DAY LABOUR V. CONTRACT.

Shannon News, 12 May 1925, Page 3

DAY LABOUR V. CONTRACT.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—ln the matter of day labour versus contract in County Council or Municipal enterprise there are two distinct points of view; that of the ratepayer and that of the contractor. The two points of view, are as much at variance as that of tlie mouse and that of pussy. The lattei, of course, is so much happier with the former inside. Many jobs for which contractors had tendered unduly high prices were carried out by tlie Wellington Municipality by day t labour at a considerable saving in cost", while producing a higher class of workmanship. The tarring of the Hutt road is a case in point. It is apparent from the new spirit which permeates collective activity to-day that the ratepayer is not going to be squeezed so cheerfully as in the past, for he realises ihat the more profits lie pays to contractors the less is left for urgent requirements. He also realises, to his sorrow, that the appetite of middlemen, contractors, trusts, etc., for profits is so Gargantuan as to be hopeless, even using tlie most modern harbour-dredge as a spoon, to attempt to satisfy it.—l am, H.L. Weraroa, May Bth.

*”Mr~D. J. Anderson, winner of the Championship Belt at Trentham, is a tanner, of Kahuna, and is 23 years of age. This is his fifth season with the rifle. He is modest and. imperturbable. He admitted a 15-shot possible in the Dominion Match last year, and said his average in that mated for the past three years was 72. His win marks the first occasion a South Islander has captured the coveted honour since 1914, when Masefield won the belt.