ENGINEER FOR THE HARBOUR BOARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11799, 31 October 1901, Page 6

ENGINEER FOR THE HARBOUR BOARD.

TO THE EOiTOK. Sir,—lt is high time that the public roused themselves and took some interest in Harbour Board matters, and put a stop to the rule which is proving so costly to the payers of dues. One lias nothing to say against the newly-appointed engineer except to deplore his sad want of experience. Why was this appointment so suddenly sprung on the Board? Surely on such an important matter our absent members ought to have been given the chance of a voice in the matter, and certainly in fairness to the payers of dues the chairman should have withheld his casting vote on such a very important appointment, seeing that the division was equal, and thus have let the matter be dealt with by a full Board. One very prominent member stated that " the Board were always worse off when they had engineers." This is rather contradictory to his action in supporting the new appointee, who has been in the Board's employ for years giving his advice, only officially known as the draughtsman. The Chairman, in Ids re-marks, deplores the fact that the Board were in the habit of passing over the reports of their own officials, and getting those of others. Surely it is a more deplorable state of affairs that the Board's officials have not been able to inspire their employers with more confidence in their ability to prepare reliable reports. What is the t;.lk about sending the engineer away for a. 12 months' holiday to gain information? "We will hear next that the engineer has been appointed for 12 months, and grantee 12 months' holiday. A verygood way, indeed, of disposing of the engineer question! Surely the Board has had enousrh experience in sending away officials to gain experience. There is more trouble re Calliope Dock looming up, quite apart from the shear-legs fiasco, and the dock engineer's salary. "Why do not the public demand an inquiry? Had a competent engineer been appointed seven years ago, would the Railway Wharf have been allowed to get into such a state that the railway authorities were alarmed about sending their engines down? Would the planking have been allowed to rot? Would the. retaining wall in front of Craig's cement works have been allowed to collapse? Would Quay-street wall have been allowed to go as far as itdid, before professional advice was called in, and the newly-appointed man ignored? Would Queen-street wharf lie paved as it is, or tarred with unboiled tar? Would an expensive oil launch be running? Pages eould be filled with matters of similar evidence of neglect, for want ot the advice of a competent man. and it is the hundreds ot little matters that dc not come before the eye of the public which want the guiding hand. The Board must admit that they flounder into discussions that can only and should only be decided by professional assistance, and yet allow themselves to be led until they are landed into such undertakings as the famous Calliope Dock sheer-legs, etc. Things have drifted alone; for years in this state, and the question of an engineer has been shelved time after time, and now, when it looked as though we were to have some reform, we have the draughtsman put in.—l am, etc., Reform.