The Patea Mail. Established 1875. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1883. RETRENCHMENT DEMANDED.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 996, 12 February 1883, Page 2

The Patea Mail. Established 1875. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1883. RETRENCHMENT DEMANDED.

The expose which has been made relative to the heavy expenditure incurred in maintaining the engineering department of the borough has not been a pleasant one to ratepayers. There was an abruptness about it which could not be understood. The question was asked, Why should this uncalled for expenditure be going on for so long a time without notice being taken of it ? To give a conclusive answer to that is beyond our power. For a long time past Sfirae members of the Council have had a conviction that the Engineer was employing more labor than was necessary, and, when attention was directed thereto, it was generally diverted with some such answer as, “ He is an Engineer, and knows best the wants of his department.” This is very plausible, but there is, the matter of ways and means, and we must cut our coat according to our cloth. The 'Mayor has taken it upon himself to get a written statement from the Engineer, respecting the expenses of his office, and this nnimpeach able document when made out discloses the fact in plain figures that the cost exceeds the whole rates of the borough. For last month it came to about £6O. It may be asked what this represents. It-means—the™Engineer-and -his own assistants, and has nothing to do with contract works. When the scheme of borough improvements was prepared, and plans and specifications for levels and street formation drawn out, the Engineer had two office hands to assist him, and that staff has been kept up until quite recently, when it was reduced, being discharged. The Engineer has still an assistant, and it is urged that the office work is nil. As explained by Mr Beere himself, he is engaged superintending work outside, and his assistant is in the office making duplicates of plans and occasionally helps him in the streets. This is pot regarded' as satisfactory, very little being done for the expense incurred and that expense being far beyond what is justified by the state of our finances. We have no subsidy from to look forward to, and the bungle which has been made in going into big works before we knew whether or not the money could be raised to pay for them, should have led to the exercising of more caution. It is essential, if we are to keep within our means, that retrenchment should be made, and the Engineer’s office is the place where it should commence. It was our intention to have commented upon the unbusiness like way in which drain pipes were obtained for the borough without consent of the Council, but subsequent explanation leaves a less serious complexion on the transaction.