PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume II, Issue 89, 23 November 1872, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

The great pressure ou our spaoo compels us to curtail our report of the -pwcttrfiiifcs of' the Provincial Council. tt'e shall therefore only'-report such matters as> have eoifle under discussion which paMiculnrly allhet the country settlers. Mr Bassett, in moving the acldrus.* in reply, hoped that an endeavour would he lnade to limit the duration of the session consistent '.nth' the proper consideration of public business. He thought? that, although the resources of the lVoviwbinl flovcrmiiciit had diminished, yet by economy tin: more pressing necessities of the public service might beniel. He hoped that the decline of'tlui prosperity of the goklllelds ■should' only be : temporary, and'that shortly an increased produdic.it of gold would lead to increased expenditure, and the' encoii'rs&Mnent of public - and private enterprise. The, quest ion of education was beset with difficulties, and would require careful attention.' The 'Superintendent had wi.soly referred the question of"po]ico (o the Council and there would probably not be mraih dk-eussiou 011 the question. H v'a.- fi'ivi'ntterof constatulutinn that.the experiment in tobacco culture Inul heeoinf' established. an one of our local industries. He mUved that the following add rocs be presented io his Honor the Superintendent in reply to his Honor's opening speech : —•" "We,'the mem bars of the Provincial Council of the province of Awldand,thank your' Honor for the speech with which yoit'hftfo'opened this the twenty-eighth sossion of (.lie Council'. Wei'assure your Honor that we will give our best consideration to the matters referred to ill your speech, and we trust tlnit our deliberations will result in measures conducive to the prosperity and- good government of the province." Mr IVime seconded, alluding;' brielly to the principal subjects referred to in : his Honor's speech, Motion agreed to. BefcricTge moved, " That a respect fill address be presented to his Honor the Superintendent requesting him lo send down' to this Council all papers connected with the lease of I,lm Voint Claim, Thames goldiields, and the determination of the haid lease." Mr I'juVa safcl he was afraid that the papers referred to had b6eh destroyed by the lire, but if t he lion member would conscv.'t, to'postpone luh motion he would a-cer(airi whether they r.buld be procured or not, —Motion postponed. Mr Hurst, in moving t.he second rea'diug of (.he Appropriation 15ill, proceeded to make the Financial iSlatcment. The estimated revenue this year did not oiler an opportunity iorthem to dMingilis'h themselves in the way of .satisfying public wnnts. ]I'e could not hold out hopes of large works to be undertaken, or bright prospects for the-province, an the revenue'had been redn'ced to £70,000,- with a probability of all increased falling for the year to come, unless some peilnaiTient provision-were made, as, doubtless, it would lie by the General Assembly, for the carrying out of necessary works. Last year tin? estimated revenue was £129,000, ami it had fail en' short of that amount by about £12,000, In •<fonsequ'(?ucc of an arrangement with the General Govcrnnient they could' now,'with some amount of accuracy, arrive at. the rbvenue they might anticipate to receive, and therefore the Government considered that the established revenue ■which they lurd placed before the Council would be realised. He referred to the falling oil' ill the gold/1 elds revenue, wliicll he - said could not be attributed to ihe acLion of t.he Government, but to the decrease in the yield of gold from the Thames. In consequence of the deficiency in the revenue the Government had had to withhold the execution of many important works, such' as the erection of a ] rovincial hospital, a slaughter-house, and other large works 011 the goldfields. lie then referred to the• diflerent items of estimated refb'riuV. "\Vhile_ speaking of the land revenue, he alluded to CTie 'Advantage, possessed bv the Southern provine'es in having large htYid funds. With regard fo the item provincial revenue, £W.'00()l that amount would be received during file cu'rrent year, and there was every rea-on to anticipate that, during the ensuing year, there would be no falling off. The rcfurfd by Colonial Government in settlement, of provincial land claims was tixed by the Act of the General Assembly as the amount set down, viz.. £17,!)] 7, arid o'f cbur'se that Amount would be received. The gold duties had .been put down at ten thousand five hundred pounds, which it was" reasonable id Suppose'would be received. The total receipts, estimated was £70,417. He next referred to the items of expenditure. The Government had framed the estimates with a view to economy, and in the matter of salaries a considerable reduction has been made. With regard to- the departments such as the gaol and hospital they had beeft unable to malce such a reduction as they could desire, owirrg to th< increase in the price of food. j He vould liot.go through'tlre different departments, but would slightly t-efer to some of the miscellaneous item.'!. The Government had felt it : neeesssary agairt to insert estimates for a new hospital and new slaughterhouse, in the hope that during the ensuing year they might be enabled to erect those buildings, which",' as was well-known, were very urgently required. The Government regretted that they' iiad not been able'to assist the country settlers to such a degree as .they would desire,:- The fiurn-of £.500 for triangulation would' complete the large trigonometrical survey v : Tl/cr sum of £1,500 for steam services was in hi.i opinion ■ vefy iffnxleqrate for the ]?urpo&, and he would desire better communication with such places as Poverty Jsay. where the settlers were becoming, aware that Auckland was the best market frir their produce. For roads and works north of-Auckland £5,000 was estimated to be expended; which,-ill addition . to tlie sum voted by the Geiieral Government, would be-of great benefit, but still it "ft'as a matter of regret with the Government that the amount voted by the province-could Dot be iflade larger. He-here rljfferred to tke: advantage-of local supervision in the constrtiCtion-ofpublie works. -: Tie. next expenditure, 50','in artditiort' to aitf amount for .the development of goldfields «?;£2.000. <; -Although the amount appeared large ! in comparison With tbo? revenue; still it was not so Urge-a^'the-Government-shonld like to see-voted. lie believed, howler, • that* the- most pressing necessities of th'e-goldfields would be Batisliediby the- amount set down. -With regard to education theipresent Government had on guing into 'office showed their-appreciation of the necessity. for. education by.lively increasing the amount proposed to be voted by their predecessors, and proposed to introduce a bill to'<feal with the*subject. - The omission of any provision for education from the 3Sstimatc3 was made on the : asShtriptioi)' that the bill which the Government had. brought" down '-would- b& -passed; ■ In conclusion he saitl; looking at-tbie stated of the. finances' of the province, it must be apparent that the time was rapi lly approaching when some ; actibn ! mn3t''.Wtaken by--the General Govern™ the Provincial Government, and provide' them with sufficient revenue to carry on the Jf 4q so it appeared to fiim 'tliaV iflaiiv us'efnl vorlis woulHlje left neglected. Pcopjei had,,.Leappd; contumplj: on the provincesj °bufc. hs-~

x oved they had served a who purpose, and had before I T'* 01 " ° f Kl ' otlt The I'rovincial Governen had never g„ u , .., for holding the p.,wer in their own ■««.«"». hut had always been liberal. They had created scn-government throughout lie- place, which wn ,<l lie nvogmsedprinciple of 1 Wineielisls. Thev created the -larbour Board, ~„,! without any n.,,i«l •»,«*■ f n , ; „ ~|l t. <; eill .. vnl Government, but by robbing thecehes of revenu, which they hamleu over lo the Board. Ik- believed loe.d Kelf-"o-------vormnonf was fin- most remaned, and thai., if the provinces were dune away with, the paltry sum saved would be more than- swallowed up by Mm- e.T+Va expense; of'oiliciaLs of a tilth-rent and probabiy not more ciliaenl, class than the present. ]{„ moved the second reading of the Appropriation Bill. '