TUESDAY, SEPT. 24.

Clutha Leader, Volume V, Issue 220, 27 September 1878, Page 3

TUESDAY, SEPT. 24.

In the Legislative Council, — - - „ A petition was presented, from the, inhabitants ,of Olutha praying for arailway ; also from a Maori chief asking for certain reseryes for his tribe. „ , : , .1 . r Further leave of, absence— to the 4th of October— was granted to the Speaker, on the ground of ill-health. . - The Bluff Harbour Act; Amendment Bill .was a second tirae, ; on the ; -motion of the. Hon. Dr Merizies, referred to the .Har-! bours Committee. ."?"J ;1 : ; ' ! ' : - 1 l " '"',

11 The following Bills ' were road a third a time :— lnterpretation, Dog .Registration, ;- and* Sheep Bills. '•■■' ' ;v ; ' ;. The .Council went into -; committee on a the Land Claims Final Settlement Bill, 1 which was passed : through, af teri the Hon. ,1 Colonel Whitmore had introduced a new s clause. ■ , . .... „; An. : Tmpres't' Supply "Bili (No. 4) was 1 introduced by the Colonial Secretary, and y passed through all its stages. '■*'. In the- House of- Representatives, — k A Bill for a High School at '" and the University of Otago Amendment " Bill were road, a first time. . J The further sum of L 25,000 in addition | to the amount of L 750,000 already granted | as Imprest Supply was granted, and the | Bill passed all its stages. | On going. into Committee of Supply, Mr Richardson disclaimed any wish that his resolution re the Tapanui Railway should be. taken as implying any censure upon the Government. He read a resolution passed by the House last session, L which he believed, was an insiifficient authority. The disclaimer expressed by 1 Mr Macandrew that any liability had been ■ incurred was not a sound; argument. This contract implied fully as much, liability as 1 any other- contract. He hoped the House , wcnild accept the resolution in the spirit he offered it, namely, as a safeguard upon the expenditure of public money. He moved a resolution to the following effect; " That in view of the large expenditure on public works now going on, in future no contracts should be entered into by Government until after the money lias been duly appropriated by the House." Tlie Hon. J. Macandre-w hoped the House would not agree to the resolution, because it would debar this, or any other Government from exercising a wise discretion in premoting the wishes of the House and the prosperity of the country. This railway would be no charge upon either revenue or open loan funds. The Government was proud of the contract, and the country should be grateful. He foresaw the cavil he would be open to, but had braved It, and would do so again if the same circumstances occurred again. He quoted the San Francisco mail service as a precedent. ' Mr Bowen maintained that the question was not whether the line was a good one or not, but whether the House should have control over the public purse or not. The line adopted was quite different to the one referred to in the resolution passed last session, and' the House understood at that time it had committed itself to nothing. It was supposed to be open even for a private company to take up. The line was from Tapanui to Waipahi ; but now he believed it left Tapanui a mile on one side. The San Francisco service was not a case in point. Mr Pyke asserted that an appropriation had been made, with the full consent of the House, although only land hot figures had been set against the appropriation. The Hon. R. Stout said the spirit of the discussion proved that Provincial jealousy still existed. Canterbury last year had been Better treated than Otago, but Otago members had ■ not complained. It was not true that tenders were accepted before the advertised time for opening tenders. It was a fact that the tender accepted was about L2OOO below the engineer's estimate. The term Tapanui was applied to both districts and to a small township, and the Waipahi-Tapanui line did not mean necessarily to the township. This lino was altogether exceptional, and if that principle of construction could be adopted generally a great saving would follow. He admitted the general principle, but a particular case must be judged on its merits, and upon that ground this line could not be assailed. The land was the best in Otago, the line was for the benefit of small farmers, and the principle of the contract was a good one to apply in other cases. He hoped Mr Richardson would withdraw his motion on the ground .of insufficient information oii the case being in his hands, and trusted he was satisfied with the explanation given. Mr.Rolleston denied that this was a case of Canterbiuy jealousy. The other contracts quoted as precedents contained provisions by which the contracts entered into were not binding until the consent of the .House had been obtained. This con-tract-had been, entered- into in contempt of the opinion of the House. He quoted Hansard to prove that when the lands were reserved .they were distinctly set aside simply as being in the neighborhood of a proposed railway. He was surprised that the Premier could have assented to it. He hoped the House would rise to the occasion- and assert its rights, especially because in this case no pressing necessity for the course pursued had been shown. Mr Barton thought a resolution, such as that before the House, should be ■ justified either by injustice that had been inflicted or was likely to follow if no. action was taken. Successive . Governments had agreed to this line. This motion was only a factious one, 1 and was not brought forward with any, good object. There was no real substantial basis for this resolution. Mr Montgomery said the first duty of the Ministry was. tq.nphold the Jaw of the land. v He objected to the principle on which the Tapanui contract had been let. He hoped the mover .would withdraw, the' motion/- as ; it had taken a certain party aspect.. .•'<■•■• ■ ■;•-■-• ■ . Mr Woolcock said it was absolutely necessary that the House should affirm the principle under, which , grants :were made by the House. It is necessary because the Minister for Public Works had said he would, under similar ? circumstances, do the same again. The resolution, was so perfectly fair and temperate that no party spirit was. apparent in it. . Another Ministry might make a bad bargain, although this one was both wwi s e and' good. The effect of the House. passing veto 'upon this resolution would be to. remove control of public expenditure from the hands of the House; r ■'. ■ ' "' ■ Mr- Gisbprhe said that the resolution . passed r last! session 'was not regarded in. . the light of an appropriation; rior an autlibI rity for, any , expenditure. L' He supported' the resolution, .and, thought , if- iit , was ' withdrawn , the same course would not L . -again betaken. .;,]:- C; n ' ' '• Mr ,de Lautour, said >> ;niembers Would, I not b^, called upon to vote, for. or, against' ) the resolution.' The question f 'wa« whetfer* ■ the House - should go- into 'Committees' of " Supply. The law already was in'apcord-

ance with the amendment lief ore. -.the ■House, 'and did not require affirmation. He denied the independence of the mover-. Mr Barff hoped 'there .were. many menvbers in the House 'Who would vote in accordance with, their convictions, and not ■ "blindly follow the Government whether they, were, right or wrong. He objected to the party tone of debate adopted by Mr de Lautour, . but would vote against the .resolution in its present form because it was too wide, and would embarrass the Government. He considered the resolution a truism, and. when he voted against it he would do so simply' because he thought it an inconvenient time to bring it forward. Major Atkinson said. if. the Opposition had wished to bring forward a motion of want-of -confidence they could have done so but they did not feel justified in doing so in this case. A contract to meet payments in two years was an actual liability at the. present time. The Government had acted illegally and unlawfully, but was the action justified by the special circumstances of the case? The House had a right to demand information of important public works undertaken during the session, which, in this case, had been denied. This contract could only be set aside by . a breach of public faith. <He was sorry that this had been made into a party question, but members on that side of the House, though they would be very glad to vote upon points of constitutional practice without party spirit, would have to vote according to their consciences, whether against the interests of the Ministry or not. Mr Swanson would vote against the resolution, because he preferred to discuss the Estimates rather than, waste time in debating abstract questions. A division was taken on the question whether the House should go into Committee of Supply or not. The House resolved to go into Commit- . tee by 44 to 30. For education, several members proposed that some further provision should be made for thinly populated districts than the L 3 15s for average attendance. . Mr Gis borne thought the average cost of educating children in different districts might be calculated, and grants in aid apportioned accordingly. Mr Bowen proposed special, grants for •thinly peopled districts. Tlie 10s grant for attendance to school committees had been unfairly distributed in the past. Mr Ballance said many thinly populated districts had been very liberally treated by the Gavernment, and gave many instances in proof. Mr Barff declared that the elections of school committees in Westland were a farce, and criticised the educational system generally.