MR. DOBSON.

Press, Volume III, Issue 192, 13 June 1863, Page 1

MR. DOBSON.

>Vfi cannot take leave of Mr. Dobson as the Pro-

-licial Engineer without a more formal notice f his services than we have yet made. Mr. Dobson was first employed by the Government in 1553, to lay out the bridle-road from purau to Akaroa. The effective and satisfactory manner in which he performed this duty, making a complete sketch of the route through a dense forest previously imtraversed and over mountains more than 3.000 feet high, and laying down the line so accurately as to require little subsequent alteration, established his reputation not only as an able surveyor, but, for as much as Iris reconnaisance survey was made entirely without assistance, as a man of great endurance, energy, and perseverance. Not long after Mr. Dobson was placed at the head of the public works of the province, and we have no hesitation in saying that it would have been very difficult, if not quite impossible, to have found any professional man so well adapted for the situation, or who would, on the whole, have done so much valuable service to the public. Those only who had .the opportunity of seeing Mr. Dubson's indefatigable labors in times when all those at the head of departments had to pull the ropes as well as guide the ship's course, can rightly appreciate how much work Mr. Dobson got through with very inadequate resources; for in those days the Engineer was his own Clerk of the Works, and in a measure his own pay clerk too. Perhaps no man has been, on the whole, from time to time more unpopular than the Jlate Provincial Engineer. Where every one wanted every thing done at once; and to undertake one work was to offend a host of claimants interested in works in different parts of the province, most persons sooner or later had occasion to grumble at the Provincial Engineer. But it is only fair to say that if unsparing labor would have done everything at once, time and space would have been abolished in the Public Works department. Another feature in Mr. Dobson's official life was this, that, in all except very rare cases, the public works were done within his estimates. It i 8 true, on the other hand, that he had a tendency to estimate works rather over than under their full value. All Laborers do and ought to make much higher wages on piece or contract work than on time labour, because they put more hard work into the job ; but it requires very clear judgment to estimate the value of contract work, calculating it at the current rate of wages of tho M> allowing for a fair and honest day's work being done by each man. There can be no doubt that • D °t>son has in many cases allowed much more money to be paid for work than it would have cost had it been done by an ordinary employer. 3 tlle colony became richer we have always thought that the Engineer gradually grew into the Vo&ion of a Minister of Public Works ; in other words, that Ids duties became more administrative than was desirable with any public servant not having a seat in the legislative body. In fact m wcent tin *s the public works grew to such a magnitude that they were far too much under the control of the Engineer, and far too" little under the control of the Provincial Council. We arc not accusing Mr. Dobson of having aimed at tfiis 5 * *"* ! he kevitablc result, of his position.

Our opinion of this subject has been often mid freely expressed. We entirely hold with the report of the Committee of the Provincial Council, in which they pointed out that the present system ought not to be continued any longer. We believe that with very large opportunities for jobbing, and a control growing -weaker and weaker, as tho magnitude of the operations of the department rendered supervision more difficult, Mr. Dobson has left his office with entirely clean hands' We have heard him accused of recklessness and cxtravagnnce, of being very crotchet ty and very obstinute ; but we have never heard the slightest suspicion thrown upon his integrity. But no public office ought to bo in a position in which it becomes virtually irresponsible of the supreme power. There aro then but two courses, one to appoint a Minister of Public Works, with a seat in tlio Provincial Council; the other, to break up the department altogether. We believe on every ground that the latter is the wiser course. The Government will always require professional advice, as, for example, they require an engineer in this railway. If they build a bridge over the llakaia they can employ an engineer for that— the same or another as they thought fit—but tho great work of road making ought to be given over to district boards. The great change thus effected may be described as a change from monopoly to free trade—the monopoly of all the engineering work of the province in the hands of one Government officer, or free trade in engineering ability. It cannot be doubted that under such a policy tho supply of engineering power would be greatly increased, as supply is always stimulated by demand, and the public would be tho gainers every way. Mr. Dobson was tho first Provincial Engineer, and we hope he may be the last. We hopo, instead of seeing one Provincial Engineer, to see a soparate Engineer for each district, and tho great bridges and railways given to those who acquire the public confidence most thoroughly.