PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 10, 15 March 1866, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Wednesday, March 14. The Speaker took the chair at 5 o'clock. The members present were the Provincial Secretary, the Provincial Solicitor, Messrs, Redwood, Curtis, Oliver, Sparrow, C. Kelling, Ivingdon, Gibbs, F. Kelling, Akersten, Burn, Simmonds, Parker, M'Mahon, Baigcnt, and Dodson. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. Mr. Akersten moved that the reply of the select committee to the address of his Honor the Superintendent be read. Mr. Parker seconded. Motion carried. The Clerk read the address as follows : — The Provincial Council, in thanking your Honor for your opening address, fully appreciate your Honor's desire to respect as far as possible the recorded wish of the Council as regards the season of its meetings, and recognise the necessity of the deviation now made through the altered state and pressing requirements of the province. The extraordinary and unexpected influx of a large gold-mining population at the West Coast not only justified, but in our opinion, necessitated a wide deviation from the Appropriation Act of the last session — an Act framed under circumstances so different to those iv which the province soon fortunately found itself placed. And we beg to express our sense of the prompt and judicious action taken by your Honor in the furtherance of the development of the western gold-fields. We concur with your Honor in thinking that the really flourishing condition which our ordinary revenue has lately assumed, justifies a sanguine belief that the necessary demands of our extensive and yet to be fully developed gold-fields, may in future be promptly and liberally met without neglecting the just claims of the older districts. We are glad to hear that the coal-fields of the province are likely to be worked on an extensive scale, and that the coal has been so favorably reported on by the Chief Engineer of the Woolwich Dockyard. The many other important subjects brought before us in your Honor's address, shall receive our most earnest attention, and we heartily concur in the hope expressed by your Honor, that the Executive and Legislature may harmoniously co-operate in choosing measures for securing and promoting the welfare of the colony. Mr. F. A. Kelling asked the Government whether they intended to adjourn the house next week. The Provincial Secretary replied in the negative. The Provincial Solicitor moved for leave to bring in a bill to provide for the construction and maintenance of roads and other public works, in certain districts of the province. Mr. F. Kelling seconded. Motion carried. The Provincial Solicitor moved for leave to bring in a bill to provide for the construction of new electoral districts on the West Coast, and for the election of additional members of tbe Provincial Council of the Province of Nelson. He said the increase of the population on the West Coast fully justified the interference of the Government in reference to an increase in the number of members of the Council. He proposed to place the settlers and the holders of miner's rights on an equal footing. The districts would be called the Grey and Buller districta. If the population increased it would be the duty _of the Provincial Government to in-

crease the number of representatives to the Council in proportion. In the present state of the population he thought the three members proposed to represent the Grey and Buller districts would be quite sufficient. Mr. Burn seconded the motion, which was put and carried. Notices and adjournment. At a quarter to nine o'clock the Council adjourned to five o'clock this afternoon.