The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Morning. Tuesday, August 13, 1889. BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 337, 13 August 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Morning.

Tuesday, August 13, 1889. BETTER BE SAFE THAN SORRY.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s, Thy God's, and truth’s.

A matter of a very important nature will be brought up at to-night’s meeting of the Harbor Board, it being Mr Clark’s intention to move that outside professional advice be obtained before there is any attempt to expend loan funds in river improvements, or in what we have been informed will be river improvements. In view the facts that have recently-beeiT'made known •We dfj not see what other course the Board can reasonably adopt: had Mr Shelton’s motion been carried at the last meeting there would have been a fortnight saved, and matters would not have been going on blindly as they are now doing. It may suit some members of the Board to treat the matter lightly, and try and ignore the plainest evidence by accusing those who are against them of being imbued with a desire to injure the district. That sort of thing is a very poor excuse for argument, and it is calculated to aggravate, and not to allay, the uneasiness that is felt at the turn things have taken. It is like the ostrich burying its head in the sand under the illusion that its body is thereby concealed, to parade one's inability to conceive a thing that must be apparent to all who take the trouble to look for themselves. The circumstances of the hour demand something more than listless indifference, and the ratepayers, — though many have grown careless because the subject has become nauseous to them, — do not require a rude awakening to be made aware of the serious condition of affairs. One member of the Board actually had the assurance to say that the silting near the mouth of the river is a mare matter of detail, and he appears quite light-hearted at the prospect of some thousands Of pounds being expended in an attempt to get rid of the trouble. “ Oh, leave it to our Engineer; he’ll pull us through the trouble,” and such expressions of opinion may satisfy a few unenquiring minds. "We have the best Engineer in the colony " may be put forth by some end accepted as a truth. But if we have such an Engineer why was not the present difficulty anticipated by him ? Why was it left to those who are termed “ obstructionists ” to prophesy this trouble ? —■and if the Engineer's reputation is put before us aS an argument that all will end well, It may be replied to by asking has not Sir John Coeds also & reputation ? One of the troubles which Sir John Codde predicted in case of the present site being chosen has now become a reality, though Mr Thomson gave us jip warning that it would be so. Others whose opinions of course do not carry the same weight made themselves clearly understood ip warnings to the same purpose. We repeat that the proposed training wall has no relation to the original plan, no provision was made for it in the expenditure of the additional /40,00 a and we doubt whether the expenditure can be made from the loan fund unless the sanction of the ratepayers ha? fisst

been obtained. The most peculiar part of the thing is that the trouble was only made manifest, or sufficiently so to be regarded as serious, after the Board decided that no further dredging should take place at the westward side of the pier. This may mean much, or it may be of no importance in the consideration of the matter: we do not attempt to judge upon that point. What we do well know is that the Board have to consider a danger which their Engineer’s advice did not lead them to apprehend, and it is not a mere matter of the expenditure of a few thousands in experimenting upon the river—though that in itself may by some ratepayers be considered to be something more than a trifle. It is the probable usefulness or otherwise of the whole work that has to be taken into account, and as the practical proof has so shaken our confidence we can conceive no other course than that which was suggested at the last meeting of the Board by Mr Shelton, and will be again proposed this evening by Mr Clark. It is better to be as safe as we can than to add to our sorrows. Everyone of us who has an interest in the place is deeply concerned in this matter, and we trust that those members who have hitherto allowed themselves to be guided solely by the Engineer’s advise as it was given will now recognise the exigencies of the occasion and not be thoughtless of the responsible position which they hold. We must hope for the best, but never lose the courage to face the worst. If there are still more unpleasant truths to be made known, better that they should be told at once than that we should drift on in a day dream until all hope of remedy must be dissipated. If things are not as bad as some people fear then a great deal is to be gained by restoration of confidence.