The Sun.
London, England, 1846-10-06 00:00:00

INSTRUCTIONS TO INSPECTING
OFFICERS EMPLOYED ON PUBLIC WORKS
IN IRELAND. _ _ .

Office of Public Works, Sept. 24, 1846.
Sir,—The Commissioners of Public Works have ap-
pointed you to act as Inspecting Officer of all arrange-
ments connected with the relief of the destitute in the
The town of will be your head-quarters,
and the place to which all official letters will be ad
dressed, unless another post-town shall be named by you.
When travelling from place to place, you will regularly
inform the secretary of the post town to which your
letter should be addressed.
It will be your duty to attend all meetings of the Ex-
traordir ary Presentment Sessions under the 9th and
10th Vic., cap. 107, and to assist with your advice in re-
gard to works which shall be undertaken within any
barony for the relief of the destitute.
It is not intended that the works should be confined to
roads, as any work which can fairly be considered of a
public nature may be undertaken ; but such as would
tend to the permanent improvement of the surrounding
district, and which may be expected to be productive,
should he preferred.
As it may frequently happen that, by the execution
of such works, proprietors of some of the adjoining lands
will be more directly benefited than others, it would ap-
pear to be but reasonable, under such circumstances., that
the proprietors, the leaseholders, or the occupants, as the
case may be, of such lands, should contribute towards
the work in proportion to the benefit they derive from
it, over and above the amount of the baronial assess.
ment for the work as one of relief ; and it will be right,
in such cases, that you communicate your opinion to the
Presentment Sessions, if called on to do so. In recom-
mending any new work to be undertaken, the Commis-
sioners depend, in a great degree, on your judgment and
prudence.
You will perceive, by the printed instructions from
the Lord-Lieutenant, that you are constituted an official
member of every Relief Committee in the county. An
important part of your duty in attending those Com-
mittees will be the scrutinising the names of persons re-
commended as destitute.

Hitherto the lists supplied by the Relief Committees
occas'onally contained the names of persons who should
have been rejected ; it will be your duty, by every
means in your power, to check the lists and strike out
such names as, from the information you may collect,
should be rejected, at least for the present ; this will be
a difficult and disagreeable office, and in cases of doubt,
it will be desirable that you should consult the magis-
trates assembled at Extraordinary Presentment Ses-
sions ; but unless the names in the list be scrutinised,
no system or regularity can be preserved.
When labourers are required for any work, you will
ascertain the number from the county surveyor, civil
engineer, or surveyor in charge of the barony or dis-
trict, and you will give tickets to those who are to be
employed on each work, which will be presented to the
person in charge of it.
I am directed to inform you, it is the wish of the
Commissioners that you should make frequent inspec-
tion of the several works which may from time to time
be in operation throughout the district, and report to
them your opinion relative to each.
The works intended to be executed in the
have been placed under the general superintendance of
and assistants have been named under the
direction of each of those gentlemen.
You will communicate personally or by letter, as occa-
sion may require, with those gentlemen, and it is the
Board's particular desire, that a cordial feeling and un-
derstanding should exist between you and the engineers,
whose duty it will be to execute the works.
An important part of your duty will be to assist them
with your advice on such points as may require it, and in
every way to facilitate their operations.
It is not intended that it should control the detail of
the work; but, should it occur to you in your visits, that
an alteration, either in the works themselves, or in the
system of conducting them, should be made, you will di-
rect the attention of the engineer to the subject, sad state
fully what appears to you to be desirable.
It is expected that a fair day's work will be given for
a fair day's pay; and as a check upon idleness, where it
exists, it should be advisable that the engineer should
return only one-fourth or one-half day for such persons,
in proportion to the work performed, and this applicable
to all works in which day labourers are employekl.
Every exertion must be used by the engineer and
surveyor to introduce the system of task-work, to be un-
dertaken by separate gangs of men, who will select their
own ganger, but who must be able to write and keep
accounts, and who will be responsible for the tools en-
trusted to him.

Young men should be employed at excavations and
wheeling, and old men in breaking stones, or in making
fences, and, if handy, in building the dry walls for small
gullets required for draining.
You will be very particular in your inspections, to as-
certain whether the labourers have been regularly paid,
and if you receive any complaints of irregularities, im-
mediate inquiry should be made, calling on the pay
clerk to explain the cause of such irregularity, and if
you are not satisfied with his statement, you should re-
fer the matter to the paymaster of the district
whose office is established at and whose
special duty is to look after the particular branch,
checking the pay list, and seeing the amounts are re-
gularly transmitted to the pay clerk.
The rule laid down by the Board is, that payments
sbould be made once in every week, and at no longer in-
tervals.

The Board requests that you will dispatch by post,
so as to be in Dublin every Monday morning, a report
of your proceedings during the past week, in which you
will state the day of the week and month on which you
visited any Relief Committee, or particular work, with
any observations you may think it necessary to offer, so
as to afford the fullest information as to the state of the
works, and the progress that has been made. _ _

JOS. C. WALKER, Sec.

THE ENGINEERS EMPL )YED ON PUBLIC WORKS IN
IRELAND.

Office of Public Works, Sept. 24, 1846.
Sir,—The Commissioners of Publie Works have ap-
pointed you to lay out and take the general super.
intendence of all the works in the district,
which may be finally approved under the Act of the
9th and 10th Vic., chap. 107, a copy of which is here-
with sent.

As it is important that public works should be laid out
and approved by the Extraordinary Presentment Ses-
sions, and receive the sanction of the Commissioners of
her Majesty's Treasury, previously to their being actu-
ally required to afford employment to the destitute, you
will acquaint the magistrates, &c., at sessions, that you
have received orders to afford them every assistance in
your power ; and although you may not yet have had
time to lay out or estimate for any works, that you will
use every exertion to effect the object, both in regard to
repairs or improvements on existing lines of road, or the
construction of new roads, or such other public works as
the members of the Extraordinary Presentment Sessions
may approve.
It is not intended that the works should be confined
to roads, as any work which can fairly be considered of a
public nature may be undertaken, but such as would tend
to the permanent improvement of the surrounding dis-
trict, and which may be expected to be reproductive,
should be preferred.
As it may frequently happen that, by the execution
of such works, proprietors of some of the adjoining lands
will be more directly benefited than others, it would ap-
pear but reasonable, under such circumstances, that the
proprietors, the leaseholders, or the occupants, as the
case may be, of such lands, should contribute towards
the work, in proportion to the benefit they derive from
it, over and above the amount of the baronial assessment
for the work as cn3 of relief; and it will be right, in such
owes, that you (so nmunicate your opinion to the Present-
ment Sessions, if called on to do so.

In commencing any work, care should be taken to
divide it into small lots, each of which is to be let by
task, or by measurement, to a gang of men, to be com-
posed, as the case may be, of from ten to twelve, to be
headed by a working ganger, who is to receive one shil-
ling in the pound in addition to his portion of the earn-
ing of the gang during the month, but payment in the
way of subsistence, must be made at the end of each
week. As the works are undertaken for the employ-
ment of the destitute poor, every exertion must be made
to exclude all persons who have any other means of sup-
port than the employment offered on the public works.
To assist in this department, the inspecting officer in
charge of the district will give tickets to th destitute
persons, and you will employ as many as may be required
to execute the work without crowding each other.
It will be desirable to employ the young men at exca-
vations and barrow work, and the old men and boys at
breaking stones. Old men may also be employed in
making fences, and, when handy, in building dry walls
for drains or fences.

It will be your duty to ascertain that the several as-
sistants placed under your dii ection execute the duties
entrusted to them, with zeal and success. The Com-
missioners hold you responsible for all, and authorise
you to suspend from duty any of the assistants who dis-
obey orders, who may be inattentive to their duty, or
who may commit any irregularity or act of insubordi-
nation, until the determination of the Board respecting
them has been received by you, or by the inspecting
officer in charge of the district.
You will communicate personally or by letter, as oc-
easion may require, with these gentlemen, and it is the
Board's particular desire, that a cordial feeling and
understanding should exist between you and the engi-
neers, whose duty it will be to execute the works. An
important part of your duty will be to assist them with
your advice on such points as may require it, and in
every way to facilitate their operations.
In regard to overseers (stewards) it is of importance
that none should be employed in the neighbourhood of
their own dwellings, or even in the surrounding district,
and you are not to do so unless by special permission of
this Board. It will be better to increase the salary of a
good overseer, than retain him within the reach of local
influence.

I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JOS. C. WALKER, Secretary.

TRADE AT DUNDEE.—FIax prices are well sup-
ported, and there is little offering for sale. The demand
for tow and eodilla continues, and very full prices are
granted for the parcels that offer ; but there is not much
for sale. It is estimated that the deficiency in the im-
portation of flaw at this date will be about 10,000 tons,
as compared with last year : and as less flax than usual
has been heckling for many months past, the supply of
tow will be much affected, and the scarcity of that ar-
ticle likely to be more felt. Jute keeps scarce and dear; the
supply being also short for the increased consumption.
For yarns and linens higher prices are asked. By the
last advices from Archangel there was no flax left for
sale. At St. Petersburgh the dealers demanded 140,
125, and 115 Ito. for 12, 9, end 6 head ; and at Riga the
prices kept advancing, 400 tons taken since last post.—
Dundee Advertiser.
The works on the Chester and Shrewsbury line have
been completed as far as Ruabon. The dtrectors have
impounced its opening to that town for this month.