Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MAY 21, 1917. CITY AFFAIRS.

Nelson Evening Mail, 21 May 1917, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MAY 21, 1917. CITY AFFAIRS.

IiHLE, new 'Council fairlv settled down to solid work on Friday evening and during the course oi discussion quite a number of matters of more than ordinary interest to ratepayers' were touched upon. It was-satisfactory to se e a large number ol the public present, even if the chie'f attraction ' was the possibility of something in the nature of a "scrap." At me beginning of the new Council's career, we hespe'ak for it the interest of the public. It has entered office in troublous times and too much must not be expected of it. This (Council, as its predecessor and others before that, is seriously handicapped owing to the sins of the past and there is the additional burden of the war conditions to carry. It is only fair that these facts should be remembered in any criticism of the Council's actions or lack.of action. We have seen how the past Council has (been unjustly blamed by people quite out of 'touch, with the real" facts, and it is to be hoped there will be no repetition of tins injustice. ... .'-.••

Iu :tbe first place it .is necessary to inquire into some of the main reasons that have led . to the present financial difficulties. The. outstanding trouble recently has been in paying for the gasholder. -Now, what are the facts connected with this costly structure? The old Council has been blamed because the overdraft lias been raised to pay for it when, as a matter of fact, it was ordered by the old Council's predecessors in office. It is not .our desire to shift the blame on to. that-particular Council, for there is valid evidence that the holder is absolutely essentia", to tho efficient work ing of the gas plant Wp have on old ouarte with the it). qne.=tion for the manner in which the holder was decided upon, for when so huge an expenditure was contemplated, however necessary it may have been to ensure the efficiencv of the works -when supplying the ordinary demand, the people should have had the opportunity of coiyid'erinir whether they would have electric light and make the- two old holders suffice for the supply of gas for cooking" and power. That Council decided to keep to gas. and this meant a new holder. Apart from the objection we have raised, that Council was in mo way to Wame, or not seriously to blame, for the financial difficulties created hv the holder. One has to go further back) to apportion the blame. The gasworks for years were the milch cow for the city. Former Councils used niwisv made bv the gasworks for renairinrr, the streets and man" other purposes. Nothing more is needpc" ■to show the folly of •bln.mm<r the old Council for the holder, or even its predecessor in office, for that matter. To be fair, 'the blame must he. distributed over nasi Councils. , There is not the slightest dioubt that the <ra.swork> have been allowed to get behind t'v demands of consumers, and it was cs plained) to C l '.' 'Carlisle on Friday oven ing by the Gas Engineer that present defects would .not be remedied until th< new holder was in operation. Now tha l the works have been -brought more close lv up to date, a decided improvement should follow in the "ear future. Tlr Gas Engineer has had to bear the brunt of the misdeeds of Councils many yean ago. but things are now on a bettei footing, and good results should follov the working of tho new plant The present Council has au op portunity of placing the works 01 a business footing, b)y keeping what 1 now has in good order, uddin; to the efficiencv of the plant, and pre paring to meet the needs of the future There is somethiiiT far more to thin) about than the mere working from da; to day. Some people think that a plansuch as the gasworks can be run with out a head, because there happens to b: a. particularly good foreman in the Loun cil's employ." But, however good a fore man mav be. there is ample work to one man "in attending to the actual opeia tions day bv da v. In addition to this thtere are, among other things, the ge>: eral management, 4he upkeep oi tlr plant, the buying of supplies, deveLop nients in the manufacture of gas, an tho business outlook. For these res sons, it is most sincerely to be trustcthat the unsatisfactory Methods ot tlv past will not be■- reverted to. lrii economy can come only by rimmng tlv show as any capable business man woul lU Another matter mentioned at Frida; evening's meeting was the general up provenicnt on the streets. Cr. Marnn minded the Council of the good wor done on Waimea; road {rbm-toow s Hi to the College. This, he said, had bee! re-formed! three years ago, a.nd hanot needed expenditure since, and a the present time all that was require was a\ little attention to maintain th road, iH Rod* order. 'Cr. Pettit als mentioned.- the general the streets, and emphaaied the neces

sity for the "stitch in time" policy to maintain the good work. Niggardly expenditure in past years has beeil proved to be false economy; You can spend £IOO and' waste the lot, but you can spend £2OO and get good value for every pound. What has been dons in mor P recent years has been done well, and the present 'Council, and ultimately the ratepayers, will be able to reap the benefit, provided the Council does not economise too far and" undo the good work already accomplished. A ;>ood) job costs more, but upkeep, provided repairs are effected as soon as needed, costs less, and herein is true economy to ibe found. Tor a number of years past the roads liave been a serious drain on the finances. This has been due to the mistake made when the drainage scheme was undertaken in not providing out of drainage loan for restoration of the roads to their former condition. When the scheme had been completed, ■the roads were found to be in a shocking state as a consequence of the pipe-laying, and obviously such repairs should have been provided for as o'vte of the expenses of the scheme. In considering the finanices, this is a matter that should be 'borne in mind. And when dealing with the lEmgineer, it must in all fairness be recognised- that he is the Council's responsible officer in effecting these improvements —and there is valid evidence that he has done well.

•On rriday evening, Cr. Gibbons's motion i-o give all the salaried staff in, charge of employees three months' notice, subject to re-engagement within eight weeks, came in for the censure that such a motion deserves. AVhile it is true that four Councillors voted for the motion, only one in addition to the mover, had l anything to say on the matter, and it is difficult to believe that cither of the silent supporters were in any way enthusiastic. Naturally, it is one of the first duties' of new Councillors to make quite sure that money is not (being wasted in unnecessary salaries, but there is a right and a wrong way of going about the matter. If any of theeight or nine Council employees included in the motion were charged, say, with riding their bicycles on the footpath, they "would" "have an opportunity to state their case. 'But here was an attempt to sack old employees of the Council without giving them a chance to prove that their services were valuable to the city. It is true all sacked employees were to bo subject to reappointment within eight weeks, but way on earth should they 'be given three months' notice, or anv notice at. all, until it lias been proved" that their services are not required . The excuse that the reason is to save money is economy at other peoples expense. All these men were to be under the stigma of having 'been given notice just to save a few pounds in case one or two of the offices were not continued. IBut. fortunately, the rood sense o. the maiority prevailed, and the inquiry into the Council staff will be conducted in a fair and proper manner. Ihe Council, as an employer of labour, must treat it's employees fairlynf it is going to attract good men to its service audi retain them' in its employ. -\\hat would the Council do, for instance, if the start felt that this sort of thing was not cood enough, and left? But the detent t the motion "by 6 to 4, and the apparent luke-warm support of one, and possibly two, Councillors out of the lour, will doubtless prevent .anything ol this nature occurring. Ever since there were Engineers there..has been a feeling oy some people that tliey were not necessary, but such a contention will not bear the lisht of day. New men have often entered the Council feeling that, the Engineers could be done without, but fulf inquiry has shown most of them thaif- any such sitep would be •failse economy. Cr. Pettit, who has past experience o'f Council work, told ■the new Councillors on Friday evening that the experiment had been tried before, and had resulted in very ferrous loss to the •city. Even the. Town Cl'erk", whose duties do not bring him in conflict with, people like those of the Engineers, has not escaped from the lash. As Cr. Watson put it, he is 'more deserving of three months' holiday than three" months' notice. In view of the remarks that have 'been made in and out of the Council, it is oiilv fair to the officers concerned that full inquiry should be made into their departments by independent commission, and we believe the officials -would welcome such inquiry. The ratepayers require economy, ibut it must be true economy. I fc -.j s useless saving a few hundred pounds and losiiicr perhaps thousands. _ This is no mere ~ statement of possibility; it-' lias been attempted in the past, and the experience was costly to the citizens.