PROVINCIAL COUNCIL MEMS.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 660, 5 July 1871, Page 3

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL MEMS.

Condensed from the Evening Star. June 21.—The following motion was carried: —" That a line of road should be surveyed from Burwood northward along the valleys of (>reti and Mararua, to the valley of the Holly ford river, with a view of ascertaining whether a line of overland communication can be found between Martin's Bay and the eastern seaboard more practicable than the present route." —The Hon. Dr. Menzies in an exhaustive speech, moved the following resolution: " That it is expedient that a Bill should be introduced to provide Ist. That contiguous board districts having common interests may unite to form a county, the county board to consist of representatives from the district road boards. 2nd. That in case any district board shall fail to perform any duties enjoined by the roads ordinance, all its powers shall be exercised by the county board after it shall have been established, until the next following election of district members. 3rd. Q h the distr c roads shnll be under the control of liie district boards, the main truuk roads shall be made and maintained by the Provincial Government, and toll-bars established on them until a county board shall have been established in the district through which they pass, when they shall be transferred to its control. 4th. That the revenues of the county board shall consist of such portion of the territorial revenue as may be secured to it by Act of the General Assembly ; moneys voted for it by the Provincial Council; county rates, tolls, and miscellaneous revenue applicable to roads and public works; and shall be appropriated by it at its annual meetings to district ooards, as may be agreed upon ; a part of those revenues shall be retained to form a reserve fund. sth. The main trunk roads and bridges and ferries on them shall be under the control of the county boards ; and if any county board shall fail to perform any duties enjoined in the ordinance, all its powers shall be exercised by the Provincial Executive until the next following election of county members." A long debaie ensued, and ultimately the resolutions were put seriatim, and carried on the voices. June 22.—A short discussion followed Mr Haughton's motion for a select committee to take into consideration the petitions of the Roman Catholic inhabitants of the Province. A ballot resulted in the following being elected members of the committee Messrs Cargill, M'Glashan, Cutten, Turnbull, Allan, Gillies, and Haughton. Leave was given to Mr Seaton to introduce a Bill to amend the Dog Nuisance Ordinance, which was read a first time and ordered to be printed. Mr Lumsden's motion— That opportunities for travelling and despatch of mails on all railways under the control of the Government should be provided on Sundays to the extent of at least one train per day, when required, for the forwarding of the mails without unnecessary delay towards their destination " revived the Sabbath desecration question. Various amendments were put and all rejected. Ultimately the motion was carried by 20 to 18. Mr Bastings' motion, " That the Government be requested to introduce a bill into the Assembly to amend the law on goldfields, so as not to enforce the payment of business licenses by holders of agricultural leases " was carried. June 23. —Iu answer to a question it was elicited that the Government were not aware of any difficulties in the way of granting application for leases of country for tree planting. At onetime the Provincial Solicitor did see difficulties, as without legislation it would involve considerable difficulty on his part, but he now agreed that the object could be carried out under the present law. The Government had come to no decision in regard to the applications already before them, but it was intended to introduce into the new Land Act a clause which would obviate the necessity of agreements, and give applicants Crown grants on certain conditions being fulfilled. Resolutions to the following effect were carried : —l. That the capitation charges on acconnt of Volunteers should not exceed £3OOO during the current year. 2. That in order to keep the charges within that amount, the Governor should be requested to consider tho expediency of either limiting number of Volunteers, raising the standard of efficiency, or of making provision to reduce the capitation grant. 3. That grants of 50 acres be given to volunteers who nave served seven years, conditionally on one-third of (he land being enclosed and cultivated within three years from the date of the certificate; Crown grant to issue as soon as these conditions are fulfilled, and if not fulfilled within the time specified, none to issue. June 26. —We observed some little alteration in the mode in which the Council had arranged themselves, a transfjrence 1 aving been made from one side to the other by some mem-

bers we do not know that there is any significance in this, for like the happy family, in which cats and mice, rats and dogs, sit side by side, our present Provincial Council give no evidence of their political instincts by their neighbor! o In reply to Mr Haughton, the Provincial Solid" tor said the Government were not prepared to advise the General Assembly to cheek the immigration of Chinese miners. He believed t'te hen. member had given attention to the subject, and the Government would be glad to receive his suggestions. Mr Haughton moved that the petition of certain miners and settlers in the Wakatip District relative to William Fox be re-« ferred back to the Private Petitions Committee for reconsideration. The prayer of the petition was that a reward should be awarded for the services of William Fox as the discoverer of gold in the district. The Committee reported against the prayer of the petition on the ground that he was not the discoverer of gold at the Arrow, on the goldfield, and had not made his discovery public, but had to be tracked to discover where he was working, and had no claim to the reward. Mr Shepherd said the committee decided mainly on the report of Mr Pyke, in re ply to which, Mr Haughton said Mr Warden Beetham stated that Fox was the discoverer, and had made the discovery public. The House divided, and the matter was referred back to the Private Petitions Committee. Mrßastings's resolutions to reduce the Provincial Council to the position of a municipal institution, was opposed by.the Provincial Secretary in toto ; ana after discussion, the debate was adjourned to 28th ult. The financial statement was afterwards read. June 27. —In the Provincial Council the principal interest centred on a motion by Mr Sumpter, who wished to have an expression of opinion on a proposal to construct a railway between Oamaru and Waireka, on a General Government guarantee of interest of six per cent. Mr Reid expressed the opinion that every encouragement should be given to the construction of branch lines, which should be looked upon in the light of roads, and if they did not pay working expenses, power should be given to the Government to levy an assessment on the district for maintenance and interest. Mr Hu'cheson objected to the proposal professedly on principle. The Provincial Secretary proposed an amend ment, that the cost of the railway on which a guarantee of six per cent should be guaranteed, should not exceed £2500 per mile, provided that power be given to levy an assessment or assessments on the district for the purpose of payment of interest. Mr Thomson was not prepared to support the motion until further information was given. He wished to know if is was a bona fide affair or merely a casual conversation. Dr Webster objected to disclosing the names of , the contractors before obtaining leave to construct the branch lines of railway proposed. The motion passed on the voices. Dr Webster moved for a select committee to inquire into necessary amendments in the Fencing Ordinance. The motion was carried. On the motion of Mr Lumsden, it was resolved that the House Committee take into consideration the alterations necessary to render the members audible. We did not hear anyone suggest what might be fairly urged, that it mattered very little to the public, and was much better for the members themselves that all they uttered was not heard. The question was remitted to the Committee. Mr Si lepherd, in proposing that a certain piece of land at Queenstown should not be sold, condemned the House for voting merely as the Government dictated. Against this he protested. On the House being moved into Committee of Supply, Mr E. B. Cargill said the members of the Government without portfolios, and the Council had a right to be placed in possession of the Land Bill, on which so much of the future hinged. It was a long time since the Government carried their position with something like a rush. In view of the financial embarrassments of the Province, he felt surprised at the haste displayed by Government to get the votes passed so immediately after the estimates were laid before the House. What really required to he known was how far the present Executive endorsed the action by which the Province had been brought into its present difficult position, or how far the head of the Government had promised to alter his tactics to something more reasonable. There were three prominent questions before the country: —Public works in connection with the General Government, the alteration of the land laws, and placing the finance of the Province in a satisfactory condition. Of the first although it was made a great point at the election, nothing more need be said. The lion, member had eaten the leek, and turned over a new leaf with great advantage to himself. Seeing that three of the members of the (Jovernment would be absent in fulfilment of their duties in Wellington, the only remaining member was Mr Cuttcn. He had great confidence in that gentleman, but yet it was unsatisfactory,,, to the Council to be kept in ignorance of the names of those who were to be associated with him, and therefore the names of the non-official members ought to be given. Mr W. H. Reynolds then rose, and said he considered it the duty of the Government to reply to the question. The Provincial Secretary considered the House had had the fullest information given on every subject put to the Government. The Provincial Treasurer had put the position of the Province as fully before the House as he could, The Government, having the utmost confidence, in the House, fully explained its intentions in regard to any matter in which the House was interested, and therefore he might at once say they had not decided with regard to those gentlemen who were to occupy those seats. The Provincial Treasurer's statement might have been dry, but he considered it quite intelligible and business like. No matter whether the sutii available was large or small, it would not be divested from the purposes vofed by the Council. It was insinuated that he (Mr Reid) was responsible for the unsatisfactory financial position of the Province. He most emphatically repudiated such a statement, and challenged him to show in what degree it was attributable to his action. He could trace its condition to the action taken by others. It was the action of another legislation—the action of the representatives of the people, contrary to the wishes of the great bulk of tlie people, and after the Act was amended he challenged hon. members to to say whether there was any delay on his part in trying to give effect to the measuro. It was the bungling of the General Government in not appointing commissioners. Mr Keid denied he had ever opposed the Public Works Scheme. All he had wished was additional security, that the poorer Provinces should not have railways at the expense of the richer. After explaining the platform on which he was returned by his constituents, he blamed the Provincial Council for the financial difficulties of the Province, by passing appropriations beyond the ability of the revenue to meet. Following Mr Reid was Mr Shepherd, who made some strong attacks upon the Government, and the way in which it had been formed. This brought Mr Heid on his legs again, and Mr Reynolds thereupon rose to order. ♦ The Hobart Town Mercun/ states that the scheme of co operative emigration to Tasmania which has been projected by Glasgow mechanics is said to be based on agricultural settlement. " The Alexandra Colonial Co-operative Land Society " prop >ses to take up a block of 250,003 acres, under the regulations of Tasmanian Land Act, and to send out some pioneers, with a saw mill, grain mill, machinery, Sic.