Provincial Council. Tuesday, 21 Nov. 1854.

Taranaki Herald, Volume III, Issue 122, 29 November 1854, Page 2

Provincial Council. Tuesday, 21 Nov. 1854.

!Tbe Council met this morning pursuant to adjournment. Members present, tho Speaker, nnd Mcjsrj. Blasclikc, Burton, Chilman, '.Culfidd, El-

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Holt, Pnrris, Rundle, and Vicars. Tho minutes of the previous meeting wero rcai end confirmed. The Spenkcr announced to the Council tlio receipt of two Messages from the &ni>i untpiidcnr. No. 12 relating to tli« recent nalivo ntfi.i);^o. 13 coininunirntins; correspondence respecting the Beach Iron Snnd ; theso messages the subatnnce of which will be found in other columns of our present issue, were rend. The Speaker remnrked that the Inttcr message had forestalled the motion of which Mr. P.nn's had given notico at the lait nitiing, nnd culled upon the lion, member to ihotc conformably with his moiiou in reference lo tho Wniwakniho Inml. Mr. Pnrris desired it might be undcrstord tint, in the motion he tni about to mike, he had no intention to assert any power of control in the Provincial Council over tho Innd department, but, ihe question waß one that materially affected the intercits of tho Province, and he conceived they had a right to call for information. There w*as n general impression abroad that tbc natives had been permitted lo tike up lar;>o tracts of land in thn block referred to, and, llwt it had boon so taken up, that aomo three or four miles of roai! would bo necessary through these purclmsco or reservco be« fore the other portions of tho district could bo opened to settlers. He thiiight it right that they should be informed whether nny such alienation «f tho land had in fact taken place, nnd under what authority; nnd if such were the case it would hi very necessary that the province should also know how the roods through those lands were to be miidc. The Hon. member moved .—". — " Thni His Honor tin? Superintendent bo requested to procure and lay before this Council >> Kctnrn of the Alienations nnd Reserves made or on/jaged for by tno Crown within, the Waiwakaiho Block." Mr. Burton seconded the motion, The Provincial Treasurer snid that he had communicated to the Superintendent the object of tho hon. members molion. mid that his Honor regretted that he was unable to furnish any information on the subject. On Mr. Cooper leaving the province (lie pnpers of tho department were deposited with Mr. Henry Halie, but that gentleman was unable to/furnish any account of what had been done, nnd although the land bail been bnndeil ovir lo tho Crown Lands Comini'.sioner, tint officer had nothing to do with the previous operations. Mr. Burton suggested, that probably after the explanation of the Provincial Trmsuies, the hou. member would consent to withdraw his molion. Mr VieUcrs considered it a matter of gieat im-> portnnce. It hod been assorted thutn large amount; of land had been disposrd of, and it appeared tint no information in relation to it could be found in the Piovince; bethought they should know nun der what authority so much land had been tranb* ferred. The Provincial Treasurer had no desire to sec the-motion withdrawn ; ho ronsidcud that they weic entitled to Unow whether, and how, such nli« enntiom had been permitted. As the mouthpiece of tho Superintendent in thnt CViincil. he had been obliged to cunlcss that tbc Piowncml GovermiiuU were tumble to furnfoh the infoimation rrqoried ; but if they were unable to obtain it in the Province they might go to the fountain head for it. lie would digest that n sight iilteraiion of tho notice r«questing His Honor 10 npp'y to the General Government for the particulars desiderated might ha attended with better succesv. Mr. Pnrris would not withdraw his motion, ho lhanked the Provincial Treusurci for bis suggestion which he proposed to adopt. It was mated thnt one reserve of 500 acres had been made. Thero wero natives from the South too, one of whom had 300 acres, and permission to purchase 200 more at 10s ; like grants bad been made in numrroiM other cases. Tho outstanding claim of TE Puni, hod nothing to do with these, that matter was, ho be lieved, os far from being settled as ever. It wna fitting thnt they should know what the facts wero, for, it w»s absurd to think of continuing tho pre« sent system if such monstrous sacrifices were tho consequences. The motion was amended accordingly and carried unanimously, Mr. Pnrrii moved. " That his Honor tho Super, intendent bo requested to inform this Council what stops have been taken, or are likely to be taken, by the Provincial Government for tho establishment of Public Pounds." The Provincial Treasurer said that it had been no fault of the Superintendent that pounds had not been erected. Since the hon. member's notico, there bad been an ndvcitispineut for tenders in tho Government Gnzellc, and there had been advertisements previously, but there had not Been nny ten* dtrs. Mr. Parris hoped thnt if European labour could not bo obtained for the purposu nn a itempl would bo made to procure native labour to perform the work. Until pounds were erected th< most important part of the Ordinance was a dead lei ten Mr. Burton considered the Superintendent quilo blameless in tho business. The blame ivaa m the torpor and indifference of the people. The opinion appeared to be that temporary pounds should bo erected until more subatuntul ones could be obtained, nnd thnt with this suggestion, tho matter would bo best left to the discretion of the Superintendent. Motion with« drnwn. The Provincial Treasurer moved the second reading of the Fcca and Fine* Bill. 110 would take that opportunity of stating that the Registrar of Deeds not having been placed under the Provincial Government, he proposed to movo niter* ntions of tho bill in that particular iv its progress through committee, Mr. Cutfield seconded the motion, and the bill was accordingly rend tho second time, The Bill was then moved into committee, Mr. Cutlield in the cbnir, and agtecd to, the Office of the Registrar of Deeds being excluded from its operation; and the Council resumed. Tho Provincial Treasurer moved the second reading of tho Public Works Bill. The principle of this bill he said was to divide the Province into convenient districts, leaving the matter of taxation in the hands of the inhabitants. Tberc could be do doubt of a necessity for some measure with reference lo the public roods ; the voluntary system hid bceu tried and had failed, It hod been suggested

that n general tin under an Ordinance would be preferable to tho mode of procedure laid down in the bill and that the machinery was too complicated ; but ho believed Hint a general tax would, in its working, prove far more complicated; and would also involve a large and cxpeniivo management. Another objection had, ho understood, been tnken to tho Hill. The elanje th«t gave a roto in the rating to every holder of 10 ocrcs hnd been ob jeetad to, and it had been osserred thot it would bo neccsfinry to givo larger holders a plurality of voios. The carrying out this proposition apart from its inviduous character whh found to be a difficult matter ; and it should he taken into consideration that in the rural districts, to which alone this regulation applied, few held less thnn 50 acres. The quention could, however, bo adjusted in committee, lie was quite sure that there was every inclination to give equal care to all interest)!. Mr. fiurton seconded the motion. Tho Bill before them gave into the hands of tho settlers some of the powers of the Council, but ha believed that the measure was on the whole a good one. lie <lisncnic<] from ihe cl.iu«e ihat gave only a singlo vote in all cases, and should seek to alter it in tho committee. The Bill was read the second time and committed on the motion of Mr. Burton seconded by Mr. Cutfiold. C'OMMITTKK Mr, VrCKRRI IN THR CHAIR. The 1. 2. 3. and 4th clauses were read and pas« scd. On the reading of the sih clnuic which gives tho owners or occupiers of above ten acres in the rural districts a vote on tho making of any rale, and also to joint occupiers or owners, a lengthened disruption took place. Mr. Blaschkc ihought the clause a good ono hut he feared that notwithstanding tho smallness of the qualification it would be found to deprivnmany who ware deeply interes'cd in tho maintenance of the roads of n vote. Several examples occurred to him in his own district, the Omata, and they were men quite qualified to excrciso a sound discretion in matters of the kind ; and whose occupation was though smnll fur more valuable than tho minimum qualification given by the bill. Mr. Watt thought that the latter part of the tlauscielntingtojointownership was an unnecessary complication, he believed there was scarcely an txaiiiple of the kind contemplated. The bill was already sufficiently complex, and he should suggest tho oinisiion of the latter part of the clauto. Mr. Parris felt tho force of Mr. Blaschke's oh* jcction, but it must be clear that nn acreage roto materially simplified iho matter whilo any amendment involving valuation in ihe rural districts would render the operations ol tho bill extiomcly complicated and expensiveMr. Cutfield objected to the clan to that it gave the largo owner only tho same vote ns tho smnll one. The ronds were principally used, he meant :<> their detriment, by tho small holders of Intnl. If 10 acres were to glvo one vote, additional votes should he given to larger holders. He did not mean to carry this principle out to nn unlimited mm'"'r "f vote*, that would be an unreasonable tho other way ; but, ihnt the voles of ihclnrgc holders should he accumulative up to a certain point. Mr. Burton agrerd with last spcaki r, small holders would vole, a lurgo rale per acio and it would he levied on the larirc holders upon whom tho Inn then of the rate would bo thrown Hn iliould move Ihat every 60 acies uftcr ihe first 50 ahou'd givo an additional vole, up to (tne him. member mentioned some number which we failed to catch ) Mr. Watt said it would be unjust if the nto preyed unduly on tho largo owner and they were bound to look fairly at the question. He tin u {tit that, perhaps, a vote for every 50 acres up to 200 would meet the d fliculty, but he certainly should not be inclined to go further. Mr. Bluschkc.— lt has been taid that the small iiolders have the largest use of the roadi ; he believed that was altogether a fallacy. It was true that the small owners principally kept carts, but it was very little of their own business that they did with them ; It was tho business of the inhabitants of the district. If he employed one of theso men to bring his goods from town, or cart bis timber or his firewood, it was he, not the carter that uio'l the rood. Several proposals altering tho number of acres giving a qualification were mado, ono being 50 acres, another forty. Mr. Chilman objected to 50 acres moat of the holdings had originally been 'SO acre sections, and in a great number of instances a few acres had been parted with; to make 50 acres necessary to qualify, would practically leave the whole of the votes in the hands of a few large holder's ; the general impression, however, appears to be that, it was advisable to encrease the qualification rather than to increase the number nt votes — but the clause waa ultimately postponed for further consideration. Tne Glh clnuio adopting the lilccloiul Roll for the Town of New Plymouth was agreed, us was also the 7th clause fixing the date of tho annual meet, ings in the several districts. The date having been after come discussion altered to May instead of July and the word Rural districts being struck out. The Blh clause which was by the alteration mentioned above included in tho 7th, was erased. ' Clauses Bto 12 inclusive regulating appointment ' of Chairman and the voting at General meeting | were agreed to. I ' On tho reading of tho 13ih clause enacting an i acreage raro for the Rural districts and an assessment of lands in tho town, Mr/ Burton objected i '. that an unifoim rate on all rural land could not but , operate unfairly. He admitted there might bo a' i difficulty in assessing the value, but he thought there might be a given sum per ocre laid on cultivated lands and a less sum on uncultivated lands. It would be hard to lay the same tax on uncultivated land that was entirely unproductive as upon ! the cultivated ; neither did he think it was sufficient | to rate the land merely in the Town, ibo buildings and improvements should be rated alio. Mr. Watt admitted the distinction drawn by the hon. member, but he drew a different inference. Tho bulk of tho land had been absorbed by speculators, and they must be reached. Here and there a case of hardship might occur in the rural lands from tho proposed system, hut, it must bo submitted to, Mint tho absentee and tho speculator might be brought under its operation, and he - therefore; preferred the clause as it Blood to adopting

the lion, members suggestion in either case. Mr. Burton could not see tho need of tho two principles, if on acreage rote were good in ihe rural district! why should il not bo equally good in town. In both it was proposed to deal with land alone, but in onn the into was to he per aero, in tbo other on an ansessraent of the value. Mr. Parri 1 ! was altogether opposed to Mr; Burton's viewj of the bill, and contended that tho bush land was properly taxed whether cultivated or uncultivated j thero was no protence for relieving the uncultivated land from any part of the burden, il was improved in value by good roods in the same proportion as the cultivated land, and should pay. He also thought that tho principle of assessment had been wisely adopted in respect of the town lands, an uniform rate on town lands would be an absurdity. Mr, Glaschke said the speculators could not be permitted to escape all taxation ; and as for the Bush lands in the hands of bona fide settlers and only partially cultivated, ho could sec no reason that they should not be taxed equally with the lesi remote lands. The holders hud the benefit of all tho intervening roads from the Town to their hnd. their InnJi were improvod, and ihoy had obtained them cheap in consideration of the distance . Tho Provincial Treasurer said he had not henrd anything that would induce him to agree to an alteration o> this old use. The taking up of land except for cultivation waa to be discouraged ; they should encourage settling and discourage tho speculator. The outlying settlers would have no juit cause of complaint in an equal acreage tax, in fact they would derive more convemenco from the general expenditure of the rates than others. Regarding the principle of tho bill applicable to the town, there could be no doubt that an assessment was the onlypossiblo way of dealing fairly with the question. An equal rate on town lands would tax a section on the outskirts worth £b to an equal amount with one in the centre of the town worth perhaps one hundred times as much. It would be admitted that improvements local to the town bcneQtted the 'land in proportion as it was moro or Icos remote from the centre. No amount of money expanded on the improvement of tho town would render certain lands which would be liable to the rates one jot more valuable ; this justified a valuation-of tho land. A taxation of the buildings would be a tax on improvement, and was opposed to sound policy, lie trusted the clause would be agreed to. The chime was agreed and tho Council resumed, Mr. Vickers gave notice that ho should at the next sitting for a Select Committee to enquire into the Harbour Department. Mr, Rundle gavo notice that he should move for leave to bring in a Bill lor the prevention of scab. The Council adjourned at 3 o'clock till Tuesday 28th instant at 11 o'clock in the forenoon.