Provincial Council.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 227, 3 January 1855, Page 6

Provincial Council.

„, Wednesday, December 27tli. Present —The Speaker, Mr. Hall, Mr. Bowen, ~"'-Mr. Packer, Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Dumpier, Mr. *\\Cookson, and Air. Hamilton, v »The Speaker read a message from his Honor tlie Superintendent, accompanying the Report frojm Captain Drury upon the Sunnier Bar. -„llr. Hall laid upon the table the correspondence in relation to a grant ofland for the purpose of a Scotch Church and Schools. i 4 Sumner Road. :"'•'■Mr. n.vLL rose to move the following resolution :— «''.'" That in the opinion of this Council it is expedient that the construction of the line of road recommended by the Commissioners for enquiring into the communication between the Port "md the Plains, and referred to in Appendix B. of their Report, should be undertaken without delay." ;7'JThe whole question had so recently been befq'te the house, and had there been so fully discussed, that to go into the subject at length would be but a tedious and unnecessary repetition. A decision had been postponed until they wfere acquainted with the result of Capt. Drury's •Utvey of the Bar. The feeling, however, was lalinost unanimous that a railroad was at present lout of the question, and that the best line of 'lsad was that via Sumner, recommended by the 'xljioad Commissioners. Captain Drury's report .Was now before them, and while it shewed that works which had been suggested at Sumner ,-^buld bo worse than useless, it proved that the even at present was far better than otd I)C(Mi supposed, and perfectly practicable for iditabU' steamers. With the exception, therelore of a few minor improvements, such as the of v heaeou, leading marks, &c, which =*would Ik> umlcrtuluMi al once if the Council did *UOtobj"(jt to the expense, nothing would be done

ai the .Bar. The Provincial engineer had reported, that for £12,000 the road could in twelve mouths-he opened throughout for drays; this would, of course, leave it narrow in many place?, as well as incomplete in other respects; the completion must depend upon the amount of revenue which should he forthcoming1 in the ensuing or following years. Tlie £iO,OOO set apart fnr this important object had been somewhat .curtailed by the increased demands from Auckland ; to some extent this was counterbalanced by several of the sums voted last Session not having been called for. Even if the entire sum were not. forthcoming hefore the end of the financial year, no inconvenience would result, as the works could not have advanced very far by that time. He (Mr. H.) earnestly hoped the Council would now adopt the resolution. The want of a good land communication was a source of daily increasing inconvenience and injury, and would be felt more and more as cultivation extended, and our agricultural produce had to seek for markets abroad. It a'so told greatly against the Settlement in the other colonies and in England. Mr. Packer seconded the resolution. He had objected to the vote until the survey of the Bar had been made. Captain Dairy's report was most conclusive, and had set the matter at rest. Mr. Dampteh said, before the question was put he desired to say a few words on the subject. A document had been handed to him yesterday purporting to emanate from a large body of his constituents, the conclusion of which was peculiar in its character : it set out by expressing the opinion that a good cart road between the Port and the Plains was essential, and wound up hy desiring his support of the Government scheme. He would read both the document and his answer. He was at a loss to know how he could consistently support the Government scheme, if it was the construction of a road by way of Sumner, because he felt satisfied-that 4 or 5 years hence it would be a dead letter, and that the Council of to-day would then be severely censured for its act. There was no room to doubt the necessity for a good cart road—in that opinion he enli.ely concurred, and that it should be made immediately was equally essential ; but he totally differed in the opinion as to the line. A scheme had been put forth by the Government engineer for a road across the hills, capable of meeting the present want of the Settlement. Although he differed with him as to the line, yet it was a satisfactory plan, and shewed them that a road could be effected without the possible expenditure of £40,000, which was most likely to be the ultimate cost of the Sumner line. The Report of Captain Drury (the Government surveyoi) was most satisfactory, it set at jest the fear that any damage would be done to wool hy the sea water, unless as a consequence of ignorance or recklessness. Captain Drury had shewn them in that report that the navigation could be so far improved as to render it the high road for traffic for all the heavy goods of the plains. If this was the state of the case, there could be no necessity for the expenditure of £40 or £50,000 on the Sumner Road, when a road across the hills, over which light goods could be conveyed, would meet all the requirements of the Province. The consideration of a question which probably involved so large an expenditure was most improper on the eve of the enlargement of the Council. He believed that if a toll was levied on the road, that the revenue they would derive from the traffic would not even provide for the tollkeeper, much less likely was it to pay the interest of the capital expended in its construction. A report had been laid on the table of the house in reference to a vast agricultural district which could be opened on the Lincoln Road, and recommended the construction of a road across the hills, with a remarkably easy gradient in the vicinity of Lake Ellesmere, and he wished to know why this recommendation was to be disregarded ? why was this valuable district not to be opened up ? why not expend this £10,000 upon this large tract of land ? It was true that in this case they would sell the land, while by the expenditure of the money on the Sumner Road they would sell their pockets. The document he had read from his constituents, was he thought a new fashioned restraint attempted to be put upon hon. gentlemen, and one he believed hardly constitutional, lie would far sooner resign his seat in that house, than allow himself to he put into v false ! position, or his judgment to be biased by th<> se J

who he thought had been influenced to sign the address he had received by misrepresentation. He could not consent to support at their bidding a scheme which he believed was injurious to the interest of the settlement, because he believed that as soon as the navigation wa3 opened up, and Capt. Dairy's suggestions carried on!, the whole of the traffic of the Plains would be provided for. There was a line of communication which bad been suggested and which the Superintendent had inspected ; tlie road was considered a good one, and the onlyobjection to it was its probable expense, but no attempt had been made to ascertain what its cost would be. It was an undignified position for the Government to occupy to say thntif they did not support the Stunner Road, they should have no road at all to Lyttelton. The appropriation of this vote of £10,000 should be placed at the disposalof the Government not by that piece of useless extravagance, the Sumner road, but to enable them to open up that rich tract of land on the Lincoln road to which he had alluded. He should therefore more an amendment to the effect that a select committee be appointed to enquire into the best cart road that could be obtained between Lyttelton and Christchurchat an outlay not exceeding£!o,ooo and to report special circumstances. (The amendment not being seconded, it fell to the ground.) Mr. Hamilton asked which line of Sumner Road it was proposed to adopt. Mr. Hall defended the terms of the requisition addressed to Mr. Dampier ; it asked him for no blind support to the Government, because it was perfectly well known what their proposal was. At the same time he concurred will) the view taken by the hou. gentleman of the duties of a representative. It was desirable he should be made acquainted with the feelings of his constituents, but after all he must think for himself, and act according to the best of his own judgment. The hon. gentleman was mistaken in asserting; that the government had said that this line must be carried out or none at all. He had also said the question should stand over for another Council, but had not given a single reason why the present Council was incompetent to deal with it. He (Mr. H.) admired the mural courage with which tiie learned gentleman persisted in putting his own estimate as to the cost of-this line againsi that of all tlie engineers in the Province, just doubling the amount at which they calculated it. If £sO,6t)o*weresptiH on a road via Lake EUesmere, it might sell a larue amount of land, but it would be treating with great injustice the settlers who had brought into cultivation the portion of the Plains already occupied, and who were suffering greatly from the want of the road. He fell sure that at the end of 4or 5 years, the hon. gent'euian would be agreeably surprised by finding thai the Sumner Road instead of being as he anticipated a dead letter, was in constant and advantageous use, and had contributed must materially to the convenience and prosperity of the settlers. The resolution was then put and agreed to. The house then resolved itself into Committee. Mr. Bowen in the chair. On the question Unit a sum not exceeding £!0.000 be voted, for the construction of the Sumner Road being put, Mr. Hamilton expressed his regret that the Government had not laid before the house some explanation of its intention in reference to the works. They should know what plans had beeu determined upon and where the line was to begin? Who was to be responsible for its management? what tools and what plant was required? and ("rum what source they expected tv derive the necessary amount of labour? The house ought to be informed of the mode of appropriating the money they asked for. It was unusual to grant money upon such bare statements. The original estimate it was true was £25,000, but since that time labour had greatly increased in value and materials also, and there would necessarily be great increase in the cost. The House ought to have smne statement before it of the future prospects of the settlement. At present they virtually possessed no revenues. By the aei of the General Government, instead of two-thirds of the Customs' revenue being at their disposal, they hail now only one half, and their local expenditure was fully equal to the two-thirds. The same result attended the revenue derived from the land fund. The Government estimates had been based upon the largev share of two-thirds, and since that hud been now reduced, he was at

a loss to understand how llicy were to provide for the expenditure of so large a sum as .£IO,OOO. Mr. Ham. replied : The Collector of Cusioms had overrated the increase in prices since tlie dale of the Commissioners' report. The Superintendent's message stated, upon the authority of the Provincial Engineer, that (he line.could be made practicable for drays for £12.000. The lion, gentleman knew perfectly will that no guarantee could be given that the General Government would n«l make Anther demands upon their revenue; it had the legal power to do so, hut it was not at all probable that such power would he exercised. With the amount now in hand, there exii-ted a moral certainty that the sum uf £12,000 would he forthcoming by the time it was actually wanted. A complete engineering survey would he made without delay; until that was completed all the details required by lion, gentlemen could not possibly be furnished. But he (Mr. H.) thonjrbt the Council ought not to require such detailed information as to the particular means to be adop- ] ted for ct.rrying on the works, as the Collector of Customs ]>ad asked for. Such a demand would in his (minion amount to a volt of want of confidence, it would be an interference by a Legislative body in the department of the Executive Government. The whole work would be carried on under the suneiintemience «»f the Provincial Fngineer, who would be responsible for ihe proper application of the money expended. The vote was then agreed to. Mr. Packer rose to present a petition from several inhabitants and others upon the Avon, requesting the aid of the Government in the construction of a bridge. A private subscription had been entered into to cairy out the work, and the petitioners-asked the Government assistance iv a similar amount. As the opportunity might not be afforded him of bringing the subject under the formal notice of the house, he would move a resolution to the effect that the subject tie referred to the Government. Mr. Cass seconded the resolution. ■Mr. Hall concurred in the suggestion of the lion, member For Chiistchurch. Mr. Hamilton said that as no notice of motion bad been ghen, ii could not be brought forward. IC tiie work was as essential as the bon. gentleman had represented it to he, the Government ought to j ; ,ke the responsibility o p the work upon themselves. He thought there were private interests involved, in the. matter, and the house should be cautions how far it allowed its practices to he interfered with. The Spkakkr said the course was irregular, the bon. yeinlemnn might move thai the petition should lie on the table, and for iis consideration on a future day. Mr. Packer would do k,», and if the House should s-it on the morrow, lie would move '.bat it be takeniuto consideration.' The House then resolved iiself into Committee to receive the report of the Committee on the Standing Orders.