CORRESPONDENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9000, 13 March 1888, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

• DEVONPORT WATER SUPPLY. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —The residents of this borough have to decide on Thursday next, whether they will have an efficient water supply provided for them or not. Perhaps, never before have they been called upon to determine by vote a question of such vast importance, and one so intimately affecting the welfare of aIL It is to be hoped that all party prejudices, and all personal feeling will be put aside before approaching the ballot-box, and as the best interests of all, and the fair fame of our borough are at stake, let each give a dispassionate vote. It would be easy to comment on the unreasonable attitude of a section of those present at the meeting on Wednesday ! last, but my object is of a more practical nature, and therefore pass it by, remarking, however, that the scheme proposed by the . borough engineer came out of the ordeal unscathed in its main principles. The ratepayers ought to feel satisfied that, his plans have stood the test of being put into competition with four others, and have still been pronounced the best. The thanks of the whole community are specially due to the Mayor for the time and labour he has ungrudgingly given to examine every possible . scheme, ana make himself master of the details ; for the patience he has ever manifested amidst much opposition, and especially for the clear and comprehensive statement he made at the public meeting, and the readiness with which he was pro-

pared to answer every au M j to every objection. q eßtlon and reply The real opposition to the «&»», bably lies m a fear of increased ♦ ? r °" There are probably not o^ln persons who care anything about tht do%n who makes them, or who carries t? Pknß Show them they are not Sft ° ut creased taxation, or that you cfn^^manything from what they n ?w *!?*«* will concede at once that to have an' ?** dant supply of pure water alwaJe It iS is such an advantage, they will I T vote for it A m?n 'should o uta meeting, "The thing most wantd the now is a soup kitchen" This™ jUst from one of the artisan handle a spade, and he and otS ft* circumstances may find in a scheme of I' sort, where a considerable Bum i! 1 expended on a public work, that emri " ment which will be more in their linPloythe establishment of soup kitchens a As to taxation. The real oue<*Hnr, Ist, What does it cost sumer of water now? and 2nd Uw ?" it cost him under the proposed new ar ment ? In answering the first qu estlr Bnn^ehaveß nn^ehave to look at the mode of supply v- ? e rainwater collected in tanks \v U,, ? take the first cost of tanks, the exZ mst cleaning them, and periodically K of them. If we are prudent people we D ? insure our buildings and furniture these are all an annual tax upon u-' ? d the purpose of fixing these ficm." * ot have ascertained that an ordinal'- ffe tank fixed costs £5, that its ljfo?'?? 1 reckoned at from seven to ten that the ordinary rate for i * Vears « on dwellinghouses is 15s per cent^" that, with a water supply laid on it'' an< * be reduced to 10s per cent. Thea n d the second question is given by the *° who estimates the annual rate to r> i^-X> for interest and sinking fund at M ■'i £1; and the water consumers' rate tv maximum for which is 7 per cent on'rt assessment. With this information m * took a stroll on Beach Road, with th *' tention of ascertaining from the persons met with how they would h affected. The first person interviewed g a d he lived in a house assessed at £17. 1, had two tanks which cost him 10 '& annual cleaning and painting once in thre 6 years cost him on the average 10g , e annum; that his house was insured fo annum; that his house was insured fo £120, and he had been purchasing water for the last moi th— supply having run out. The second person met with was similar to the above, except that his house was rated at £18, tnd insured for £250. 4 third person stated that he was rated at £34 ; had four tanks ; his house was in. sured for £400, and his furniture for £2.50 These three cases may be taken as fairly representative, and we will now tabulate them :—

From the above, it will be seen that in every case there will be an important saving, and if we were to stretch a point and say that the annual rate had been estimated too low, and it ought to be at Is in the £, even then there would be a saving of 9s 2d in No. 1, 13s 4d in No. 2, and £1 ISs lid in No. 3. The last person interviewed gave us other important information, stating that one of his tanks after only seven yeiisiudu be renewed, and two others had worn so thin that only by the utmost care could they be kept good for another year, and that his cost for water in 18S7 had not been less than £10. It is to be hoped, with these facts before them, the ratepayers will as one man go to the poll on Thursday next, and vote for the scheme as propounded by the Mayor and Council.—l am, 4c, March 10. John Milxe. P.S.—The sanitary question has not been alluded to, as the letter is intended to be purely economical; it may, however, be remarked that three deaths from diphtheria have occurred within the last month, and there are at the present several cases of scarlet fever, which all point to defective drainage. LARRIKINISM AND OUR J.P.'S. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —I am much pleased to see in Monday's Herald your remarks about Justices' justice as administered by Messrs. J. Gordon and J. F. King last Saturday, in connection with fruit-stealing in the Domain gardens. Now, I do not blame Mr. King, for that gentleman has done more for the suppression of larrikinism than any other J.P. in Auckland, in that respect standing next; to Mr. Eaddeley himself. It was not Mr. King, but the other fellow on the Bench who was to blame, as he is a little softhearted. It is all bosh to treat the sons ol " Leading citizens" or " Respect&blt parents" differently from other people. T( such, a paltry fine has no deterrent effec whatever, but a dozen strokes of the birch, if vigorously applied to the ends of theii backs, would be a judicious equaliser of position, the sense of feeling in the cuticle of rich men's sons being in inverse proportion to their mental feelings, and no less acute than in the cuticle of poor menfl sons.—l am, &c, Doublevou Gee.

No. 1 Interest on first £ s. d. Under proposed £j j cost of two scheme, antanks, £10, at nuaJ rate £17 7 X .. .. 0 14 0 at9d ,. q 12 8 Cleaning and Consumers'rate, painting .. 0 10 0 £17, at 7% .. i 315 Animal depre- Insurance £120, ciation, reck- at 10s 012 0 oning them Balance in to last for 10 favour of new years ..100 scheme „ 013 5 Insurance £120, at 15a .. 0 18 0 Total ..£320 Total „ iTTfc No. 2. Interest on first £ b. d. Annual rate £18, £ s, & costtwo tanks 0 14 0 at9d .. 0 13 e Cleaning and Consumers' rate painting .. 0 10 0 £18, at 7 % \ 5 « Annual depre- Insurance £250, ciation .. 1 0.0 at 10s .. .. 150 Insurance £250, Balance saved u 1710 at 15s.. .. 1 17 6 Total.. ..£4 1 6 Total™ .. £4 1 o" No. 3. Interest on first £ s. d. Annual rate £34 £ a d cost 4 tanks.. 18 0 at9d .. ..156 Cleaning and Consumers' rate painting ..100 £34, at 7 % ., 27T Anr.iual depre- Insurance £650, ciation .. 2 0 0 at 10s.. ..350 Insurance £650, Balance saved.. 2 7 5 at 15s.. .. 4 17 6 Total.. ..£9 5 6 Total.. ..£956