THE BOARD OF WORKS ANd WASHINGTON VALLEY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume III, Issue 170, 21 July 1868, Page 3

THE BOARD OF WORKS ANd WASHINGTON VALLEY.

To the Editor of thk Nelson Evening Mail. Sir, — It rarely happens that your fortnightly record of the sayings and doings of the six Wise Men of Gotham contains anything which ie not either | prosy or nasty, but I must honestly con- j fess that one paragraph of the report of their last meeting, which appears in this evening's Mail, afforded me intense amuse- j ment. ! I allude to the statement that 'Mr Webb had called attention to the state of the i road in Washington Valley/ and that, in consequence, the Secretary had been instructed to carry out some ' temporary repairs ' in that locality. I need not remind you, Mr Editor, that the unfortunate ratepayers of Washington Valley have been continually petitioning the Board to get something done which shall render the access to their houses a little less difficult than it is at present, or that that august body has invariably turned a deaf ear to their requests. The unfortunate Washingtonians have therefore been compelled, on each recurrence of wet weather, to wade horae^-as I was forced to do this very evening — up to their ankles in mud, simply because the Board, mindful that the proverb that 'charity begins at home,' have thought proper to expend the funds at their disposal on the improvement of the roads and thoroughfares in the vicinity of their respective residencea But, lo ! a wondrous ' change comes o'er the spirit of their dreams,' and the mighty Webbius, 'surnumed Snippius,' the eelf-dubbed Reformer of the Board, touched, perhaps, by some tardy twinge Of remorse, or-— what is far more probable •— like the war-horse ' scenting the battle from afar,' and bethinking himself by this means to secure a vote or two from some poor confiding ratepayers in the Valley, j naively calls the attention of the Board, on Friday last, to the disgraceful state of the road in that locality, as if the fact had gleamed upon him for the first time, and the factotum of the Board is forthwith directed to see that some temporary repairs (whatever that may mean) be carried out. But, Mr. Editor, I, for one, shall not be Caught by any such transparent 'dodgery,' •t— to employ the elegant phraseology ofthe honorable and sapient member for. Brighton, — and my support;shall be given at the ensuing election to the candidate or candidates who will promise to uphold our rightful claims upon the consideration of the Board, claims which have been repeatedly brought before the notice of its present members, and as often contemptuously rejected. I am, &c, A Washingtonian. Monday Night.