Are wo to pay upon the certifi cate of a man who has no professional ability j and makes no pretensions to it ? Mr Hillary, ■ it is true, is making some plans, etc., for us, but ' we h,avo no arrangements to get his certificate , as t j completion mac ordance with plans and , specifications. I feel it to be my duty to. protest against such groping m the dark. We ; are likely to lose more m one month than our ■ fancied economy will yield m twelve. We. must have- a proper guarantee that we are , properly advised and that our works are ■ carried out as they should b». If it be i necessary to have Mr Black as Overseer, we certainly need to make arrangements for engineering and surveying work as well. Then the question naturally arises, why not the engineer do all as before? These are 1 matters for the Council's careful considera tion. As our meeting this day was small, yourself and two other members being absent, I wb3 requested to place the matter before you for consideration, bo that the whole thing may bo gone into at our next meetiDg." " I have, &c, &c, " (Signed) J. Manouesteb, Chairman " Mr McLaren said that tho whole gist of the 1 matter was contained m that letter. It all lay m a nutshell. Was tho Council prepared to r go on for twelve months merely keeping existing roads m repair ? If so, no alteration. m the staff was needed. But if tho Council i intonded to undertake any new works or fur ; ther expenditure, they could not afford td employ two men to do it ; they would find ! that instead of economising, thoy were really i largely increasing the expenditure. He i thought the sooner they came to a determina , tion to stop new worts, aud try and reduce ; their debt, the better. But the letter con l taincd certain charges against Mr Black, and ; he thought these should be thoroughly investi i gated, not only for the Council's but for Mr i Black's own sake. 