PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Volume VIII, Issue 2186, 10 May 1870, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Yesterday. The Speaker took the chair at two o’clock. Among the notices of motion given, was one by Mr Houghton, to the effect that the Provincial Government be requested to communicate with the General Government, on the subject of shipping teleg ams, with a view to their being forwarded and posted as formerly. Mr Shepherd again attempted to have the standing orders suspended, to allow him to place in the paper his motion in regard to the electoral rights of the miners, hut the Speaker ruled that it could not be done, as there was not the necessary number of numbers present to allow o" such a step—a ruling that must of necessity be questio icd by Mr Shepherd. Mr Haughtou then moved —“That this Council is of opinion, that in consideration of the approaching general elections, it is desirable that the franchise should be placed upon a basis more consistent than the present, with the due representation of the people, ami recommends the adoption of registered manho ul suffrage;” in doing so, he said tho hon. member for the goldfields (Mr Shepherd) had raised a ghost entirely for himself, the idea that members of the Colonial Parliament intended to take away the franchise of the miners. He (Mr Haughtou) had been in communication for the past two months wiih the leading men of both parties, and there was not the slightest foundation for that statement. What was proposed was—and the same thing was proposed in the Provincial Council—that instead of having gol Hi elds districts in Otago, which did not exist in other parts of the Colony, they tlx qld be cut into a certain number of districts, in which the miners were to be registered on the roll. Proceeding to show how the present state of the franchise should be runedied, lie would call attention to the regis ration in this Province. He thought it might be taken for granted that, as a rule, every man in the Province who was entitled to vote was a registered voter. (No, no.) 'I he present state of things, ac.o ding to his calc ila'ion, as near as could be reckoned, was this ;—The number of males over 21 in the Province—excepting idiots and lunatics, and those thoroughly disqualified—was 19,203, of which number 9512 were enfranchised, so that some 9091 were disfranchise! by the action of the Constitution Act. He was decidedly of opinion that the present method had not worked well; and had manhood suffrage been established some ten years ago, there would not have been that ignorance i,t JJatiye ip Npw Zealand which had impelled successive Governments on to the wretched and destructive policy that had been pursued. He contended that the Colony had a perfect right to alter the franchise "as proposed. In proposing m übornl suffrage as a remedy for the present state of things, he would impose certain qualifications, which we e rendered necessary by the state of society and a variety of circumstances. Those who would lie disqu Milled were lunatics anl idiots, an I those sup-, ported at tjje expense of the country, lie would have itVhat persons should take up their political privileges at once, and should then receive a registration ticket, which should be renewed every year. There should be an educational qualification, and every one should be able to read and write to enab'e him to have the franchise.—Mr Millar seconded the motion. After some discussion Mr M'Dermid moved that all the words after (f peop»e- ; be utrufev out, The debate was continued until the Speaker left the chair at half-past live o’clock. Ofi the Hoilse'resuming at seven o’clock, the orders of the day were proceeded with. The debate was resumed by the Secretary for La al and Works on Mr Birr’s motion, that e rtaiu land reserved in the Gseen Island district be set apart for the use of that district, and after diseuss : on, Mr Barr’s amendment, defining the areas of tho reserves, was affirmed. The debate was res in d on the motion fe> the second reading of the Repilscu'tatfen Rill, Mr M‘Dermic! moved'that ’ the’ 'se'coufe reading take place that day six months, tout the 1 motion was negatived on a division, the voting being—Ayes, 14 ; Noes, 18. Tin bill was thcn'rcqa q t-eepud time, and on tiie motion for committal, Mr Mogley ifiwccj that |t be referred to q select committee for revision'; toe committee to consist of Messrs Brown, H tolipl},’ TifQiqsoq, Mijrray, Shapd, Main, and the'move;?;. The motion fertile qppqinfe meut of the committee was affirmed ; Ipfe Mg Turnbull having called for a ballot, if was taken, and respited in fhe appoihtipcqt of Messrs France, Sfebqld, TitwibnJi, Ragfdjff, Clark, Mitchell, and Moseley, The Sheep Ordinance Amendment Bill was read a second time, passed through all stages, reported to the Hou=e without amendment and passed. On the question of the cmipfefeal nf thp Road Boards Bill, Mr Hutch son moved the adjournment of thq debate uutil"Moßday, which agreed tfe

On the motion of Mr Haughton the Committee of Beference’s report was adopted ; on the motion of Mr Henderson, the Select Committee on the Taieri river floods was instructed to consider the Hawkes Bay and Marlborough Rivers Act with a view to suggesting amendments therein for consideration of the General Assembly ; on Mr Shepherd’s motio i, a complete report showing in detail the whole of the expense incurred by the Government in altering and fitting up a part of the Government buildings for a | ost office and telegraph department was ordered to be laid on the table ; ai was also, ou the motion of Mr Haughton, the details of the return of travelling expenses of goldfield officers. Mr Murray’s motion for a return showing the amount of money paid, &c., for compensation for new roads or deviation since 1858, was negatived. The House then adjourned. Tins Day. At this afternoon’s sitting the Secretary for Laud and Works 1 id on the table a number of returns moved for the previous day. Among the notices of motion given was one by Mr Shepherd, who give notice of his intention to move on Wednesday next:—“ 1. That this Council does not approve of loans being obtained for any purpose whatever on the special security of the pastoral rents of the Province of Otago, 2, That if loans were so obtamed, legislation ou the land laws would he impeded, thereby injuriously affecting the settlement of the people on the waste lauds of the Crown. 3. That copies of the above res Rations be forwarded to the Colonial Government, with a reque-t that same he submitted to the General Assembly.” Mr Brown gave notice for to-morrow of his intention to move that the Council is of opinion that voting by ballot should bo adopted at all elections for the Provincial Council and the Superintendency ; and Mr Ashcroft gave notice of his intention to move when in Committee of Supply—“ That an address b ; presented to his Honor the Superintendent, requesting that he will place on the Estima'es a sum for a subsidy to be granted, not exceeding L 2500, to a line of steamers for Preservation Inlet and Martin’s Bay from Dunedin monthly, calling at the Bluff, for twelve months.” The Provincial Treasurer gave explanations as to the nature of the work being done by prison labor in Baltray street. H lie debate on Mr Haugbton’s motion on the subject of manhood suffrage was postponed.—Mr Brown moved that the Government be requested to bring in a Bill giving power to the committee of management of the Lawrence Athemeum, with the consent of the Superintendent, to lease the reserves set apart as an endowment for that institution. Mr Main, while not wishing to oppose the motion, warned the House against “mousing the princely estate the Province now possessed,” by granting endowments in the way now asked He pointed out if the motion were granted similar institutions in other provinces might ask for endowments of land. The Secretary of Land and Works did not think “the princely estate” would he misused if such institutions as that proposed to be endowed were endowed to a moderate degree. If the Government had been communicated with they would have brought down the bill asked for. The reserve referred to had already been made. The motion was then agreed to. A message from the Superintendent was read announcing that he had assented to the Sheep Ordinance Amendment Ordinance, 1870. Mr Shepherd's motion —“ That it is desirable that the weight carried by drays, wa.'gons, and other weight carrying vehicles ou the roads of the Province; also the width of the tires of wheels of same should ho regulated by Ordinance, and that the Govern ment take steps to carry the above resolution into effect ” led to a debate, during which Mr Ashcroft attempted to speak ou the question, but having previously addressed f e douse on it, was ruled out of order. B fore sitting down, he relieved himself by calling over the coals “his lion, friend” the member for the goldfields (Mr Shepherd), for that hon. gentleman’s alleged inability to spell; because in his motion the word “tire” was spelled “tire.” This ultimately led to a short scene, which was as amusing as it was brief. j Mr Shepherd, as soon as lie was able to get ou his legs, said lie was glad the hon. memb.r for the goldfields had ohtaiuel an opportunity of sljqwiug off his leanflqg before the largest meeting o { tho Conn hi I this session, and he was oqna’ly glad he had got an opportunity of catching that hon. member ou ihc wing. That hon. member had now endeavored to teach him how to spell, and found fault with his spelling of “tire.” In tiie Imperial Dictionary it was so spelt—(Mr Ashcroft: So much the worse for the dictionary)—and lie would sooner take the dictionary for it than the hon. member for Oaraaru. The hon. member displayed so much learning to the Conned, and especially to him (Mr Shepherd) ipirffig the last few days, that he clearly behoved that he was the author of an article which appeared in the Evening Star instructing him (Mr Shepherd) in his duty to his constituents. Mr Aschroft: 1 have already told the hon. member privately that I did no such thing. The hon. member is no gentleman after The Speaker called the lion, member to ordep. He slipifld YfltuUaw 'an expression, Mr Aschroft would withdraw it, but if the hon. mem' er had been a gentleman (laughter) The Speaker again calle 1 the hon. member to order. L Mr Aschroft denied that he was the author of the article in question He had no intention of using any strong language, but it was almost justified by the attack made upon him. ’Mr Shepherd nad been given to understand another li;;n, mpjijlmr was the author of the article, viz.', the member for the' Rakes. (Laughter.) '•* 11 ' '' ' Later in the afternoon, Mr Shepherd, as a question of privilege, called tl}e Speaker’s attention to a “mendacious article” in the Breniijg which lie ipuj. ijeeu intqnued was written 'by a'meiqber qf tlje house, bgt he could pot hqlieve it. Mr Ilauglflpn demanded that the person shqukl be nqiqefl- Tj t e j|pi ( , rqciqhep had already referred tq him as tl;e author, bqfc lie publicly dpifled tbqfc he was. Tfip Speaker rifled that there was no breach of privilege contained in tho article ; but if the hon. member for tho goldfields < felt himself aggrieved by it he had his remedy . by law. 1 Mr Shepherd : If I have a remedy at law, < you may he sure I will take it. ““'v 1 The debate was then resumed, And on a i division the motion >vas wied by' 15 to 11. (

COUNTRY NEWS. The Cromwell Argus cannot understand how such injurious reports as to the Cromwell reefs are circulated in Dunedin. It has been given to understand that to that fact must be attributed the absence of Dunedin bidders at the recent sale of the late Mr Garrett’s roofing properly. Our contemporary is of opinion that there must be either a sad falling off in the enterprise of Dunedin capitalists, or sad want of money in Otago’s chief town. “The very idea of a fourth share in such a valuable claim as that of the Cromwell Company is known to be, being disposed of at L2OOO, when there was nctm ally half that sum in the bank for a fortnight’s crushing, is astounding. Our local bidders could not go beyond that amount. The stone from the Aurora reef ha* averaged from the lirst crushing up to the l present time about two ounces to the ton, an amount which in the reefing districts of Victoria and other places would be looked upon as a splendid return, but which is apparently thought nothing of here. The trial crushing from Colelough’s line of reef yielded, we are informed, 3ozs. 2dwts. to the ton. Besides these instances we have .referred to, of the excellent yields obtained, there are many other claims with equally promising prospects, and how any want of confidence in such reefs can maintain we are at a loss to understand.” Finney and party's gold for the Lake Escort arrived too late. The amount was over OOOozs. William Howell and Charles men who assaulted Mr Halliday at Card Sri a, were each fined LIO, with the alternative of three months’ imprisonment. Large numbers of Chinamen continue to arrive at Clyde, en route for the Lake dis. trict.