WHAT ARE THINGS COMING TO?

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 245, 10 January 1889, Page 2

WHAT ARE THINGS COMING TO?

It is only a few weeks since we commented upon the starvation rates at which the maintenance works for the County Council were contracted for, Sufficient time has not yet been given for the lesson to be practically experienced by the contractors, and the warnings have evidently failed to have any great effect, but we fear that time will have a most unpleasant state of affairs to disclose, for some one must surely suffer severely in the long run. The successful tender on Tuesday for some work for the Whatanpoko Boad Board was £7l, the highest tender being £172, or three times that of the successful tenderer. The other tenders varied greatly between the highest and the lowest. The great difference has induced us to again enquire into the matter, and the only conclusion at which we can arrive is that some mistake must have been made by the lower tenderers, or else tha* they have facilities for doing the work which are not known to us. A careful examination of the work and an equally careful compilation of figures, by one capable of judging, convinces us that the highest tenderer has not given in an unreasonable price, and that, paying workmen a fair day’s wage, and making no provision for contingencies, £l5O would not make a profitable return. This keen competition must react in a very injurious way, and we Should recommend the attention of contractors generally to this work and ask them to form their own estimates of what would be a reasonable price for it.