THE MUNICIPAL GAS WORKS

Wanganui Chronicle, 12 August 1901, Page 2

THE MUNICIPAL GAS WORKS

MR G. W. SMITHIES' APPOINTMENT

On Saturday morning last His Worship' the Mayor received notice of Mr Smithies' acceptance of the position of engineer and manager of the Gas Works. Mr Smithies' credentials were before the Council at its last meeting, when the matter was considered in committee, and a committee was appointed to interview him, with power to act. Mr Smithies cime to the colony under engagement to the Petone Borough Council some four or five years ago to superintend the erection of the gas works and laying down of the mains. He is not only a gas expert, but possesses expert knowledge of water works and sanitation. His engagement with the Petone Council, at a salary of £325 per annum, terminated a week ago, and they were anxious to again secure his services for a further period. He was also offered a substantial sum to supervise the installation of gas at Marton, which, as will have been noticed in our Saturday'si issue, he has accepted, and will proceed with the work before finally settling in Wanganui. Mr Smithies will prepare plans for the remodelling of the local works and order the necessary plant, which, it is expected, will be out by the time the Marton works are completed—about March next. Mr Smithies comes to Wanganui on an agreement for £350 a year and free house.. The terms of his resignation of Iris' Petone appointment, as handed to the Petone Council on Friday night last, were as follow —"The Mayor of Petone. —Dear Sir, I am now able to inform you that I have decided to vacate my present position with a view of taking service with the Wanganui Borough Council. I should be glad^ therefore, if you will arrange for my early release from duty. I cannot sever my connection with your Council without tendering my most hearty thanks for the consideration I have always received at your hands, and I hope, if my advice on gas matters can be of service to you at any time, that you will inform me of it. I shall always take a keen interest in the development and extension of the gas business. I am not tendering a formal resignation, as my term of service expired on the first instant, but I shall be glad to do ■all in my power to foi*ward' such works as are now in hand, pending the appointment of another officer. —Yours faithfully, G. W. Smithies."

Tke Mayor of Petone spoke in eulogistic terms of Mr Smithies' services to the Borough, mid impressed on the Council the necessity of making every effort to retain them.' The Mayor's remarks -were endorsed by the whole of the Council. Mr Smithies, in reply, thanked the Mayor and Councillors for their kind words, but said he thought that, considering the nature of the offer made to him, he would be doing wrong to refuse it. He strongly recommended the Council to separate the office duties from the engineer's work. '

Mr Smithies was formerly employed by the Wagga Wagga Borough Council, N.S.W., as gas engineer and manager. It is understood that Mr George Murch, ■who for some pears ipast has ably filled the position of secretary to the Gas Company, will act in a similar capacity for the Borough when the works are taken over by the Council. The Mayor, however, gives us to understand that this matter lias not yet been settled. To the Editor. Sir, —A telegram from Wellington in your Saturday's issue re a Mr Smithies having accepted the appointment of manager of the local Gas Works confirms s, report current during the last few days, that Mr Curham, the present manager, was not to be retained under Borough administration. This conies as a surprise to | the burgesses, who, I am eure, do"not expect any change in the Gas Works staff unless for good and sufficient reasons. The present manager has given the fullest satisfaction to the Company, and his administration and good management have resulted in such substantial profits for many years that the Councl has rightly decided to take over the works and give the town the full benefit of such a profitearning concern; iand for this most satis^ . factory consummation the man who, more than any other, has brought it about is apparently to be shunted. I must admit there may be reasons for the action of the Council not known to the public, but if such there be, the public have a right to know those reasons, unless it is in Mr Curham's interest that they should not be published. I have not had any conversation with Mr Curham on the matter, but I am quite sure he would court the fullest i publicity. Our industrial economy is such that, practically, the son often pushes the father out of employment and leaves him | stranded before he reaches mid-life. The keenness of competition is such that it is difficult for private employers to combat this tendency, but with, public bodies' the case is. different, and they should be the leaders in introducing a better and more humane state of affairs. Unless there are substantial reasons unknown to tlie public for shunting Mr Curham, his long experience- and faithful service to the Gas Company entitle him to better treatment. As a citizen I appeal to the Council to consider seriously whether they are not about to do an irreparable wrong to. a most competent manager and worthy fellow citizen.—l am, etc.,

W. G. BASSETT.

P.S.—Since writing the above,.it has come to my knowledge that Mr Curham has never been informed of the intention of the Council to appoint another manager in his place, and that he had no knowledge of what was being done' until. he learned privately that his successor had actually been appointed. It is surprising that His Worship the Mayor's sense of what was due to Mi" Curham did not suggest the .propriety of kindly informing him of the Council's intention, instead of cruelly allowing him to remain in ignorance until the hews leaked out. I notice in Saturday's columns of your contemporary that Mr Smithies is said to be an expert water and ' sanitary engineer. He may be all that is claimed for him, but is ifc reasonable that a man who comes to take the practical managership of the Gas Works will also fill two other important offices for the salary of £350 per annum? If Mr Smithies is to act as Water and Sanitary Engineer to the Borough, then another manager •will rave to take charge of the Gas Works. His Worship the Mayor has. made himself notorious in the past in a similarly bold stroke of policy by ignoring practical men whom he said had teen "a curse to the town"; but that notoriety cost tho ratepayers from £1500 to £1700. Ido not predict such results in this case, but the whole matter, in my opinion, has been forced upon the Council by an autocratic hand.—W.G.B.