PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXX, Issue 2486, 10 December 1868, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Wbdsisdat, Die. 9. The Speaker took the Chair at five o'clock. BKPOBTa OF COMMITTEES. Mr Maskell brought up the report of the Committee 00-44-. Hcais Ordinances, sud moved that it be read. The report was read accordingly. It recommended that several amendments should be made in the existing Ordinance, and, amongst others, that the present system of revising the ratepayers' roll by commissioner! should be done away with. Mr Maskell gave notice that he would move certain resolutions on the subject next evening.

The report was ordered to be printed. Mr Hawkes brought up the report of the Orphan and Destitute Children Committee, and moved that it be read. The Clerk read the report, which will be taken into consideration this day (Thursday.)

XORTH ISLAND SEITLEBS, Mr Knight asked whether the Government intend bringing before this Council auy scheme for assisting settlers in ihe Xorth Island to come to Canterbury. Contingent on the reply, to more the Council into committee to consider the following resolutions." He comidered that it behoved the Council to offer homes to families who were 111 bad circumstances in the North Wand; he believed that by doing so the Government would be benefiting the province. Mr Jollie replied that it was not the intention of the Government to (.'ffer any inducement. Such acliun would probablv he misinterpreted j besides, the Government had no means at disposal for 6uch a purpose, as thk.t brought forward by tlie lion, member for Lincoln.

Mr Ksiqut thereupon moved, '• That his Honor tlie Superintendent be respectfully requested to place on the supplementary estimates the sum of £SOOO, for the purpose of defraying the expenses of settlers with their families from the North

Island to Port Lyttelton; that on arrival there each adult mar receive the sum of £2, and each child half (hat amount. That his Honor the Superintendent be requested to take the necessary steps for carrying out the object." He said that the settlers of the North were of a very superior class. They had been struggling for years, and although there were many high families amongst them, hebelieved they would not think it derogatory to work in Canterbury for a livelihood. Mr MojrraoJtKßT said the Government

respected the feeling which prompted the hon. member for Lincoln to bring forward this resolution. But they did not see, in the first place, where the £SOOO were to come from. There wai another aspect of the case —whether it might not be considered that Canterbury was getting immigrants on false pretences. His own private opinion mi, that rather than that North Island settlers should be compensated out of colonial funds, he should like to see free grants of laud given in Canterbury, provided that the people were made to settle upon it. If a motion were brought forward proposing that « sum of money should be placed on the estimates, for the alleviation of distress in the North Island, the Council might then consider what sum should be voted, but the Government had no funds at disposal for introducing settlers from the North. An ill-feeling might be created, and he considered it would not be prudent to bring immigrants from the North Island. He

did not think that the pcopla of Canterbury would be very highly pleased, if Otago offered inducements to persons to leave Canterbury for that purpose. Mr Duox opposed the motion. The present stale of affairs did not present so Berions an aspect as to warrant the Government in adspting the course which the resolution suggested.

Major Horndrook opposed the motion. He believed that such a course would be productive of ill-feeling. Mr Kkighi, in reply, said that recruiting men hud been Rent there to take the ablest men »wny-("no, no")-and he did pot therefore see how any charge of kidnapping eould be sustained, if settlers were induced to come here from the North. He believed that: 2 emigrants from the North would be better than a shipload from England. The motion for going into committee ww lost on tho voices. rASTOIUQB mcinse. On the motion of Mr Pons, the motion for

Ipgon the table all correspondence relatto pasturage licence No. 566, class 3, was !eanorder of the day for Thursday. . LEAYB OF ABSENCE, rsFTFB moved for leave of absence for jaysforMrHargreaves. be motion was agreed to, '■i DRAINAGE OF LAKE ELLESMERE,. i• Kmoht moved " that this Council is ipinion that Lake Ellcsmere should be jed and the land within the bed of the 'reserved for the purpose of defraying expense of such draining. That his or the Superintendent is hereby authorto carry out the above work by contract, »paid for out of the land reclaimed." There jeen severalschemes proposed fordraining ake. Theniostrecentoftliesescliemeswas

Ilrtaken by Messrs W. S. Moorhouse and pVhite, two gentlemen of well-known Srprise. During the last eight months Uiad expended a considerable amount in reys, &c, and the scheme which they prosd was an entirely original one. The proSe,'he thought, would derive great benefit I the enrryiug out of this work, which he idered stood second in importance to the feL A considerable revenue would accrue B.the sale of the reclaimed land, and the | would give employment to a great many Biers. He hoped the Council would agree p resolution which he now moved. B'Dixon agreed with the hon. member for |ln that the drainage of Lake Kllesmere i most desirable work, He agreed with Biinciple proposed, namely, that of " no s|s no pay-" The liaD -d* of the Governffiniglit be left entirely unfettered in this §&; and if the present projectors did not Rout the work, other people might be got Ego, So far as he was able to form an pn, he considered that the present scheme pining the lake was a good one, and one % .was likely to be carried to a successful [animation. The scheme commended f, and he had therefore much pleasure in r Jollie considered that the hon, memfor Lincoln had made out such a case as Ifrottby the consideration of the Council, 'Government had therefore no objection e passing of this resolution. They would 3 inquiries with a Tiew of ascertaining the ier in which the undertaking could be ' economically and efficiently carried

I notion was put and agreed to. INTRODUCTION OP SALMON. lawkbs moved the House into comto consider the following resoluThat his Honor the Superintendent be ully requested to cause to be placed on nates & sum not exceeding £IOO, to to the Acclimatisation Society, if they ully introduce salmon during the Habkell seconded the resolution, louse then went into committee. xwf.Es said it would be seen that he aat for the money except on the conlat the efforts of the society were 1-with success. The Society had 17 hrach crippled in its resources by \ slims of money for the introduction and they did not feel that they would led in incurring any further expen--1 this direction unless they had the having some money given to them by ernment, if further efforts to intromon proved successful. eacock moved an amendment to the mt the money should be handed over ocietyforthe purpose of introducing without the Buccess of the experi.yksley considered that the money i devoted to a better object at present, the introduction of insectivorous The result of the experiment to introut was not known yet, and he did kit would be advisable to attempt luce Balmon until the success of the sxperiment was clearly ascertained. irotvn opposed the motion. On re:o the auditor's report, he perceived society had received £3OOO during ontgomery said it would be quite thing if the hon. member had asked um of money unconditionally.- For .son, he agreed with the resolution ore the committee. ASKELt said that the introduction of was a matter suirounded with vsry Sculties. In Tasmania, the success sxperiment was not yet known, nothing the time that had elapsed since .was first introduced there. It was wn whether there were any salmon ivers of that colony; some people ;ithat they had seen them leap, while tated that the fish which were seen in fs-were not salmon, but native fish. He ed that salmon were a luxury, and ipon the introduction of insectivorous a matter of greater importance and f. He would moTe as an amendment money should be devoted to the inon of insectivorous birds, hon. Mr Hall said that grubs ie a great amount of injury to in this province, and it was ly necessary that something should i to prevent their increase. If amount of damage would be somelormous. He considered that the tion of insectivorous birds was a of equal, if not greater importance introduction of salmon. . Duncan supported the resolution m. member for Christchurch. The al introduction of salmon would be with considerable benefit, as an source of revenue to the province. xon agreed with the views expressed on, member for Rakaia, some further discussion, the amendere lost on the voices, iriginal motion was agreed (0, re ) the House, and adopted. Bouse adjourned for 20 minutes, BAILWAY ESTIMATES.

II Mr Knigm, before moving the resolution jitanding in his name, desired to amend it by •hiking out the words—"is of opinion fliat the Railway Estimates as pasied, are jxceßHve, and that large reductions should be made on them, &c." Leave was given to amend the motion as requested. , Mr Knight then moved " That this Council ut of opinion that the labourer* employed ty the Government should not, as a rule, be paid higher than those employed by private individuals." The motion was agreed to without discusSHEEr BATIXO ORDINANCE, The Hon Mr Hall moved " that, in the opinion of this Couneil, it is desirable the Uheep Rating Ordinance should be attended, ao as to provide that the annual mm a t which sheep shall be placed on the Ratepayers roll shall be £45 per thousand." He considered that the value of station property had lately depreciated, »nd the past valuation was therefore no longer 8 fair one. The yearly assessment on other Property could be altered from year to year, "It this assessment could not be altered without the sanction of the Council.

Mr A. Duncan said that tliia subject was 80 important a one that it bliouM receive the B «iou8 attention of the House. He did n6t 8( * that the lion, member for Kakaia had °iiie out a good case for a reduction in the rating now in force. He considered that £7O * thousand was a very fair valuation, The Council should hesitate before it agreed to a potion of this nature at a moment's notice. He should like to hear what the opinions of the Government were on the subject. Mr Montgomery said that if £7O atnousaud was a fair rate at the time the Ordinance was passed, it was now too high a faluatiou ; but it was a question whether at the time the Ordinance was passed, £IOO thousand would not have been a fair assessmei>t. He did not think that the lion. Prober for Main had made a good case in of the reduction which he proposed. tie should like to hear from him to what ttttnt freehold land would be affected, if we amendment which he suggested vrero "»je in the Ordinance. ■Mr Dixon supported the motion, as he hindered the proposed reduction was warranted by the depreciation in the value of Pastoral property that had occurred.

rneut, "That LT muTlid .'Hß an amendRoad Bo«S, ould !? eSSOM ° f the va annually tlm vahi „f e ?°, wer , ed to aßseßs original Rakau mu, i B6Bi "n lie motion of MrW «'„„■„, . ff as even to brinir i.\ "".hams,leave was read « fl rst fin, the , above bi >l> which P"nted, theZ,n?» H- d ordered to be nextday ndreßdln e"as Axed for

wr Miami moved "That in «,. opmon of this House it shoul m »e duty of the English Emigration fl l for In, pro, noe to endeavour, « far J^2 bl, by givmg lectures in the net., or in other ways, personally to spre d information, amongst the labouring clases in ?ng and, of the advantages offered o tl em m this colony." He did not think t sl r ld work.- He believed" tlrnt V (££ land agent was in the habit of goimj ahout the country districts in England givmg lectures, and the result was that he procured a better class of immigrants for the colony which he represented. He thought the country would gain an advantage by paying another £250 a-year or so for this purpose, and he hoped the Government would not oppose his resolution, but would give effect to it by appointing another gentleman to do the work, or by increasing the salary of the present agent. MrKENNAim seconded the motion. Mr Jollie said this was a motion with which the Government could agree j but at the same time it was doubted whether the good results that were expected would accrue from the adoption of the course which it suggested. If the resolution were carried, the Government would of course ask Mr Selfe and the Emigration agent to act upon it as far as practicable. From information furnished to the Government, it did not appear that the giving of lectures in country districts would be attended with any success. People would naturally look with suspicion upon anyone going amongst them to lecture on the advantages which the province he represented possessed. Besides, there were some districts in England where the supply of labour was far in excess of the demand, and it would turn out that the worßt class of immigrants would be palmed off for good agricultural labourers. Mr A. Duncan supported the motion. He thought that gentlemen who left Canterbury from time to time should be requested to afford what information and assistance they could to the Emigration Agent in his selection of emigrants. Mr Maskell having replied, the motion was put and agreed to.

SUPERIOR SCHOOLS. Mr Fyfe moved the House into Committee to consider the following resolution :—" That his Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to place upon the supplementary estimates the sura of £l5O in aid of superior schools." Mr Montgomery said that if it was the wish of the Council to do so, the Governmeut would not strongly oppose the placing of a sum on the estimates for these schools. They would not recommend that such a thing should be done, but had no objection to offer againßfc the House going into committee, Mr Wilson said he appreciated economy on the part of the Government, but he thought they should have exercised some discretion in this matter. He regretted that the Government had so far reduced the votes under the head of education, He thought the present Government bad siren less assistance and encouragement to education than any previous Governmeut, and he looked upon their action as a very bad feature in their character. Mr Kennawat supported the motion, which was agreed to. In committee, Mr Fife said that if tho present sum was not voted, the schools in question would suffer to a considerable extent. Mr Montgomery said the lion, member for Christchurch made a mistake when he said that the Government had made this reduction while others had not. In point of fact, he held in his hand the estimates of the previous Government, in which no provision whatever was made for these schools. There was a supplementary vote passed by the House, but the Government had made no provision whatever, and- but for some hon. members the schools in question would have had to go without assistance. Therefore, there had been a great amount of indignation expressed by the hon. member for Christchurch. The Board of Education had not recommended the Government to put anything on the estimates for these schools. These schools were peculiar ones; they had been depending for the last two or three years on the grants of the Council. Be had no doubt the Chairman of the Board of Education would give his opinion on this matter. The hon. member for Christchurch seemed to forget altogether that there were 18 schools in the country districts which received only £75 a year each, and that in order to have the children educated, it was necessary to impose a rate of &l per house. The Government did not see why the district schools should receive only £75 a year each while these superior schools, which were more largely attended, and which had endowments he believed, should hare grants continued to them. This was the plain reason why the Government thought the annual grant to these schools should be discontinued. The Government were just as anxiouß for the cause of education as any men who had ever occupied their seats, but they did not think that it was the best way to advance the cause of education by bolstering up two or three schools while there many others which were in greater need of support. (Hear, hear.) Mr Tancred said that in 1564, grants were given to the superior schools on the understanding that they should cease in three years. That time had expired, and the Education Board didn't think they would be justified in recommending the Governmeut to place any sum on the estimates. This, he believed, was the reason why the Government had not proposed a sum for this purpose, as they had alwayß framed their estimates in accordance with the recommendations of the Education Board. Therefore the Board of Education was responsible for the discontinuance of the grant. Mr Dixon opposed the motion, as he didn't consider it fair that fish should be made of one school and flesh of another. Mr Wilson and Mr Aynsley strongly supported the motion, Mr A. Doncan opposed the motion, and expressed a hope that the Government would be firm in their determination not to depart, from their estimates in this matter. Mr Brown supported the motion. Mr MoNiooMßiiT reminded hon. members that the Government were not opposed to the vote, but it was one on which they wished to take the sense of the Council. He begged to tell the hon. member for Christchurch that it was not the part of any Government to be liberal with the public money. Mr Brown moved an addition to the motion, to the effect that the schools should be open to inspection by order of the Board of Education. After some discussion, the resolution, as amended, was agreed to, reported to the House, and adopted. CANTERBURY niVERS ACT, 18G8. Mr Jollie moved "That in the opinion of this Council it is desirable that the Act passed in the recent session of the General Assembly, intituled, 4he Canterbury Rivers Act, 1868," should he brought into operation within such districts as is likely to be affected by the overflow of the Waimakariri river." Mr Wilson seconded the motion. A long discussion crißued, in the course of which several amendments were proposed. Ultimately the following resolution was asreed to-" That in the opinion of this rouncil it is desirable that the Act passed in the recent session of the General Assembly, niS" The Canterbury Rivers Act, 1868' Hhould bo brought into operation within such dttricU' is likely to be affected by the overK the Waimakariri; provided always fhat such district shall be confined to the South side of the river."

Mr Jolue them moved," That tke : remunerationto be paid to tlie'Constmtowfor their services, under the Canterbury Hirers Act, 1868, Bhall not exceed the sum of *3OO He stated that three conservators would be appointed. , ,« ?!' Montgomery moved that the figures ( iJOO should be struck out, sud the words £IOO each per annum," inserted in iieu

Subsequently Mr Jollie moved that the remuneration should not exceed 450 each per annum, which was agreed to. DIVERSION OP ROADS. On the motion of Mr Jollie. leave was given to bring in » bill to be entitled, The Diversion of Roads on Great Southern Knilnay Special Ordinance, No 2 1868" Leave was given j the Bill was read'a first Z?«' n « °J d / re i t0 be P»"H and second reading fixed for Thursday. ROADS ORDINANCE. Mr Jollie moved for leave to bring inn bill to be entitled The ltoads Ordinance, 1864, Amendment Ordinance, 1868. The bill was brought in, read a first time and ordered to be printed; the second mg was fixed for Thursday, MAD BOARDS AND MUNICIPALITIES. ine following notice of motion lapsed through the non-attendance of Mr Knight lhat h,s Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to place on the supplemen ary estimates the sum of £20,000, to be divided amongst the Jload Boards and Municipalities. COMMITTEE OF SOFPLT. The motion for going into committee of supply was postponed until Thursday Noticesi of motion were given, and the House adjourned at 11.25 until 5 p.m. this day (Thursday.) ' noticeslFmotion.

The Provincial Secretary-To move the Council into Committee to consider the reserves made temporarily since the last session of the Council.

Mr Kennavut-To ask the Government whether they intend to propose to the Otago Government some mutual arrangement for crossing sheep from both Bides of the River Waitaki without the necessity of their being dipped, and contingent on their reply, to move that the Government be repeated to communicate with the Otago Government for the purpose of making arrangements for crossing sheep from both sides of the River Waitaki without the necessity of their being dipped. The Provincial Secretar?—To move that this Council sit on Saturday next at two o'clock p.m. Mr Maskell—To move the consideration in committee of the whole home of the resolutions proposed by the Select Committee on the Roads Ordinances.

Mr Waeckerle—To move that his Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to place on the supplementary estimates the mmof £1260 for the construction of a cart road from Pigeon B:\y to Akaroa harbour. Mr Hawkes—To move the House into committee to consider the report of the "Orphan and Destitute Childrens' Committee."

Mr Kenkaway—To more that his Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to place on the Supplementary Estimates the sum of £2OOO for the purpose of levelling the hills and otherwise improving the main road north and south.of the town of Timaru.

ORDERS OF THE DAY. That there be laid on the table all correspondence relating to Pasturage License No. 566, Class 3. The committal of the following resolutions: —" That his Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to place on the Supplementary Estimates the sum of £SOOO for the purpose of defraying the expenses of settlers with their families from the North Island to Fort Lyttelton. That on arrival there each adult may receive the sum of two pounds, and each child half that amount." " That his Honor the Superintendent be requested to take the necessary steps for carrying out the above object."

The Second Reading of the Rakaia Bridge Bill, 1868. Second Reading of the Diversion of Roads on the Great Southern Railway, Special Bill, No. 2, 1868. Second Reading of the Roads Bill, 1864, Amendment Bill, 1868. Committee of Supply,