PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IV, Issue 117, 20 May 1869, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

WEDNESDAT, MAT 19. The Speaker took the chair at 5 o'clock. SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES. Several resolutions were passed requesting the Superintendent to place on the Supplementary Estimates sums of money for expenditure on Public Works in various parts of the Province. PETITION OP kJEtTBEJN WAITE. On the motion of Mr. Edwards, this petition was received. CONSULTING SURVEYOR'S, BILL. The Provincial Secretary moved the second reading of the Consulting Surveyor's Bill. After some discussion the motion was agreed, td, .and; Jhe! Bill waslread'a'second'tirrie, committed/ and reported with one or two verbal amendments.

SCAB ACT AMENDMENT BILL. The Provincial Secretary moved the second reading of this Bill. Motion agreed to, and BilPread a second time, committed, and reported with amendments. allocation of the revenue. Dr. Irvine in moving the resolutions standing in his name, said, that the question of the separation or non-separation of the South West Gold Fields waa without doubt the question ofthe session, but as yet it had only been touched upon iv the Superintendent's address, and owing to the manner in which it was then put, several anti-Separationists had been led to vote with the West Coast members on the question, thus appearing to favor the cause of separation whereas such was by no means their intention. It was therefore desirable that some distinct expression of opinion should be adduced and that the Council should not treat with indifference the fact of a Petition being about to be presented to the General Assembly. In the leading part of his flrst resolution he came into direct collision with the petitioners; but in reading the petition it would be found that it was got up in so loose a manner as to render the figures quite unreliable. The very first allegation with regard* to the amount of revenue contained so gross a mistake that it was sufficient to throw doubt on all the rest. The whole tenor of the document was to ignore the liability of the Gold Fields to hear any portion o£ the general expenses of the Government of the Province and assumed that the whole of the revenue after paying the salaries of officers on the Gold Fields should be spent on puhlic works in that portion of the Province. He must protest against such a principle as being manifestly unjust. His impression was that out of every £1 raised on the Gold Field*? a larger portion had been returned to that district in the shape of public works, tban tho corresponding £ 1 raised in the settled districts. There was one circumstance which might have given color to the opinions held by the inhabitants of the Gold Fields, that was, that large sums which had last year heen set down on . tho Appropriation Act were not spent, but this was entirely owing to the unfortunate mistake in the accounts, by which the revenue had been largely over estimated, and the results had not be-*r. confined to the West Coast, but the whole of the province had suffered in the same proportion. The most important thing to be considered was, had the West Coast cause of complaint? The fact could not be blinked that they were dissatisfied, and that this dissatisfaction had now taken a tangible shape To meet this dissatisfaction there were four conceivable modes. — Ist, By altering totally the scale of expenditure; 2nd, By continued liberality on the part of the Council; 3rd, The one advocated in the petition, viz: That the West Coast should be allowed separation, and he formed a county; aud 4th, The principle of allocating the revenue on a fixed scale according to the amount raised there. Every year liberality had been tried, and had failed. This session, the system of bribing the Goldfields had been carried out farther than had ever been the case before. Tlie Couucil had been almost unanimous in reduciug the salaries in the settled districts, but when they got to the Goldfields Public Works, they voted away £29,000 at the rate of about £2000 a minute. Had this been successfui? Were the representatives satisfied? Were there not since then several proposals from them to place large suni3 on the Supplementary tstimates ? Give as much as tbey liked to the West Coast the cry would still be give, give. He next came to the constitution of the Goldfields as a separate County. Judging from what he had read of the Westland County Council he must pronounce it a total failure. The object of each of the representatives or delegates in that Council appeared to be to grasp as much as be could for his own particular district, to the utter disregard of all the. others. Then again, never, he supposed, in any public body was there to be seen more disgraceful conduct than in that Council, where the vilest motives were attributed, and the coarsest abuse bandied about. Mr. Bonar, a man who was highly respected by all, had been so disgusted that he had resigned the Chairmanship. He did not say that the inhabitants of Westlaud were worse than others, but there were many influences at work that made the Council what it was, and the inference was that in the formation of another county there would be similar results. Then where was this process of disintegration to stop ; on the South West Goldfields before they had even presented their petition for separation there was already an agifcation'for further subdividing the country. His proposal to allocate the revenue would he believed prove satisfactory to all parties. The desire for separation arose from misconception, and it was natural for the inhabitants of the West Coast living at the distance they did, and without the means of observing closely all the accounts, to suppose that more of their revenue was spent in this part than was re%lly the case. There was a necessity for a clear understanding, and if the Council would pass an Act allotting a large and fixed proportion of • the gold fields revenue to their use, he thought this would satisfy them. The Bill being a Money Bill could not be repealed without the Governor's assent, and thus the element of uncertainty would he removed. Suppose that the allocated portion of their revenue, after paying fixed charges amounted to £30,000, the representatives of the West Coast would then come up here and the Council would prove, an impartial jury who would assist in- fairly dividing this sum among the different districts. This scheme would not only be an important contribution towards the present good Government of the County but it would tend to advance its -future interests. A Goldfield population was necessarily a .fleeting one which took no real interest in the country and therefore could not be expected to make any permanent improvements. On going to his constituents he should be prepared to prove that no district suffered more than that in.the vicinity of the town from the want df this ofc-'-aHocation. i , Dr. Irvine then moved the following resolutions :—

1. That while this Council considers that the Inhabitants of the South-west Gold-fields have no just grounds of complaint in respect of the amonut of public money which has been annually expended in their district it is nevertheless of opinion that tlie agitation which has sprung up there for effecting a disruption of the Province will be constantly renewed unfil the West Coast shall have had secured to it by law the expenditure within its limits, and for its benefit, of a large and fixed proportion of the revenue there collected, after deducting its share of the general expenses of government. 2. That in the opinion of the Council, such an allocation of the disposable revenue is equitable in principle, and expedient in p <iicy; that it would prove advantageous both to the Gold Fields and the Province at large; and that it is calculated to further the present and future interests of the West Coast more effectually, than if it were constituted an independent county. 3. That the Council, while affirming the suitability of the proposed arrangement to the outlying districts generally, is of opinion that it should be in the first instance, only applied in the ca*e of the South-west Goldfields. 4. That his Honor the'J Superintendent be respectfully requested to cause a Bill in accordance with the first Resolution, to be prepared and sent down to the Council during the present session. Mr Luckie seconded the motion pro forma. Mr. Hennelly considered that the question of separation was one which should go before the General Assembly, and therefore should not be discussed here. >* Mr. Burn moved the adjournment of the debate to that day six months. A division was called for, with the following result: — Ayes 1.3, Noes 5. The Council then adjourned until this day, at 5 o'clock.