PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 17, Issue 1015, 12 May 1871, Page 3

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

THURSDAY, MAY 11. The Speaker took the chair at 3 p.m. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. Petitions. • Mr. Sutton presented a petition from certain butchers, setting forth that, under the " Slaughter-house Act/' they were placed at a disadvantage as compared with other butchers, and with the Boiling-down Company; and praying that such an alteration might be made in the Act as to allow of other places besides the Slaughter-house at Tareha's Bridge being licensed. Read and received. Captain Russell presented a petition from the Puketapu Road Board, setting forth that their roads had been neglected, and praying for a more equitable allocation of the toll-gate funds. Mr. Sutton said that to grant the prayer of the petition would be to act in contravention of the "Toll-gate Act." Read and received. Papers. His Honor the Superintendent laid on the table the following papers: 1. Return of sums paid to country members. 2. Copy of a letter received by the Hon. Colonial Secretary from the Hon. Mr. Yogel, relative to Railways. Chairman of Committees. Colonel Lambert proposed that Mr. Lee he elected Chairman of Committees. Agreed to. Mohaka Road. Mr. Dolbel, pursuant to notice, moved— That His Honor the Superintendent direct the Provincial Engineer to survey and report on the Bridle road from Tongoio :to Mohaka. —Now that Te Kooti was subdued, the districts of Poverty Bay and Wairoa were rising into importance, and it was necessary to see that the roads leading in that direction were in good order. The cost would foe slight, and it was essential that something should be done in this direction. Agreed to.. Printing Committee. Mr. Rhodes said he had moved the adjournment of the debate solely because one ■of the gentlemen whose names appeared on the proposed committee was absent. That gentleman being now in his place, he (Mr. R.) had no further remark to make. Mr. Lee applied for leave to have bis name withdrawn from the committee. He also took occasion to protest against a paragraph on the subject of this motion which had appeared in the Herald, which paragraph he characterized as a piece of gros3 impertinence. Leave granted, and Mr. Lee's name; withdrawn.

On the motion of Mr. Sutton, the name of Mr. Tanner was substituted for that of Mr. Lee, and the motion was then carried. The following is its form, as amended : That a Printing Committee be appointed ■to make the requisite -arrangements for -execution of the Council printing, and to determine what documents shall be printed •for record. The said Committee to consist f of Mr. Speaker (with his consent), Messrs. •Tanner, Routledge, Lambert, and Bridge. Clioe Square. Mr. Sutton, pursuant to notice, moved— For leave to bring in a Bill to authorize ihe Superintendent to convey to the Trustees for public purposes that portion of the itown known as Clive Square. Agreed to ; bill brought in, read a first time, ordered to be printed, and second reading fixed for next sitting day. Rechabite Building Site. Mr. Tiffen, pursuant to notice, moved— That the Superintendent be requested to rbring in a Bill granting a Building site to •the Order Qf-liechabites. —The motion was one that did not call for much remark. That the Rechabite body had already been of great benefit to the town was undeniable, and tho application they had made was not an unreasonable one. Those members who were unacquainted with the principles and objects .of the Order, could find them described in ;ihe petition. His Honor thought some further suggestion was advisable—the particular site required, for instance. The reserves were few in number, and he really knew of none suitable. Mr. Dolbel doubted the power of the Council to give away the public lands. Colonel Lambeet considered that the Eechabites had no claim on the Council. The society bad not long existed in Napier.

Let them wait till another session; members would then know more about them. He hoped the Council would not go to the expense of introducing and printing this bill, which would very likely be thrown out after all.

Mr. Tanner thought it a mere act of courtesy to allow the introduction of the bill. He thought some site should be proposed. The only place he could think of was the swamp, and if the Reehabites would undertake to fill up a section there and build upon it, it would be a very prudent act on the part of the Council to make them a present of the property. Mr. Kennedy thought if this application was granted, a similar one would be received from the Young Men's Christian Association, and he knew not who besides. It could very well stand over for another session.

Captain Russell altogether objected to to the motion. Last session the feeling of the Council against such grants was strongly expressed. What special claim upon the Council could the Reehabites show ? Besides, their constitution provided that they should dwell in tents, and if they held their meetings in a hall they would cease to be Reehabites.

Mr. Kinross suggested the withdrawal of the motion* The feeling ef the Council seemed to be against it. Motion put and negatived. Te Aute School Trust.

Lieut.-Colonel Lambert, pursuant to notice, moved— That His Honor the Superintendent will be phased to cause to be laid on the table a return of all correspondence that may have been received from the General Government or trustees of the Te Aute School Trust.

—This would be recognized as a standirg dish, but he would continue to bring it forward until he met with some satisfaction. Here was a large public property, from which the public had never received one shilling benefit. This resolution was preparatory to an attempt to have the question brought before the Assembly, for so long as it remained in the hands of the Church it would be difficult to obtain redress. If they co&ld even have the accounts published annually, something would be gained.

Mr. Sutton seconded the motion. It was a pity that the public should be deriving no benefit from these large and valuable reserves.

His Honor said that if thh matter was to be followed up some distinct recommendation must be made ; for there were no papers or correspondence on the subject to be laid on the table. Lieut.-Colonel Lambert, by permission, withdrew his motion. Wellington Debt. Mr. Ormond, pursuant to notice, moved— That the correspondence on the subject of the "Wellington debt apportionment now lying on the table be referred to a Select Committee, with instructions to report on the accounts furnished by Mr. Assistant Treasurer Woodward. Such Committee to consist of Messrs Buchanan, Sutton, A'Deane, Bridge, and Kennedy. —The Council were aware that this question had been concluded by the award of the arbiters, who had fixed the amount at £22,500. He had not had time to look into the accounts, but he considered it the duty of the Council to do so, and as guardians of the interests of the Province, to see how far they were satisfactory. On the report of the committee would depend a great deal, for upon that report the Council would have to decide whether the Province should take further action in the matter or not. Agreed to. Charitable Aid. Lieut.-Colonel Lambert, pursuant to notice, moved— That His Honor the Superintendent cause to be laid on the table a return shewing the names of all persons who have received charitable aids, the amount, and by whom granted, since the last sitting of the Council. —To the deserving poor he would render every assistance ; but would have it rigidly withheld from the undeserving. In his experience as a guardian of the poor, in England, he found the great difficulty was to prevent the relieving officers from fenderins: assistance to those who neither really required nor deserved it. He brought forward this motion, as he found the estimated expenditure in this department had been exceeded, and he should like to know to whom aid had been given. Mr. Tiffen seconded the motion, remarking that besides the poor old men at thp Immigration Barracks, and a family

of orphan children, there were very few cases in which relief had been granted, and in all ot these it had been actually required. Mr. Sutton opposed the motion. He saw no good end to be gained by it. He had perfect confidence in the gentlemen in charge of the department. He had heard it stated that one of the recipients of relief had voted for a town member at a late election. This was untrue. There was not the name of any such person on the electoral roll. He moved as an amendment — That the thanks of the Council be conveyed to the gentlemen who have so ably carried out the duties of the Charitable Aid Board. Mr. Kennedy seconded the amendment. The resolution proposed was a poor return to those gentlemen who had given their time and trouble to the duties of the Board.

Lieut.-Col. Lambert explained that he had no desire to cast censure on the gentlemen composing the Board; but at the same time he thought their kindness of heart miffht have led them to err on the side of benevolence. The statement he had made on a previous occasion—that a person receiving Government aid had seconded the nomination of a member of Council—was correct, Respite the unparliamentary denial by the member for the town. The nomination he referred to was that of the late Mr. Trvine.

Mr. Tanner said the Charitable Aid Board was appointed on account of the inefficiency of the Council in directly administering the fund. Gentlemen were chosen who e names were a guarantee that there would be no improper distribution ; and he considered this motion an undeserved slight upon them. Lieut.-Col. Lambert was surprised at the umbrage taken at his motion. Withdrawn by permission. Land for Railways. Mr. Ormond, pursuant to notice, moved — For leave to bring in a Bill to be intituled the "Land for Eailways Act, 1871." —This was an important subject; but it required but little explanation. He need only now remai'k that it was to aid in carrying out the policy of progress now being initiated. In the further stages of the Bill he would fully explain matters of detail. Agreed to ; Bill read a first time, ordered to be printed, and second reading fixed for Wednesday next. Immigration. Mr. Ormond, pursuant to notice, moved— Whereas under the 39th clause of the " Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870," the Governor is empowered to provide for the selection of, conveyance to, or settlement in any province of the colony of such classes of immigrants and such numbers as the Superintendent, acting with the advice of the Provincial Council, shall request; and also whereas the Governor is authorised in contracting for the introduction of such immigrants to provide for giving them employment on Public Works, or for giving free or other grants of land to any such immigrants, or for compensating the person bringing out such immigrants, by grants of land or money, and further : Whereas the Governor may make regulations for the nomination of immigrants by persons residing in New Zealand.

And whereas it is desirable to promote the settlement of the Province of Hawke's Bay by availing of the above provisions. This Council is of opinion that the Superintendent shall request the Governor — 1. To make regulations to allow of the introduction, during the year ending June 30, 1872, of any number of immigrants, not exceeding five hundred, to be nominated by persons resident in the province.

2. To cause to be brought out during the year ending J une 30, 1872, one hundred (100) single women, to be selected by such agents in Great Britain as the Superintendent may appoint. 3. To enter into agreement for the special settlement of such blocks of land as may be set aside for that purpose by Act, during the present session of the Council; such special settlements to be colonized, free of cost to the province, and on such conditions as the Council shall determine. A free grant of the land so set aside being given in consideration thereof.

—This resolution also, it would be seen, was in furtherance of the Public Works and Immigration Act, a portion of the preamble of which was incorporated with it. By this Act the provinces participated in its benefits in proportion as they availed themselves of its provisions, and he was anxious that Hawke's Bay should derive its full proportion of benefit from the Government

scheme. Three distinct classes of immigrants were here proposed to be introduced. The first glass consisted of those who might be nominated by their friends in the colony ; the second class was single women; and the third class was that of immigrants to be located in special settlements. The number of the first class mentioned—five hundred—was possibly larger than would be required ; a good deal would depend upon the progress made with the railway scheme; and in any case it would do. no harm to authorise the Government to bring out that number, if they should be required. As for unmarried women, a large number had already been introduced and quickly absorbed, and there was still room for many more. As regarded the policy of special settlements, it was the most succesful kind of colonization, and should have been adopted long ago. If this resolution was adopted, he would introduce a Bill containing particulars of the blocks of land proposed to be set aside, and other particulars. He hoped the Council would take this subject into serious consideration. Mr. Tanner thoroughly agreed with the principle of the motion, but sought further explanation. Mr. Okmoni> said the immigrants were not expected to recoup their passage-money. This would be paid by the General Government. The Province would be charged half the passage-money of each immigrant introduced, equal to £6 per head, to be paid by instalments. On the other hand, the General Government would pay to the Province for each immigrant £2 for the first year, £1 18s for the second year, and so on, so that the cost to the Province for each immigrant would be reduced to £l 10s, which would be enormously compensated for by the advantage of increased population. Immigrants could obtain free passages to other colonies', and no system of immigration here would succeed if they had to pay their own passages. A number of immigrants were now on their way to this Province, and he had applied to the General Government that they might be included under the provisions of the Public Works and Immigration Act. There was no further need for the Province to introduce immigrants on its own account, when it could obtain them on so much better terms. Agreed to. Ways and Means. Mr. Ormond, in pursuance of notice, moved — That the Council resolve itself into Committee of Ways and Means to consider the estimated revenue for the year ending June 30, 1872. Agreed to, and the Council went into Committee of Ways and Means accordingly. The Chairman being absent, Mr. Rhodes, was temporarily appointed to the office. His Honor said that last session it waa suggested that it would be advantageous for future reference if the financial statement were read to the committee, and afterwards laid on the table as a Council paper. If the committee were willing he would adopt that course. Leave being granted, His Honor read the following Financial Statement. Mr. Chairman, —I propose, with the concurrence of the committee, to read instead of speak the usual statement of the accounts of the province; this will facilitate the reference hereafter, and, I think, be found convenient in all respects. I shall be as concise as and the statement will be supported by Keturns and Abstracts. I will commence with the accounts for the present year. You will remember that when last year's statement was made, I estimated the balance in the Provincial Treasury on the 30th June, 1870, at £3OOO, and the whole sum available for appropriation at £13,531. This did not include Revenue under the head of Special, which was estimated at £2392 19s 6d, and was available only for the purposes for which it was raised. I now lay on the table a comparative statement, showing that the revenue received to 30th April, and esti* mated to be received during this month and June, will amount to £16,290 —being £2759 in excess of estimate. You will be glad to hear that this excess of receipts over estimate is not confined to one item of revenue ; for instance, the estimate under the head of Ordinary was £4140, the receipts are £4264 ; under territorial, the estimate was £5116, the receipts are £7064 ; under miscellaneous, the estimate was £4275, the receipts are £4961; under special, the estimate was £2392, the receipts are £4386. But, with regard to the large increase under this head, I should explain that £I2OO is from the vote of the General Assembly in aid of Road Boards, whilst £694 is for the refund of immigrants' promissory notes, for which no estimate was made last year*

This last item is not proper/ special, and will be ayailable in aid of general revenue. This completes my explanation w ith regard to the receipts for the current year. I will now go to Expenditure for the same period, and lay upon the table a comparative statement, showing the amounts voted for each service; the sum expended; the unauthorised expenditure, and the unexpended balances. This return will show exactly how far the expenditure has been in accordance with vote ; of course, the return, so far as the months of May and June are concerned, is only an estimate, but it can be relieved on as nearly correct. On reference to the Estimates of expenditure for the year ending June 30th, 1871, as passed by the Council, it will be seen that a total sum of £14,403 0s 4d. was voted, and the return of the actual and estimated expenditure shows that £13,759 has or will be expended. I think the Committee will consider that the votes have been adhered to as strictly as possible, and the unauthorised expenditure, which amounts only to £273 18s 4d., is as little as could be expected. It arises on three items only, viz., expenses of election, printing, and expenditure for Provincial Council.

To summarise the results for the year, the receipts amount to £16,290, and the expenditure to £13,759, leaving a balance in the Treasury at the end of the present financial year of about £2,530. This balance will be diminished by the sum of £230 ss. 6d., which will have to be paid over to separate account in terms of the Sheep Act. When this sum is deducted, it will leave a balance of about £2,300 available for appropriation in aid of revenue for the coming year. There are some items of special expenditure to which I will now refer. First, with respect to the education account. Last year £3OO was gisanted from general revenue in aid of the amount expected to "be collected under the Education Act, which was estimated at £BOO, and rent of Educational Reserves, estimated at £193 19s. 6d., making a total fund available for educational purposes for the year of, say, £1,294. I estimate that about that sum will be spent: but owing to the educational rate having realised more than was estimated, and rent for Educational ReBerves producing more than was expected, there will be a balance of about £236 available in aid of next year's expenditure. I will lay on the table a return* of the expenditure for education during the current year, and of the receipts for the same period. Another special item is the expenditure of the funds derived from the toll-gate. It was estimated £1,300 would be received, but only £1,200 has accrued. I will place on the table a return of the receipts and expenditure under this head, from which it will be seen there was an unexpended balance belonging to this fund on the 30th June last, which has raised the receipts for the current year to £1507, which has been, or will be all expended on the 30th of June next, and for the particulars of which I refer you to the return. The next special expenditure to which I bave to call your attention is that under the Loan Acts. When last year I explained the position of this account I led you to believe that when liabilities then existing had been met there would only remain sufficient to erect the light at Napier port, for which £l2O had been set aside. lam glad, however, to be able to inform you that the liabilities proved less than was estimated, whilst a refund on account of charges has been received; so that after spending during the present year £1228, of which about £IOOO has been devoted to Immigration, there still remains a balance of £413, which will be fully absorbed in paying for the passages of immigrants shortly expected. I will lay the return in connection with this subject on the table,

There is another important item of special expenditure which I have to explain about. At the last session of the General Assembly a sum of £50,000 was voted in aid of the Eoad Boards throughout the colony, and of that sum £I2OO was allotted to ETawke's Bay. As you are aware, no Itoad Boards were in existence in this province, and the whole system had to be arranged and started. To effect this, it was necessary that a scheme, defining Road Board districts and distributing the money, should be devised and recommended for the approval of the Governor. Ilad it been possible, I should have asked your advice in the preparation of that scheme, but the busy season of the year precluded any hope of getting the country members of the Council to attend. I, therefore, myself prepared a scheme, and obtained the appioval of the Governor to it, and under that scheme Boad Boards have come into existence throughout the province. I think, on the whole, the scheme I prepared has proved fairly suitable, and has been successfully carried out. J shall asl? your assistance in devising a Scheme for the coming year, and may ad d that, now the system is working, this may he done more easily and more satisfactorily than when there was no ground to start from. The subject is an important one, mi will he more fitly discussed wbe» the

scheme for the coming year comes before you. I may, however, say that I hope to see all the roads of the province, except main lines of road, handed over to the management of the Road Boards. Before I leave the subject of finance as connected with the present year, I am glad to be able to inform you that the long pending question of the apportionment of the Wellington debt has been decided. The correspondence on this subject has been laid before you, and I shall ask you to examine and consider an account, prepared on the basis of Mr. Curtis' award, by the assistant Treasurer in respect of the charge for interest and Sinking Fund, as between this province and the province of Wellington, from the date of separation to March 31st 1871, which shows a balance of £BB2 in favor of this province. The account in question was only received a few days ago, and I have not had time at my disposal since to give to the matter that consideration which it requires. You will agree with me that it is a matter for congratulation that this long vexed question has at last been dceided, and that all parties concerned were fortunate in having the settlement left to one so able and impartial as his Honor Mr. Curtis.

I think that clo?es everything connected with the finance of the present year, and I will now go on to the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the coming year. I will lay on the table an estimate of revenue for the year ending June 30, 1872, which will, I think, be found reliable, and which estimates £11,712 as available for appropriation. This estimate shews a very considerable reduction, as compared with last year, in the amount available for appropriation by the Council, and is caused chiefly by the very large sums voted by the General Assembly, for what are called Provincial Charges, which the Province has to bear, and which, with interest on loans, for which Hawke's Bay is liable, are estimated for the coming year at £15,134, made up as follows: —

Ordinary Provincial Charges £8206 10 0 Interest on Loan, 1856 1620 0 0 Hawke's Bay £60,000 Loan 3600 0 0 Wellington Debt 1707 10 0

I will not now enter into a detailed explanation of the items of estimated Revenue, as that can be better done when the consideration of. these estimates is gone into. I have only further to state that the Estimates of Expenditure for the coming year, amounting in all to £11,572 10s., have beeu framed, after a careful consideration of the wants and means of the province. I shall rely on your assistance in making them as applicable to our requirements and circumstances as possible. As arranged, provision is made for carrying on the ordinary departments of the Provincial Government much as usual, and also for keeping and maintaining the main roads of the province in repair. No funds are available for any other than main lines of road ; but the annual vote of £I2OO, given by the General Assembly in aid of Road Boards, will enable those bodies, in the different districts, to keep their roads in repair, without any great additional call upon the settlers. I now lay on the table the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for the year ending June 30, 1872, and the other statement and returns I have referred to. Papers. His Honor laid on the table the following papers: — 1. Financial statement. g. Comparative statement, shewing the amount of revenue for the year. 3. Comparative statement, shewing sums voted and ."pent, unauthorised expenditure, and unexpended balances. 4. Abstract of expenditure for the past year. 5. Return of receipts and expenditure under the Education Act. 7. Abstract of expenditure under the Loan Act. 8. Estimate of revenue for the year. The estimate of expenditure for the year, he believed, would be ready in a few moments. Progress was reported, and the Committee adjourned to Tuesday next, The Council then adjourned till 3 p.m. to-day.

An accident which shows the danger of wearing long dresses in the street happened in London to a lady on the Holborn viaduct. The sufferer is a Miss Sarah Maray, aged 38, and she resided at No. 63. King-street, Soho square. Her dress was very long, and it came over the kerb while she was walking on the pavement. The result was that the wheel of a waggon caught it, and the lady was drawn underneath the vehicle. Both her thighs were broken, and she was carried to St. Bartholomew's Hospital in a dying state,