SUBURBAN BOROUGHS AND TOWN CLERKS.

Evening Star, Issue 4941, 3 January 1879, Page 2

SUBURBAN BOROUGHS AND TOWN CLERKS.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,— The recent correspondence about tho West Harbor municipality, and several paragraphs which have lately appeared in the Press referring to other suburban boroughs and clerks, seem to indicate that a difficulty exists by which the - smooth working of the municipal system is likely to be seriously obstructed. So far as several of the suburbs are concerned experience has, I think, shown that their incorporation into municipalities has been premature; and that the road board system was quite as effective, much more economical, and not so productive of the ill-feeling evidenced in much of the correspondence by suburban councillors and burgesses. The question which seems likely to prove a stumbling block is that of the town clerks and their salaries ; and 1 will venture to ptedit that, until the burgesses are better informed than they are at present, the question will continue to he a source, of con ten-, tion. As an old commercial man, I am apt to look at most questions from an utilitarian and £ s d point of view, and I see no reason why the ordinary commercial principles should not apply to the question under consideration. With some few exceptions the suburban town clerks also hold the offices of valuer, treasurer, collector, returning officer, and in one or two instances inspector of works, and the salaries they receive cover the remuneration for all their appointments. Now, sir, if one individual is to properly perform all the (luties comprised in the above-mentioned appointments, need it be asserted that he must possess education and ability of no mean order and a general knowledge which experience alone can, give, together with unquestionable integrity and impartiality? A competent town clerk can facilitate the working of the municipal machine, and will be the means of saving his employers from mistakes and consequent losses; hut the permanent services of capable men can only be secured by paying them a fair remuneration, while the evils arising from a frequent change in the office are, I think, too numerous and self-evident to need specification. The fact of other aspirants offering to accept the appointments at a much less amount as salary in no way affects the question, for, if appointed, they might, and probably would, prove themselves utterly incapable of performing the duties required of them, and would in a very short time involve the Council and ratepayers in losses a,nd inconveniences that would more than counterbalance the saving in the salary. The total amount of income from rates has not so much to do with the question of. a town clerk’s salary os might he supposed ; for, by the provisions of the various Acts under which the boroughs are working certain requirements have to be given effect to, and the same trouble taken in all municipalities, quite irrespective of the rate roll; and in boroughs containing a large proportion of small properties, with only a few of high valuation, the total amount of rates may be the same, but the work of the clerk must inevitably he greater than if the properties with high valuation were' more numerous. As a ratepayer lam opposed to wasting municipal revenue in ueedlessly-high salaries officials; but as a man of business : I believe it to be of far more importance to have men who are quite capable of doing the work, and can be depended on, than to be too solicitous about paying the lowest possible salary, for all who know anything about business will allow that the lowest-priced article is nearly always the dearest in the end; and if we hare been too hasty in adopting an expensive and complex system of local government that is no reason why we should either attempt an injustice by underpaying men whose duties are by no means the pleasantest, and in,* whose hands we entrust our revenue or en- * danger the whole concern by employing incompetent and untrustworthy persons at low salaries. . K any of the various bearings of the important question of municipal government can be discussed in a dispassionate manner through your valuable medium, I for one shall he happy at any future time to contribute my humble share in elucidating a subject which has and will have an important effect on our domestic comfort, and the increase or depreciation in the value of our properties.—l am, &c., ■ An Old Commercial. Dunedin, December 31.