NELSON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Colonist, Volume VI, Issue 596, 10 July 1863, Page 3

NELSON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

TUESDAY, JULY 7. The Council met this afternoon at five o'clock, Present —the Speaker, the Provincial Solicitor, Messrs. Kingdon, Bum, Harkness, Butler, Goodman, Saunders, Simmonds, Pollock, Macmahon, Parker, Thompson, Curtis, Elliott, M'Rae, and Baigent. committee's bepoet on petition respecting minebal land leases. Mr. Paekeb brought up the Committee's report on Mr. Lewthwaite's petition:— The committee find that the conditions of the Mineral Land Eegulations. have not been complied with ; that no correct survey of the Mokihinui country has been made; consequently, the plans of the different applicants are informal. That the land applied for by the several applicants is in excess of the acreage of land containing coal. That there is every reason to believe that the country can be worked to advantage by several small companies, and quite sufficiently to supply the wants of the Province of Nelson; and the amount of acreage provided for by the Mokihinui Coalfield Leases Bill to each applicant will be sufficient to give a good return for the amount of capital likely to be expended there. •'• "'" ' AUCTIONEERS' LICENSES. Mr. Elliott presented a petition to the Council from Messrs. J. Leyien, N. Edwards and Co., A. W. Scaife, Daniel Moore, and P. Phillips and Co., auctioneers and traders, praying that the Council should take into consideration the present excessively heavy and most partial manner in which the auctioneers are taxed. The petition set forth that the license fee for auctioneers was in Nelson £40 a year, whereas in Sydney and Melbourne it rarely exceeds £10, whioh it iOw ttudsHtood to b^tiw *»te oiw^ed. *t A^eklMd*

The business done by auctioneers in the Province is said to be small, and, the license fee forms a large per centage on the amount earned. The tax, it is stated, militates against the auctioneers and the public also, the as if license were reduced, persons having pro-' perty to sell by auction would not be compelled to pay the heavy'expenses now necessarily charged by auctioneer's!SCAB BILL. . MivSaundtirs moved that the Scab Bill be recommitted for the purpose of adding to clause 22 the following words, " but such certificate shall not exempt the owner of any sheep proved to be actually infected with scab from any penalties incurred under this Act." Mr. Macmaton seconded the motion,, which was agreed to ; and the Council went into commitcee, and the words were addedto the Bill. LOCAL BOARDS OF HEALTH BILL. [In another column we give a precis of this bill as it was amended in committee.] . : The Pkoy/jtcial Solicxtok moved the second readiug oE this bill. The bill, he said, was prepared because it had been represented to the Government that in certain districts nuisances existed which were injurious to the public health, and tlie Government were desirious of preventing those nuisances. The body considered best qualified to carry out the provisions of the act, and to whose knowledge the existence of nuisances would be likely to come, was' the Road Board, and the bill had therefore been pi-e----pared to give the necessary powers to these Boards, that as Boards of Health tliey might abate and remove nuisances. Mr. Goodman seconded the motion, and the bill was read a second time and committed, when several amendments took place. Respecting the means of providing for the expenses of carrying out the act, a conversation took place in committee, when Mr. Baigent asked whether the Road Board would require to pay such expanses as, for example, the salary of an inspector of iiisUtmces ; and he showed that it would bo :i h:>r,!.'i'm un- the- Road Board of all the Waimeas havii);; to piy tiie expenses of carrying out the act for the vill.-i.ge of Richmond. Mr. Kelling wished to know whether the Road Board had any power to spend the road rates in any way other than for road purposes. The Speaker said he feared the act would be inoperative for want of funds. By the Road Acts, no part of the rates could be spent for any other purpose that for the formation or repair of trunk and -branch roads, and could not be diverted to Board of Health purpose-s. Afto:- the Council had resumed, standing orders were suspen led, in order to allow Mr. M'Rae to move, that the Provincial Solicitor be requested to prepare a clause or clauses to be added to the Bill so as to give certain additional powers to the Boards of Health to enable them to carry out the act. Mr. Kelling seconded the motion. He considered fie act deficient, inasmuch as it made no provision for moating necessary expenses. Mr. Baigent said the difficulty might be removed by adding a clause empowering the board to levy a small rate within the district sufficient to cover the expenses. The motion was agreed to. THE EDUCATION BILL. Mr. Burn moved That the Education Bill be recommitted, for the purpose of striking out in the 2nd line of Clause 12, after the word " place," the word " in," and insert " during the second week of." This motion was agreed to and the emendations were made. A new clause was added to the bill for the purpose of enabling the Central Board to meet for the transaction of business immediately after its election, as under the existing Act a month elapses before that Board can act. BEADING ROOMS AND LIBRARIES IN COUNTRY DISTRICTS. Mr. Pollock moved that his Honor the Superintendent be requested to place on the Estimates the sum of £200, to meet equivalent subscriptions, for the purpose of erecting buildings for Reading Rooms, Libraries, &c., in country districts. In former sessions, he said, sums had been placed on the Estimates for this purpose, but it had been omitted this year. Hon. members would agree with him that this was a good way of disposing of small portions of public funds. These institutions formed wise and useful aids to the costly system of education in the province —a system which ought not. to be left to take care of itself, and therefore the giving. to . young persons after they leave school opportunities of using reading rooms and libraries for further instruction was what would meet with general support. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Simmonds and Mr. Baigent supported the motion, which was agreed to. PETITION FROM TAKAKA TOR ADDITIONAL MEMBER. Mr. Burn moved that the Council go into committee to take into consideration the petition of the electors of Takaka, which prayed for a division of the electoral district, and the appointment of a new member for Takaka, and various other improvements, the particulars of which are given under the head of Takaka in to-day's.paper. Mr. Burn restricted his motion to the consideration of that branch of the petition referring to the division of the Electoral District of Golden Bay. The Council having gone into committee, The Speaker said he doubted if it was legal to divide the district until the close of the Council as at present elected. Mr. Parker thought that more data should be laid before the Council, stating how many electors . were in the district, how many a division would leave in the other half, and various other information. The subject should be referred to a select committee. Mr. Burn said he had brought the matter up, and expected some one would oppose it. He did not agree with the idea of enlarging the district or dividing it so as to add another member to the Council; but the question required looking to. In the present cir* cumstances of Golden Bay, it appeared that far more electors were residing in the Takaka district than in the district of Collingwood, and he was of opinion that Takaka should be made the head or returning district. Mr. Saundebs said that at the time when the nomination district was fixed at Collingwood, the Council was earned away by golden dreams of expectation that Collingwood would progress under the influence of the gold-fields. But these expectations were not realised: Collingwood, the gold district, was falling away; and Takaka, the agricultural locality, was rapidly increasing. The Council had already expressed a strong opinion against increasing the number of members in this Council (hear, hear). But as a remedy was necessary for the matter complained of, he would suggest that the domination of a member to represent Golden Bay in the Provincial Council should take place at some central spot which could be easily accessible to the settled population of Takaka. This was agreed to, and the Council resumed. ...... NELSON WATERWORKS BILL. The Provincial Solicitob moved the third reading of this Bill. Mr. Parker had been given to understand that a clause affecting the publicans was to be reconsidered and amended. His opinion was that the bill proposed taxing them to too great an extent; because they paid very high rents as public houses, and would be taxed on these accordingly, and he thought it unfair that they should be called on to pay an extra 2 per cent. The Provincial Solicitor said he had not expressed any intention of proposing an amendment on the clause. Besides it was not on rental public houses would be assessed but on annual value. The amount of rent paid did not represent what might be put on the houses as the value to be rated. . The bill was then read a third time and passed. Mr. Baigent withdrew his motion respecting a return of the persons who had paid the Education Rate, on learning that each local committee might learn all they wanted in this matter, by applying to the District Constable, who would show his receipt book, and the arrear list.