The Taranaki Herald. NEW PLYMOUTH, NOVEMBER 9, 1853.

Taranaki Herald, Volume II, Issue 67, 9 November 1853, Page 2

The Taranaki Herald. NEW PLYMOUTH, NOVEMBER 9, 1853.

A copy of the Report of the Committee on the Estimates appeared in our last issue, and on consulting the recent proceedings of the council, it will be seen that the Revenue Appropriation Bill as far as the He ms of expenditure are concerned, passed in the form there statcdw./A(L a prior meeting ol the council, a notice was given of moving an additional clause to the body of the bill, savingthe authority of the General Assembly ; this alteration was, however, defeated by an amendment limiting the appropriation to three months. It is not to be doubled that both these a'terations were proposed with the best intention, and every allowance should be made for the difficulties of the case ; nevertheless it is impossib'e not lo see tlie inconvenience likely to arise from the introduction of fundamental alterations at the last stage of a bill. Any beneficial operation of the Hmi- !

tation carried is scarcely conceivable — it is no protest, which the first proposition might be taken lo be — and appears only calculated to obstruct the useful nppropriation of that part of the revenue which might be more profitably expended at one season than another ; as also of other portions where efficiency is only obtainable by prompt and extensive outlay.

It must be hsld unquestionable that the Provincial Councils will be fully just fied before the General Assembly in having provided for the neccsities of the several provinces, Common sense tells us that the emergency in which thry are placed, however brought about, amounts in fact to a necessity which cannot be got rid of, and that they have no alternative but to make such provision as may prevent the public service suffering damage pending the calling together of the General Assembly. Moreover it must be apparent that no nntc t of the Provincial Council can possibly compromise the paramount authority vested in the superior body, of regulating the appropriation of the general revenue, under whatever circumstances the measure may oriuinate.

•The Gazeile of Saturdny last contains the Appropriation Ordinance, as assented to by His Honor the Superintendent.

The Provincial Officers Appointment Bill was, as will be seen by our report of the proceedings of the Provincial Council, re-committed, and two additional clauses grafted on to it, giving to the heads of de- 1 partments the power of discharging the subordinate officers in their departments respectively. This iimendmen', calculated as it is to aid the efficiency of the executive^ of the province, is certainly a desirable alteration of the original bill, which, in its amended shape, will no doubt pass at the next meeting of the council.

In the proceedings of the Council on Saturday last, the propriety of the protest placed on the books, in relation to the memorial to the Governor, requesting the appointment of Mr. Cooper to the office of Land Purchaser for the settlement, was called in question. The point considered most assailable was tho paragraph which states that the dissenting member objects— " Because but four members of the Council, including the Speaker, were present, and bu t two members were in favour of the adoption of the said memorial."

Whatever objection may be made to this protest, we consider t ti.it it is cotreot in all the main essentials of a protest ; and is< thereto: c, also a truthful stricture on the document it w<is intended to controvert.

The motion for the memorial was in direct contravention of the standing orders of the council, and was it shon'd seem carried unanimously, after several ineffectual obstructions from the Speaker.

In such a case it must be pa'pable that there is no opportunity of giving publicity to and effectually enforcing the rght of individual judgment, except by pursuing the course adopted by the protestant on this

occasion.

The preparation of a draft memorial was committed to the care of three of the members of the council to be submitted to the body collectively at its next sitting.

At the next meeting, there were only the Speaker and three members present, one of whom protested strongly ttgainst the adoption of the memorial : it was, nevertheless, forced forward, and carried by two votes against one, k the Speaker of course not voting.

An error was committed in permitting the first proposition lo be moved # all, and

the present dilemma— for it can be called no less — will probably prevent llie occurrence of like acts of precipitation for the future.

The question then seems to resolve itself into this — namely, whether or not the description in the obnoxious paragraph is a truj one? When the committee was named and intrusted with the memorial, into the adoption of which the council— or some of them at least — appear to have been surprised, it cannot be that the council bound itself to adopt anything that the committee might determine oni Indeed, that such was not the case, is (.ufficiently shown from the fact of the council meeting again to indorse the draft, which received sonic alteration, and was finally adopted,

as slated in the protest, by a majority of 1 out of 3 members.

Conceiving that it is against the last vote, viz , that adopting the memorial, that the protest is aimed, wr cannot but' consider that the document is sufficiently correct, explicit, and unobjectionable.

The "Sea Belle" arrived here on Sunday from Wellington, and by the courtesy of Mr. Hopkins, the master, we have obtained copies of the Independent to the 26th ult., from which we give some extnicls below.

There is little news of local interest in the papers before us. Mr. Gollan, who was elected to represent the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay District, having resigned, we find in the Independent of the 26th tilt, an address from F. D. Bell, &>q. to the electors of those districts, announcing views on some important points of policy to which we shall take an early opportunity of again advciting.

The offer of the American Fleet to the Turks, contained in the paragraph immediately following, rests on the authority of the liobart Town papers : if true, it is an important feature in European affairs.

Hostilities between the Russian and Turkish states had not, up to the latest accounts, commenced, but the commander of the American fleet in the Mediterranean had offered to place his naval force at the disposal of the Turks in the event of a war with Russia. The offer is described as having caused very great sensation.

The following extracts of colonial news aie the most important that we observe in the papers before us .

The disputes between Lieutenant Governor Sir W. A. Denison, and Mr. Chapman and Dr. Turnbull, it appears, are creating the greatest excitement in Van Diemen's Land.

The Legislative Council of South Australia have vqled £400 to Captain Champion, of the steamship Victoria, for having landed a mail at Adelaide in less than 60 days from London.

By the last advices, the Melbourne markets appeared to be in a very fluctuating state as regarded nearly every article of produce ; and the timber market, in cdnsequence of the vast quantity of timber dai'y arriving, especially coastwise, is described ns being very much depressed, with a decided tendency to a still further decline.

The markets at Hobart Toivn, Launceston, Adelaide, and Geelong, were consequently affected to some degree also, and generally depressed. At Launceston the timber market was described in a very depressed stale.

At Melbourne the price of gold has decined to £3 lGs Gd.

The Melbourne markets hare received considerable augmentations from America and the Cape, and some colonial wheat and flour has also come to band. Oatmeal, barley, oats and maizs have arrived in large quantities. Potatoes had come in liberally from the neighbouring colonies, besides a parcel from Califoria. The leports of the extensive find of gold

at Ballarat were correct; a" basin' 1 of go'd had been found, from which rrry large quantities had been obtained, but it was small in extent, nnd afibrdel room fora very few claims: nea'ly 20,000 ounces had been obtained in a frw days by a very few parties.

Large bodies of troops had been sent lo Mount Alexander, and the Marines of her Majesty's thip Elecl'a were doing duty on shore as guards at the Government offices. A nolice had bc-n issued to the diggers, telline; them that they must pay the license fee until the law is alte;ed.

The diggings in the above district must be yielding vory well, the escort having brought in 35,0u0 ounces.