THE WATER FAMINE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11314, 8 March 1900, Page 4

THE WATER FAMINE.

All criticism of public men and public bodies should be considerate. But we do not think that any citizen of Auckland, with the appalling danger which now hangs over us of an absolute famine of one of the absolute necessaries of life, need be mealymouthed in his condemnation of the City Council. The only consideration which might make him reticent is, that the people themselves are, in the last resort, to blame. The letter of His Worship the Mayor in another column is mainly occupied with a statement of the confusion in which he found the finances, and how time was lost in getting them straight, so that he could have a safe basis for raising money for some accession to the water supply.. The Council is not entitled to put such a plea forward. When the present Western Springs supply was brought in some 30 years ago, it was seen that it could not be regarded, as a permanent scheme. It was stated then, and virtually the Council was pledged to the course, to devote all the surplus to creating a large fund, so that, when the necessity arose, there should be cample money for a large scheme. No public body, such as a City Council, should make a big profit out of a water supply. After interest and a sinking fund have been provided for, the charge for water should be reduced to a low rate, so that, for the sake of the health of the community, it may be abundantly used, and that its use might not be restricted even by the very poorest. Ever since the scheme commenced an enormous profit has been realised, and yet the chief difficulty now in obtaining even a temporary supply to a vast famine and plague, is that there is no money to do it with. Is that a condition of things of which the Council may be proud 1 The last yearly accounts of the City Council show that the principal items of receipts were Domestic supply, £6533 14s ?d ; meter supply, £7446 15s lOd ; shipping supply, £2477 16s 6d. The total revenue was £17,307 12s 7d. On the payments side the accounts are cooked in the usual Council fashion. The wages are £1593 12s 5d for firs'; halfyear, and £1070 4s 6d for second half; coal and coke, £1426 14s 8d for first half-year, and £1017 6s 6d for second half. There is an account, Eraser and Sons, engineering, £457 3b 2d. Wages, it will be observed, we have given. Then we have " salaries," £750; and, again, "proportion of salaries," £355 ; pioportion office expenses, proportion audit expensed, proportion petty cash, proportion ground rent, and so on, to pile up the charges. We have also "Stewart, reports, £49 75." And yet, with all this, we have the expense account only coming to £7061 2s 2d. The Council have been making a large profit every year from the water, but it has all gone into the maelstrom of municipal finance, and we have to borrow for even an auxiliary supply. Mr. Goldie's letter is mainly devoted to showing that things were in a mess when he came into office, and that he has done everything possible. But the more he succeeds in removing it from himself the more firmly he fixes it on his predecessors. He himself was on the Council not many years ago, and so must share the blame. The report about auxiliary supply we publish to-day. But that supply will take till next summer to carry out, and, in the meantime, we have no water. It is no comfort to us to tell us that we shall have an auxiliary supply a twelvemonth hence. We want the water now. The consequences of turning the water off at six p.m. will be very serious. Great inconvenience will be caused to all who run engines or machinery at night. And think of what it means for a largo hotel to have the water for the closet system turned off at dark, or for large stables, where there may be scores or hundreds of horses. We think that even now it should be considered whether we should not beg the Onehunga people to let us have some water, even if men have to be employed night and day in laying the pipe 3on the road. Something must be clone, and at once.