THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 173, 1 June 1871, Page 5

THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Thubsday, May 25.

The first meeting of the new Council was held on Thursday at noon. -Most of the members were present, and theie was a good attendance of the general public in the galleries. The usual formalities were gone through, when the question of^afSpeaker was brought forward. After "a long discussion, Mr. J. L. Gillies was elected, by a majority of 13 over Mr. W. H. Reynolds. The Superintendent, having approved of the choice of the Council, then entered and read an address, of which the following is a condensed report : —

Mr, Speaker and Gentlemen of the Provincial Council : In opening this, the first session of the sixth Provincial Council of Otago, we are naturally led to reflect upon what has been accomplished under the auspices of preceeding Provincial Councils, Probably the history of colonisation does not afford an instance of greater progress than has been attained by this province since the Pi'ovincial Council was first instituted in 1853 — progress which would have been much greater had the province been a distinct colony and left to its own resources,

Gentlemen — I have to congratulate you upon the fact that the Southern Trunk Railway has at last been commenced ; and that the work will be vigorously prosecuted upon terms much more advantageous to the province than had hitherto been anticipated. Also, that the necessary surveys are being effected for an extension of the line right through, by Winton, to Lake Wakatip, I need not say that this road will open up a considerable area of unsold land available for population, and will be largely conducive towards the settlement of the country. A line is also being surveyed from the northern boundary of the province to Moeraki, which will be ultimately extended to Dnncclin. Application has been made to the General Government to survey a branch line of the Southern Trunk Railway to Tuapeka, I trust you will concur with me in endeavouring to secure the immediate carrying out of these works by means of the Colonial Loan — the more especially seeing that their construction upon a scale adequate to our requirements will not involve much greater pecuniary outlay than we shall be subject to in the formation and maintenance of ordinary roads over the same ground. While the railway works now indicated are probably as extensive as we can enter upon at once, at the same time I am convinced that, with a view to true economy, the earlier we can lay down rails upon most of the main branch roads throughout the province, the better.

You will be glad to know that the railway between Dunediu and Port Chalmers is progressing satisfactorily, and is likely to be open fcr traffic in February next ; also that the erection of the bridge across the Waitaki will be contracted for as soon as the necessary plans can be prepared. His Honour said that owing to the long delay in placing additional land in the market, the revenue of the past year had fallen off. Hewever, the bulk of the votes passed by the late Council had been expended, and L 23,000 had been paid by way of subsidy to District Road Boards, being L3OOO in excess of the last annual vote. As a necessary result, the Provincial account is at present largely overdrawn.

I need not say that it is anything but a pleasant duty to have to dispense with the services uf public officers from no fault of their own— the necessities of the service, however, and the exigency of the case, alike leave no option in the matter. While upon this subject, I feel that any retrenchment which can be effected here will be very incomplete, unless the General Government reduces the number of its civil servants by amalgamation of officers or otherwise. At present, L 50.000 a year is retained out of our share of the consolidated revenue, in respect of General Government services provincially charged. Resolutions will be submitted for your consideration, having for their object such amendments in the " Otago Waste Lands Act," as shall offer greater facilities and encouragement for the acquisition of land for settlement. It is hoped that your recommendations on this subject may be so unanimous as to secure their being given effect to by the Colonial Legislature. A Bill will be submitted for your approval with a view to the consolidating of existing Road Districts, the establishing of Itoad Boards all over the province, and the conferring of more extended powers on such boards.

Resolutions will be submitted, expressive of your approval of the provisions of the " Otago Settlements Act" being extended to various portions of the province Your concurrence will also be ask^d in tha province availing itself of the " Immigration and Public Works \ct," in respect of immigration.

In fulfilment of a promise made by me at the late election, a commission has been appointed, comprising delegates specially representing the mining community, for the purpose of conferring as to the practical working of the Goldfields Act and the regulations, with a view of recommending such amendments as past experience may suggest.

Resolutions will be proposed expressive of your concurrence in an immediate application being made to the' General Government for the proportion due to the Province of the L 300,000 allocated to tho goldfields under part HI. of ".Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870."

With a view to the more efficient administration of the goldfields, I have felt it my duty to call to the Executive Council a member specially connected therewith, whose time will be chiefly devoted to the mining interest.

A number of applications for free grants of land for planting forest trees have been received ; but in proceeding to deal with these applications it has been found that there are great difficulties in the way of giving effect to them which will require the consideration of the Government.-

After referring to the Stewart and Traquair Hundreds difficulty, his Honour declared the Council open for the despatch of business.

Friday, 26th May. ittNISTERrAL STATEMENT Mr. Cargill, in the course of a long speech, explaining how he had been called upon by His Honor the Superintendent, in conjunction with Mr. Turn bull, to form an Executive Government said: — One of the matters which will engage a large share of the attention of the Government is the proper administration of the Goldfields, and particularly in connection with anything that may be done regarding the expenditure of money under the Loan Act for the development of that enterprise. The present Government arj of opinion, that it is neccessary to carry out considerable retrenchment in the various departments of the Government establish-

ment. — (Hear, hear.) There can be no doubt that during the excitement, caused by the early development of the Goldfields and the growtli of business connected with the Council there was an enlargement of expenses beyond what we ought to look to as a permanent scale of expenses neccessary to? the country, and we therefore considered the propriety of inakinga reduction in these expenses wherever practicable to do so. I trust you will find sufficient evidence of this in the Estimates that will be brought before the Council almost immediately. In this respect I presume we shall have the support of hon, members generally. I am not aware that there is any section of the Council that is not almost pledged to do all that can be done in that direction, and I am sure we shall in this respect have the concurrence and support of all the tncmrers of the late Government. A matter in regard to which there may be some difference of opinion is in regard to the Immigration and Public Works Act of last session of the Assembly. lam not aware how iiir the views of any members of the House who took an active part in the discussions on this matter have been modified, but so far as I know there is a very general feeling that to a greater or less extent we onght to avail ourselves of the advantage given by that Act for the prosecution of public works in this province. For my own part I consider that the life of the province lies in a proper, judicious use of such means for opening up its resources; and I fail to find that the money necessary for carrying out public works on large scale can be obtained otherwise than by obtaining our share of the funds to be raised on the credit of the colony. lam of opinion that it will be a great advantage to us to avail ourselves of those facilities to the utmost extent which prudence will jjermit us to do. 1 think, and my colleagues agree, that having arrived at the conclusion that it is necessary' to avail ourselves of those facilities, it will be a great advantage that we should work in harmony with, and not in opposition to, the General Government. We have reason to believe that the General Government are quite ready to act in concert witli the Provincial Government, and to carry out the wishes of the Provincial Council to every reason-

able extent ; that a conciliatory policy will be productive of great advantages to this province, and enable us to get works carried out in the way we wish them to be carried out, aud in a manner most advantageous to the various interests of the province. The subject which remains for me to touch upon is the land laws. This is not the time to enter upon a discussion of the land laws. I believe the views which actuate myself and my colleagues are the same as those held by those gentlemen who may be opposed to us in regard to other matters. I believe it is a generally expressed wish that facilities should be given for the settlement of people wherever it can be done with advantage. I tabled, at the earliest opportunity, a series of land resolutions, which I think must go a long way towards meeting the requirements of that section of the House ; but whether or not we are found agreeing with a majority of the Council, honourable members will at least give us the credit for having made an honest endeavour to desire such means as will best promote the settlement of the country and the advancement of the various interests in every direction. I do not expect the Council will be able to cany on without a good deal of discussion and differences of opinion, although I must say that I was scaacely prepared for the announcement of such out-and-out war to the knife as seemed to be indicated by Mr. B.mon in his speech of yesterday. I must confess that he rather startled me. T hope, however, that we may regard what he said merely as a sort of harmless flourish at the beginning of the session, and that we shall be able to discuss all questions more with a view to the interests of the province, and cany out measures which are for the benefit of the community at large, rather than indulge in faction fights or personal squabbles. — (Applause.)

[For a summary of the discussion upon the reply to the Address, and the causes of the Government tendering their resignation, we refer our readers to our Dunedin Letter.]