MUNICIPAL EFFICIENCY

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4312, 22 March 1901, Page 4

MUNICIPAL EFFICIENCY

A question, was raised at Clio meeting ol the' Ratepayers’- .Association -the other evening- which ought to be seriously considered by the City Council.: A resolution'was moved that it be an instruction to. the new Council’ to -be elected next month to. make inquiry into the capabilities, of all its employees. Ihe Ratepayers’ Association has rendered a Useful service" by focussing public attention on, a subject that has. been,- commeiited upon- in ■ many . quarters. .-'Nothing so much.-strikes the occasional visitor to Wellington as - the apparent’ inefficiency of the - city’s ' municipal. government. Wretched streets/ half-paved; side-walks, -indifferent -lighting, and-a variety of •other:: obtrusive defects press thq fact

upon /the attention of even the most hardened Wellingtonian, who bas by. long usage-come to regard'the existing state of things as-unavoidablaand incurable. It is time that -this matter was tackled j in 'earnest. . There is no need to wait for a new Council. The present Councillors, if they wish to secure re-election, should take! immediate steps to place the muni- ; cipal services of the city on a mere satis-; factory footing. There are evidences that reform must-not -be confined to the' mechanical staff, but should include the I clerical.. Thei Town dork’s office requires reorganisation, and it is the proper thing to face that task now, and not wait until Mr Page has departed on his

lengthy leave of absence. If tho allegation is true that gross carelessness., Which .will result in serious loss to tho Corporation, has recently taken place in the office; the straightforward course is to inquire into it now, arid not havo an investigation during the Town Clerk’s absence. ’

The present time is most inopportune for the Corporation business to he loft without a competent head. It is the imperative duty of the Council, at a time when important and costly works are about to bo undertaken, to see that the branches dealing with finance and general control are thoroughly equipped, and that everything is conducted on tho heist business principles. .-As the Town Clerk is to have extended- leave of absence, the Mayor and Councillors must see that thd .city does not suffer from inocmp6-_ tenco in any of its officers or, from lack of ’ business management. ’ A . competent accountant, at an adequate salary, should be at once appointed Deputy-Town Clerk, so that the people may have assurance that the city’s affairs are being properly looked'after. From the re-awakened interest now manifested in municipal matters, it is, plain that if the Councillors neglect this duty they must he prepared at the coming elections to give place to men of greater earnestness of purpose. A complete and drastic inquiry should be at once made into the, whole question of the Corporation’s business—its bookkeeping, its engineering and its methods of; control—ais well ■■ ns into the competency of tho employees. This is a "sine qua non’’ to the improvement of the pity streets and moans of locomotion; for, unless the burgesses’- have every confidence in-those l entrusted with the oversight of municipal affairs, they are not likely ,to sanction, schemes involving a large expenditure.