PROVINCIAL COUNCIL

Colonist, Issue 53, 23 April 1858, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL

■ ;■" Tuesday, April 20. ; '~-.' The Speaker took the chair this evening at 5 o'clock. MESSAGE FROM HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT. A message, No. 21, was received from his Honor the Superintendent giving a return from the departments .under the Provincial Government, shewing the number of officers in each department, rate of salary, &c. From the much talked of Pilot's department the following return was made:— '■■■:". '■■ '..' ■ Harbor Offics, Nslwj, April 6th, 185 S. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge tlie receipt of your letter of the sth instant, enclosing a copy_..of. a resolution passed by the Provincial Council; in reply to which I beg to furnish the required information, to the best of my knowledge and belief:—' Pilotage. Fees and Salary for 1805 .. .'. £436 ■; Ditto ditto . LBa(i ..'-.'. 410 Ditto ditto. 1857 ... ... 440 The average income-from all sources amounting to nearly £430 per annum. I have, &c, ; - .....-.■, ,-., . ' ■.■•'•.■ '.i.-iJAiiiES. Cross.-; To the Provincial Secretary. A message, No. 22, was also received, recommending a few unimportant alterations in the Cattle Branding Bill. SURVEY DEPARTMENT. Dr. Renwick presented a petition from Thomas Brunner, Esq., respecting the report of the .select committee on the Survey Department. NOTICES OF MOTION. Mr. Mackay postponed his notice respecting the. Survey department, until Wednesday, so that hon. members might have an opportunity of seeing the petition presented by Mr. Brunner. WAIMEA SOUTH AND WEST. Mr. Simmonds asked the Provincial Secretary— "Ifapetition had been received from certain inhabitants in Waimea South and Waimea West, praying for a road to bo made to enable a number of settlers in the beforenamed districts to obtain communication with the main line of road, and likewise to connecfrthe districts in question ; and if it is the intention of Government to comply with the prayer of that petition," and said this question was one of long standing, it had been pending five or: six years, and had caused serious inconvenience to the parties residing in that neighbourhood. His object in asking the question was to ascertain if the Government seriously have any intention of making the road in'question. ■] The Provincial Secretary said a memorial had been received respecting this road, which, strictly speaking was a by-road. A line had he believed been laid down by the Company, but which in that district was terminated by an abrupt bank. He did not know why the Roads Ordinance had not been put in force in this case, by which means they would be enabled to divert the road. There were many roads like the one in question, and he did not think that Government should be called upon to divert them. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES Mr. Baigent moved—" That the report of the Weights and Measures Committee be adopted."- •■■- Mr. Mackay seconded the motion, which was adopted. ... . -, . ■);.'-■■■'. NELSON IMPROVEMENT BILL. Dr. Renwick moved—"That.the.Nelson Improvement Amendment Bill be read a third time," and said the bill had been a long time before the Council, it very much enlarged the powers of the. Board of Works,'but he thought that the manner? in which they had performed their duties1 war-' ranted this Council in entrusting to them this increase of power. ' ' ' . , "•:.■' Mr. Curtis seconded the motion, which was adopted. '.'.'. DUN MOUNTAIN RAILWAY BILL. Mi\ Mackay moved—"That the; Council.resolve itself into committee forthe further considera-; tion of the Dun Mountain Railway Bill, with Mr. Robinson in the chair." , . ; Mr. Wells seconded the motion, which having been adopted, the Council -went into committee, and the following alterations were made'in the bill:— ' . ; ■ : : The Provincial Solicitor moved—"l 6 A.'Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the owner or. lessee of any land adjoining the land belonging to the said Company, to make, ,at his own cost and expense, a'branch railway from such land, through the land belonging to the said Company, to the railway by this act authorised to be constructed, together with the necessary sidings, switches, and by-ways, upon paying or tendering to the said Company the damages they may sustain thereby; such damages to be ascertained, in case of disagreement, in the same manner as is herein provided with respect to land taken by the said Company ; and if any dispute or disagreement shall arise as to the line of such branch railway, the same shall, at the request in writing of either party, be determined by some person to be appointed for that purpose by the Resident Magistrate, and; the costs and expenses thereof shall be paid by the party requiring the same; but the line of any railway to be constructed under the authority of this clause shall not be constructed in such a manner as to impede the traffic upon the railway of the said Company. " 20 A. If any person shall knowingly ask, demand, or receive, any greater sum for tollage or way leave than is authorised by this'.act,'such person shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding forty shillings. " 43 A. No by-law to be made by the said Conipany shall have any effect until the same shall have been confirmed by the' Superintendent of the province, and published in the Government Gazette. "43 A. No locomotive engine shall be used upon the said railway within the boundary of the town of Nelson." . . . Mr. Mackay moved—"That the House do now resume, and that the Chairman report the bill with amendments." Adopted. WASTE LANDS BILL. .. The Provincial Secretary. . moved-—". That the House do now go into committee for'the consideration of the amendments in the Waste Lands Bill, proposed by his Honor the Superintendent in his Message, No. 20.": r • - ■ . Mr. Magkay seconded the motion, which? was adopted, and the House having gone into committee, the message was read, as follows :— "Agreeably to" the* provision of the 27th clause of the Cohstitulion Act, the Superintendent has to propose the following amendments in an act, which has ibeon passed by the Provincial Council, and presented to the Superintendent forthe Governor's assent, intituled an 'Act to Provide for the Sale, Letting, Disposal, and Occupation of the Waste Lands of the Crown in the Province of Nelson.'

"The amendments which the Superintendent proposes are, that in the first line, clause 1, the word 'May' be e'xpungedi and the word ' July' be substituted.

Also that the followirig new clause be inserted, to follow clause 26 :—

" Provided I always, that whenever any person shall be desirous of obtaining land for immediate occupation, arid shall prove to the satisfaction of the Waste Lands Board thatsuch person intends to become' a bona jflde setier upon such land, it shall -be lawful for the , Board to sell to such' person a piece' of land not being town land, and not exceeding 80 acres, with-: out the same being submitted to auction, at a price to be fixed as hereinafter provided. But no such privilege shall be exercised more than once by the same person." Also, that in the first line of clause 36 after,'the words." auction " the words " or Which may have been so. put up at any '■ time within 6 months prior to the passing of this act"— be inserted. Also, that in the third line of clause 67 the word '' applicant" be struck out and the words " the first applicant for the s#me " be inserted. Also, that in clause 72, in condition 1, line 9, all the words after "in default, of which" be struck out and the words "theapplication next' on the register for. the same run, or any portion of it, shall be published, heard, decided on, and dis 7 posed of in manner hereinbefore provided " substituted. , Also that-in clause 73, the last paragraph; beginning "Notice of every such withdrawal" be struck out. Also, that at the eridiof^epuse ?7fy the words " whether in respect of applications already or to be hereafter received, any thing herein contained to the contrary thereof in anywise notwithstanding" be added. :•*■'■ The Provincial Secretary said that the clause proposed to follow, clause 26 embodied a principle which had been so much and so recently discussed, that it would be unnecessary for him to address any remarks upon the subject. Dr. Monro opposed the proposed amendment. He said it was a proviso to meet a grievance which was purely imaginary, for if the system of selling waste lands was properly1 worked, no difficulty would be found to arise; there should in his opinion be always a sufficient quantity of land surveyed and in the market to meet demands, then parties requiring land would go to the waste lands office and see its nature and situation. He could ■ not imagine a Board placed in si/more delicate ;po-: !■ sition than that now proposed. How were the Board to satisfy themselves that persons coming to them did intend to become bonafide settlers. He thought that the duty to devolve on the Waste Lands Board if this amendment were carried, was such that they could not carry out, although the Board would certainly set aside the auction system altogether as to these proposed 80 acre blocks, and that would create a serious,objection in his mind to the proposed amendment, as he thought that the auction system contained the. smallest possible amount of jobbing; and that the more often the proposition of. the Superintendent was acted upon, the more would they introduce a system of rottenness and dissatisfaction. Such a mode of selling the waste lands would also be injurious to the pastoral interest.;;and there : was really no necessity for its introduction, as parties desirous. of obtaining their 80 acres could now, go down into the Wairau and obtain some of the best land in the settlement at about £2 per acre. But if this 'amendment .were passed,, it would open the door to persons who: could go down into the Wairau, get their small patches in the middle of some person's run, and do'"incalculable mischief without benefitting themselves ; besides the advq-;; cates of this system of selling lands say that they i want agriculturists to settle. But did any one believe that parties in the Wairau, or the Amuri, or other districts, getting land in this way,, would doi so for the purpose of tilling the ground? They would start with their small flocks of sheep, and raise such squabbling, such difficulty, that the large runholder, on whom this province how depended for so much of its wealth, would be destroyed ; the very interest<now sought to be upheld would in no degree be benefitted. If ■he were satisfied ,that, parties requiring land really could not get it, he would say, let us do something to enable them to get it; but this was not the case—there was plenty of land for those who really Wanted to buy it. He also doubted if the proposed amendment had the sanction of the Provincial Secretary; for he had very coolly proposed it. In conclusion, he would say that he thought the present was fhe best and fairest system of selling the waste lands that could be acted upon; and he would be sorry did the Council adopt the proposed amendment, which would lead to nothing but; dissatisfaction. The Provincial Solicitor said the hon. gentleman who had just sat down had certainly drawn a very pretty picture, but when held up to the light its.transparency and flimsiness would at once be-seeri.'' He"did notthink the proposed alteration of the bill would affect the runholder,'for the very system now sought to be introduced had been in existence here under Sir George Grey's administration,.and heJiadheard of no injury accruing to the runholder,at that time;: and tjiey: must remember that this was the law when they bought or leased their runs. People had suffered great and;serious inconvenience;in not/getting larid"; he; had known people to have land surveyed, and them" that that land had been bought over their, heads. He thought that the land regulations should be altered, so as to allow people to settle immediately. Mr. Saunders said this motion was one of; such importance that he could not give a silent: vote thereon. Ho thought that the gentlemen who appeared likely to oppose the motion were those who had said no difficulty should be placed in the way of those who wanted to obtain land. It had always appeared to him undesirable that any impediment should be thrown in the way of the runholder; yet he thought that land should not be kept from those who wish to create for them-, selves farms, and thus add to the material wealth of the province. There was very little fear of destroying the pastoral interest! for he thought that'that was an interest well able to take care of itself. Dr. Monro seemed to think that if these small settlers were to be allowed to obtain land within the sacred precincts of the Wairau, there would be continuaL war in the shape of pounding cattle, killing dogs, etc. Well then, the only way of preventing this was, that but one man should live"on the island. .-He trusted the.Counciliwould adopt the amendment v as they .all welLknew that without -some such provision- a land speculator could purchase, all-available land, and our increasing population be made continuously shifting be-., cause they could obtain no land on which to settle. Dr. Monro seemed to think that the pastoral interest would be- destroyed by an increasing population settling down to agricultural pursuits; but he (Mr. Saunders^ hoped that the Council would remember that they were legislating for the whole province- and that they would; therefore support the amendment proposed by'his Honor the Superintendent, even thpugh it should not suit the private interests of a few large runholders, who would nuikeit appear that their own interest was identical with the pastoral iuterest of the whole province. "i, Mr. .Killing said he should oppose the amendment. ; He should like to know how the Waste Lands Board could tell what was agricultural land; the proposed sj'stem would destroy the runholders, and he could not understand why the Government should propose such a.thing. . t .. ~. ~ Miv Wells said he should vote against the mo-:, tion; had it been more conditional he : would havesupported.it. ■ ■ . > : ■ Mr. Dodson said he would have liked the proposed amendment far better, had it not proposed to touch on the runholder; yet he must support it, for it was highly necessary that'some provision should 'be,made for: the emigration which he believed would set in for this province. The Council then divided on the pyoposed amendment. ... : ......'-.-. i Ayes. ' "' ' ■ ■■ : ; The Provincial Solicitor Mr. Wells ] Provincial Secretary . Curtis Mr. Parker ' ' Dr. Monro , Baigont Mr. Robinson Sinimoncls Marsden Dodson . Sinclair Saunders' J' Mackay Kelling Slurp ,I)i\ Benwick The Speaker.,

The other amendment proposed by the Superintendent was then adopted, and the House resumed.

The Provincial Secretary then moved that the amendments made in committee be agreed to by the House. The Provincial Solicitor seconded the motion, which was adopted.