THE WAIRARAPA STANDARD WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1873. COUNCIL DOINGS.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume 2, Issue 74, 14 May 1873, Page 2

THE WAIRARAPA STANDARD WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 1873. COUNCIL DOINGS.

We can gather but little information relative to the doings of the Council from the Wellington papers, even when they have the good fortune to reach the district in safety, which does not always happen. At one time the ‘ Post’ does not arrive, and then the ‘lndependent’ is missing—a matter of Very little moment at another lime, but this is not the case when the General or Provincial Legislature chances to be sitting. On Thursday the Council was occupied several hours, when the Diseased Sheep Act Amendment Rill was under discussion on a motion of Mr Andrew that progress be reported in order to allow time for certain returns that had been called for to be laid on the table, and after a division the Provincial Secretary gave way, as it was understood that the minority were determined to offer every obstruction to the passing of the Bill in its present shape. In another column will be found a letter from Mr Pharazyn on this subject, from which it-will be gathered that he has no objection to pay the assessment to which the bill refers phut he has a very strong objection to the principle of the Bill itself which is retrospective in its bearings and therefore is fundamentally bad. In fact such a bill could not be passed by the Congress of the United States, the Constitution of that country strictly prohibiting the Congress passing any law of an ex post facto character such as that which the Provincial Council has been called upon to pass. The sheep-owners ought, if possible, to be made to pay their assessments, but it would be' much better that they should escape payment altogether than that a great Constitutional principle should be violated. The estimates have been laid on the table, but we have not been supplied with a copy. We understand that a considerable increase is proposed in the payments made in former years to the members of both the Executive and the Legislative branches of the Government, the payments of the latter being just doubled. Ten country. members are to get £3O each, four £2O each, and six £lO each, being double what had been paid -during last session. The Chairman of Committees, it is proposed, should have £SO instead of £35 ; while the Speaker is to be raised from £SO to dBIOO. What are the proposed salaries of the members of the Executive we have not at present been able to ascertain.

We have received private information that on Friday Mr C. Pharazyn moved thata respectful address be presented to his Honor the Superintendent, requesting him to place a sura on the estimates for the purpose of: establishing a hospital in the Wairarapa. Not having been supplied with a copy of the Motion and Order Paper wecannot state theexactwording of the motion in question; but we understand that the above was its purport. Before receiving this information we were about to enquire what the members for this district were doing with reference to this and other matters of interest to the Wairarapa. It is a disgrace to the Provincial Council and Government that steps have not been long since taken to supply hospital accommodation to this district; for so long as the Council sitting in Wellington undertakes to legislate for our wants, and the Government there pretends to attend to and administer our local affairs, we have a perfect right to demand that apressing requirement like this shall have immediate attention- We are informed

that Mr Pharazyn withdrew his motion on the Provincial Secretary j half promising to place a small sum | on the Supplementary Estimates for j. the object in quession. We hardly; know whether, under the circum-| stances, he did right in giving way so readily, more particularly as it was, We believe, understood that the amount voted would only be expended on the understanding that an equiva- 1 lent amount would be locally cimtributed ; but it is not too late tor Mr Pharazyn to renew his motion in the event of the Gouernment showing j any disposition to break the promise made. It was only the other day a Wairarapa settler dropped down dead in the streets of Wellington, after having vainly sought to obtain admission into the hospital there ; and the number of persons in the district who have died for the want of that accommodation which a local hospital would supply is much larger than would be generally imagined. We do not like asking the Government to do that for us which we ought to do for ourselves; but when we see it proposed to advance out of the proposed loan so large a sum as £IO,OOO for hospital purposes at Wellington, and when we bear in mind that a hospital was established by the Government

at Wanganui years before the Wairarapa settlements were fouuded, we think we have a right to ask that a

small sum of money out of the Pro-

viucial Chest shall be. annually appropriated towards the establishment and support of a cottage hospital in the Wairarapa.