therefore they wouldhe obliged to take; up the wHoledfain. an engi-neer-to cany out the work was a raatter.of great inportanCo, and involved the safeguard of. any system* that they might adopt. The works would be buried, and therefore • they should endeavor) to secure the services. b£ a genflemari as engineor, who would conscientiously carry oat the large and important work that would be ehtihsted to him. It was not.his intention to move an amendment to Councillor Diver’s motion fqrthe adoption of Mr, Olark’s/toport. Hc dldnot oppose the scHbme.-’ He should bp' wanting in foresight if he did; for there was, no * doubt tbs(t a sohomo of j drainage was an abso-* lute necessity for the city, but he thought /the scheme proposed by Mr. Clark should-, bo modified sufficiently to meet their requirements at a reduced expenditure. V V > Councillor Macdonald admitted), his/inability, arid that of other non-professional men, to discuss tbe details of tho, drainage schemes proposed. Mr. Clark gave a mileage of - 63 miles,- while Mr. Climie only gave 36. j.Npw, tbe‘relative cost to the ratepayers would,bo as follows j-ffid, per week in tho £, .to. every working man paying £1 a-week rent, if. Mr. Climie’s scheme were carried out; and lOd. if Mr/ -Clark’s scheme were adopted.; -Ho did not 'think this could be called an exorbitant rate. ■ Looking at it in the light bf a.broad and comprehensive scheme, fitted'for the-city for. many years to como, ho was prepared , to, eppport, the motion that a scheme, such as Mr. Clark's be adopted and carried buVat the very, earliest opportunity. Itoferring/tp/somb-roinarks'mado by Ooun-. cillor Allen,*~,, , .... - ■ /Councillor HtJNXBR said it would be unfair - to'accbiimodate those in the oentral.portion o£~the city, and leayoout those in the outskirts
in any system of drainage that "Was adopted.. They s would alt'agrea that the most, important part of the work should be done first where it was most needed, but sooner,- op, later-a fair modicum of justice would have to be dealt out to every ratepayer. Councillor Allan supported the motion, and 1 expressed a-hope that the work would be. oar-, tied out as soon as possible. . Possibly, some modifications ! might be made in 'Mr. Clark’s scheme, but oa princip’e he thoroughly agreed with that report. - ’ (Hear, hear.) Councillor Fisher said he had thrown out suggestions as to certain modifications in the' report, which might be: taken for what they were worth.
Councillor LbftAN,as the* mover of the pro-: position to bring Mr. Clark to Wellington, felt: gratified that the Council had now before it a/ scheme which had developed-exactly what he' 'thought might probably be. the result', of his. coining here. Some Councillors seemed to ! think that the Council would be, doing.'an in- ’ justice to throWovef one ehgineer.for the sake,' of, smother, but the Council had'nothing'to do ' with i a question of that-kind : they had / only to consider the ratepayers and the health ' of the city. He did not believe in the Oorpo'-j ration undertaking sewage farming, because it had been tried elsewhere, and had resulted in’ failure, sometimes incurring a dead 1 loss .‘of' thousands of pounds per "annum. ' He would.' support the adoption of Mr, Clark's'scheme; whichihe considered an improvement on.any - ;' thing the Council had yet submitted to them.'" Councillor Hunter jpointed out that Councillor Logon was in error in'stating, that sewage faming had always been attended .with; . loss elsewhere. In very many plajces'in' Eng-/, land great; advantage l had been derived "from/ •utilising sewage, and the profits had been very large. . ~' :r ■ The Mayor did - not ! wish to give a silent" vote on the subject. He felt bound to support Councillor v< Diver’s l proposal. ■ .As ' to,. the 1 interest and sinking fund which' the carrying but of the scheme would’ entail; , his'own private opinion' was • that the profit.'on the reclaimed land, if they were allowed tb.oarry it out quickly, would more than' pay .the annual interest. He thought - they would, realise’ £9OOO or £IO,OOO a year from this source, With regard to Mr.’ Crawford’s land, he might mention that many years ag6,„yery, soon after Mr. Fitzherbert became Superin-/ tendent, he waited -upon .him;' finding' that this portion of'Evans - Bay had not, been Alienated from the ’ Crown, - and asked him to be good enough to set it apart for'Wei; Imgton.-but the 1 ■ Superintendent’s’ feply. 'waa, that the land had been' promised- to -Mr. , Crawford in" return -for land which ho gave to the colony. 1 : Councillor Diver, in reply, pointed out that Mr. Clark’s scheme provided for fifty-two miles iot r drainage, while Mr. Climie’s -was,, limited to tbirty-sik Mr. Clark’s scheme was ' not mors expensive, on account of it's magni*. tnde. j By adopting Mr. Clark’s scheme the' Council would incur no responsibility, as’/they would be acting on tho advice - of 'a ". very eminent professional, man, whose reputation was of course involved in the scheme which he recommended to the Council. The motion - was put, and’ carried unani-'' mausly. Progress was reportedon the Council resum-, ing, and the report from the committee was brought ’tip; and the' resolution unanimously adopted by the Council. , ; , Councillor Fisher drew attention to the ne?., cessity.for making provision for . the ’ removal' of nightsoilj as the present contract expired ■ this month. ' ••••’ 1 ’ ' ’■ , ' TheiCouncil then adjourned. 1
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5365, 7 June 1878, Page 3
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5,332CITY COUNCIL. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5365, 7 June 1878, Page 3
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