THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, JUNE 18, 1877.

Inangahua Times, Volume IV, Issue 30, 18 June 1877, Page 2

THE Inangahua Times. PUBLISHED TRI-WEEKLY. MONDAY, JUNE 18, 1877.

l<s is, we are informed, one of the conditions prescribed by tbe specifications, that all pewoaa tendering foe tbe maintenance of the different sections of the Bulfer road shall forward therewith to the Board a deposit in cash to ; the amount of £10, This, it is pointed out, is a very great hardship to those who desire to compete for the work. There ate numbers of persons disposed to enter for the work, but tbey cannot all with equal facility provide the needed deposit.. Thus, should this feature of the specifications be ad, hered to, a large number of men will be practically shut out of competition But this is not all. As an equal fle* j posit has to accompany each tender,, any one contractor, should he desire to tender for the whole of the road, would be under the necessity of depositing a total sum of £50. Now, we venture to think, there are very few of those who are likely to- compete for the work who are in a position to provide such, a sum. The consequence naturally to follow from this will be that many cobtractors will have to stand or fall by a single tender. It needs little argument to show how the funds of the Board are likely to suffer from this, and we think that the Board will be 'acting wisely by either allowing the one deposit to cover all tenders sent in by one person ; or what is better still, dispense entirely with the necessity for deposits. Contractors are bound to provide substantial sureties, and this might be safely taken, aa a sufficient guarantee to the Board. It is not as though the work was of any magnitude, or that there is any great room for miscalculation-^sucb, at all events, : as would be likely to. lead to the subsequent abandonment of any tender accepted. The subject has been brought under, oar notice, and as it is ; one which apparently interests a cons siderable number of persons, we suggest it for the consideration, of the Board.