Provincial Council. THURSDAY, 28th SEPTEMBER.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 6, Issue 311, 2 October 1865, Page 1

Provincial Council. THURSDAY, 28th SEPTEMBER.

The Council met at 3 o’clock, pursuant to adjournment. Present —The Speaker, Messrs Buchanan, Dolbel, Wilkinson, Tiffen, Richardson, Kennedy, Ormond, Rhodes, Edwards, M‘Lean. Absent, —Messrs Colenso, Stuart, Curling, and Tuke. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. REPRESENTATION AMENDMENT ACT. Mr On mono in the absence of Mr M‘Lean, moved— For leave to bring in a Bill to revise the present Electoral Districts of the Province, and make other provision in respect of the same. Leave granted. Mr Ormond moved that the Bill be read a first time, which was agreed to, and Bill read a first time accordingly. Mr M'Lean then took his seat. POSTPONEMENT OP MOTION. Mr M‘Lean begged leave to postpone his motion until after the other motions had been disposed of. Leave granted. TEEASUEY BALANCES. Mr Buchanan moved, — That a Return showing the amount of tho Treasury Balances, with their bankers, of the Provincial Government of Hawke’s Bay, and whether debtor or creditor, on the last day of each month of the present year, bo laid on the table of this Council. —lt was important that it should be known, at a time when the Estimates were to be brought before the Council what the exact financial position of the Province was. Mr Edwards seconded the motion. Mr M‘Lean said that the papers were in course of preparation, and would be laid on the table as soon as possible. tenders. Sir Buchanan moved, — 1 bat his Honor the Superintendent be requested to furnish a Return of all Supplies. purchased for Provincial Service (describing the same as accurately as a brief general designation will allow) and of all works effected for the same, other than those under contract by public advertisement, during the twelve months ended 30th August, 1865. B That the names of the persons so favored with orders be furnished, and the accounts paid on each separate order shown, and that the proper officer responsible for such expenditure give an epitome of his reasons in each case, for departing from t he general rule, whereby resort topublio competition is supposed to be imperative.

—lt was the rule that supplies, public works, &c. should be put out to tender, and where this rule was departed from, the reasons should be given. Mr Wilkinson seconded the motion, not that he agreed with it entirely, but that the subjects might be considered by the Council. Mr M‘Lean said that he had spoken to the Engineer of Public Works on the subject who informed him that the items were few and very insignificant. It would also be a great waste of time, for it would take three weeks of the time of an officer who was fully employed already, to prepare the return.

Mr Buchanan said that in the reply with which they had been furnished by his Honor there were several discrepancies. He had said that the items were few and insignificant, and yet that it would take three weeks to prepare the return ! It showed to what an enormous extent this jobbery was carried on in this Province. It was caused by favoritism and for electioneering ends, or why this hesitation ? His motion was in such words as could not be misunderstood. It requested a brief, general designation for the articles purchased, and surely if the cases were as few as his Honor the Superintendent had said, a very short table would be sufficient. He had not the least hope of carryincr his motion, but he would have the satisfaction of knowing that he had done his duty, and had succeeded, to some extent, in his object, which was to lay bare the hopeless .corruption of the system of Provincial Governments (hear, hear.)

The motion was then put and agreed to,

NEWLY ACQUIRED LAND AT THE WAIEOA. Mr Buchanan moved— That a return exhibiting the entire aggregate cost to the public of the lands in the Northern District of the Province over which the Native title has recently been extinguished be prepared, shewing in columns as follows : !•—The prices, as expressed in the deeds. 2. —The expenditure, in the shape of all other than direct payments in money 3. —The cos; of surveys, both preliminary and on subdivision for sale. 4. —The acreage of each class of land, as classified by the Government. 5. —The cost, per acre, inclusive of every expense. —His object in this motion was to know exactly how much this land had cost the Go* vernment. He wished it to remain as a record, that when the land was sold the public might know what profit, or the reverse, they had derived from it. Mr M‘Lean seconded the motion, which was agreed to. Mr M'Lean said that the return, as far as could be ascertained, would be prepared and laid on th« table of the Council.

Mr Ormond said that he must object to the manner iu which members opposite had brought in motions calculated to damage the Government, without giving them a chance of defending themselves (hear, hear.) He could not characterise it as anything but a cowardly manner in which accusations had been made against the Government of political bribery, &c. The hon. member did not confine himself to single instances, but made vague general charges, with the sole view of damaging the Government. Mr Edwards said he bad been surprised at the remarks of the member for Porangahau. They were most irregular. (Cries of order.)

The Speaker said that if the member for Poraugabau had gone any further he should have checked him, as he was out of order. Mr Buchanan was so accustomed to irregularities in that Council from members on the other side, that nothing from that quarter could astonish him any longer. His object in putting the motion referred to on the paper was to obtain clear explanations, but tha member fer Porangahau was too old a politician to let slip so excellent an opportunity of throwing dust into the eyes of members. THE ESTIMATES. Mr M‘Lean moved, — That tliis Council do resolve itself into Committee of Supply to consider tlie Estimates.

—lf any member had any remarks to make on the subject, it was now the proper time before the House went into Committee.

Mr Buchanan was sorry that he could not take the hopeful view of the finances of the Province that appeared to be taken by members on the opposite side of the House. In the first place he observed that the territorial Revenue was set down at double what it was last year. All he could say was that if the members on the opposite side expected it was to be so, they were very hopeful men, and possessed of very sanguine temperaments. He supposed it was from the newly acquired laud at VVairoa that they expected the difference. What reason had they for expecting such vast sums from the sale of that district ? Again, there was £3,000 expected to be derived from the sale of the Huntress. He would consider it a very fortunate thing if the Province could obtain that amount for her. Again, last year they had began with a balance in their [favor in the Bank ; this year they began with none. This was what the Province had been brought to by the present Government, and he supposed it was a specimen of the pilots who were to take charge of the Province during the next year. The expected revenue, as expressed in the sheet, was £39,715 15s lid. It showed the financial abilities of the person who had drawn it up. It was a stroke sufficiently clever to have immoralized a financier in France. There was a most suspicious air of correctness about it. What on earth was to prevent them making sixteen shillings of it while they were about it ? lu that Council be should support general principles on behalf of his constituents; be should never oppose the addition of £lO to a salary, or in any oth- r way offer a factious opposition. He was there to support general principles, and not to quarrel about beggarly items. He would move as an ameudmeut, —

That the Estimates of Expenditure and of Ways and Means be both referred back to the Government, with a view to their amendment, in consonance with the financial condition of the Province. —He would protest against another thing in the Estimates, which was keeping items on the sheet year after year, for which the money was never spent. He could only characterize this as a gross sham, and shams were what be especially detested. Hr Edwards seconded the amendment. Mr Tiffen wished to elicit from the Government an explanation of the manner in which they expected to realize the large amount set down for the Land Sale at Wairoa. If the Government could not satisfy him on that point, he should support the amendment.

Mr Wilkinson said that while there was business to be done they should go into it like business men. The member for the town had partly occupied his time by making facetious remarks, principally about the difference between elevenpence and a shilling. The territorial estimates were rather large, hut they had always been exceeded in past years, and no doubt the Government had good reason for what they had put down. There had been 9T6ths of the gross customs revenue secured to the Provinces (no, no, from Mr Buchanan), and the Customs Revenue last year amounted to more than .£IO,OOO. As for there being no balance at the Bank he believed that the money had been spent in Native Land, which was a reproductive article. The member for the town had seemed to think that ail the log-rolling was on the Government side of the house ; hat he (Mr W.) had no doubt there were members who could tell a different story. Mr Ormond said that under the Surplus Revenues Act, which had passed through some of its preliminary stages in the House of Representatives, nine sixteenths of the Customs Revenues had been secured to the Provinces, but that out of that sum all General Government local charges had to be paid. It would most likely take, out of a Customs Revenue of .£7.000, £3.500, oi half of it, thus leaving to the Province .£3,500 as estimated. The General Goveruaunt, however, would be most likely to listen to any representation which might he made by the Province to make the charges as light as possible. The member for Napier had said that the financial condition of the Province was unsatisfactory. Last year the estimate of territorial revenue, which was objected to by the opposition, was largely exceeded, and most likely it would be this time. The reason that there was no balance in the Bank was that very very large sums had been spent in land purchases not estimated for last year at all, and they all knew how reproductive land was. It was a strang thing that out of the province this land was considered of very great value, while in the Provincial Council it was thought much less of. It was very desirable that the Huntress should be got rid of. It was contemplated to send her to Hokitika, where that class of vessel was in demand.

Mr Buchanan said he had very little to observe iu reply. The member for Porangahau had, as usual, succeeded in mystifying members. He was glad to learn that there was a chance of getting rid of the Huntress. She vvas an old acquaintance of his. She was older than any man at that table. He had known her as a ferry boat in Sydney harbor, which he had often crossed in the asthmatical old grampus. She was an eyesore to every person in the province, and he would be happy to think that she would soon be sold. The amendment was then put and negatived, and the original motion carried. The Council having gone into committee of the whole on the estimates, — Mr MT.ean moved “ That Mr Wilkinson do take the chair.” —Agreed to. The Hoiise then proceeded with the consideration of the estimates. At ten minutes past six the committee adjourned till half-past seven ; and at the Council adjourned till next day at the usual sitting hour.