CORRESPONDENCE.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1363, 2 October 1883, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

fWe do Hot hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our oorre?pondSnts]. ;0; TO THIS EDITOR. Ser, —I noticed in your issue of Saturday a letter signed G. Humphreys, in which the Writer makes free use of my name. I would hot have taken any mt‘?e of the letter Sut for the last portion, in which he say* he boutd point out works that are being carried out under fictitious names, so as to CVide the provisions of the Municipal Act. Now, I take it from the previous portion of nii letter that this accusation is intended for trie. I challenge the writer to prove that I Mm carrying on works under any name other than my own, or that I require to do so to evade tha Act mentioned. X think it is his duty, in the interest* of his fellew ratepayers to expose any such breach of trust. The Writer commences his letter by stating ihat he hda done moot of the Council’s work since the Borough was commenced. In that I quite agree with him, as I am aws-re that he has had a monopoly of all work that he was capable of doing during the last live or six vears. I have been in business in Gisborne for five years, and during that time I have received from the Council an average of

about three pounds a year, or less than my fates, and these amounts have been made up for small engineer jobs which Mr Humphreys ; not being an engineer himself nor having one in his employ, could scarcely be expected to do. lam credibly informed that Mr Humphreys has averaged more than ten times the amount I have. The writer says it was the custom of the late engineer to go to all and get prices for work requited. All I can say is that lie must have studiously avoided my place of business, as I never knew , him to come and auk for a price. What * little jobs I got to do were charged for at current rates. For some years there was only the writer and myself in Gisborne carrying on business in the iron trade, and if ’he engineer did riot cottid to me for prices he itlust have got all Lis prices from the writer alone. This miy account, for his being so much afraid of the charge I am likely to make for some iron fittings I am doing for the new fire bell. He miy be judging from

his own experience that very large profits A may be got on the Council’s work, or perhaps j he does not like the idea of prices being " compared. Mr Humphreys makes a great point of having hung the last two bells gratuitously, but work mly be too dear although done for nothing. I would ask any ratepayer who has taken notice of the two bells if they Were hung in a way that any mechinio would care to take credit for.—l am, Ac.,

Jamss Bro wk, Engineer. Peel-street, Gisborne, Oct. 1, 1883.