Services
authorized by Sir Henry Pottinger, £2677-15-4 for the payment of which
Your Excellency issued Warrants - The total Expenditure appearing for the last
Year for Public Works is thus, in fact, for the two working Years 1843-44 and 1844-45.
Eight,
Services
authorized by Your
Excellency amounting
to £5608-3-10
have
been
executed by contract, in strict conformity with the Regulations under that head:
It further appears that owing
to the excessive amount of the Tenders sent in
by Public Contractors, it was
deemed expedient
that the Civil Engineer and Clerk of the Works, under the direction of the Acting Surveyor General, should execute certain services by Day Labour to an
amount of £13,584-12-10
The aggregate amount of the highest Tenders
sent in for two of these services,
"for the construction
of Roads and Streets in Victoria,
and "for the extension of the Sai-wan Road
was, for the former £8450, the lowest £6500; for the latter the highest Tender was £13,600,
the lowest £3033-6-8.
The former work
was executed by the Clerk of the Works by Day Labour for
£2816-13-4; the latter for £1300, which is
sufficient evidence of the advantage of the arrangement adopted, by its effecting a saving
of £5426-13-4, as detailed in a Memorandum
professionally drawn up by Mr. Pile,
the Clerk of the Works, in a
report for my information, which I attach.
The Land Office Reports and Estimates in accordance with Lord Stanley's Despatch
of the 30th December 1843, not only for buildings, but for the other public works also,
were in almost every instance, sent to Major Aldrich