30
by 38053/19.
428 amounted to 94 feet and that part of this remainder has since been used to renew defects on the main and with perfectly satisfactory results.
4. The explanations offered by Mr. Stanger do not appear to be sufficient to alter the conclusion at which my predecessor arrived, namely that the pipes supplied under the indent of 1903 were inferior in quality and must have been submitted to insufficient inspection.
This Colony is bound by Colonial Office Instructions to place orders for the materials it requires through the Agency of the Crown Agents instead of accepting tenders of local Firms of high standing, and the benefit which is assigned in support of the system is the thorough and efficient method of inspection to which goods are subjected by the Crown Agents Inspection Staff.
If this inspection should prove unreliable the Colony is subjected to a loss over which it has no control. In the circumstances it would appear that no useful result can be obtained by pursuing this correspondence further, but I have the honour to request that the Crown Agents should receive instructions that the Firm of Mr. E. Smith, of Wednesbury, may not in future be employed for the supply of