FRIDAY, JULY 2G.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 11, Issue 866, 13 August 1867, Page 3

FRIDAY, JULY 2G.

The Speaker took the chair at 2 o'clock. Auckland Petitions Committee. Mr. C. Wilson brought up the report of the Petitions Committee on the petition of twenty-one merchants of the city of Auckland, respecting the duty on coffee. The report was ordered to He on the table. Papers. The Hon. Colonel Haultain laid upon the table a report from Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell, respecting the steps he had

taken to prevent the. interruption of certain surveys by. the natives. Petition. ; - M; H. S. Harrison presented a petition from a Wanganui settler, asking for compensation for loss he had sustained in consequence of the occupation of his land by Imperial troops. The Speaker said the petition could not be received as it was informal. Gold Fields Act. Mr. Mebvyn asked the hon. member at the head of the Government, whether it is the intention of the • Government to bring in a Bill to amend the Gold Fields Act of last session. The Colonial Secbetajry said there were several amendments in the Gold Fields Act which the Government desired to make, and they had a Bill in preparation to effect them. Accessories Bill. The Hon. JVHalt,. in moving the second reading of this; Bill, said it was one of a series for consolidating the criminal law. The series were almost copies of some Acts lately passed by the Imperial Legislature, and which were the fruit of the labors of several Commissions. Similar Acts had been passed in the neighboring colonies; One obvious advantage of following English Acts, almost precisely was, that pro* fessional gentlemen would be able to use English text books for the colonial acts, and legal decisions given in law courts at h6me would also apply here. The Bill was read a second time.

Old Metal and Marine Store Dealers Bill.

The Hon. J. Hall moved the second reading of this Bill, which had been introduced at the request of the Imperial Government, who considered such an Act absolutely necessary, but preferred that it should be passed by the > colonial rather than by the Imperial Legislature. The motion was carried. Forgery Bill.

The Hon. J. Hall, in moving the second reading of the Forgery Bill, said that the remarks which he had made with regard to the Accessories Bill, would also apply to this. The Bill was read a second time. Naturalisation Act Amendment BUI. The Naturalisation Act, 1866, Amendment Bill, was passed 1 through Committee, read a third time, and passed. , Private Estate Bills Bill This Bill was passed through Committee, read a third time, and passed. Auckland Waste Lands Act. Mr. Heaphy moved for leave to bring in a Bill to repeal the Auckland Waste Lands Act, 1858 ; the Auckland Waste Lands Act Amendment Act, 1862; and the Auckland Waste Lands Act, 1866 ; and to make other provisions in lieu thereof. The three Bills mentioned comprised the Waste Land Laws of the' pro- ' vince of Auckland,' and he desired to introduce this Bill to consolidate them. It was also desirable to alter the administration of the waste lands. The whole of the cost of survey, should not fall upon the Provincial Government, but part upon the purchasers ; and this was provided for in the Bill. Additional inducements would also be held out to capitalists to settle on the waste lands, and greater aid would be afforded to District Boards by giving them scrip to the full value of the pubKc works they executed, such scrip to be used in the purchase of land as an endowment for public works. It would also give facilities for purchasing lands from the natives with provincial \ funds. It had been generally the practice j for. Bills affecting waste. Jands to-be introduced by Superintendents or members of Provincial Councils j and he had framed this Bill upon some resolutions passed during the last session of the Auckland Provincial Council, and with the concurrence of the Superintendent of that province.

Mr. J. Williamson seconded the motion.

' Mr. J. O'Neill did not intend to oppose the motion, but he thought the Bill should have been introduced by the Superintendent of Auckland. At another stage he should be prepared to show that the Bill was unnecessary. • Mr. Caeleton thought the Superintendent had acted quite right in the matter, as responsible government had been introduced into the province of Auckland, and the Superintendent had virtually nothing to do with the matter. At the same time, he thought that the Bill could have been more properly introduced by the hon. member Mr.' Dignan, than by the hon. member for Parnell. He hoped that a provision would be introduced into the Bill for the disposal of the worthless waste lands of the province at a very low price. The land-jobbing of the Auckland Government had proved a dead loss to them ; and the sooner they got rid of their waste lands the better. What they could not sell should be handed over to District Boards, or other bodies who could make good use of them. It would be very unadvisable to give facilities to the Auckland Government to purchase native lands with, provincial funds. He hoped leave to introduce the Bill would be given, and then all these matters could be discussed in committee. Leave was given.

Audit Act Mr. Eeynolds, in moving that in the opinion of this House sections XV. and XVI. of " The Audit Act, 1858," be repealed, read the clauses referred to, which provide for the payment of the members, of the committee, and penalties for nonattendance. He was thoroughly convinced that the clauses, instead of being a benefit to the colony, were a great injury to it. If they were repealed, the very best men in the House would seek to be placed upon the committee, which they were afraid to do now, lest such a.desire might be attributed to unworthy motives. Members should be prepared when they came up to attend the session, to give up the whole of their time to the public service. He did not see why the Potitions Committee, which performed double the work of the Audit Committee, and other Committees, should not be paid* equally with the Audit Committee. He would also suggest that if the Bill were introduced, a clause should be inserted in it, giving each member power, when the ballot was taken, to vote for all the committee, and not bo restricted to one, as at present. Mr. Meevyn seconded the motion.

Mr. Carleton thought the hon. member had missed the real point in question —whether the Audit Act itself should- not be repealed. Since the Comptrollers' Act had been passed, the Audit Act had become unnecessary. If, however, they had an Audit Committee at all, there must be some means of forcing its members fco attend" to their duties. At the same time, he thought it was only proper that all Committees should be bound down in the same way ; but until they were prepared to do this, they could only make the Audit Committee efficient by giving them payment for their services and forcing them to attend.

Mr. D. Bell considered that the Comptrollers'Act rendered the Audit Committee unnecessary. So long as they had such a Committee, they must force tliem to attend

to their diitiesv If the work : were jttc|SeTOy^|| . and efficiently performed,, the ; payjaie^i(|j|i; ■was small enough.' ■ ',-/ -:...-'•-.• ■.• •:, : 'K. "£-\ \-z%i& Mr. Stevens; said, the func^oMof tne^ comptroller .were very different if^biriiHb^e^^ of the Audit Committee ; and thei utmost ;%■ ; possible danger would result to 'the Mm-; : = cial affairs of the colony if therAu^ittAcf ; \ were repealed. . . : ■■•>'■■'■;' The Hon. J. Hall would be sorry, to see the motion carried. Although 'economy/;--., ought to be practised yet there was such r a thing as a false economy. The appointment of the Comptroller did not supersede the necessity for an Audit Committee, as what he conceived to be the duty of the, Committee was to give the House a general idea of the state of the public revenue, / and to make such suggestions on the t subject as they might think desirable. . .. ; The Hon. J". C. Richmond thought the. Audit Committee might be made a,yery useful instrument to furnish the House,, with full information of the condition . of the public accounts. The Committee had : to perform a very tedious duty,,aiid ought to be paid for it. Mr. Ball would support the motion. He thought the duty of the Audit Committee should be to exercise a general censorship_over the public accounts j and they were more -likely to obtain men of integrity by not paying them for their services than by doing so. ,/u r Mr. Boblase submitliedthafe the Comptrollers' Act did not render -tEe Audit Act , ; unnecessary ; as one Act did not interfere ' with the other in any way. The,object of the Audit Act was to enable the House to ascertain how 'great an expenditure had ; taken place ; and they could not get the public accounts properly looked into unless they paid persons for doing so. It I would not be proper to impose such duties upon gentlemen without giving them some remuneration. .

Mr. Yogel did not think it at all satisfactory /or the accounts of the colony to • be audited by a committee of the House, and some system should be adopted, so that the audited accounts for the past year could be laid before the House every. session; and if the hon. member would . propose some measure to effect this object, he would support him. He did not think the Comptrollers Act had been properly carried out j but did not complain of it, as many irregularities must necessarily oceur while putting into operation so extensive a machinery. The Colonial Secbetaby thought there was some confusion in the minds of hon. members about the two Acts. The Comp- • trailer's Act prevented the Government from holding any monies whatever, except , under special Acts ; while the Audit Act was to inform the Legislature whether the money which the Government had received, had been applied in accordance with the votes of the House. The question of the abolition of the payment of members of the Committee was a trifling one ; but the repeal of the Audit Act was * a very serious one. There had been every desire on the part of the Governmentyto , carry but all the provisions of the 1 Comp- ; trailer's Act ; but it must be remembered that the Comptroller was only appointed last February, and many operations of the ( '[ current financial year had taken place be- u fore he assumed office. The Government were quite willing to submit to the wish of the House in regard to the payment of the Auditors. He quite concurred with the wish of the last speaker, that the accounts for the past year should be placed before the House at an early period of lie session ; and the Government were so impressed with the necessity of this, that, the financial measures they were about to introduce would be so arranged that he did not see any reason why the accounts should not be presented a few days after thedoserof Tfllff'SnanclaTyeaav ~ Mr. Reynolds having • replied, the House divided on the motion as follows : — A.yes, 22; noes, 22. The Speaker gave his casting vote with the noes.

Message. The Speaker read a message from Ms Excellency, announcing that he had assented to the Imprest Supply Act. Sessional ' Order. Mr. Reynolds moved that it be an order of the House for the session that no Select Committee be authorised to summon witnesses before it who may reside at a distance of above ten miles from the City of Wellington, unless upon special leave of the House first given. After a long discussion, the ton. J. Hall moved the previous question, which was put and lost, and the original motion therefore passed. The House then adjourned at 5*30 p.m.