AN OPPORTUNITY.

Northern Advocate, 15 December 1920, Page 2

AN OPPORTUNITY.

One of the many matters mentioned at the meeting of the . Wha.ngarei Borough Council this week was an invitation issued to Mr J. D, Whitmore, the borough engineer, to attend the annual conference of the Society of Civil Engineers at Christchurch next February. The Council, it is reported, decided to wait until the January meeting before discussing the invitation. We are sorry that the Council did not make up its mind at once to give Mr Wliitmore the opportunity to attend the conference. The recent gathering of the Auckland branch of the Society in Whangarei showed that Mr Whitmoro is a valued member of the organisation, and his professional associates, no doubt, would welcome his presence at the coming conference. Moreover, if we are not mistaken, thb borough engineer has not had a holiday since he took up his (position, and that is not fair treatment for anyone. Profesidonal and business men in private employ-? nient have their annual holidays, and we certainly think that municipal employees β-re just as much in need of periodical rest and recreation. Iα Mr Whitmore's case *t is hardly necessary to point out that his term of office has been a pretty strenuous one, important works having been planned and carried out under his tupervision, and it is therefore all the more necessary that he should be given a furlough. Apart from the personal aspect of the matter, however, the borough engineer's attendance at a New, Zealand conference would probably be of some benefit to the borough, for the conference will discuss questions of great technical importance. The Council should be glad to afford its engineer an opportunity of rubbing shoulders with his professional brethren, and we hope that its decision at thc\ January meeting will be favourable. In fairness to Mr Whitmore we should add that we have had no communication of any kind with him in regard to this matter, our only information on the subject being our own report of the Borough Council 's meeting. We offer our opinion to the members of the Council in the hope that they will be induced to think over the matter and do justice to their engine/sr.