WESTLAND IN THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

West Coast Times, Issue 380, 11 December 1866, Page 3

WESTLAND IN THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Thursday, November 29, 1866. MEDICAL rEACTITIONEBS 1 BILL.

Our own reporter supplies us with' the following notes : —

Mr Bahpf said that although the notice of motion standing in Ids name, was for the third reading of the Bill, he believed it was competent for any member to move the recommittal of the Bill at that stage. Tins oourse he should, with the permission of the House, adopt, as he wished to introduce a new clause into the Bill, and to amend clause 2. The last alteration was a very slight one, nnd was merely a transposition of words. The new clause was an important one, and -referred to the holding of certain appointments by unqualified men. He might mention for the information of the House, that Bince the Bill had passed its second reading, he had received a letter from the gentlemanat whose suggestion the " Otago Medical Practitioners ' Ordinance" hadbeen introduced into that province. The writer of that letter stated that the Ordinance had worked extremely well, and that many of the unqualified men of Otago had in consequence been forced to leave that province, and many of them had taken refugo in Canterbury. He (Mr Barfi") mentioned this us a proof of the necessity of passing a similar Ordinance. He begged to move that tho Bill be recommitted for the piupo?p of reconsidering some of its clauses.

Mr Bbigjii suggested to his lion, friend, whether under present circumstaucep it would not be better to postpone this motion. It involved some questions of legal technicality, and it apjiearcd that there was no responsible law officer of the Government in the House. He had himself a motion on the paper for the third reading of the bill, to declare valid the election of Town Councillors in Hokitika ; but he would not consider it safe to proceed with that bill, unless the House had the assistance of a law officer of the Government, responsible for the advice lie gave to it. As it was the three gentlemen sitting on the Government bench were entirely without departmental responsibility. It had been suggested by ono hon. member, that Mr Montgomery was to take the office of Provincial Solicitor — (laughter) — but that gentleman had not, he be-. Heved, yet assumed the responsibilities of that position. Another suggestion had been made from the Government bench, which was, that as a temporary expedient, the office of solicitor should be conferred upon some member of the profession out of the House until the members of the Government could get re elected. But that was not constitutional government. In fact the whole state of things was most unsatisfactory. He must apologise to hia lion, friend for not having made to him privately the suggestion he now made publicly. Ho had intended to call attention to the anomalous position held by the gentlemen on tho government benches in the provious debate, and had risen but failed to catch the Speaker's eye. His constituents indeed had no particular concern with sheep, except that they wero large consumers of them, and liked to get them as cheap, and as free from scab as possible. But they were concerned with tho principles of constitutional government, and this question arobe : — By the terms of the last motion, which had, however, been withdrawn, tho Government were instructed to bring in a bill : Now ho wished to bring tho attention of the House very seriously to the consideration of the question whether there was any Government in existence or not. He hold there was none. He could not accept three gentlemen who told the House they had been accepted by his Honor as members of his Executive Council, but who had no responsibility to that Council as heads of departments, as a Government in anypropcr sense (Hear, hear.) Ha trusted that this and all the other notices standing on tho paper would be postponed until hon. members were in a position to feel that there was a Provincial Solicitor in the House responsible for tho advice he gavo to it. (Hear.) Mr J. S. Williajk agi'cod that the existing etato of affairs was very unsatisfactory, still ho might state that he acted as Provincial Solicitor, and took the responsibility ; but, until ho resigned his seat, ho received no emolumonts.

Mr Wtnn Williams suggested thai tho lion, member should Trithdraw tho Bill, in order to introduco it again with tho proposed amendments printed. • Mr Babpf said ho -would [rathor ■withdraw it, on tho understanding that it should be placed first on tho order of the day on tho

next day oh wliieH a Provincial Solicitor is present' in tho House. He moved a rosolution to that eflecl.

Mr Maude suggested that in order to obviate the difficulty, a short Bill should bo introduced repealing that clause of tho Limitation of Patronage Act which provided that members accepting office's of emolument should resign their seats.

Mr J. S. Williams agreed with the hon. member that under tho circumstances this course was the best they could pursue. He should movo on Tuesday next for the bringing in of a Bill to that effect, and to suspend the Standing Orders, in order that the business of the country might be proceeded with at once.

Mr Montgomery also advocated on grounds of expediency the same course. After some remarks from Mr Beswick,

Mr G-abeiok thought that the House should not create any more anomalies than at present existed with regurd to the Government bench. He thought that tho manner in which the Provincial Solicitor intended getting over the difficulty would not hold good, as he attempted to occupy a position on the bench against law. He thought, the most straightforward way would be to resign their seats at once.

Mr Joixte said that the (Government were quite ready to go before their, constituents, but it would involve a delay of three weeks. Air WxLDr. objected .to removing any restrictions which were fouud necessnry, and which had been created on the foundation of the settlement.

The motion to postpone the third reading of the Bill until a Provincial Solicitor -was in the House, as proposed by Mr Barff, was carried.

The melancholy and unexpected death of the Rev. Dr Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta, has been learned with deep regret by all classes and denominations throughout India. All that is known is that in stepping ashore from a river steamer a*. Koi.shtca s a station on the right bank of the Ganges, over against Patna, he missed his footing, and was drowned iv the river. The bishop was on his return to Calcutta from Assam, whither he had gone on a pastoral visit about a month ago. Kooshtea is a railway station from which the line runs to Calcutta, so that his lordship had just completed his journey by river when the accident occurred which resulted in his death. Bishop Cotton was consecrated to the see of Calcutta in 1858, as the successor of the venerated Daniel Wilson. His catholicity of spirit has been as conspicuous as his earnestness and indefatigable energy. The antecedents of the bishop gave promise of a' high order of public usefulness. He was, as is well known, an assistant master at Rugby School, under Dr Arnold, whose free and earnest spirit has lived again in the Indian bishop. He afterwards succeeded the Rev. Dr. Wilkinson, aa head master of Mailborough School, in Wiltshire, which rose to great consideration under his superintendence. —"Times of India," October 13.

The act of piracy and murder which we record to-day is a cold-blooded and deliberate atrocity which there is every reason to believe was prepared for within the limits of Hong Kong harbor, as the firsf act of a vendetta, that is, to revenge the execution of Chat Tai and his accomplices. The circumstances of the case maj' be briefly told. The Lubra, an American schooner, left the harbor at eleven o'clock in the morning of Saturday last, bound to Japan. On the following da}', when about £eventy-five miles from the harbor, thirty miles off Pedro Branco, a large piratical boat sailed and pulled alongside, the wind having fallen away to less than a knot and a half per hour. Without loss of time the schooner was boarded, without any resistance being offered, the vessel being badly armed, and the captain (Howes) apparently unsuspicious of the character of the boat. The pirates kept possession of the schooner for some hours, and having shot some of the crew who took to the rigging, killing- one man and wounding others finished their work by deliberately shooting the captain. He was seated in his cabin on a sofa, with his wife and two children, one only two months old. One ci the scoundrels went up to him, and fired a pistol bullet through his brain, killing him instantly. Mrs Howes, and the crew remaining alive, were reserved for death in another shape. There were some barrels of gunpowder on board. The head of one of these barrels was broken in, and the powder exposed. Fiie, of which the marks are plainly visible, was placed in the vicinity ; but the villainous design of blowing up the vessel, with the living witnesses of the crime that had already been committed, was frustrated. The fiie burnt out without communicating with the powder, and the vessel was brought back to Hong Kong h}\ the mate and the remaining crew. The bodies of the captain and one of the men were taken to the civil hospital ; another man, who was wounded by the pirates, jumped overboard, and was drowned. One man also died this morning. The other* are said to be recovering from their wounds. — " Overland Mail," September 27.