CANTERBURY'S RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE FENCING BILL.

Press, Volume XXX, Issue 4077, 21 August 1878, Page 5 (Supplement)

CANTERBURY'S RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE FENCING BILL.

i It would seem that the recommendations of the Canterbnry County Councils on the Fencing Bill hare gone astray, and the Colonial Secretary denies absolutely that they ever reached his office. The following extract from the debate on the second reading in the Council will be of interest to those local bodiea who took the trouble to go through the Bill carefully and make a variety of suggestions for ite amendment: — The Hon. Mr Hall had paid a great deal of attention to this Bill, both before coming to Wellington and since he had been here. As the Colonial Secretary had remarked, it had been circulated amongst County Councils and Road Boards throughout the country, and suggestions invited upon it. Hβ wfs bound to say that this was a better Bill than the last two they had before them. It had been drawn np with some attempt to meet the different circumstances of the several parts of the colony. Slill, it might be desirable to refer it to a Select Committee. He would be glad if the Colonial Secretary would state whether any material modifications had been made in the Bill eince it was first circulated. The Hon. Colonel Whitmore said he had mentioned the two alteration* that had been made. The Hon. Mr Hall was rather anxious to know, because in Canterbury they were desirous to give the Government the greatest possible assistance in the matter, and with that view the Councils of the different counties sent delegates to a Conference to consider this Bill. The Councils first of all considered it themselves, and thfn sent delegate*, who drew np a report, which was forwarded to the Government, containing a series of suggestions. He had looked through the Bill, and been unable to fkd that a tingle one of those suggestions had been adopted. The Council* took care not to lead any conflicting ingestions, but to not a

single word or line of their report had attention been paid.

The Hon. Colonel Whitmore said the honorable gentleman was talking of a document thttt had neTer reached him. He had never heard of it before.

The Hon. Mr Hall s»id it was forwarded to the Government offiVs. He would endeavour to obtain n copy ac soon at po«siblo, but in the mean'irne he trusted the Coloui*l Secretary would hare a search made in hie own department.

The Hon. Colonel Whitmore—l have not gDt it.

The Hon. Mr Hall said that iri ? ht be ; but it dii not follow thnt it was not in the honorable gentlemsn's office. He (Mr Hull) happened to know something of Government d»'p:irtment«, and such things had happened »• papers being tuislnid, aud it was always asserted "It is not here." Hβ had heard a Colomal Secretary deny that he h'irf ever had oertain papers, and he (Mr Hall) had looked on the chair to him, and discovered them therft. However, ho had a. very strong impression that the pirliuular paper in question must have reached the Coluniil >eoret'iry ; but he was glud to find that it wag not from any intentional disregard of the suggestions made that none of them had been adopted. The Hon. Colonel Whitmore said that, i£ tVie*e papers came to hand, he should be perfectly willing to re-cast the Bill, if necessary, in order to introduce the Canterbury proposals in those parts which affected Canterbury alone. No matter how strongly he might, object to the suggestions, he would not h ive disregarded them had they come to hand; but this was not the flret, second, or third time that papers ware said to have been sent from Canterbury: indeed the statement was made so frequently that it became quite monotonous, and up an the 1 <st occasion he caused a very searching inquiry to be made. The matter had come to his knowledge through a statement in a newspaper, in which he was censured by the Mayor of Akaro.i or some other district. He determined to have tho matter out; but, like Mr Toote's correspondence with the Duke of Wellington, he found that the correspondence with the M iyor of Akaroa had no existence at all. It had never passed through the office, and eventually it turned out that it had never left the office of the clerk whose duty it was to forward it. The consequence was that he received an apology and the clerk was dismissed. Another similar case happened in Auckland ; and it was quite possible that in this case there might have been some delay on the I part of the person who ought to have forwarded the correspondence. It was possible, also, that the correspondence might have been sent to some other department; but he did not see that any blame attached to the Government. The Hon. Colonel Brett seid he might perhaps be allowed to say that he, as chairman of a Riad Board in Canterbury, forwarded copies of resolutions passed by that Board in reference to the Fencing Bill and the Sheep Bill. The Road Boards throughout Canterbury forwarded objections to these Bills, and he thought the Colonial Secretarymust have made a slight mistake in saying that none of those communications had come to hand.

Bill read a second time,