exact position with reference to the Tytam Water Works, and I found that, instead of being as I supposed what is ordinarily understood by the term "Consulting Engi- neer," he has practically been constituted, or believes himself to have been con- stituted, as Engineer-in-Chief with the Surveyor General of the Colony in the position, as regards the Water Works, of his resident engineer; and further that Sir R. RAWLINSON has in connection with this position been in receipt for the last years of emolument at the rate of £400 per annum amounting on the whole to £2,800.
8. As I understand it, the responsibility of a Consulting Engineer usually begins and ends with the designs and estimates of a work; but in respect of the Tytam Water Works Sir R. RAWLINSON appears to be, or deems himself to be, responsible for their proper execution; and in this view I am not now surprised that he should have complained of the paucity and meagreness of the reports which he has received, as, in so far as I am able to judge from the official records, he has, since the settle- ment of the designs, been for this reason practically precluded from taking any, or almost any, part in the control of the work for which he has been nominally responsible or from having any appreciable effect upon the conduct of it.
9. While I much regret the defectiveness of these reports, especially as regards the comparatively short period for which I am responsible, and if (as I have no reason to suppose) there has been any loss to the Colony therefrom, I cannot say that I am altogether surprised that the actual position of affairs was not voluntarily made known to me.
10. The assistance of a distinguished Engineer with special knowledge was, no doubt, desirable in connection with the designs and the mode of execution of a work of this magnitude and importance; but it would certainly appear to be in the nature of a slur on the Surveyor General that he should not be entrusted with complete responsibility for the execution itself; and from what I can learn that was the light in which it was regarded by Mr. PRICE, who would naturally, therefore, refer as little as possible to a position held by him to be derogatory.
11. But, however this may have been, the arrangement has naturally not appeared satisfactory to Sir R. RAWLINSON, and in order to preclude a similar result in respect of the distribution works be (while pressing the importance of his being retained in the same position with regard to them as that which was assigned to him in respect of the main works) suggests that the Engineer charged with their execution should be directly under his control and completely independent of the Surveyor General.
12. Under such an arrangement a very large expenditure would take place practically without any control on the part either of the Governor or of the Secre- tary of State, and a work of great importance would be carried to completion on the sole responsibility of two gentlemen, who, however distinguished, would act under a very different degree of obligation from that attaching to members of the permanent service. Moreover the principle of paying the Engineers of a work by time, the payments censing only when the work is finished, does not appear condu- cive to its vigorous prosecution; while the consciousness on the part of the Resident Engineer that his stay in the Colony is only temporary, will scarcely induce the exercise of patience towards the idiosyncracies of the 10,000 different householders, with whom in the course of his duty he will be brought individually in contact. Whoever does the work it may be taken for granted that there will be many com- plaints, and it is even necessary to contemplate the possibility that some of them may be just. But in such case the Government, and the taxpayers who have to bear the cost, would I venture to think, be practically without ineans of redress.
13. Any professional view which was inconvenient to the Resident Engineer might be plausibly represented as proceeding from jealousy, want of special know- ledge, or otherwise unworthy of attention, and between conflicting accounts the Engineer-in-Chief (residing at a distance of some 10,000 miles) would naturally decide in favour of his nominee, who would thus be practically free of all control.
14. The above objection to the principle of the proposed arrangement is not however that which has chiefly moved ino to regard it unfavourably. Though Your Lordship informs me that under a similar one have been executed important public works in other Colonies, I can scarcely conceive that there were in those cases some of the conditions that would be presented here. While I fully concur in Your Lordship's view that the distribution works of the water supply, and the ⚫ execution of the new drainage System should be under the same control, I cannot think that Your Lordship has been fully informed as to what would be involved in making that control independent of the Works Department and, practically, of the Governor of the Colony.
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15. The town of Victoria and its suburbs may be said to be for nearly all purposes the Colony of Hongkong. Though occupying only a very small proportion of the area of the Island, it contains with its harbour fully 170,000 of the 200,000 inha- bitants, while the value of its rateable property, its wealth, and the possession of all that constitutes civilization are in much greater proportion. The two systems of water supply, Tytam and Pokfulum, though passing through the whole breadth and nearly the whole length of the Island, have been designed and are maintained almost exclusively for the benefit of Victoria, and I believe that I am within the mark in saying that nine tenths, and by far the most important of the duties of the Colonial Works Department exclusively concern the Town.
16. Among these duties are the care and maintenance of the public Streets and public buildings, and (owing to the dense packing of the population) a far closer supervision than is necessary elsewhere over the construction, maintenance, and Sanitary Condition of all private buildings. As the Engineer in charge of water distribution and drainage would also require to have free play in every strect, and in every private house in Victoria his independence of the Works Department would create so many probabilities of friction with the latter, as in my opinion to involve the necessity of transferring to him all the Works Department's duties connected with the Town including the charge of the streets and of both of th main reservoirs with their whole system of aqueducts and service tanks.
17. Some idea can be formed from the above of the position to which the Work‹ Some Department, and its head, the Surveyor General, would thus be reluced. idea but by no means a complete one. For the proper discharge of the daties con- templated by Your Lordship, and still more for the other duties which cannot be separated from them, this independent Engineer would require to lava continue! recourse to the records of the Works Department. From all I can learn I believe that he, or the officers under him would have to inspect on the average some scores of papers a day and yet the Surveyor General would also require to have frequent recourse to the same records in respect of such portion of the works as would be left to him: and it is impossible to conceive that the requirements of both could be satisfied without constant friction muless one were subordinate to the other. Now the independence of the new Engineer would of course involve that the subordinate should be the Surveyor General; and I venture to think that this would be in a high degree objectionable, altogether apart from the unfairness to an officer who has been very recently appointed to take charge of the Pablic Works of the Colony.
18. For, owing to the enormous value of land ($15 to $20 a square foot in a considerable area of the town of Victoria) the records in question are of special value, and I have since my arrival had good reason for believing that but for their existence we should be engaged in constant lawsuits. Consequently I cannot contemplate without grave concern an arrangement by which these documents would be practically under the control of an Engineer, who, however high may be his character and professional ability, will have only a temporary interest in the Colony, and whose object will naturally be to use them with almost exclusive reference to the work in hand.
19. As the result of the above considerations it appears to me that there are only two courses open-viz: (1.) to appoint the new Engineer to the office of Surv yor (2.) to General-providing elsewhere for Mr. Brown the present incumbent an make the new Engineer subordinate to the Surveyor General, a consulting Engineer being perhaps employed in either case to consider designs of new works of special character, and to give opinions in respect of any important deviatio fron tâìn which may be subsequently found necessary.
20. As regards alternative (1) it is to be borne in min 1 that the office of Surveyor General requires other qualifications of fully equal importance with professional knowledge. He ought to have much administrativo ability as the head of a large staff (now requiring considerable increase) of officers peenliarly difficult of control in a Colony, which offers many temptations to quit the service or to make illegiti mate gaius. He should be not merely honest himself. but quick to detect an repress dishonesty and irregularity in others; he should have considerable power with his peu, for the conduct of a large correspon tence, soare of it a difficult an1 delicate nature; above all, he should have much patience, tact, and firmness for the exercise of the very great powers entrusted to bim by the local Law--powers which bring him in continual contact with individuals of all classes from the heads of the great mercantile houses to the humblest holder of a squatting licence.
21. It is of course possible that Mr. CHADWICK may possess these qualifications, or some other special Engineer may be found to combine them with the necessary
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