CO129-242 - Governor Des Voeus Acting Governor Stewart - 1889 [8-12] — Page 334

12.

are

at

+ present

land questions, and all matters connected with house building, drainage and gas and water supply. The present staff is quite incufficient for the work and the

operations of the Department only preserved from collapse by the exertions of

of the Acting Assistant Surveyor General (Mr Cooper) and myself. much of our time is occupied in corting papers, pazeing them on to the

officials whose duty it is to deal with them,

and carrying

As

on routine correspondence

(much

of it on comparatively trivial matters) and

revising

and correcting

draft (work which could be done as

painstaking mamer,

of my

13.

but it was.

333

obvious

arrival that it was

from the date impossible without experior assistance that the work of the Department could be carried on in a m

mor to give

nanner

satisfaction to the Government, and. that portion of the

: the community which

has business with the Public Works Department. What is wanted is, in my

opinion, a thoroughly trained competent to take charge of

the

official

departmental papers and have the

: oversight of the office

and the clerical

He should be sufficiently educated

staff.

to

carry

on

well or better by any

trained cerk) it must I think be obvious that the time

to the

and attention cannot be given important Engineering works either in hand or

projected which their

importance demands. The present

member

of

the clerical staff perform

their duties in a conscientious and

painstaking

departmental correspondence

on routine matters under

my

instructions. It is I think excential, considering the numerous and complicated matters of business carried on between the community and the Public Works Department, that the Correspondence Clerk should

have

a

good address, since it is

desirable