The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1867. PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 267, 9 November 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1867. PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Friday, November 8. The Speaker took the chair at 11 o'clock; all the members were present except Messrs Wigley, Bentley, and Thompson. Mr Donne moved that the letters which have been laid on the table from the Provincial Auditor t© his Honor the Superintendent, the Provincial , Secretary, ani the Speaker of the Provincial Council, be printed. The motion was seconded by Mr Baigent, and having been put by the . Speaker, was agreed to. Pn Mr Sparrow moving that his Honor the Superintendent be requested to despatch with as litile delay as possible, a competent person to report to the Government upon the practicability of a bridle track from the Tsikaka district to the Diamond Lake, on Salisbury's Open, in order to frrm. a junction' with t lie track now being car"rien through to the Ka'amc-a, and that the report, if favorable'. 'be ''acted upon without delay, which was set on led by Mr Akersten, Mr F. Kelling, seconded by Mr Beitt, moved that ;ill the words after the 'word ' Karamea' us struck out, which was agreed to, and the motion, as amended, was carried on the voices. Mr Donne moved that the standing order No. 74 bs suspended, to enable him to move the second reading of the Bill to provide for the Election of Additional Members of the Provincial Council, ' and apologised for his addressing the House so frequently by his being necessitated to do so by the fret that one of Iris colleagues, though he might be a good politician, w;is unable to express his opinions effectively, and the other had failed in making an impression nn the House. The motion was seconded by Mr JDreyer, and was carried without opposition. Mr Donne then moved the second reading of the Mil, which was also seconded by Mr Dreytrr, and carried on division by 12 to 6, the Provincial Secretary declining to vote; and the bill •' as read a second time. Mr Donne then moved that the House resolve itself into committee on the bill, which was carried on division by 14 to I, and the Council then went into committee on the bill, clauses !, 2, and 3 of which were amended, an 1, on the motion of Mr F Kr-lling, the House resumed. Mr F. Killing then mo ml that his Honor the Superintendent be requested to furnish to the Council, at its next mee ing after the recess, with a return ot the population residing in the various districts on the riout lnvest Goldfields as nearly as possible, showing how many miners' rights had been issued in each district respectively, and also the number of permanent qualified e ectors residing in the same district during the half- j ear ending he 30th cUy of June last, and also from that time to the meeting of the Council. The t mm il tlu-n ndjourn~d, on the. motion of Mr Wastney, seconded by Mrßaigent until 3 p.m. On th« Council meeting at 3 o'clock, Mr Donne moveit that the House, go into committee on the Ke -resentation Act, which was agreed to, and the Speaker proposed a new clause to repeal clause No." 3 of the Act of 1866. An opinion having been expressed by several hon. members that the Provincial Solicitor should give his opinion upon the bill, he asked that in consequen e of the late fire, and the necessity of making preparation for the approaching sittings of the Supreme Court, he should be unable to devote sufficient time to the consideration of the bill to enable him to reframe it. After a few remarks from other hon. members, Mr Donne made a most violent and unprovoked attack upon the Provincial Solicitor, charging him with sittint; 'in. the Council as a mere nominee of the Government, dictating to the Council, and re-fu-ing to comply with its wishes. ■Tiie Provincial- Solicitor most indignantly repudiated the accusation, raying that he was one or'the members fur the city, and, as such, was not jo -Wguided in his opinion by the Superintendent, Tdi:r. <':>y :-ay mem bar of the Council, and the ex-j>r£w;-i«ns r^acifc use of by the hon. member towards himself, lie considered to ' be utterly worthless.- The hon. member (Mr Donne), who bad' framed the bill, unfortunately had more

tongue than brains, and had so muddled it, that he' did not understand it himself, and now had the assurance to turrf round and ask him (the Provincial Solicitor) to put it into shape, a thi'ig which would require such time and consideration as he could not command at that late period of the session. As for the office which he held under the Government, it mattered little to him whether he held it or not, for he should express his opinion as an independent member of the Council under any circumstances as ireely as any other representative. Eut he would not sit and listen to such accusations from a member who had occupied the time of the House for hours together with incessant self-laudation. After another attempt on the part of Mr Donne to renew his attack upon the Provincial Solicitor by saying that he considered him to be the servant of the Council, the chairman (Mr Parker) called the attention of the committee to the fact there was no motion before the House, and the subject dropped. The preamble was then read and agreed to, but the Council not having adopted the main clause, Mr Macmalion suggested that the bill should be withdrawn by Mr Donne, in order that -■^he-standing orders might be suspended to enable '. iiir^^iiill to be re-drawn in a proper manner, and M-bWUght up again on Saturday (to-day). "Mr Wtt said that if the Council agreed to this "proposal; he rvould undertake to re-frame the bill, and 'bring it up in a proper form this morning. This "was agreed to, and the House having resumed, the Chairman reported the bill with amendments, and the Council adjourned at 4 o'clock until 10 this morning. | 1

Saturday, November 9. The Speaker took the chair at 10 o'clock; all the members present except Messrs Eedwood, Wigley, F. Kelling, and Bentley. Mr White moved that the Government be requested to take into their earnest consideration, during the recess, the. desirability of bringing in a bill to regulate the erection of buildings in the city of Nelson, with a view to the prevention, as for as possible, of the spread oi fire. Mr Pitt seconded the motion, which was carried without division. ~Mr C. Kelling's motion that his Honor the Superintendent be requested to have all surveys, executed up to the present time, laid down on the map in the Provincial Hull, showing also the bridle-tracks and reads, which was seconded by Mr Akersten, was also agreed to. Mr Pitt moved the suspension of the standing orders to enable him to move the recommittal of the Additional Members for We t Coast Bi.l, that a clause might be inserted in lieu of clause 2 ot the same bill, providing for the return of two addi-tional-members, one for the Grey district and. another for the Buller district. The motion was carried, and the House having gone into eommittee, Mr Parker in the chair, the bill was recommitted and read a second time with amendment. The Mouse -then resumed, and Mr Kin ad on moved that the Council request the members of the Crown Lards Board to exercise their discretion in refusing to grant leases of lands under the Crown Lands Nelson Leasing Act, I Son, and the Crown Land? Leasins 1 Act, ISO7, when the samn shall come into operation, in or near to which the line of the Nelson, Cobden, and Westport Kailway is likely to run. The motion, which was seconded by Mr Wastney, and also supported by Mr Donne, as being calculated to redress improper speculation, was carrud on the voices. Mr Donne moved for the suspension of the standing orders, for the third reading of the Additional West Coast Members Bill, which was accordingly read and passed. This condhiled the; business of the session, and after some delay his Honor the Superintendent entered the Hall, attended by the members of the Executive, and delivered the following speech: — Mb Spkakkr. and Gextlemen op the Pkovincial Council, I have to thank you on the part of the province for the considerable additional, sums which you have appropriated for public works and other services, chiefly on the Southwest Goldfields. during the current financial year, and I am confident that your liberality will be highly appreciated in those districts. I also thank you on my own behalf for making provision to cover the.sum I have expended upon the goldfields beyond the amount which you previously authorised. The provision which you have made to meet anv unforeseen but urgent demands upon the public funds, will, I have little doubt, enable me to comply with the terms of your resolution of the sth of November, without that injury to the interests of the province which would otherwise ensue from the sudden stoppage of public works in progress, or from the postponement of expenditure required in an emergency such as so frequently arises out of the progress of existing goldfields and the development of new ones. Calculating upon your giving due weight to these considerations, and, perhaps, to some extent upon the ready approval with which you granted, in your late session, a sum of nearly the same amount to meet the unauthorised expenditure of my predecessor, incurred under similar, though less urgent, circumstances, I did not hesitate to take the responsibility from which you have now relieved me. The unexampled increase of the Provincial revenue which has immediately followed ihat expenditure, satisfied me that the money was expended in the right manner, and above all at the right time; that the public interest required that I should take upon myself the responsibility of immediate action, and that had I failed to do so, I should have been unworthy of the confidence which the people of this province have placed in me I have assented on behalf of the Governor to the Supplementary Appropriation Act, and have reserved the Electoral Districts Act Amendment Act for the signification of his Excellency's pleasure thereon. I now declare this Council prorogued. His Honor then retired from the dais, and the Council separated.