The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 10 1902. “TO BE OR NOT TO BE ?”

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 310, 10 January 1902, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, JANUARY 10 1902. “TO BE OR NOT TO BE ?”

'H ose wlio believe that the healthiness and good myne ol Gisborne depend 011 the carrying out of an efficient water supply and drainage scheme should be well pleased at the result of the meeting on Wednesday night. The mght was not an inviting one, the weather being wot and miserable, and in keeping with the state of things the .wits have declared to be inevitable when “ water is in the air.” But the attendance was good, and, as the Rev, Herbert Williams stated, the people of Gisborne seemed more in . earnest in the matter than they ever were before. Even such doughty opponents of the scheme as Councillors Lysnar and VVh'nray make haste to explain that they arc advocates of water and drainage schemes, but that they will have lone of Mr Mcstayer. Mr Whinray rather startles one by declaring that a sc’.p'ne with an element of dome m it 'should not be adopted ; it cannot be presumed that a man of Mr Whinray’s wisdom and experience really believes that there was ever an engineering scheme in which there was not some .element of doubt, from the construction of the Suez Canal down to the puddling little dams made by the small boy spending his holiday on the beach. Judging by the meeting on

Wednesday there are only two prominent opponents to the scheme prepared by Mr Mestayer, but no doubt there are many others who have not the courage to come forward and give expression to their opinions, and for that reason at least the ratepayers should be thankful that two Councillors have taken up the. reins of opposition and are riding the “ nag ” lor all it is worth. “ I want to kill the scheme ” is the emphatic declaration of Mr Lysnar, and it is better, if it is to be killed, that it should he (laic after a fair battle than to be allowed to commit suicide through the inanition of the ratepayers. A little healthy opposition is needed, and it has been supplied. The remarkable feature of the opposition in this case is that the laymen are, on engineering questions, setting their opinions against that of an engineer who has so far been successful by his; .achievements in confounding all doubting laymen, and who m this case is backet uo by all the other engineers froir whom reports have been obtained True, Mr Lysnar also makes a lega objection, but there he sets liimse’ against the Borough solicitor, and hi legal opinion is also challenged by blotter professional on the Counci Thanhs, however, to the objections raised, the ratepayers have now the whole position placed fairly before them. They have all the objections that can he raised by able mop ready vo seize upon any flaw and make the most of it in the object to kill the scheme. On the other hand they have the emphatic declaration, not merely o' Mr Mestayer, but of other wellqualified engineers. They have the further knowledge that the “ unborn generations ” for whom some people have so much concern, can still have the use of Waihirere, a handsome loeacy from the present day, as a reservoir if they do not have their wants fully supplied by it in the matter of water, A supply of 40 gallons of water per day for 17,000 people will allow for a large quantity for each individual for years to come. Of course if there will be a dam and no water, as Mr Lvsnar prophesies, it,, will be awkward,’ but no scheme ever devised would he allowed to pass without some - objections ; it is better that .thev should be raised now than that Uey should be left for the “ I told-you-so ” period if in the years to come there is anything wrong. It ts lo he hoped that there will be a live uni healthy public interest taken in am noipn fuqt pun ‘uoifsanh otoqii poll is taken it will be a true test of Dublin feeling,