APPOINTMENT OF MR. BLACKETT AS CONSULTING ENGINEER IN LONDON (RETURN SHOWING TERMS OF).

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1889 Session I, D-07

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1889. NEW ZEALAND.

APPOINTMENT OF MR. BLACKETT AS CONSULTING ENGINEER IN LONDON (RETURN SHOWING TERMS OF).

Return to an Order of the House of Representatives dated 3rd July, 1889. Ordered, "That there be laid before this House a return showing the terms on which the late Engineer-in-Chief, Mr. John Blackett, has been appointed Consulting Engineer for the Colony in London."—(Mr. Taylor.)

No. 1. The Hon. the Minister for Public Works to John ±$lackett, Esq., M.lust.C.E. Bib,— Public Works Office, Wellington, 29th September, 1888. The work of inspection of materials for the colony in England, and of advising the AgentGeneral on engineering matters generally by private firms of engineers having been very unsatisfactory, especially in connection with stores and materials required for the working railways, and the Agent-General, as well as the heads of departments in the colony, having several times recently represented the necessity for some more satisfactory arrangement, it has been decided that the Government should appoint an officer of its own to attend exclusively to these duties. This being so, and the intention of the Government at same time being to bring the construction of public works in the colony to a close in a very short time, it is considered that your long and valuable services to the colony entitle you to the first offer of this English appointment, which has apparently greater prospects of permanence than the office which you at present hold, and I am therefore now empowered to offer you the appointment of Consulting Engineer to the Government in England, at a salary of £800 per annum. Should you accept this offer the Government would also be willing to pay the passages of yourself and your family to England. Your duties, in addition to advising the Agent-General on all engineering questions, and doing all the work hitherto done by the Consulting Engineer, would include the supervision of the purchase of stores and materials of all classes for all departments of the Government service. As it is desirable that no time should bo lost in making this appointment, will you kindly let me have a reply at your earliest convenience. I have, &c, Edwin Mitchelson, John Blackett, Esq... M.lnst. C.E. Minister for Public Works.

No. 2. John Blackett, Esq., to the Hon. the Minister for Public Woeks. Public Works Department, Engineer-in-Chief's Office, R lB> _ Wellington, Bth October, 1888. I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 29th ultimo informing me of the determination of the Government to appoint a Consulting Engineer, who shall be resident in London, at a salary of £800 per year, and offering me the first chance of accepting the appointment. I beg to tender my best thanks for the offer, and to say that, after having given it serious consideration, I have much pleasure in accepting it, and will do my best to carry out the duties of the office in a satisfactory manner. I beg to submit that some guarantee should be given as to its permanence, and would suggest that the engagement be terminable by six months' notice on either side; but if determined by the Government before two years the passages of myself and family back to New Zealand, if so desired by me, should be paid by the Government. In reference to travelling-expenses in England, I suppose these will be met by a commuted fixed daily allowance, and that the incidental expenses connected with the voyage, and those incurred in getting a settled home, will be defrayed by the Government--—either the net charges or a lump sum sufficient to cover them.

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I should endeavour to leave in a few months' time—say, about March, 1889. It will take up the most of the intervening time to properly transfer the different classes of work to the departments which will have future charge of them under the proposed dismemberment of the Public Works Department, and to make the necessary private arrangements for my departure. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister for Public Works. John Blackett.

No. 3. The Hon, the Minister for Public Works to John Blackett, Esq., M.lnst.C.E. Sir,— Wellington, 15th March, 1889. Eeferring to my letter of the 29th September last, offering you the appointment of Consulting Engineer to the Government in England, and to your reply of the Bth October, accepting the same, I have now the honour to inform you that His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint you to the position of Consulting Engineer for the Colony accordingly, as from the 31st March instant, at a salary of £800 per annum. This engagement, as you have suggested, will be terminable by not less than six months' notice on either side, and if determined by the Government before the 31st March, 1891, the passages of yourself and your family back to New Zealand shall, if you so desire, be paid by the Government. In addition to the passages of yourself and Mrs. Blackett and your two daughters, which Government has agreed to pay for, an allowance of £100 will be made to you to cover all other expenses incidental to the removal of your residence from Wellington to London. While in England a travelling-allowance in terms of the regulations at present in force on the subject (vide New Zealand Gazette of the 27th January, 1888) —except that the rate in your case will be £1 Is. per diem instead of 12s. 6d.—will be granted to you to cover your personal expenses when travelling on the business of the Government. The Agent-General has been instructed to arrange for the payment of your salary from the 31st March instant, and also for the payment of the £100 above mentioned on your arrival in England, and of the travelling-allowance herein provided for from time to time as it accrues. A warrant of appointment in usual form, signed by His Excellency the Governor, is forwarded to you enclosed herewith. I have, &c, Edwin Mitchblson, John Blackett, Esq., M.lnst.C.E. Minister for Public Works.

Enclosure. William Fbancis Deummond Jeevois, Governor, to John Blackett, Esq., M.lnst.C.E. In pursuance of the power and authority vested in me by " The Public Works Act, 1882," and of every other power and authority enabling me in this behalf, I do hereby appoint you, the said John Blackett, to fill the office of Consulting Engineer for the Colony of New Zealand in England, to hold the said office during pleasure as from the 31st day of March instant. And Ido hereby require you to enter upon and discharge the duties of the said office in person, except only in case of sickness or other incapacity, or upon leave of absence first duly granted. Given under the hand of His Excellency Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, Lieutenant-General in Her Majesty's Army, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Her Majesty's Colony of New Zealand and its Dependencies, and Vice-Admiral of the same, and issued under the Seal of the said Colony, at the Government House at Wellington, this sixteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine.

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