The Evening Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 839, 21 December 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, DECEMBER 21, 1878.

The hopes and fears of the ratepayers in . reference to the waterworks are, with the concurrence of the Municipal Council, about to be set at rest. The consent of the ratepayers will, according to the Act, be necessary before a sufficient additional sum can be borrowed to secure the completion of the work, and it is probable ', that the ratepayers will desire the Council \ to supply them with the fullest possible information before giving their consent to further borrowing. Of course the Council , will have no objection to do this ; and, notwithstanding the numerous gloomy i forebodings which have grown out of what i appears to have been the unnecessary reluctance of the Council to publish particulars of receipts and expenditure in connection with the work in a lucid form, we think that we may reasonably hope that everything will come out right in the end. That mistakes have been made in the conduct of the work may be perfectly true, but ptrhaps they are not more serious than those which appear to be inseparable from all such schemes all the world over, especially in cases where water has to be taken from somewhat unmanageable mountain torrents like the Waitaki. The duty of the ratepayers is to demand the fullest information on . the question from the Council, and shape their actions according as the result is favorable or otherwise. We need not 1 caution them not to allow themselves to be biased by rumor, but to rest their judgment upon the more tangible and 1 usually less unreliable basis of a full statement. Let not ratepayers be swayed in their conclusions by opinions not ', backed up by some satisfactory authority for giving them. It is not sufficient for a man to make a damaging statement, and when asked to give his reasons for doing so to say " You will see that I am right." Wo have seen—Wo have seen that such statements have often proved fallacious, and it would be wise, especially when giving an opinion in such a grave matter as the completion of the Oamaru Waterworks, to be careful not to do so on such a flimsy hypothesis. The history of the waterworks itself points to the desirableness of exercising caution. -According to to some it was to be a terrible failure. But the ratepayers may congratulate themselves that so far such a prediction lias not been fulfilled. Probably an error was made in the first instance in the level at which the inlet was placed. But the inlet, though too high for the river in its normal condition, was submerged, and, we understand, destroyed, during the late heavy flood in the river. Nature interposed herself, and if any engineering error was made in this ]><>r;ii>;i of the work, it v.'as rectified in a most effectual and inexpensive manner. .Practically no serious evil resulted from the flood, because the settling pond to which the intake was intended to lead insufficiently fed by runs resulting from percolations from the main stream at a higher point, and which were diverted to ensure a supply. In fact, as it happened, the alteration in this respect from the original plan, which the flood necessitated, will be the means of securing purer and better water than could have been obtained direct from the river, inasmuch as it undergoes the process of filtration on its way to the settling pond. Now, so far from the water not running on the first section of the race, it runs so freely that the " weirs" which were originally planned to break its velocity have been found most necessary. Then, again, it was stated that the rock in the tunnels was so hard that they would take three years to pierce. This prophecy scems to have lacked authenticity. The tunnelling has, so far, been prosecuted with a speed apparently satisfactory to all. Rumour has also been busy in other directions in relation to the work. We shall not, however, much further attempt to investigate its truth or falsity. To do that is not our present object. What we are anxious to do is to ask ratepayers to banish from their minds any preconceivedimpressions, and commence anew and intelligently a consideration of the whole question. This is the position of the matter : The work has already entailed the expenditure of the sum of over LGO,OOO under the present contract. The amount is largo, and it may bo—indeed, wo know that it is—thought by some that a cheaper scheme might have been chosen from the several schemes that were proposed at the outset. But that is not what we have now to consider. Nor have we to allow ourselves to be influenced by what might appear to us to have been injudicious or lavish expenditure in the past, except to profit by it in the future in the expenditure of the amount that may be necessary to complete the work. We have expended and rendered ourselves liable for L 60,000, which will leave the work worse than useless, because it will involve taxation without the quid pro c±uo. It will require another fillip of between L 53,000 and L 40,000 in order to carry it to a successful issue. Some people say that it will cost more ; but they are not possessed of a technical knowledge of the question, and wo would rather therefore accept the estimate of a practical man who stakes his reputation on the correctness of his figures. Again, it is urged that the cost of maintenance will be three times that set down by the Council. Although we are inclined to think that there may be some truth in this, we say that a greater barrier than this should interpose itself before any ratepayer would be warranted in opposing the completion of the work—a very much greater barrier. We have actually heard people say that the work should not be completed. That the top of the hill, scarcely throe miles distant from Oamaru should bo connected at a cost of upwards of LGO,OOO with the Waitaki, and then the scheme abandoned. The proposition does not bear the appearance of the emanation of a sound mind. This is what they seem to say : —" We wore quite willing that LGO,OOO or so should be expended in securing a water supply for Oamaru ; but if, when that amount has been expended, it is found that it will be necessary to raise another L 30,000 or so to securo for us that for which we have so far fruitlessly paid over L 60,000, we shall object. It was worth L 60,000 to secure a water supply when tho works were started, and although we are no better off now than we were at first so far as tho supply is concerned, and have saddled ourselves with a liability into the bargain, we shall refuse to sanction the borrowing of another L 33,000 to complete the works." In fact, the water supply was worth L 60,000, but not L 33,000. The natures of such men have not been softened by partaking of the waters of the Oamaru Creek, and it is nothing to them that thousands of others should have to drink semi-putrid water and pay rates to meet the interest on the LGO,OOO spent in bringing wholesome water within almost a stone's throw of their'doors. L!) 0,000 is a large sum for Oamaru to expend in securing a watersupply, but it is less by between L 30,000 and L-40,000 than was paid by Auckland for a meagre supply brought from within a few miles of the city. Invercargill is borrowing LIOO,OOO for the same purpose. Dunediu many years ago paid ; L 35,000 for a dribbling supply of inferior water, and there are other towns in the Colony that are paying, or are going to pay, quite as much as we are for less . value. It should be remembered that : money spent on the Oamaru water supply will not be thrown away. It will be large ' enough to supply Oamaru so long is she shall exist, whilst other townspeople who have been careful, from compulsion or <

choice, will be compelled within a few years to embark in a secord and larger scheme, the first being insufficient to meet the increased and increasing demands made upon it. We must have the work completed—that is certain. In order to do so, we must have an additional L 33,000 ; and the ratepayers will only be too glad to get a plentiful supply of the same pure wholesome water, even at the price computed. We are not apologists for the Council, or for those who have had the conduct of matters in connection with the waterworks ; we merely seek that the ratepayers shall calmly consider the question preparatory to the holding of the public meeting which is to be held in connection therewith on the 14th January next, and as it is necessary that ratepayers should have as good an idea of the work as it is possible for the uninitiated to acquire, we would suggest that the Municipal Council should invito them to proceed by rail to inspect its present state.