The Press. TUESDAY, MAY 14. 1867.

Press, Volume XI, Issue 1408, 14 May 1867, Page 2

The Press. TUESDAY, MAY 14. 1867.

Me. Teayebs has dove a public service in calling attention to a contract entered into by the Superintendent for the purchase of Peacock's Wharf. It seems that a paragraph appeared iv the monthly summary edition of the Lyttelton Times, published on the 4th instant, stating that Government was in treaty for the purchase of the wharf, and adding a hope "that the Provincial Council would throw no obstacles in the way of an acquisition so desirable in the interests of the shipping." We must submit to Mr Travers's rebuke for allowing the paragraph to escape our attention at the time, but now that the matter has been brought prominently forward we must express the strongest possible objection to the whole transaction, and our confident hope that the Provincial Council, so far from " throwing no obstacles in the way," will repudiate it altogether. To us the contract seems nothing else than an inconceivably wanton waste of the public money. Under whose ad\iee was it entered into? and what is its object ? There hare been plans upon plans for the improvement of Lyttelton harbor and for the provision of wharfage accommodation, but in none of them did the purchase of Peacock's wharf ever fiud a place. It was condemned by the Harbor Commissioners ; it has not been suggested in any of tho reports of Mr Balfour, the highest authority in - the colony, who has just been consulted on the whole question of the harbor works. It forms no part of the general design and of the expenditure for the improvement of the harbor which has been laid before and been sanctioned by the Provincial Council. The whole affair is of a piece with the consistent series of financial and engineering blunders which hrs ' made the chief port of this province a '

disgrace to Canterbury and a laughing stock to visitors from elsewhere, and now proposes to throw some £20,000 into the mud to keep company with the abortions of the sea-wall and screwpile jetty. And what makes the matter worse is that the money is not only spent for no good purpose, but is spent in flat contradiction to the best engineering advice —advice which the Government have been at much trouble, and, we presume, expense, to procure. Mr Balfour concluded his report on the present state of the harbour works 1 by pointing out how, by carrying .Norwich quay round to the breakwater at ' Officer's Point, and laying rails there- j ou, berths for large vessels in direct | ' communication with Christchurch would be obtained in a shorter time and at less _cost--than by any other mode that could be i suggested. That is Mr Balfour's 1 professional opinion, after a careful examination of the harbor for the express purpose of deciding how goods can best be transported from the ship's side to Christchurch after the tunnel is open. Yet in the teeth of that report the Government choose to lay out the money ihat would have accomplished Mr Balfour's plan in buying a jetty which for all practical purposes is simply useless. It is a fact that £20,000, or thereabouts, if laid out according to Mr Balfour's recommendations, would by the time the railway is open to traffic have provided a wharf where a couple of largesized vessels could discharge their ■ cargoes directly on to the railway; yet the Government, perfectly aware of this fact, have preferred to expend it in buying Peacock's wharf. Could the force of folly go further ? We protest altogether against these secret transactions between the Government and private individuals ; these contracts entered into during the recess without the knowledge of the Council, and revealed to the public only by casual paragraphs in the Lyttelton Times. The Provincial Council is the lawful guardian of the public purse, and should be consulted before the Government is pledged to any outlay of public money. If the Government believe that the purchaseof this or any other property is necessary or expedient, let them lay their propositions before the Council, let the matter be fairly and openly discussed, and if the Council is satisfied that the bargain is a good one let the money be voted in the usual way. That is the honest, straightforward, and we may add, constitutional, mode of proceeding ; the other has an air of mystery that engenders suspicion and smacks of all kinds of jobbery. Besides, every one knows what pressure is brought to bear on the Council in a case of this kind ; how they are assured that the arrangements have been completed, perhaps that the money has been paid —that other arrangements consequent on the first have been already carried out —that unless the original bargain is ratified the public interest will be much, damaged, and a large sum of money thrown away—and so on ad infinitum; all the old arguments which we have heard poured out in such profusion from the Government benches at the beginning of the session in support of an indemnity for the over expenditure of the previous year. And in this particular instance the Council is more than usually at a disadvantage, summoned as it is when but three weeks are left of the financial year, and when there will be a rush and a scramble to get an Appropriation Act passed before the first of July, when the inexorable Auditor will lock the doors of the Treasury. Nevertheless, we hope that they will stand firm in this matter, that they will insist on having the fullest explanations of the views and intentions of the Government, and that unless far stronger reasons are alleged in favor of the purchase than any we can conceive to exist, they will not Buffer themselves to be turned aside by any pretence from the plain duty of disallowing it. TiMAHTJ Volunteers. — The " Timaru Heruld " says we hear on reliable authority that the officers of the Artillery Company are to be gazetted shortly, and a supply of fifty stand of anna will be furnished at once ; but. as nearly the whole of the men enrolled have tendered their resignations It) the gent ernan who was elected captain, it is doubtful whether the company wtil be revived. After a delay of six months the Government—or its officers —have conceived an idea to take steps for the proper enrol writ of the 'limaru Artillery Company. Wo m»y state that the company wa* formed on the 20th November last, the officers were shortly afterwards elected, and the names of those gentlemen forwarded to the proper authorities. A petition for a supply of arms was also sent about the same time, but the whole affair appears to have been bungled, for no further action was taken until the other day, when we believe the communications were turned out of some pigeonhole in the Volunteer-office in Christchurch, and at once forwarded to Wellington. When will the Government learn to conduct Volunteer affairs in a business-like manner, and not rely upon spasmodic energy ? Through the exertion of Captain Fendall, when in Christchurch, a drill instructor has been appointed by the Government to give instruction to the Kifle and Artillery Corps for three months. This is a step in the right, direction, for the presence of a drill instructor will doubtless stimulate the momhers of the Rifle Company to an increased attendance at drill, which for the last three months has very much fallen off. We learn that a prize cup, given by the Captain, will be shot for by the members on the Queen's birthday, and also I another prize, given by a gentleman in the ' neighborhood. ./"