Cromwell Waterworks Bill.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 258, 8 September 1874, Page 7

Cromwell Waterworks Bill.

: \,> I tmkim ./■..'' ino The Hon. Captain;. Eraser, in moving the tecond readingx>tthia'Bill) said he had taken ch»*g« of it inthe interests of- his friends iat 1 Anihonorable gentleman.; asked Wher* wbniweU wal- It:;waßf'iri'theory heart of Otaga>and ;he believed His' Honor, the Superintendenthad frequently said! it jtb>,< «aipital,indt-ohly bU New Zealand, but Qf*«Eolynesiai< stood jon - ■' the', terminal n&raifle *of -tins Wanaka glacier, and was boundedv-oji, tbe one by the ( glacier\landE> wag bouhded oh one side by the rapid and on the other side by the ' »tul acute point 'of the angle' between those two: rivers; the~bedf of which were two hundred feet 'below the towh, arid were inaccessible. ,fle need not tell honorable gentlemen that it -was useless'ib loolc for water in'a' moraine, and the people were obliged to bring Water in from in a race; but it had got p'ollut&d- by cattle arid other mearisy so that the ,water was perfectly putrid. He regretted 'to;'say that' last year typhus fever %triorigst the unfortunate people to great .extent.. Cromwell possessed a Ki^jfawflz an,<gL^ who sought,'to raise ,£SQOJ) U P9» the ; rates of the town. The Bill a matter of routine, to give to GromwelVthe same, poweras had been given to othfi* in; order that they might ©blainra auprily of water. • The Mr Holmes begged to second the motion: for the second reading of the • r : • The Hon. Mr Menzies had very much pleafcutrci'iii the'Bill, kriowingjas ne : a fell disease had decimated the pomiiaftpn' there in consequence of there bejtog.|ucji a paucity of water that the inhiwtttajitiswere"unable to carry out any'sanijptehad rid reason to doubt .thatlf a supply of water were procured, the ; town would he a healthy one. He was quite certain,that honorable members could never have seen the very able report which was made on the sanitary condition of Cromwell by -Dr sdoughtrey, in May last, otherwise they would not consider that the town of Cromwell, or any measure calculated to improve its'sanitary condition, was a laughing matter.' .The population of the district, at the la%t : census. was about 376, who were chiefly fri .the town'of Cromwell; and the ■nuriiber' attacked by typhoid fever—not typhus—that particular class of fever caused by defective sanitary conditions—was 110 ouf of 376.'. From August, 1868, to the 26th April, J874,' seventy-seven deaths, from all causes, took place in Cromwell ,and district, and of tnose, twentytwo occurred d"uririg°the . last ten weekis of that period. Most deaths resulted from fever, and complications .during the progress of Jthe ■disease. Df Coughtrey pointed ,put that the watersupply was obtained from four sources —-rain-water, but that was in small quantities, the rainfall being very slight; from the Eiver Olutha ; from a spring on the southern side ;©f the bridge ; and from the Lowburn Creek water-race*. He w'ould not read the analysis, but would merely say the water was utterly nlntit for human consumption. The race was

ah open one, and it became the receptacle for .' r all Icinds of excreta, and the result was that - :£ * fever carried off something like one-fourth of 0 the population. Speaking of the race, Dr ' XJoughtrey said the margins of the race were marked with the footprints of oxen, pigs, geese, ducks, and animals of all kinds, and in the water he saw old shoes, bones, rags, and so. forth. Under the. circumstances, there could be but one opinion : that the authorities there should have such powers as would enable them to obtain a supply of pure water. They might get it from the Lowburn Creek, from which a considerable supply could be drawn, but he believed there were other streams at a higher level which could be made •available. He trusted there would he no objection to agree to the proposal for the second reading of the Bill. The Hon. Mr Campbell would also support the second reading, but he would not do so "without some more explanation than the

honorable gentleman had given in introducing the Bill. He was acquainted with the peculiar circumstances of the case, and he knew the town of Cromwell —he should call

ft a few huts. He had not seen it for some little time, but, in company with the Hon. the Speaker, he had the pleasure of being in that town with Sir George Grey some years ago, and he did not think it had increased to an extent that would justify it in raising so large an amount of money as named in the Bill. If thfttown had risen to such great importance, the inhabitants themselves shoald raise the money, and construct the works ■which they considered would be to their in dividual benefit. The Legislature should not sanction a loan of that sort without any information as regards the number of people ■or the works which were to be constructed. They we're how giving their consent to the 'raising pf £6OOO, which the colony would -have to'pay if the inhabitants of Cromwell were not atye to do so. He hoped some fnrvteer information would be given on this subject. From his knowledge of the place, he «ould'sasitfwas built on barren shingle, at a formed by two rivers, and at any day ' it might' Be' "absolutely deserted. He warned "the Council' that, in passing this Bill, they tnighbbe binding the colony to pay the prin- , «apal and interest of the amount raised. . ,T3iJi.Hbh. Mr Waterhbuse would not oppoßi4'thfe,secohd'readihg of this Bill: on the contrary, "he'would give'it his hearty* supJ)&rlC ,He waA;ahupst horrified by the statistics given by the Hon. Mr Menziee. He had

not the Blighteutidfliv.thatjluch a mass of infection existed in the colony. Ho hoped tjhero'would he some explanation as tc whether tho Public Health Act had been brought into operation in' that town. It was not buAjcient that they shpuld bring in a supply of water,t.o the town; -ke,thougbJ;,tb.at some effective sanitary measure should be taken. If it was r within. the knowledge of the H 0n,.. tl|e Colonial Secretary, he wouid like to knojw„ whether' the attention of the Government hid been called to the, matter, and if so, what steps" Kad been taken to root out this niass bf infection? :. !

The Hon. Dr Pollen said, that the bringing into operation of the Public Health Act had been left very much to the local authority —the Central Board. He had heard something of what his honorable friend had referred to, but he did not kriow whether it had ever been brought directly under the notice of the Government. He thought it was extremely advisable that every facility should be afforded to the town of Cromwell to get a good supply of water. The Hon. Captain Fraser, in reply* said he was very much obliged to the Hon. Mr Menzies for reading the report on the sanitary condition of Cromwell. He might state that that was the first intimation he had of the existence of the report. He had- been away from the country for some months, and the person who asked him to take charge of the Bill gave him no explanation! He Was obliged to explain the position of Cromwell, in order to make the Council understand that it was necessary to get ; better water. His honorable friend asked how it was to be done; but he would tell his honorable frierid how it was to be done. It would not b'e carried out like the Oamaru harbour works, but would be carried out under the superindence of the Mayor and Corporation of the town. The honorable gentleman sneered at Cromwell, but he knew nothing about the place. It was the market town of a very large district. It was a district where the honorable gentleman had at one time a very valuable property. There were very valuable gold reefs there, some of which paid large dividends. He was sorry.to say that he had himself left money in those reefs. He had every faith that the town was going to be a very large one. At all events, after the .appalling statement read by the Hon. Mr Menzies, there could be no question that it was absolutely necessary bring in water. It would cost nearly £SOOO, He wpuld have no objection, in Committee, to limit the amoiint of interest. Bill read a second time-