Thursday, June 30.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 7, Issue 504, 2 July 1864, Page 3

Thursday, June 30.

The Council met at 8 .o'clock. Present, the Speaker and all the members. Petition. Mr. Smith presented a petition from certain inhabitants of the town of Napier, praying the Council to consider the necessity of improving Milton road and of carrying it through to the road leading to the Spit. Petition rend ; and r on the motion of Mr. Smith, seconded by Mr. Col,enso, received. Privilege, Mr. CtoIOND was sorry to have again to refer to a matter which was brought forward yesterday by the member for Napier (Mr. Coleii^o) ; but, after the statement made by that member, and after hearing it referred to by persons out of door*, he, (Mr. Ormond) felt bound to say a few words in reply. He gathered from the remarks of the member for Napier that he intended to convey, first, that, the parties to the resolution passed last session had felt that the action they then took was not justifiable ; and, second, that the government had done nothing further in the matter from a consciousness that they had formed a wrong judgment of the case. This was quite erroneous. He found that he was specially alluded to as having raised the question, and as having, done so in a spirit the reverse of friendly. Now he thought he was fairly entitled to bring the matter forward. He did not take the part he did out of any feeling of animosity or party feeling ; he did so in the same spirit that actuated the member for Napier in instituting an inquiry into the validity of the seat of another member of this Council (Dr. Hitchings), which resulted in s>uch seat being declared vacant. Now, as, to his mind, tha two cases were precisely similar, if any feeling was manifested in the one case, it was so also in the other. On referring to the resolution, he found that, according to its terms, the Superintendent was requested to issue a new writ should he be satisfied that the seat was vacant. But that arose from a misapprehension, the Superintendent having really no power to do so. There was only one way the case could be dealt with, and that was by obtaining from the Supreme Court a writ of quo warranto. The Superintendent had written the Colonial Secretary on the subject, and that officer, in reply, had „ rather snubbed the government for its want of knowledge, stating what was the right course, and adding that any reference to the Attorney-General was unnecessary. Tha Speaker of the House of Kepreseutatives could decide in cases where the seat of a member of that house wa3 in dispute ; but, where the validity of a seat in any Provincial Council was questioned, the Supreme Court was the only tribunal. Upon the state of the case being laid before the Executive, ihey decided to let it remain so. The government had no wish to see the member for Napier out of theCouucil ; for in many respects he was useful. They simply said, — it does not rest with us to follow this up. But it was uofc to be inferred that, because the government did nothing in the matter, they concluded that there were no grounds for the question that had been raised. Quite the contrary ; and any one who liked might raise an action. So far as he (Mr. Ormond) was concerned he felt no interest in the matter but at the same time had not the smallest doubt that the seat in question was invalidated. He might add that he was confirmed in this view, privately, by a very high authority. Mr. Fitzgerald would like to know, should it turn out tint his colleague was sitting illegally, what would become of Acts passed by the Council. Mr. Ormond thought it would be" better not to go in to so large a question. Meanwhile the responsibility of so fitting rested with that member himself. Mr. Edwards apprehended that all Acts assented to by the Governor became Jaw, and beyond cavil. Mr. Colenso was sorry to have to approach this subject again ; he really thought that his remarks of yesterday w.ere so temperate as to give umbrage to no one. He had certainly referred specially to the member for Porangahau, because that member, when supporting the resolution of last session, said as much to the Speaker as that he (Mr. Colenso) had no business here, and that he should be ejected, to which the Speaker replied that he had no power in the matter. (Mr. Ormond had no recollectio.n of anything of the kind having taken place). The resolution he (Mr. Colenso) read and commented upon yesterday, had been heard by him for the first time when. the., minutes were read at the opening of the session, He did not think it had even 'appeared in" the Herald. He Was tenipted to speak to it, when he heard it read,- but, instead, gave notice that he

would speak next day to a question of privilege ; and be really thought the government should then have been prepared with what it had to say, instead of again bringing-up the subject. He would not say a word upon the merits of the- case, but would content kituseif with the remark that hewas quite willing to stand any legal aotiou that might be taken in the matter.. Re-adjtistment of Representation. Mr. Colenso rose to ask "whether it is the intention of the government to introduce any measure during this session for the re-adjustment of the representation of the Province in the Provincial Council. Mr. McLean said that the government had thought over (he matter and hitd arrived at the conclusion that, before arriving at accurate data for the preparation of such a measure, it would be necessary to wait till the next census, which would be taken this year. The government had no objection to pledge itself to bring in such a measure but' could not do so till in possession of proper information. Provincial Accounts. Mr Colenso rose to ask the government " why the Provincial accounts published in February and March last, and dated from the 'Treasury, January, ISfii,' bear tha signature, of Mr. Janisch as ' Provincial Treasurer,' seeing (as per Gazette) that gentleman had resigned his oflica in September 18(53." Mr. McLean s:iid that the simple explanation was this : when Mr. Janisch resigned the office of Provincial Treasurer, at the end of September, 18G3, some delay supervened in getting up the accounts ; and, when those were completed, which was done under the supervision of the late Provincial Treasurer, that gentleman signed them — did. in fact, what he waa not in a poaition to do before. Mr. Co.LEXSO expressed himself as satisfied with the explanation. Audit Committee. Mr. Colenso rose to move I; that a select committee be appointed to audit the' published accounts of ths province for the year ending March 31. 18G4 ; such committee to consist of Messrs. Wilkinson, Tiffen, Kennedy, Edwards, and the mover." — He would not say mucli in support of the resolution, as he assumed there could be no objection to what wii i so commonly, almost invariably, asked for and granted. Mr. McLean could assure the member who had just sat down that he could not possibly be more desirous than the government was that every facility should be aiforded for examining the public accounts. Hitherto— before the passing of the Audit Act — the nomination of such a committee was an essential in Provincial institutions. But the appointment of an Auditor — an officer responsible both to the General and Provincial governments — and the scrutiny "which it was his duty to exercise towards the public accounts, appeared to birn (Mr. McLean) to afford ample guarantee to the public. "While he saw no great object to be gained by the course proposed, he thought it somewhat premature, seeing that the government had promised to bring down a financial statement. [Our report will be brought up till last evening in Tuesday's Herald.']