THE CONTRACT SYSTEM"AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1759, 12 August 1884, Page 2

THE CONTRACT SYSTEM"AUDI ALTERAM PARTEM."

To the Editor. i Sib,—Good;on you "Telford," old . man!.Go lor them straight, but you i omitted to point out to ournotice what f a nice ; lot of little'billets—subh as 1 inspectors, overseers, ■' timekeepers, • clerks;-'"4c, would be open ffi able, i energetic men with a little official . ; experience to jump into were your idea ! carried out. It would be jii9t into our i hands, ; old man, in these dull dayU>eb 1 f I don't suppose that anyone will be ' mad enough to attempt a defence of the "truek system." At the same time there are many grave difficulties '"' : in the'way of the County doing its own 9 road work, e.g., who would be respon--1 sible for the ordering of goods from the t storekeepers? I should hardly think the' Engineer would consider it part of his duties, Then again comparison with, iv survey camp is not n fair one, as, in "the one case survey men are r usually old hands, and only a few in [1 one camp, whilst with forty or fifty P navvies of all nations and creeds tastes r would be very bard to hit, besides the ] fact of a great many being lure to-day, j and on the road again to-morrow. As e - regards " Telford's" second, j&jection e that contractors slum thcijtyork I 3 reply that it is the fault of the „ engineer if such be the case. "Telford" j is evidently (although a roan of gigantic ' e intellect) unawaie with reference mihe t special case he refers to, that, hf ft ,_ resolution of the County Council the ;. contractors are not to proceed with I any more metalling until directed to do so by the engineer. " Telford" ; . evidently laughs to scorn the old adge, 3 "Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit," as he is of j the opinion that at the present rate of j progress which is : "-nil" the contract P will be finished in twelve months, j With the last paragraph of his epistle, r viz., "That the less'he says about the j way the contract is being performed {• the better"! cordially agree, as.any 3 aspersions ho may cast would not 8 reflect on the contractors, but would I impute either' gross negligence or f incapacity on the part of the Engineer 3 --a sort of meddlesome interference . which that official might make 3 extremely unpleasant even to such a high minded, disinterested, and impar-' ] tial critic as "Telford," t Tam, &c., [ Vindex.