POLITICAL-(PROVINCIAL.)

Otago Daily Times, Issue 157, 17 May 1862, Page 4

POLITICAL-(PROVINCIAL.)

On the 16th April the Superintendent opened: the Provincial Council. The speech was a more statesmanlike and less personal address than Superintendent's are in the habit of making. It described the state of.; affairs as very satisfactory and assuring. It is unnecessary to refer more particularly to^ the speech, aa the subsequent action of the Council, which we will immediately detail will supply it. The .first stop take i by the Council, was by a vote of want of confidence to cause a change in the Executive. Messrs. Walker, Ho worth, and Hardy retired in favor of "Mr. Dick* secretary and treasurer ; Mr. M'Glashan, solicitor; and Messrs. Kilgour, Patersoii, and Reynolds. The change excited little interest. '■' A message sent down by his Honor, recommending an alteration in the Land Regulations, was referred to a committee. The recommendation, which involved the adoption of the Free-giant .system, and imposed a fee :of a shilling an acre on the transfer, of land, '; iland a deposit of Is. per acre on applications i for land, was reported unfavorably on. t Other points were rather ambiguously dealt . with, and after the receipt of another message \ from his Honor, it was resolved to postpone " the matter to next session. . \ ■ r "A message, concerning the postal service, * raised a debate, in the course of which Mr. 3 Ward's conduct was severely criticised, and r a carte hianche was given to the local Govern- [ rnent to enter into what contract it thought fit for the conveyance of the English mails to and ' from Melbourne and Otago- * Some very important ordinances, including - one to reorganise the municipal management ot the town, and another to take power to raise a loan on, and to dispose of the laud in the harbor below high water mark, which it is proposed to redeem, were rushed through the Council I with unseemly haste, the members 2, being desirous of bringing the session to a ri close*,-.- The. ordinances, mentioned were rer served by the Superintendent for the' pleasure * of the Governor, and are almost certain to be disallowed. . . '■■■■■■ The Estimates were also rather hurriedly c got through. They appear at length in l another column, and show the wonderful prol gress in a general point of view that the Prot yiuce has made. The total revenue for the half year, is calculated at £204,082 :i 7sV 7d., inclusive of £25,000, the proceeds of deben--3 tuies, and £45,000 balance from last halfr year. Only three-eights of the Customs' c ; revenue are included. The other five-eights : go to .the General Government. The Estimates of revenue were understood to , be/considerably within the mark, and the Council thought itsalf safe iv voting away_ £285,000, or-over £80,000 more than the ■ c ;revenue.' The scale of salaries was still_ left ' 0 at a low rate/ and there was no disposition evinced to unnecessarily increase tne strength s of any of tlje departments. The largest pore tion of the appropriations were for public '» works, and the expenditure under this head, ~ it need not be said, will re-act with a benee ficial result on the country generally. The . Police was the heaviest of the departments. £16,000 was voted for Police purposes, a high * opinion being expressed of the efficiency of the .force; For public svorks, such as roads, v bridges, and buildings, a total of £170,308, was voted. Amongst several items noticeable in the estimates occur the following.—£Booo for a bridge over the Lower Taieri, £6300 for a High School; £5000 for a new gaol, v£20,000 for the road from Dunedin to Taieri Ferry, £1250 for a Benevolent Institution, an addi- " tional bonus of £500 to Mr. Gabriel Reed, the „ discoverer of the Tuapeka gold fields ; Mili- = tary, £1,680; purchase of runs, £3,500; p prospecting' parties, £1,500; extermination c of thistles, £1,500; and Provincial-buildings, ' £15,000.. s . The house was ultimately adjourned for three c .weeks, toallow of the preparation o^ a Builder ing Ordinance. His Honor the Superinten--0 dent assented to the following Ordinances, viz.: ~ the 'Licensing i Ordinance Amendment ; the [ .Vagrant. Ordinance. Amendment; the lloads s ' Ordinance Amendment; the Otago Loan ; the Cruelty to Animals; the Trigonometrical j Stations'; the' Education;'■ and Scab Prevention v , Ordinances ; and the Appropriation Bill. n The following were reserved for: the Go- ".■■ veruor's sanction:—The Public Buildings Loan Ordinance; the Otage Harbor Loan Orx dinance; the Otago Harbor Trnst Leasing ; f. the 'Dunedin Municipal Loan ; the Dunedin 1 Improvement; and the Trespass Ordinances, f The arbitration in the O tago and South land r ■ public debt, occupied the attention of the arbitrators, Messrs. Dillon, F. Bell, ■ and T. B. Gillies, some days, and was finally adj joured"till'June, when it will be resumed in T Wellington; Dr. Menzies, the Superinten- ." dent, and Mr. Pearson the Crown Lands Com- * ' missioner, came over from Southland to watch 'f~- the case on Southland's behalf. *■ • -The collectipn of claims to vote shows j j a large Increase •in the • Registration Roll * for the coming year. An analysis of it appears 3 in anothericolumn. It will be found interesting > as indexing the classes amongst which political power; is distributed: Alerter at last turned - tip from Captain Fraser. It was to Mr. Dillon r Bell, and requested that gentleman to procure ; thehon. member a leave of absence ,of two '. mouths. It is generally felt that Capt. Fraser t. canhbt possibly, be back' during the Session, t and his constituents who were not only not . conaultedas tobis absence, but ooteven advised

of it, are naturally indignant. On the 29th x of the present month, a member has to be elected for the Duncdin to fiU tlie,^ varancTcausefrbyTflrr Kdward McGlasnnn s- -; retirement. The Superintcndent'wus.expected j to he the succtsstul candidate, indeed, it -was , not likely any opponent would have been , put r forward asHinst .him. \\ ithm the i last few days he has issued an address which j throws some doubt as. to his intention of comin* fnrwnr.i,. on' .several grounds, amongst which whether Provincial busi- | ( ness would mlmit<oi.his leaving' the Province It i« still likely that he will comefprWaril. ' Ai very'important movement ha* been commdnctd' ll this' month"—si' movement in favor of the political separation, -, or the two Islands, •• and : the formation of a distinct colony in the Middle Island. A large1 meefmg was held under the most influential auspices, and resolutions strongly affirmative of the movement were carried new. con. A committee was appointed, and it was determined to carry on the agitation with vigor. A subscription list was started, and with ten names alone the amount reached ,£350. One merchant subscribed £100. It is expected £2000 to £3000 will be raised. Delegates will be sent to the neighboring provinces, and if necessary to England. The proprietors of this journal offer a Silver Cup of the value of £50"to the writer of the best pamphlet on the subject. The enthusiasm in the cause is very strong. The following are the resolutions arrived at by the public meeting :— _l s t That the proper Government of the Middle Island of New Zealand from a seat of Government iv the North Island, at all times inconvenient, has now, from the vast increase of European population in the Middle Island," become an impossibility." 2nd.—"That justice to the British Colonists of _the Middle island, now numbering nearly 60,000 (sixty thousand), demands that legislation and adminstration for their interests, which are so dis-siunlar to those of the North Island, should not be, as hitherto, tnunelled by and sub-ordinated to considerations of a native policy, with which the Middle Islrnd has no immediate connection-" 3rd. That this meeting considers that the only remedy for the evils referred to in the foregoing resolution, is the separation of the two Islands, and the; havin" a Government and Governor permanently resident in the Middle Island, and that this separation should \>e effected upon terms consistent with the honorable fulfilment by the Middlo Island of all public liabilities to which it is now a par4y.' _ 4th. " That a subscription be opened to raise the necessary funds for carrying out the agitation for Separation to a successful issue. sth.—"That a Committee (with power to add to its number, and appoint subcommittees) be appointee to enlist the co-operation- of the other provinces oi th> Middlo Island of New Zealand, and by means of tue press, meetings/deputations, delegates, publications petitions, and otherwise as they consider expedient, to use every effort to obtain a separate Government for the Middle Island, and that such committee shall consist of Messrs. T. B Gillies, Rat--tray, Walker, Harris, Vogel, Reynolds, Dick, R. B. Martin, W. 0. Young, A. M'Masters, Edward Casper C T. Ick. Frederick Jones, Tickle, Kenyon, M'Lnndress, Moss, De Carle, :Kettle, S. Joues, S. Foreaith, H. Howorth, ,I'aterson, Murison, Gleeson, J. C. Campbell, and Prendergast.