The Invercargill Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1864.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 30, 15 January 1864, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1864.

Fkom lime to time we have had occasion to notice a few of "our f.ii ures " — such as the North Honrl Bnilkwav, tin* (iovernment buoy and others ; but the greatest and most, hopeless failure that has attracted our attention i-; the Town Hoard. The wooden biulks could be removed ; the bnov destroyed • but the Hoard — lik^' t lie old man of the sea — is j a fixture. It is, in vorv truth, a horrible incubus. Perfectly useless fur effecting •j;oovi, it displays a wonderful aptitude for doiuif evil. Fro:r> the first hour that it took posse>siou of us till the present time it has adhered to the same system, it has squabbled over a few shillings, —it lias nns-spent thousands of poui.ds. I'o ihwlnvercargillTown Board ti:e c belongs a peculiar feature, disiiuixuishinu; it from all other Boards; it is that no infusion of ru-w blood appears able to a'ter its character, or to make it of service to the public. 'J here seems to b-.: some noxious influence I pervading the precincts of the sentry box — honored with the name of the Town Jn)iid Office — some vapour somewhat .-.kin t~, that from which the priestess of Appllo is said to have drawn her insoiratioii. No dubious meaning cau, however, be attributable to the s-iviiisj-« of the Inve.'C irgill Town Board, and the foolishness of its deeds tallies with the foolishness of its words. Whatever aptitude for business a man ma)- show before his election, immediately he becomes a member of the Town Board things are changed. The ill-fated door closes behind him and he returns to the outer world with ail the self-sufficiency ofa Bumble, and more than his incapacity. Harpy-like he prowls about the town to see what injury lie can inflict. Does a private individual cvt — at considerable expense — a drain to prevent his place being submerged in winter, the harpy is down upon him at once, lowers the footpath at the e.vpenss of the public, and renders his iabor useless. Is any general system uf drainage for the j town devised, by which the sanitory condition of the inhabitants might be improved, it is immediately frustrated by the Town Board The foot-paths are raised so as effectually to prevent j any drainage at ail. We can scarcely say there is even a method in the madness of the Town Board. Let us glance at Esk street. The levels of the footpaths are such that one part of it is turned into a canal, and the remainder is a series of hills. When the first Town Board Ordinance was passed, the Legislature wisely provided for the safety of the rate-payers by so wording it that no rate could be legally enforced A Town Board was elected ; they played their little game, and "pleased with a rattle, tickled with a toy, 1 ' they entered with zest into their innocent amusements. They ejected a Chairman, passed wonderful Bye-laws, appointed their clerk, bullied the contractors, and imposed a rate which no sensible

man paid. As nntniucs sometimes do, each fawcied himself, some great personage. One was the ©raml LumH, while another, (most singular delusion) believed ho was a man -of sound common aense. Now, however, the matter has become more serious. The Provincial Council has passed a new Ordinance enabling the Board to levy rates which must be paid . It is necessary therefore to put a stop to the farce which has hitherto been played. Si long as it was inexpensive, it was endurable, but such is no iongt-r the case. We will briefly point out why, in our opinion, the Board is thoroughly incompetent to administer the powers conferred on it by the Town Board Ordinance, and why we think the sooner thu Board is abolished the better for the people of rjhivereargill. Some time since the •^leeessity for daining the town was "so obvious th.it steps were taken for effecting it. At first it. was clone in a perfunctory manner, to save expense, on the understanding that, us the streets were cut down, the ditches would be lowered to the proper level. The work cost a considerable sum of money, but it did goed. When, however, the gratings were laid down, not only Were tl.e ditches not lowered, with the streets, but were absolutely choked up. In one part the grating is placed below the level of tbcj street, and there it certainly serves the purpose of an open drain; in another, it is raised several feet a_>ove the street, turning the litter into a canal, and at the same time creating a dam by which some sections will in winter be turned into ponds of stagnant water, almost deeo enough to drown any unfortunate wight who may chance to fall into them. Nor is that all ; these pools will enrt a stencil sufficient to poison a neighborhood, simply because no provision is niiil;, f-ruv'jli ii>_j the owners to cut an outfall iuto the public drain — if inde. d such a tiring were in exis euce. Jn one instance', where the trustees of the English Church had already cut. a drain to carry off the stagnant water into tho Eskstreet drain, the I'oini rendered the work futile by lowering the footpath 10 the level of ih" bi:tton» of the church drain, and choked up the cu'vert which cami-d oil' the water, and yet we suppose they v\iil charge a heavy rate fur doing this mischici. What can have influenced them in this ease, we are unable to discover, unless some of the members of the LSo.trd, i'ond of skating, thought that the pool formerly at the hack of the English Church was the place host suited for the practice of their favorite amusement. Whether th : Trustees will think that a suflioient set-off against a rate of eighteen-penc:^* in the pmnd is a very questionable matter. We se in some or' .he ha'-k streets laid down along hnth sides, although perhaps on one side the houses in a whole block might be counted on the fi:i ers (;f one hand. There are no means of judging when the rest of the bock will be built on, and iv the meanwhile the unfortunate owners of the property will be called upj:i io pay for whit is not required. Ihe buck streets could have been opened up in an equally efficient manlier, w:th one fo>t-pa<h, and at, half the cost. Natute iias done much for luverc-rgill ; nearly all that was wanted was to drain it thoroughly, and the slight undulations in the streets presented no impediment to traffic. No pedestrian felt inconvenienced in walking up a gradient of something like ouo iv a mile ; but the Board seemingly took a different view of the matter. They liliei up drains which had been out, and were determined to have a dead level, although the public suffered by it. The Government, t an expense of, we believe, some three hundred pounds, laid down the kerbing in Dee street, cut a good and substantial drain, and covered it over. The Town .Board, true to its character, took up the kerbing and mi(covered the drain, and these proceedi ings will cost, certainly, not less than another three hundred- pounds. The Government offered a quantity of broken metal to the Boird ou very advantageous terms : that sapient Board refused it, though they could nowhere else obtain a like bargain. Every one knows about the late meeting which was convened for the purpose of obtaining enlarged powers for the Town Hoard ; but, really, if it could be effeced, it seems reasonable tosupposethat wereour municipal affairs placed i;i the handsof the Government, the citizens would be very considerably better off than they are at present. Their interests could not, at all events, be worse looked after. There would certainly be an end of this tniperium in impeno. 'lhere would be no more clashing of two separate authorities, and such disgraceful expenditure as that in Dee Street would for the future, be avoided. Not long since the Board, doubtless to its own astonishment, found itself raised to the pinacle of popular favor, by the false position taken up by its late Engineer. The idea it was in the right was, it is true, drummed into it by t\\z press ;' suddenly it realised its position, elated, it believed it was really a sensible body; alas! "Fortune blinds those whom she wills, shall run upon their own destruction.'* The Town i'oard has reached its culminating point, " The force of folly can no further go." It is time it was swept amongst the things of the past ; its archives to be carefully preserved for the- advantage of the rising generation, a record of the stupendous folly and conceit of a few individuals who had the presumption to undertake duties for which they were totally unfit, and the singular patience " n ibited by the many under such an infliction.