LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3406, 16 June 1868, Page 3

LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS.

We are no apologist for the City Board, as a looal contemporary absurdly charged us with being a short time tinea, but we cann it iv oommon ju tice wiihhold whatever credit is h >nestly its due. Commercial depression and pecuniary difficulties are not conducive to good temper; heavy taxation and financial burdens are apt to render people somewhat unreasonable and inconsiderate. We do not kuovr that A uckland taxpayers differ very materially in a metaphysical sense from those of other heavily burdeaed countries, and it may be probable that the ratepayers »ra a little apt now and then to abuse the City Board, uot only for those evils which are clearly attributable to it, but for those of the General and Provincial Governments also, while on the other haud they persistently shut their ejes to whatever good it may ba doing. The City Board has certainly been peculiarly untortunae in its aimini»tr*tion, but tho weight of public opinion has not been broutjht to bear upon it without producing salutary effects, and at the present time it is not going too far to say that the majority of the members appear to i»e animated by a Mucere desire to do the best they can for the ratepayers under what are admitted on all hands to be very adverse circumstances. Every ratepayer almost contrives just now to have a special gnevaace against the illfated City Board. Every landlord whose income has fallen off from the depreciation in the value of household property, and the decrease of rentals, grumbles against paying rate* j while every petty householder that has a puddle in front of his door clamour* for several loads of scoria for his own special beuefifc. In its present circumstances, setting aside the question how these circumstances have been brought about by its own mismanagement and iucompetency, we ought not to expect a very great deal from the Board, nor ought we to visit the sins of the Provincial Government upon it. That the days of the Board are D«arly numbered no on« doubts, and that it ought to be abolished for something bettt-r i-t also patent to us all. It has sinned grievously, and sooner or later must suffer death as the just punishment for its offences. Some time ago it was put upon its trial by the ratepayers ; but the time bad not yet come for its dissolution. The Municipal Corporation Act was pronounctd cumbrous, unworkable, inapplicable in the extreme, and a respite was given to the City Board of Commissioners. Now, however, it bsn ag*iu fallen on evil times, for the Provincial Government threatens to be its executioner. We have it on cooii authority that not many days since a Provincial Government officer was heard to prophesy that the end of the Board was nigh, that another month would not elapse ere it would be numbered amongst the things of the past, gone with the soup kitchen and other kindred institutions to point a moral and adorn a tale when the present generation of ratepayers shall have long paased away. There is a straug© descending chain of mntnal depeudence — the General Government pressing the provinces in ordtr to meet the public creditor, to continue its wasteful and extravagant adminis ration, and to maintain a horde of officials ; the Provincial Government of Auckland pressing the City Board in order to meet its liabilities to tho General Government, and to follow its paternal example ; and the City Board pressing like an incubus upon the already overtaxed ratepayers in order to keep in the ruck. The Provincial Government appear determine I t» supersede the Board ; but are we t<> anticipate thit the change will be for the better ? Is there reasonable ground for believing that when the rates are paid into th* Provincial Treasury w* shall have better roads, cleaner streets, and improved drainag- ? Or will the money be expanded in the payment of salaries and protracting theexistenceof Superintendent talism? Let the ratepayers judge; for ourselves we are inoliued to be extremely sceptical. The local improvements to which we refer are in comnection with the streets,— a substantial kind of improvement too palpable to admit of doubt. It \rill be remembered that some time x^o the BoarJ directed the Slre-ts Committee to draw up a report with respect to the repairs and improvements most needed in the various streets throughout the city. After carefully examining the different thoroughfares the committee furnished their report, recommending various improvements in the following streets :— Abercrombie, Hepburn, Durham, Mount, Wynyard, Wellington, Stanley, Moore, Kdwardes, Victoua, Wakriield, and others. Instructions were then given to the Foreman of Works, Mr. Walker, to proceed with such works as were capable of being begun at once while BpeciScatiOus wer« prepared previously to calling for tenders for the- performance of the more extensive works. Tn visiting the various works now in progress we found that much more had been accomplished than we h«d expected. Edwardea-street has been almost inetaraorpboied. The road has been reformed and ramed, and we believe is to be metalled. At all events it ought to be, for if the new earth which has been cast upon the street, ami which already is much cut up, be uot metalled, the street will be in a much wore* condition than ever. The side pathi have also been re-formed and laid with scoria from Upper Queen-street to the junction of Syuioads and Edw<irdes-streets, and a culvert is being cons'ructed immediately behind the Fitaroy Hot^i which will effectually drain that locality. The last-mentioned portion of the work is one of considerable magnitude, and some b'ix out of the eighteen emplo)Bi of the Board are engageJ upon it. What with these improvements, and the neat scoria embankment fronting the Methodist Chapel, Edwardes-street will be much altered for the better, and much praise is due to Mr. Walker, the Board's foreman, for the efficient aud intelligent manner in which he discharges his duties, which are just now somewhat onerous. The committee recommrnded that a crossing should be made on the houth aid* of Barraok-street, aod that a few loads of metal be laid on where necessary, also that the footpaths be spread with scoria ash. As a commencement-, improvements are alrealy being made in Barrack -street. In accordance with the recommendations of the committee, the ruts iv Hepburnstreet have been filled up, the road has been reformed, oi 'e-channels have been made, and the footpaths have been made fifteen feet in width, and laid with scoria ash. Albert-street has been attended to in a temporary way, the footpaths being gravelled where repairs were urgently required. The footpath in Mount-strert has bteu formed and gravelled. Specifications have been prepared for certain improvements in connection with the land slip in Wynyard-street, and tenders will shortly be issued. A land slip on the north side of Wellington-street is also to be repaired forthwith, a»d Symonds-street is also to receive its share of attention. We understand that tenders will shortly be invited by the B>ard for the supply «>f 300 pnriri post*, 2,OoUft. of 2-inch heart of kauri, for the Stanley-street drain, the specifications havii.g been already prepared. Tenders are also to be called for the repair of the sea wall in Mechanics' Bay. Only one roadway is to be left in tha mo3t convenient place, and the wall is to be continued to the northern end so as to stop the further encroachment of the sea. The drain at the bottom of Constitution Hill is also to be cleaned out. The committee reported that Moore-street requires draining, but it would be necessary to make a deep cutting, entailing large expenditure, and that opposition would probably be encountered from some of the residents and owners of property iv that neighbourhood. Nothing h»s yet, therefore, been done in regard to this street. Victoria-street has also recently received some attention, and a footpath has been made at the junction of Abercombie and Waken 1 eld-str«ets. When all these works have been carried out,tbe condition of the principal thoroughfares will have been considerably improved, and the Board will have made some reparation for past extravagance and gross mismanagement.