PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Press, Volume XIX, Issue 2813, 8 May 1872, Page 3

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Tuesday, May 7. The Speaker took the chair at 5 p:tn, THE CLEEK OF THE HOUSE.

After the minutes had been read (by Mr Williams, in the absence of the clerk) and confirmed,

The- Speaker said—l beg to draw the attention of the Council to the fact that the clerk is not iv his usual place. I do not know where he is. It took mc by surprise when I took the chair this evening, not to find him at his post. The Provincial Secretary—Sir, I think the House should ask an explanation from the clerk as to his absence to-day. It might have caused the Council a great amount of inconvenience, . The Speaker—T shall enquire into it, as it is the wish of the Council. LETTERS FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT. The Speaker read a letter from his Honor, enclosing certain papers. The Provincial Secretary—Sir : I think it is due to the House that some explanation should be given with regard to the alteration that has been made with reference to the manner in which the papers have been laid on the table of the House, [Hear, hear, from Mr Knight.] It has been the usual course for the head of the Executive to lay any papers on the table, either by order of the Superintendent or under a resolution of this Council. This custom has been departed from in the present instance. I may state that the papers now laid on the table by his Honor were prepared in my office for the purpose of being laid on the table of the House this evening j and just Jbefore I came down here, the letter which the Speaker has read was laid before mc, showing mc that an alteration was to be made in the system of laying papers on the table of this House. I may say this alteration has been done without the consent of the- Executive, and without their being consulted. I know it is only a formal matter, but still it is a departure from custom," and"T am at a loss to know why this has taken place. I beg to lay this return on the table, which was not included in his Honor's letter, namely, a return ordered by the Couucil on Friday of the sale of the waste lands from October last year to the present time. Mr Brown—l may say I have been quite taken by surprise at what has fallen from the hon. member regarding this departure from the usual custom. I should like to ask the permission of the House to draw the attention of hon. members to the fact that his Honor has taken what I may say is a liberty —at any rate he claims it as a right to go into the Secretary's office to take papers out of it, and lay such of them on the table of the House as in his wisdom he may see fit to do. Such being the case, I shall take care to ask when any papers are laid on the table of this House by His Honor the'Super-lntendent-rwbether the papers laid on the table in such a way are merely fragments of j such correspondence and papers —[" Hear, bear," from "Mr Knight j—as we have now had two instances of that sort of thing, and which is calculated to misinform and mislead the House. I think it is time that the House should assert its privileges. When it requires that the fullest information should be given to it, and it should affirm that the Executive, which is only a reflex of the Council, should be responsible for any papers laid on the table of this House—[hear, hear] —and if papers are laid on the table which do not give the fullest information, then this House should proceed to deal with the Executive which should be guiity of such conduct. The modus opcrandi for securing a remedy for this unusual procedure is one which can only be resorted to in extreme cases, and no member of this House would like to see that course taken. But if the Executive, as it is appointed aud is only removable by this House, is party to this, it is easy for the House to deal with any procedure which is calculated to mislead aud misinform the House. ["Oh! oh!" from Mr Maskell.] The hon. member says " oh, oh," perhaps the hon. member cannot be misled. Perhaps he can arrive at information outside this House which will give him the most thorough acquaintance with questions which the other members of this House cannot arrive at only through the Executive If the hon. member for feefton says that the information now laid on the mble of the Hoase is the fullest information .which can be given, then I should like his authority for such statement. From his interraption, I take it that he is in a position to state that the papers are complete. Mr Maskell-I do not. know what business the hon. member has to speak of my tretting information one way or the other. I may be allowed to say that I am not in the habit of getting information outside the

House! Sly interruption nroV , 'from tlie'fact that I heard the hon. m .inbcr make the charge against his Honor the Superintendent of misleading and mis-informing the House, which rmone has-a-ritrht-to do.

Mr Brown—Sir: *'o hon. member would say that I said the Superintendent misled the House. I said the correspondence laid on tlie table misled the House. Mr Maskell—lt is just the same thing. The .Speaker—l may say that had I understood the hon. member to have said that, I would have interrupted him. [Hear, hear.J LYTTELTON WHARVES. Mr Richardson' asked the Secretary for Public Works when the Government intend to spend the sum voted tlie sos=iou before last for lighting the wharves in Lvttelton. The Provincial Secretary said that a vote of £"0 had be-.-n placed on the estimate? the session before last for the purpo.se, but as the time expired before it was carried out, the vote lapsed. The amount was omitted next session, but since then he had communicated with the Harbor Master, and stated that if he thought the lamps necessary, the Government would provide the money out of another vote. The Harbor Master did consider the lamps necessary, and no doubt the work would be put in hand without delay. j GAOL ACCOiLMODATION. Colonel Brett asked the Provincial Secretary if the Government have taken steps to carry out the recommendations of the Select Committee, which sat two sessions back, to build suitable accommodation to the Lyttelton gaol for the Governor of the gaol. He hoped the accommodation would be as in England, so constructed as to form a defence against attack, either from the outside or the inside. The Provincial Secretary said that the Government proposed to ask the Council to pass the sum necessary for that purpose. ORPHAN ASYLUM. Coloxel Bbett asked the Provincial Secretary if the proper authorities have made a searching inquiry into the recent disgraceful affair that took place in the Orphan Asylum, and if stringent steps have been takec to prevent a similar occurrence? The hon. member said that without doubt a very deep staiu had been cast on our charitable institutions. He hoped that the Government would take 8U()h steps as would be the means of restoring confidence in such institutions. The Provincial Secretary said that a most searching inquiry had been instituted into the matter alluded to. Further, he might state that steps had been taken to prevent, as far as possible, any similar occurrence. ROAD STEAMER. : "Mr Oemsby asked the Provincial Secretary as to the total expenditure incurred by the Government in connection with the Thomson's road steamer, and the net sum realised by its sale. The Provincial Secretary replied that the sum of £1808 bad been expended on the steamer, besides a sum of £5 for advertising. The net sum obtained by the sale amounted to £325 10s 6d. SUBSIDY TO BRANCH RAILWAYS. The Provincial secretary moved that this Council having before them the correspondence between the Government and the Resident Minister on the subject of the terms of payment of the provincial subsidy of forty-two thousand pounds towards the construction of the branch railways, authorises the payment of the said sum iti accordance with the proposal of the Resident Minister, viz. :—That payments shall be made for materials, the advice of the shipment of which has been received, for land bought, for surveys executed, or other necessary works in connection therewith. A considerable amount of correspondence had arisen on the subject since the rising of the Council. It was found that while on the one hand the Provincial Government presumed that the General Government did not require the whole amount voted at once, the General Government on their side, expected the whole amount to be paid over, and that that whole amount should' be exhausted before any funds of the colony would be expended on those branch lines. That was a very radical difference between the understandings of the two Governments. It would amount to, this, that if the understanding of the House was carried out, this expenditure would be spread over the whole time of the construction of these lines, but if the amount were paid as the General Government understood it, it would be exhausted in very likely twelve months, because they maintained that the Provincial Government amount should be exhausted before ih'ey paid away auy funds whatever. That was the position the General Government had taken, and after a considerable amount of negotiation between the Resident Minister and the Provincial Government — (knowing that the General Government could not be moved from the position they had taken up) the Government had induced them to accept certain modifications. The General Government gave way from their first request, and asked for a certain sum on the materials being sent for to England. Since that, however, -they had agreed to modify that request, and agreed to the terms mentioned in the resolution, viz., that payments should be made for materials, the advice of the shipment of which had been received, for land "bought, for surveys executed, or other necessary works in connection therewith. He did not think that the House, if it wished the General Government to carry on such branch lines, could do anything less. He might state that the Resident Minister agreed to the terms of the resolution, which he (Mr Kennaway) had shown him that afternoon, and if it were passed he agreed to carry it out. To summarise what the understanding with the General Government was, he might state that the General Government undertook to construct five branch lines as mentioned in the schedule to the Railway Act, 1871, viz., to Rangiora and Oxford; Kaiapoi and Eyreton ; Malvern line: Rolleston and South bridge line, and the brauch line from Waimate to the main line. He might ttate his conviction that the General Government were thoroughly in earnest in the construction of the lives, and from what they knew they must trust that the Geueral Government intended to carry out those lines in a bond fide manner. Hehad received a short memo, from the secretary to the Resident Minister, indicating the position in'which those several branch lines stood at present. The memo, stated that the Malveru line was all staked out. The. sections were more than half finished, and no less thau fifteen miles of tracings would be forwarded to the engineer-in-chief in a few days. The Hue from Brett's corner branched into two —one to the Surveyors' gnlly and the other to Jebson's. Regarding the Rolleston and Southbridge Railway, the memo, stated that eight or nine days' labor would complete the working survey of the line.. Through some error, however, the line had not been proclaimed, but that was now being remedied, and the district engineer was hurrying to have the line completed. The line to Southbridge was intended to communicate both witlflines A and B. and tlie survey was near completion. He. (Mr Kennaway) told the hou. member for Oxford, the other evening, that the Raugiora and Oxford line was staked out as far as the Cust. The other line, the Kaiapoi and Eyreton, was delayed to the present time owing to the difficulty of getting surveyors. For the former line 20 miles of rails had been ordered, and since then instructions had been given to have thirty additional miles of rails ordered from Eugland by next mail. Hon. members would also see that an advertisement had been issued for tenders for 50,000 sleepers for those branch lines. The Government, he understood, were also prep.ircd to effect the purchase of auy laud required to complete the route. The General Government, he believed, every member of the House would agree with him, were showing every determination to carry out the construction of the branch lines, and that the money when paid over to them would be actually spent on works constructed in the province, and that it would be a guarantee that the works would certainly be completed. Mr Brown said he should like to hear whether by the terms of the resolution it would be incumbent on the Resident Minister to furnish to the Provincial Government the actual expenditure inenrred for snrveys and other expenses. He had heard that the

PreVTncTaT GovefnffleTTCirair'CUlKit'a from the" Resident Minister the actual amount of the disbursements maclc r;on ttfe'various lines before they paid over any of the amount. Hβ- hoped the bon. member-would receive full authority to pay over the money to the General Government, as he believed it was a matter of the most vital importance to the province to do;its part faithfully and zealously.

The Provincial Secretary replied that the Provincial Government did endeavor to exact from the General Government the amount expended on the various lines for the following reason. The General Government applied to the Provincial Government for the sum of £15.000, on the ground that they h;i'l ordered a certain amount of rails, and had done a certain amount of surveys on the branch linrp. Under the Appropriation Act the amount was not voted in one sum, but under five different heads, and the Provincial Government required to know which votes were required to be used, or how much of the £15,000 belonged to each of the branch lines. The motion was carried. FREE PASSES ON RAILWAYS. Mr Peacock moved that during the sessions of this Council free passes upon the railways be granted to the members thereof. The motion was carried on a division by "19 to 12. THANKSGIVING DAY. The Provincial Secretary moved that this Council do not sit ou Thursday next, May 9th, that day having been, appointed by his Excellency the Governor as a day of thanksgiving for the recovery of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales from his late dangerous illness, and that notices of motion for that day be placed ou the Order Paper of Friday, May 10th. He felt certain that the Provincial Council of Canterbury would not be behind other legislatures in testifying their loyalty, and in returning thanks for the recovery of the Prince of Wales. The motion was carried. SPEED ON RAILWAYS. On the order of the day being called on, Mr TosswiLL said he wished to know whether there was any limit to the speed of the trains on the Southern Railway. ; He' happened to come down by the south train that morning, and he must say the speed was so great that the carriages rocked to and fro in the most alarming manner. He was led to understand that, owing to the delay in starting at the Selwyn, the train had to make up for lost time. The Provincial Secretary replied that a regulation was in existence which limited the speed on the railways, but without notice he could not say what it was. As the hon. member had called his attention to the fact, he should certainly call the manager's attention to it. BILLS ADVANCED. The following Bills were read a second time, and advanced a stage in committee :— The Lyttelton Reclaimed Land Ordinance, ; The Education Ordinance, 1871, Amendment Ordinance, 1872, No. 2; The Canterbury Roads Ordinance, 1872 ; The Board of Education Incorporation Ordinance, 1872; The Canterbury Fencing Ordinance, 1872 ; The Canterbury Trespass of Cattle Ordinance. 1872. Notices of motion having been, given, the House adjourned till next day at the usual hour.