GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1302, 1 October 1872, Page 2

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

THF. COUNTY OF WESTLAND BILL:

The following is the conclusion of the discussion as to the postponement of the; second reading of the County of Westland Bill :- Mr Stafford rose for the purpose of explaining one or two misconceptions which, he had ascertained, from the remarks of the honorable member for Rangitikei, existed : one on the part of the honorable member and the other on the part of himself, to which he would first allude. "•■- He certainly was under the impression that the Bill was introduced by the late Government. When the Government said they would take up certain Government measures, they made no definite state ment as to any action they might be prepared to take with regard to the present Bill, which they took as a Bill of the late Government, without reference to /any single member of that Government under whose charge it might: be. He thought that absolved him from any. charge jof discourtesy in the matter. The other misconception .which the honorable member appeared to labor under was, that the present Government had promised to go on with the Bill. Now they had made no such engagement ; they had not adopted it as a Government measure amongst those which they had taken from the late Government. In speaking on Friday last with regard to the measures which the present Government would not select from those which were before' the Legislature; :he made no promise, further than that he would announce from time to time what measures the G overnroent would proceed with. With respect to the pre: sent .Bill he made no statement either one vj^ay or the other, bscause he said, and rightly said, that at that time he had not seen the Bill, and had only up to the present time seen the first page of it. What he said on Friday last' would show to the House that while the Government quite .recognised that the County of Westland was in a condition which required careful examination, with; a view to removing the discontent which no doubt had existed, whether right or not, for a considerable time, they had in no way pledged themselves to the form or shape of the measure which they would propose; nor did he believe that,, during the present session, they would be able to prepare a ■ measure of a satisfactory character! . At the same time, the Government did not wish, to interpose between any honorable member who might desire, to introduce such a measure' ; to the House, any obstructions to its consideration. Only that very evening he had intimated to twppr three ; honorable , members .who did not like the Bill, and who thought they could themselves devise a measure more acceptable and more satisfactory to the people of that part of the Colony, that if they did so, and the Bill met with the appro-, bation of the Government, they would receive every assistance in its power in passing the. Bill .into, law, while the Government would not pledge itself to adopt the measure as a Government-one. So : f?~ he thought he had. explained clearly ifch position of his colleagues and himself i regard to the present Bill: He ha been informed by some of his colleague that they had not even seen il He had been informed upon very reljabl authority, that any Bill, which impose upon the Nelson South-West Gold Field the debt at present hanging over th County of We3tland would be most unac ceptableto the people of the South- Wea Gold Fields. He thought they could no deny the desired separation from th other portion of the "Province df Nelson but the people did not wish to be joine to any. other portion of the Colony if th unification, as it was called, imposed upo: them the heavy debt of the County c of : Westland. For whatever reasons i might be, the South- West Gold Field wa singularly free from the debt which, mor or less, overshadowed every other part o the Colony ; and, with the exception o their share in the colonial debt, they ha< really got nothing whatevec which couh be called a provincial debt. He believec that the whole debt. of the- Province o; Nelson ; amounted to somewhere abou L 45,000, and the proportion of the Split! West Gold Fields would perhaps be two fifths of that sum— a mere nominal debt New the debt of the County of Westlanc was a very heavy one, and for some time past there had been great difficulty, if hoi an absolute inability, on.the part of thai County to pay regularly into the Colonial Treasury that portion of the interest and sinking fund of the Canterbury debt which was charged by law. upon the district. There were, at the present time, unsatisfied claims against Westland, on •the part of Canterbury, for a proportion of the debt which Canterbury was in the first instance liable for, but which that Province had a right by law to recover from the County. That being the position of affairs, he could quite understand that honorable members who represented ' the constituencies north of ,• the Grey River would pause, and very carefully consider the character of any new measure, if it were going to impose upon that part of the Colony a debt for which it was now in no way liable.. That was one of the reasons which induced* the Government to be very careful before giving their sanction to. any 'measure on the subject; They must see, in 'the first instance, how the debt was' to be provided for. They only knew at present, the fact that the County of Westland had found great difficulty in contributing its quota of the interest and sinking fund of the debt charged on it/ and they must Bee ■ that, in any constitutional change, provision should, at all events, be ma.de for securing the' public creditor. He was not at all prepared to: say that some such 3imple measure which would secure to the people : of tlio' West Coast their strictly local revenues, without burdening them with a more expensive system of government, wbuld not be very much more acceptable. Hia attention had been directed to am Act recently passed by the Provincial Council of Otago, which some hpnprable members fooughtwould largely,, meet the case of the "Nelson South- Weat

Gold Fields. If a few days were given to the consideration of the subject by those who were specially interested in it, a BUI might possibly be prepared which would be more' acceptable, and be likely to wort better than the Bill now on his file. The Government did not waot it to be assumed that they ignoffV the desirability of making Bome^j^A ininistrative change in respecfr^-uLr part of the Colony. 'On ■, the cpntt^' they would give every assistance to c( j honorable.members who were int{£ A &-... in passing a Bill during tfcs^iajja session^ if an acceptable measure^ouraiiifck devised. He had promised on Friday that the Government would> during the recess, give their earnest attention to the subject, with a view of bringing forward a measure next session ; lilt if members preferred to devote their attention^this session to such a Bill, the Government would offer no opposition. r '•..:...: Mr O'Conor entered upon an irregular discussion of, the provisions of the Bill, which he considered a mere Bhani, and promised that if no other member brought in a Bill to meet the requirement* pi the • South-West Gold Fields he would be prepared todo so. ',' '■ „! ' The Speakersaid that as the Bill had not been circulated, it would ,be ' improper for honorable members, to refer to. its provisions. ~' . ; n • Mr Fox. regretted that the honorable member for the Buller had referred, id. the subject matter of the Bill, which wai npt properly under. consideration. He trusted that the , . discussion on the principles of the Bill would not be continued, because the motion before the House waasiinply that the second reading of the -Bill be made an order of the day for Friday, r Mr J. Shephard would carefully abstain from referring to the Bill, itself. The honorable member for the Buller in the course of hia remarks declared that under certain circumstances the. inhabitants of the gold fields would be satisfied if those who were administering the affairs of the Province of JSfelson>6uld agree to a measure which would enable the people of the district to have the control of a certain portion of the revenues raised there. He might say that almost in the first week of the session, if not absolutely in ;; the first week, he directed the attention of-.the Superintendent of Nelson to that which had been spoken of by the Premier, and he* had also got , a> copy of the Otago Act, from which he proposed to draft one.that he had intended to introduce before the honorable member for Rangitikei "'announced his intention of. bringing in 3 ' a Bill. The measure which he had intended to propose would, he believed, have exactly met the views of the honorable member, for. the Buller, and the views - which were generally, or at least' very largaly, entertained on the gold* fields Of. Nelson. It was not that the people there "- so much desired separation .from 'Nelson, as that a certain proportion of the money now. being, expended; on roads should be put aifthe disposal of local Boards.V That was his opinion, and he knew many (persons in the district who entertained that view. Although other honotiible mein'bers had been. allowed to go at length into : the qu estipn, he would not nptt/go further jnto the. matter j but at any rate, the .House would see, from the general tenor of the remarks he had made, that tbe desire of the people which he ... had alluded to would .be carried into; effeqt as soon as it was possible to get "a measure framed. '• ' Motion agreed to.