The New-Zealander. DAILY. AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1864. SANITARY WORKS.

New Zealander, Volume XXI, Issue 2264, 2 November 1864, Page 4

The New-Zealander. DAILY.

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1864. SANITARY WORKS.

Be just and rear not; Lata!! tlie en In thou at il'st at, ba Stiy Otmntry'i, lay uou's, and '1 ruth's.

We are glad to perceive that the necessity of speedy progress in the construction of sanitary works iu the c ty of Auckland is more and more exciting public atteutiou. At the meeting of the City Board on Monday a motion was proposed by Mr Macreadv, and carried, "that the Chai"mau be instructed to " communicate with his Honor the Superiu"teudeut with a view to an additional sum of "£12,030 being procured for the ensuing " year out of the sum of £50,000 voted for " city purposes, to enable the Board to carry ' ; out sewerage aud city improvements.'' Every one is now well aware, as Mr. MacreadYjustly observed, "of the great •'necessity which exists for proper drainage " being immediately constructed, without which it is very " evident that the present frightful mortality "amongst the inhabitants must continue to " increase." The City Board is often sought to be made the scapegoat for many short-comings iu Auckland ; but in this matter we fully believe that they are in earnest, and that what they want is the means. " The "present income of this Board," observed Mr. Mackeady, "is not even suffi- " cient to pay the cost of keeping the " present streets in repair. Iu this state of " matters," he continued, "to whom can the "Board look for au augmentation to their " funds, but to the Provincial Government ? " With all the public outcry, however, that "has been made iu the newspapers, and with " the present state of matters staring them " iu the face, what was my surprise on per- " using the Estimates of the Provincial Expenditure of the ensuing year, to observe a "paltry sum of £I,OOO put down for the City. " What can be the meaning of this, I am at a "loss to guess, unless the Provincial " Treasurer imagines the Board to be " possessed of some source of revenue "of which they themselves are unaware." It ha 3 always been understood that the main sewer was to be constructed at the expense of the Provincial fuuds ; but not less, it appears, than £1,200 has beeu defrayed for that purpose out of the City Rates. We fully recognise the justice and force of the claim, that the city of Auckland is en - titled to urge, for a liberal share of the Provincial revenues being expended on the improvement of the city. There are several weighty considerations that concur in this conclusion. Besides the large proportion that the city and harbour of Auckland contribute to the Provincial exchequer, we may fairly take into account the circumstance of this city being the capital of the Province. That the city of Auckland should bo in a healthy and respectable condition, is in several respects salutary and desirable for the inhabitants of the Province at large. Of the Imperial revenue of the United Kingdom no small portiou, iu the aggregate, has devoted to the improvement and adornment of the inetropolis-iu-chief, as we may term it, London ; aud considerable sums have been continually, from time to time, allocated in like manner to the minor capitals of Dublin and Edinburgh. So also the model city of Paris has been rendered a model city at the collective expense of the whole French Empire ; and public works, at the national expense, have been largely carried on in the provincial capitals of France. Nor are examples wanting on this side of the globe. The two principal cities of the Australasian colonies,. Sydney and Melbourne, have each of them—particularly the latter —been Urgely improved and benefited by means of Parliamentary grants from the several Colonial Legislatures. The claims of the city of Auckland ou the Provincial treasury are still stronger, inasmuch as this city bears a larger ratio to the Province.

But on the other Laud we cannot overlook the uotorious fact ol the vacuity aud incertitude that are uow descried iu the minds, or at least in the statements, of the Provincial magnates, as to all financial concerns. Certainly his Honor the Superintendent, iu his opening address at the commeucemi nt of the present sessim of the! Provincial Council, did indulge in glowing visions of public undertakings, sucu as would involve much outlay. Among the rest his Honor proposed a scheme of water-supply,—a matter than which none is more urgent. The money, by the bye, that will be expended in procuring this will not, even in a pecuniary sense, be unproductive ; seeing that the consumers 01 the water will be required to pay for it. However, we need not discuss the Superintendent's flattering pictures, as neither his Honor nor the head of the Executive in the Council has beeu able to say where the funds are to come from. If, indeed, the sanitary improvement of the

city a matter of such a kind that we could afford to wait iu patience, uutil the present muddle in the affairs of the Colony should be got rid of, in that case we might be content with the reasonable anticipation of better things in store for us. But the sanitary conditiou of the city is not a matter as to which any indefinite or lengthy postponement is admissible. It is a case demanding prompt action. It strikes us forcibly that in the all-impor-tant and pressing question of the sanitary improvement of Auckland, the City Endowments might be made available at once. The city of Auckland is extremely fortunate and highly favored in her endowments ; and greatly are the inhabitants, present and prospective, to be felicitated on the fact, that, despite of the efforts made iu times past by certain influential individuals, those endowments haveb' ea preserved intact. The boon of their preservation is one of those which the city owes to the sagacious foresighl and firmness of the late Superintendent, Mr. Williamson. There exists a mortgage upon the lauds constituting the City Endowments ; but since the date of that mortgage being contracted, these lauds have been progressively increasing in value. There would «ot, we are confident, be the least difficulty iu obtaining, on the security of those lauds, a second loan of such an amount as would enable us at once to proceed with public works that are urgently wanted. The debentures of supli a loan would be readily takeu up in Auckland itself, where the value of the proposed security is wellknown. We would with all deference submit this suggestion to those who appreciate the sanitary question as it deserves, and who are in a position euabliug them to give a practical effect to their views. We need scarcely observe that public works, of the kind needed for sauitary purposes, are such that the burden of their construction may be equitably laid upon " the future," as well as upon " the present." Such works are of a permanent character ; and it is therefore reasonable that loans should be contracted for the purpose of their construction instead of the whole expenditure being defrayed by means of present taxation.