THE BOROUGH POUND.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3065, 9 December 1908, Page 5

THE BOROUGH POUND.

—— REPORT BY THE BOROUGH ENGINEER. NEW CONDITIONS ADOPTED. Sitting as a Works Committee last week,the Masterton Borough Council adopted a report by the Borough Engineer in reference to rbe Pound in the following terms I have appointed George Morris the Borough Poundkeeper for the time being at a wage of 9s per day, on the understanding thai the Borough provide all requirements and receive all fees and charges. The emoluments are—1. £2O per annum as Poundkeeper. 2. £l3 the estimated rental value of a cottage occupied by the Poundkeeper as such. 3. £5 for protecting the Borough's river frontage property. 4. £ a sum representing the difference in of sustenance and sustenance fees and charges. During the past three years the receipts and payments in respect of the Pound disclose that the payments have exceeded the receipts, in other words, that the Pound has been carried on at a loss. That should not be so with careful administration. With a view to placing the Pound upon a business footing, I strongly recommend that a person be appointed to the position of Poundkeeper, whose duties shall be—1. To perfjrm all and every the duties of a Poundkeeper under the Impounding Acts. 2. To protect the Borough's river frontage property. 3. To caretake the Borough's plant

and materials at the Hope Street depot. 4. To care for the Borough's horses at the depot stables. 5. To pay all Pound monies chargeable into the Borough Fund, and to carry out all and every the instructions of the Borough Engineer. I consider the former method of payment to be the principal factor m the unsatisfactory results obtainable in the past, inasmuch as the method employed did not produce a living wage. It the Council are prepared to concede that a living wage is equitable, I suggest that the emoluments for the foregoing services be fixed at 8s per day, with the use of the cottage, and that an appointment be made subsequent to public advertisement, the duties to commence on the Ist of January, 1909.