7

H.—s

Proposed by Mr. Monkhouse, seconded by Mr. Forsyth, " That in the second and third lines of -section 22 the words ' less than twenty shillings nor '- be struck out, and the word ' fifty ' be substituted for the words ' one hundred.' " —Carried. ■Schedule A : Noxious Weeds. —Proposed by Mr. Majendie, seconded by Mr. Bolton, "That ' tauhinau ' be included in this schedule."■— Carried. Schedule B: Noxious Seeds. —Proposed by Mr. Majendie, seconded by Mr. Bolton, "That Schedule B be struck out." Proposed by Mr. Monkhouse, seconded by Mr. Lang, " That at the end of the word ' thistles,' the words 'except Garduus pratensis and Garduus arvensis 'be added; and that 'broom, wild turnip, ergot, wild mustard,' be struck out." —Carried. Proposed by Mr. Bolton, seconded by Mr. Engels, "That Schedule B be left as printed, with the addition of the words ' Cape weed and Garduus pratensis ' ; and that ' Garduus arvensis' be not included in the species of thistles left in." Mr. Kebbell then vacated the chair, and the President took his seat. Proposed by Mr. Kebbell, seconded by Mr. Collins, " That the Conference resume its sitting," Proposed by Mr. McMillan, seconded by Mr. Majendie, " That the report of the committee on the Noxious Weeds Bill be adopted, with the exception of the amendment in Schedule A."- — Lost. Proposed by Mr. Peat, seconded by Mr. Bolton, "That the report be not adopted." This was ruled out of order, and consequently not allowed by the Chairman.—Lost. Mr. Majendie read his paper on " The Disintegration of Counties." Proposed by Mr. McMillan, seconded by Mr. Majendie, " That the discussion on Mr. Majendie's paper be deferred until to-morrow."—Carried. Proposed by Mr. Yon. Reden, seconded by Mr. Peat, " That Messrs. Majendie, Kebbell, and Bolton should prepare a list of resolutions requiring immediate attention, and should wait on the Premier with a copy of such resolutions at 3.30 p.m. to-morrow."—Carried. Mr. Field- was granted permission to withdraw his paper until the next meeting of the Conference. It was resolved that the salary of the secretary be fixed at £20 for the first year. Mr. Phillips gave notice of motion for next meeting of Conference, as follows: "That the County Councils administer the settled lands of the Crown, and also any lands to be acquired under the Land for Settlements Bill should it be become law." (9th August for 10th August.) Resolved, That this Conference do now adjourn, to meet at 10 a.m. to-morrow.

Friday, 10th August, 1894. Present: President, Mr. Yon Reden (Chairman); Messrs. Kebbell, Majendie, McMillan, H. A. Field, C. W. Brown, Forsyth, Engels, and Collins. Proposed by Mr. Yon Reden, seconded by Mr. Field, " That the Vice-Presidents, Messrs. Lang and Fraser, with Messrs. McMillan, McNab, Majendie, Forsyth, Collins, Engels, Kebbell, Trennery, and Brown, should form a deputation to wait on the Premier at 5 p.m. to-day, to lay before him a copy of the following resolutions which the committee was yesterday appointed to select for presentation."—Carried. (1.) That charitable aid should be distributed by the local body which raises the rate. (2.) That the hospital and charitable-aid question is in such an unsatisfactory position that the Government be urged to deal with the subject as a matter of urgency. (3.) That no amount of rate demanded from any ratepayer shall be less than two shillings and sixpence. (4.) That, with the view of affording immediate relief to local bodies, the Government be requested to amend during the present session of Parliament "The Local Bodies' Loans Act, 1886," " The Government Loans to Local Bodies Act, 1886," and " The Counties Act, 1886," so as to empower the following things to be done: — Ist. That a local body shall be permitted to borrow money under " The Government Loans to Local Bodies Act, 1886," in order to pay off its overdraft. 2nd. That, as soon as any local body shall have paid off its overdraft in the above manner, it shall not be lawful for it to incur new liabilities as overdraft which shall at any time exceed the amount of uncollected revenue at that particular date. (5.) That this Conference requests the Government to take steps during this session of Parliament to empower local bodies to pay their respective shares of all expenses in connection with the meeting of this Association. (6.) That the Government be asked to print the report of proceedings and balance-sheet. (7.) That the Government be respectfully asked to place this Association on the same footing in the -matter of privileges as the Municipal Association. (8.) That clause 131, subsection (15), of the Public Works Bill be amended by the addition of the word " pigs " after the word " cattle." (9.) That, to enable County Councils to compel all owners of gorse fences from which gorse has spread over to the road to clear such gorse to the full width of the road, section 6 of " The Public Works Acts Amendment Act, 1889," be amended by striking out the words "up to the middle line of such road or street " from subsection (2). 10. That county licenses be issued to hawkers for £ and £ , according to the different classes, and that for the further sums of £ and respectively these hawkers be allowed to hawk within a borough.