COUNTY COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume IX, Issue 634, 10 February 1870, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL.

(fkoii our special correspondent. ) Hokitika, February 8. There was some display of political tactics in the Council last night. Mr Barff had g^ven notice of a motion, to the effect that two members of the C.onn,cil should be elected by ballot for "the purpose of of sitting with the County Chairman two days ia each week, and advising him upon all mattura connected with the administration of the afSvira of the County, and in order to give him a better change of success in carrying it he had held a-private meeting with some of the members during the morning, But it appears that those who did him the' hom;? of attending his crtwe«» were nui so unanimously in favor of Mv Barff's proposal as he had expected, and it leaked out during the day that Mr Barff would ask leave to postpone his motion far a few days. But those wh,o differed from Mr BarfFs views, ai\d who looked with unavoidable suspicion upon his proposal, were determined that the matter should be settled at once, s;> when Mr Bartf asked the leave qf the Council to. postpone his motion, he was strongly opposed by Messrs Lahman, Harrison, Robinson, and Hoos. The only grounds that Mr Bnrff based his application for delay were, that the subject vra» of such .'-great importance^ and that hij had -not tyuitc prepared himself . This Mr Hurri- ; son stigmatised as bunkum, aud challenged Mr Biuit'to go on with his motion, and, if he could, bring forward son c i «>m.d arguments m support of his very I suspicious proposal. He ridiculed Mr i Baiff's hole-and-corner inteting, and ac- : ensud that-gentlemau'of an attempt to introduce a sham executive iuto our : machinery of government wirhotifc giving ! it 'the shadow tif responsibility. Messrs. ll«ovi!8 iiud White sided nsmt; or lo.Mi .with Mi- f'-V wha' y jl V'U,v ryv^on it vyiss

impossible for any one who heard iheir remarks to tell. On the division being taken, leave to postpone the motion was refused, but Mr Barff, who foresaw that if he went on with it that night, he was certain of defeat (Mr Clarke being absent), declined to move it, and insisted that he hftd an undoubted right to allow his motion to lapse, and give fresh notice of it Bpme other day. The Chairman, however, lield the opinion that the Council having refused any postponement of the motion, had virtually ordered it to be proceeded with, and ' h'J motion he must now consider to be in the possession of the Council. A long discussion took place on the point of order, which concluded by tho Chairman ruling for the present Mr Barff must proceed, or otherwise he could not proceed with his motion again during the present session. He promised to consult authorities on the question. Messrs Barff and Carreras are the prime movers in this " Executive" idea, but I fancy thp better sense of the majority of the Council will be opposed to their pro? posal. The whole thing is preposterous, for in the first place the Chairman need not take or receive the advice of the two gentlemen who are to (( sit with him two, days in each week ;" and should Mr Barff even succeed in carrying his motion by a bare majority of the Council, it- is per-* fectly certain that Mr Hoos, or, indeed, any man with any respect for his position, will simply refuse to sit with or be guided by such advisers as— say Barff, Oarreras, or Reeves. Mr Hoos has, without question, done some very stupid things, and has left undone a great deal that he ought to have done, and brought many affairs into a mess ; but I cannot see what security anything in the shape of Mr Bavff's "Executive" can possibly give for ensuring against similar errors and shortcomings. Just fancy what a fine hold the appointment of the proposed committee would afford the Provincialists. Indeed, it would seem from various symptoms that we are drifting back into Provincial-: ism with all its temptations of place and pay. The manner in which the Teretnakan ferry is to be worked for the future has now been definitely settled. The Chairman approves of the recommendations of the committee, which are that there shall at all times be a boat in readiness on each side the river, and that the owners of the same shall be stationed on separate banks, and that both boats and men must be certified to by the Harbormaster as being efficient. Iv order that the proceeds of the ferry shall be equally divided, the service is to be let to two parties conjointly. I expect that effect will be given to the arrangement in a few days. It is evidently the best plan, as it will secure the certainty of travellers being put across the river at any time, except in time 3of hiarh flood. Mr Warden Keogh's dismissal again formed the subject of a discussion last night. _ It was unfortunate for Mr Keogh that his case was considerably damased by the arguments of his advocate, Mr White ; but the committee asked for to enquire into the circumstances of the case was granted. During the discussion Mr White made use of some remarks upon the ambiguous and un-English character of some of the Chairman's letters, to which Mr Hoos replied that the letters- were written by his clerks, who could teach him. (Mr White) a good deal he had yet to learn of his own language, judging from his (Mr White's) effusions in newspapers ; whereupon Mr. White waxed wroth, and hurled some strong inuendoes at the Chafnnan, and the matter then dropped. February 9. Last night, before the business of the evening came on, Mr Barff asked the Chairman for his decision on the points of order raised by him the previous sitting. Mr Barff was very confident that the Chairman was wrong in his ruling, and quoted precedents in support of his position. The Chairman, who seemed brimful of "May's Parliamentary Practice," was satisfied that he was right ; but Mr Barff persisted in quibbling over the subject until the Chairman put a stop to him by stating decisively that Mr Barff's motion an the previous sitting not having been proposed by him in accordance with the vote of the Council, had been disposed of, and could not again be brought on during this session. This was a sore blow for Mr Barff, who had probably been dreaming for the last few nights of the bliss which attends the position of a Minister. If distance does really lend enchantment to the view, Mr Barff's conception of the sweets of office must be superlative in its character. But he is not likely to realise them. His proposal is virtually shelved for the session, and neither he nor any other member can bring forward any other motion to the same effect. I hear — and indeed Mr Barff himself intimated as much last niufht —that an attempt will be made on Friday when the Estimates have to be finally passed to create a " crisis" by. refusing to confirm the Estimates. But Mr Barff is, is my. humble opinion, mistaken if he supposes that he can carry such an absurd measure. It may be safely relied on that the Estimates will go through in the ordinary manner, and further, that the Council will immediately afoer be prorogued. I know it is the wish of some members to prolong the session, but the majority see the absurdity of protracting the sittings of the Council merely because some hon members chose to place notices of motions on the paper for the mere purpose of keeping their namts before the public. The Council will be prorogued on Friday for certain, unless something miforseen should occur, which is not likely. Mr Barff earned a motion last night to the effect that the Governor be requested to, withdraw sites for the townships of Stafford and Goldsl prou:*h from the operation of the Gold F elds Act, and that such sections as are at present held nnder business licenses should be sold, It appeared from the remarks of the Chairman that some difficulty exists in the way of giving effect to this resolution, owing to some inadequacy in the present regulation^; but the motion was carried, in the hope that the Government would device means to carry it ont. lt is very desirable that the residents in all the settled townsh'ps should be entitled to purchase their holdings ; and indeed, as one of the speakers said last night, the residents of' Stafford, Goldsbarongh, Paroa, and elsewhere were as much entitled to the privilege of purchasing their occupations as the citizens of Hokitika or Greymouth. Tho report of the Select Committee regarding the Ltinutic Asylnm was adopted. It insists that the proposal to establish ah asylum near the gaol is contrary to the. best npmiyiis the CiHHiuityco could get^

I and, furthermore, the objectionable character of this site waa strongly affirmed by a public meeting here on .Saturday evening. It is certain that the- Ct'mnciV cannot at present provide a complete establish- , ment for lunatics anywhere, but it appears to be the general opinion that the Hospital Reserve ia the best site. Opinions I differ milch on this jpoint, and in to-day's paper a long and lnLereetfng letter appears from G. G. Fitzgerald, Esq., R.M., on the subject in which he plainly expresses hia preference for the gaol hill site. But the matter ia now decided, and arrangements for increasing the accommodation on the Hospital Reserve must be at once commenced. The other business last evening was of no interest, and as a sign of the close of the session the Council adjourned until Thursday, there being no notices of motion on the order paper for Wednesday. Mr James Browne has forwarded a circular to members of the Printing Committee, asking that he may he heard in self defence. He has also, lam informed, supplied such information as to a certain extent mitigates the charge conveyed against him in the Printing Committees' report. But so far as I can learn, it ia only to a " certain extent" that Mr Browne can be exonerated from censure, the difference being one of degree 1 "• rather than one of principle. However, he is to appear before the Committee tdWay, and I can only say that I think h¥ has received an amount of consideration from the Committee in this respect, which he did not deserve, considering the abominable and scurrilous comments which he made upon the Committee in his paper of Saturday. He will, however, have the fullest fair play, and if there be a possibility of his disproving the allegations of the Committee he will get it.