THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 18950. THE PORIRUA ASYLUM.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2878, 8 October 1895, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 18950. THE PORIRUA ASYLUM.

That the actions of the present Government have been scrutinised with lynx-eyed .keenness is certain; that they have come through every ordeal clean-handed is equally tide. Fw the past couple of weeks or so VPe must confess that we doubted whether the Premier could come stainless out of the Porirua Asyiuhl charges, but this was before we had heard iiis explanation. This is now before us, and our doubts have vanished. The story of the affair is long, but wo shall try to give it as briefly as possible. The Porirua Asylum is situated in the immediate neighborhood of Wellin. ton, and has been recently built. It was partly built by contract and partly on the co-operative system, and it has been discovered that sumo of the bricks used in its construction allow the water to soak through. The Opposition has endeavored to fix the blame of this on the Inspector of Works, who, they allege, was appointed by the Premier because ho was of the “ right olor,” and was kept there though pro nounced by the engineer in charge of the work to bo incompetent. On the J7th ol .July last Captain Russell, on behalf of Air Dathio, who was absent from the House, moved t ;at there bo laid on the (able of the House all the correspondence by Mr Pull and other engineers in charge of the work in connection with the Porirua

Asylum, and also in reference to the dismissal and reinstatement of the Inspector of Works. Mr Seddon opposed the motion, and said it was inspired by the fact that the Inspector was a Prohibitionist. The Rev. Mr isitt will, wo trust, take a note of this. Mr Seddou, the alleged champion of the Liquor Party, has been accused of championing a Prohibitionist public servant. But let that pass. Mr Seddon denied that Mr Bell had been in charge of the Porirua Asylum work, and did not know of any report submitted by him. On the 30th of July Mr Duthie ouce again returned to the subject, and asserted that Mr Bell had been in charge of the work ; that ho recommended the dismissal of the Inspector; that the Inspector was aba«nt for a fortnight on full pay; that another Inspector had been set to work at Mount Cook Gaol to make room for Mr Soddou’s favorite, who was related to him by marriage; that Mr Bell, the Engineer, had been removed from the work because he recommended the dismissal of the Inspector. Again Mr Seddon denied that Mr 801 l had been the.engineer, or that the Inspector was in any way related to himself or his family. Mr Salisbury, the Inspector, had been a master builder himself, and instead of being selected because of being of the “ right color,” he was selected on the recommendation of Mr George Fisher, who was a political opponent of the Government and member for Wellington at the time. He had excellent testimonials, and was a very capable Inspector of Works. He had not been dismissed, and cmisequeutly could not have been reinstated. He was absent for a fortnight on sick leave, but received no pay. No other Inspector was dismissed to make room for him. Two Inspectors were wanted, and the other had been sent to the Mount Cook works. Mr Seddou gave an absolute denial to every allegation made by Mr Duthie, and in addition to this gave Mr Duthie a nasty knock. He said that Mr Duthie was taking a very lively interest in Inspectors of Works lately. Mr Duthie’s firm was engaged iu supplying material to the contractor, and ha came to him (Mr Seddon) and complained that the Inspector was too exacting and unreasonably severe, and that the contractors were unfairly treated. This was a nasty knock for Mr Duthie, and his only explanation was that he did it in the public interest. Sir Robert Stout found himself in an awkward position in the discussion. He could not forego his unquenchable thirst for revenge on Mr Seddon, and he could not afford to say anything derogatory to Mr Sainsbury, who is a Prohibitionist, and whom he knew many years ago iu Dunedin, so he boro testimony to Mr Sainsbury as an excellent man, and denounced Mr Seddou for having introduced personalities into the matter. But Mr Seddon refused to produce the documents, no doubt because it would entail expense, and because they bad been asked for iu an offensive form. Mr Bell, the engineer referred to, is a brother of Mr Bell, the member for Wellington, and a son of Sir Francis Dillon Bell, and has for some time past been iu Western Australia. All the way from Perth came a letter from this gentleman to the Evening Post, in which he insisted that his professional reputation had been injured by the statement made by Mr Seddon, though no one could see how. Mr Bell iusisted that he recommended the dismissal of the Inspector when he was iu charge of the work, and this could not be reconciled with Mr Seddon’s statement that Mr Bell had never been in charge of the Porirua Asylum. It looked as if Mr Seddou was iu a very tight place, and his opponents began to gloat over it. Mr Bell’s letter was published iu the Evening Post, and telegraphed to other Conservative papers, and rather sultry comments made thereon. Mr Duthie returned to the charge again last week, believing that at length he had Mr Seddon cornered, but he counted without his host. No doubt to his astonishment, Mr Seddon reasserted that Mr Bell had never been in charge of the Porirua works, and proved it to the hilt. He said that Mr Bell had been in charge of the defence works, but when it was decided to stop them it was suggested to Mr Bell that he should take charge of the Porirua works. Mr Bell paid a casual visit before being appointed to Porirua, and laid down so many conditions that it was found inadvisable to appoint him. He wanted a complete staff of officers under him, and, the Eugineer-iu-Chief having asserted that this was not necessary, Mr Bell was not appointed. To prove this he quoted Mr Bell’s own report as follows : *• I merely wanted to see things for myself on the ground on this occasion, as I had no written authority to formally give me official standing. . . . I was present on the works, accordingly, as a mere casual visitor. . . . Had I been present in official authority I should have suspended the Inspector on my own authority forthwith. ... lam sorry to have to speak so strongly, but am compelled to do so because, if I have to take charge over these works, I must decline to be held responsible for work supervised by an inspector who cannot, after what I saw to-day, be equal to the position. ... I did not speak to anyone on the works except, quite casually, to the head ‘ boss ’ about his firewood, and so on, nor did anyone on the works speak to : me. . . , The architect-draughtsman 1 who designed the building requires to be entirely allotted to this work alone. . . . The designer of the building requires to be absolutely set aside for the time named to attend to nothing but the details. . . . Before I can assume charge in accordance with my instructions, it is essential, and is legally necessary, that I should do so by and with due authority. The established form of this required notification is a writing under the 'Minister’s hand. Otherwise I have and shall have no locus xtandi, and the contractor would bo perfectly justified in asking who I was, and refusing to recognise me.” Mr Seddon further explained that this was submitted (o the Engineer-in-Chief, Mr Hales, and that he said the stall was not necessary; that ho did not regard the inspector as incompetent, and consequently ho (Mr Seddon) did not fool justified iu dismissing him on the rt commendation uf Mr Bell, who had only been two hours ou works, and then only as a casual visitor. This ftrtk-Le in already too long. >) e shall rollin' ...eanlime „o ha- « th. .Vafr ihnt Mr beddon came ou w clean-handed.

BRIGHTENING PROSPECTS

It give ns much pleasure to notice that there is evidence of brightening prospects all over tho world. America is once more becoming very busy, and has now no unempl-.yod. This means increased consumption of products, and greater commercial activity. Tho Bank of England returns also show that things are improving in tho British Isles. 1? or the pact two years tho Bank of England’* reserve u; liability r.tood at about 70 p r cent , but now it it; down to »dMS3 per cent. When the percentage <>t reserve to liability is high, it means that there is stagnation and very little demand for money. When it comes down it means commercial activity, employing tho rnonev instead of hoarding it up in the hank. In prosperous times wo havo soon tho

percentage down to 50, but these have been exceptional times. There are other indications of improvement. Wool has gone up with a bound, and this means that the looms of the Old Countries, which have for some time been very inactive, will be worked full time. This will extend the field of employment, and increase the purchasing power of Great Britain. The result, of course, will be increased demand for commodities, and consequently bettor prices. We may, therefore, expect bettor prices for wheat and mutton, which wo notice have already gono up. It is a very healthy sign to see wheat going up immediately after the gathering in of the English harvest. It shows that the supply is not overabundant, and that a shortage is anticipated. This seems to us to indicate that there will be very good demand for the Australian crop of 1896. Before that reaches the market we shall know whether there is a shortage or not. We also notice that New Zealand hemp has gone up with a bound. Only a few weeks ago it was selling at £l4 per ton, but yesterday’s cablegrams imforms us. that 198 bales of it were sold at £l7 per ton. Thus there is evidence brightening prospects in all directions, and if the present indications do not prove illusive, we may expect good times in the immediate future.

THE LIQUOR BILL

The Wellington correspondent of the Press says:— “ In certain quarters there is a panic about the Liquor Bill, it being thought that “ the Lords ” are about to destroy the Bill. It must be admitted that the old gentlemen are in a rather wild mood. So much might have been guessed from the report of their debate on the second reading, but that manifestation is not a circumstance to what is going on in the lobbies. Their hatred of the Bill is as undisguised there as it is virulent. One of the shrewdest heads in the Council, talking over this matter, told me he thinks the Council wi'l give the prohibitionists some reason for cohesion by destroying the Bill. That bits the right nail on the head, meaning, as of course it does, that the passing of the Bill must scotch the power of the liquor faction fora decade.” It will do nothing of the kind. If the Bill does not pass it will harden up the Temperance ranks, and bring several outsiders into their fold. The Council could do nothing more mischievous than to interfere with the Bill. If they do the Council will sufter by it in the end.