Provincial Council.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 82, 8 July 1867, Page 157

Provincial Council.

" a /sjT,TJ!-EStl> AY>',„Sir..JTQ[LX. ;> ..„. y metlt 8 p.m. iv-r •?, ‘the 1 mie&beifo ' except r l^U^Brandl^6lce. r the Government intend to mtoodnce a new. loan act/ Or nmend;the .existing one' of : 1863 to/meetthfe altered .conditions on which thenegotiatio%for.!mqney stands./ - /His HOIfQR/said that' the Government alteration in ts.e/exiatm'g aSthe General Government’s rneasure 'woillci doubtless be of a wider nature, alteration of the Act/unnecessary.

LAND REVENUE AND PUBLIC WORKS. - . ; Lieut.- Col. WHITMORE moved— That this Council is of opinion that a consider-able-proportion of all sums received for land should’be devoted to the construction of roads oif other /permanent improvements, to 'facilitate access to the port from such land/ that no lands to' which no available dray road has been made and which are not accessible by water should be subject to road.rates; that while : the : Council recognises the liability of the land fund to > contribute- toward the expenses, of the necessary main road- and Provincial Establishments and Buildings--in the Town-which are of general utility to the Province, to record its -opinioh 'thai: the sums received for. land in one district should never be used for the improvement oLanother ; which does not lie between it and the capital of the Province; and lastly, that in districts where there, is. no .possibility of constructing a road to the Capital Town, the sums received by-the'land; fuad from such districts should be applied jas J far as .possible so as to afford any facilities of -communication to, settlers that may be .practicable. . —The principles embodiedin ;this motion wePe so clear and just that he fully hoped they would be affirmed by the Provincial Council. He did not think that all the LandT Hevenue~ had~beeu received, and considered that a great deal might yet be done'by careful management in carrying cu^-this principle.'. The last sentence of the. resolution wasperhaps not' sufficiently •definite. ■ It, referred: to. districts on the •coast? such as the one he ,represented, to which it was almost--impossible to make a road, and for which he thought something - ahou d be done in the' way of assistance to steam transport. . " Mr TIFFEN seconded the motion. His HONOR fuliy concurred in the -fairness* and. justice, of the motion, and very likely if a similar measure had been introduced’ last session,-it would have been carried. The principal difficulty now was that, unfortunately,'the province had no land , revenue so, dispose o£ If-there had beeri/ tha Goyeriimeht: would have been; quite prepared to deal in the manner proposed with it. Agreed to..

PAPERS.

His HONOR the .Superintendent laid ■on the table tho following papers Report of Inspector of Slaughter Houses. Report of. Inspector of Sheep for the Northern •District!'' 1 •• Return relative to Lifeboat.

CESSION .OF ,LAND TO GENERAL GOVERNMENT. Mr M‘LEAN moved — TheCouneil having perused the correspondence between. the, Superintendent and the General Government rehrihg tq;the' cession to the latter cf 19,000 acres; of .Provincial • lainls situated at the Mnhia for - purposes', which appear to be for the interest of the coiohy, 'me of opinion that the arrangement'proposed'hy the Superintendent under which the saidT9;ooo acres of land at the Mahia. be. disposed' of. to' the General Government for the sum of £5,700 should‘be carried out, and the 1 Superintendent', to take the steps to complete’ the transaction;' —The General .Government considered the Acquisition of this piece: of .country very desirable; asinthe country, .between Waikarimoana arid Wairoa the re* was a very turbulent tribe kriowhas the ITriweraa, and intermediately between them and the friendly'natives there 'was a tribe whose sympathies were known to be with the TTwiiTtsna, who still existed in the Interior. It was considered very desirable to remove this tribe ito a place where they, would be under the surveillance of some of. the, most , . friendly chiefs in; the’province.* This measure would of course benefit the province,as well'-as' ’ carry out the wishes of /the General Government. The matter had beenijo-far arranged./tbat it; only needed the assent of the Council. He laid on the tablefi; "showing ;’the f position’' and shapeTof;the:bl6’ck:in<iended'to be sold/for the mfonnatibuof members./ a said that from the correspondencewith reference/to this' sub; ject laid pn ;the table,..it] did not' appear thatTth©:'iGeneraf hacl any intention/iof /giving;. money, ; for/thisj laud. £Hp then .read; a letter from the Colonial Becrelt'ary/offeririgtoiexcharigelth'e. Petarie and for . this .block,/at.javaluation, j It did not appear that the/’Cclffnial Secretary had any-ddeaf"of^a^ffi^Wbney( : fbrhthis . did not see how it could/be,considered ; an aseeti- ’Ho thought it more ilikely* an ex« change -Cr twtnsfer.i IHe should like ithis dwcfManiry/ekpibihe'd.- ; '-/’■*!> u« . HilFHi>NGß''Bhid that t subßequently tb . -Ungtqjtt/flhd ‘xutb; an underpaid fim&hejlanch 'andythatonerhalfuof’the f sum shibiihlriit’once/be placed: !againat ; the '. the Gotern-

have lew ira j^tfiMSujr.’theni l to come to janyofcherbonolusionthanfchatanexahemg* wasiproposedjanol’tKat ttie euinmehticm&d feoula pc»t',b,^uldQWfi' ; aß>Ti'ißß^fc' : - : ; r M.v, r : Bp i said' s&s' jfche motion was ail eihraiordinary one.: Lt tempt to set-aside the law byja(resolution. In the Provincial Council in 1865, some resolutions were passedistatingthfe mode and therateaatwhichthia land ; had to .be sold, subject to the legislation'bf 2 ;the General Assembly; •An Actwas passedih! the Assembly);'legalizing these resolutions.' which was reserved for' and received -her Majesty # 8 'as’seriliv. After the. Act hadgone through all these necessary. formalitieadt Was quite absurd for the CoUncilto attempt to set, it aside by,, a resolution. Burely the factß he -had mentioned must Have escaped the notice' : 6f 'the ' Government. In these', resolutions . .the; upset price of the land, was fixed at £Lper..acre, and had jt not been for his opposition it would have been £2. While these' resolutions and the Act of the Assembly were in force they could not part With this lahd.on any different terms to the. Government than to a private individual;' Hie had said When this laud, which they now; proposed to sell at 6s. an acre, was purchased with the money for which the: place was now starving:, that it would be, an .unprofitable speculation, and . his words had been verified. He. did not oppose the sale of . the land at this price, -because he thought it Was not Worth more ; but he decidedly objected to the resolution in its present form. ' ! | Mr OHMOND said the action the member had spoken of was the precise, one the Government intended to take. As to the unproductiveness of thie lands . in- the northern district of the province,, he could say that, .for the last two years it had brought large sums of money into the Treasury, and that the province would shortly, derive a yearly income from it from land leased as runs. The hoh. gentleman should wait till the return which had . been called for with reference to the Land : Revenue and Public Works, to Bee how. unproductive that land was! Lieut. - Col. WHITMORE said that he had just beard that the Act with reference to leasing, these lands was not proclaimed. On Tuesday he had been informed,- in answer to a question, that nearly all the preliminary steps had been taken, and that the land would be ready for lease in five or six weeks. He wished this discrepancy explained. Mr OSMOND said ..the Government were in error in stating that tne Act was in force, hut they had been certainly under the impression that it; was. When he and his colleague, theSupermtenctent, had been in 'the Assembly' the last time, they : had heard a despatch read, giving her Majesty’* assent to the Act, and naturally believed that it had been proclaimed immediately after. In looking over the Gazette, how ever, to find the date of the proclamation, they found, that the Act had never been proclaimed at all. The mistake was one it was very easy to fall into. Mr TANNER moved an amendment to the bill, adding an additional sentence. —He did uot propose this alteration in a spirit of opposition. He. trusted that it would-meet the approval of the Government.

Mr WESTON seconded the amend merit. 1 ’ * '

Mr'RXJCHANAN cordially agreed Jwith the amendment. . He .was .quite willing-!to assent to the proposed reduction in: the price of the land from £1 to 6s.”per:acre, and thought that it should ~be. made general.. There wa3 .no.,reason-why the land in the northern district of the province should be charged format a higher rate than that in the .southern,, or that the. public should have to p'ay more for it:'than the General Government. The Government had taken credit for the high price a email portion of this; land .had'‘brought, but it was sold under textraordiriaiy circumctances, and after: a'course, of ;’ unexampledßhd costly puffery.. The action of the" Government.ln {wgalrd. to ; these lands ;had coctfibuted yerygreatly to the existing depression. . / -...•;• , Lieut.-Col. WHITMORE could not at all agree with the last'speaker,! that after the : present inhabitants of Wairoa ’• had 1 paid at the rate 1 of £ l per acre, for their land] tho price should be] ,reduced/to 6s! It wohld! he Very hard for them/after.payiug .so ,high j.a. price for their-land, to have its vklue reduced to less than , a third iol what they had given. The amended motion was then passed.

, CETANE BEACH ROAD., ' Mr PARSONS asked—Whether' it is the intention of the Government to make* about one mile* and a half of the road leading ifroin Napier to Tetane commonly called the road, t'i- / -V Vr * ■■ ii-Theppart of the If6ad. : refenred'.th .was only! ut.,hwo^! miles froin Napierand ( in. a iiigrnceful state. .. It was the .only road from Napier. to,- the., northern' districts:of the proviueCj find the.,,Beltlers in tbose districts Were greatly inconvenienced -by ! J '"-' -j - His HONOR said that; to do justice to the 'roadi tvould eritail an enornipus' experise/,Up?h,.the province, iyas'!fi|iiy ■:ft-vrird/pf theampqrtanqe of I'le. Voad, bat,' was, entirely!’a question aud hd ingf^pat je&FfoiWaEd wpuld Ei be t,i wlieri‘ : thiar' question df Pablie Works arid Improvements was , -befiw/tbiripomßutteA-'.,

tow - BOAS® bsu»

i Mr SUTTON; in. tbie absence of Mr Lockoj moved— '■'[ - t.*. •<'.’/ »>: •■,£•>'.•' i • >! i ttrS Committee «uch Committee' to ‘consist of Meterii Sutton, y(o od,, Iryine;, and. the : mover.'' > 7~ln 'reply to the SPEAKER, ■< Mr. .Sutton Aaxdiitbat *he had -not the authority of Mr Locke, and ultimately gave notice that he would move it. to-morrow.

' 1 . 5 IHIBTLEBM.. Mr TIFFBN moved—. The second reading of the Thistle Act.

j Mr WOOD seconded the motion. Mr CARLYON'said that he was not prepared to object to the principle of the bill, though his constituents were opposed to it in toto, but in its present form he should decidedly oppose it. There was something so extraordinary in the constraction, and such wonderful ingenuity displayed in the language of the bill, that it was a.perfect puzzle. There was, however, one. clause in the bill which was property and grammatically expressed, and in the terms usual iu bills—a clause to which he had no objection to offer, —and that was the 12tb (laughter.) He did not see anything humorous in it* The title of the bill was repeated in the preamble, which was unnecessary. In the first clause it was said, “ The Superintendent shall, by proclamation, declare this Act,” but it did not say where or in' what manner the proclamation should be made. In the second clause it spoke of “ the owners of the owners or! occupiers'of laud." Now there should be a distinct interpretation of the term “ owners or occupiers.’* It might mean owners in fee simple, leaseholders, householders, or others. There was no such term.known in law as “owners of land,” and its ambiguity would lead to almost endless litigation. In the same clause he read, “ Always provided that the operation of this Act shall extend to a distance of five chains beyond such proclaimed boundaries. The term “ provided always ” was only used in qualification of the previous matter, and it was altogether incorrect to use it in the case of an extension of the meaning. In clause 3 there was a penalty provided for “ any person who shall neglect to eradicate or destroy any noxious thistles growing upon land in his occupation. This was repeated in clause 6. "Why could not the penalties have all been placed together. In clause 8 the appointment of Inspectors of Thistles was provided for, but it did not state by whom they were to be paid. They should be paid by the persons for whose benefit the Act was drawn up. The sheep-owners paid the Inspectors of^heepy-and.it was only right that they should. This was a vital principle, and Drovision should be made in the clause as to.how the Inspectors should be paid. He decidedly objected to clause 7, which provided—lf you can’t catch an absentee, let the Inspector destroy his thistles, and pay the expense out of the ordinary revenue. " He (Mr 0.) would go to England to-morrow if the Government would pay alibis expenses out of the ordinary ■ revenue. • Who was to give the Superintendent power to use the ordinary revenue .in this manner?., He" would not move an amendment, as he had personally no objection to the principle of the bill. His constituents were opposed to it, and he objected specially to the three items which made it possible that the conditions of the billjmight be indicted on them. - Mr TANNER would go farther than the member who had just spoken. He objected entirely ,t«i’the’principle of the bill. He did loot think it would pass the, Council, andjhoped they would not pass any Thistle Bill; -; Some people considered the bill was brought forward rather too late, but he had'no hesitation in saying that any n umber ;of Acts or any-number of penalties would not. have arrested the progress of the’ thistle. "This was sufficiently evidenced by the manner in which they had over-ruin the country.- Wairarapa was the first place where they ’were noticed in any considerable! quantity, and from thence they had rraveiled alung the coast till they had gone right through this Province.' They might set a boundary—a kind of . Rubicon—over which the thistles were not to pass, but they could not by. auy means -prevent the seeds flying over their boundary. If the Act' had passed the Council fiveyears ago, it would..by this'time , have been-found to be inoperative. In the bill.now before the house he could not understand the Ist and 2nd ‘clauses taken ini connection with each other. The Ist provided that the Act should be declared: by ; the .Superintendent to . come in force within particular districts, while the r 2nd made a permissive,, bill of it. •He’ objected to clause T,. which made it obligatory on ceirtaiiv districts vri£Up'us : %liS! : 2^^fit' : .of-theKßidini&;-' : 'The penalties provided by /claused -.extended from! 5s to 80s pair* iday; tbit" thirties were permitted~ta'grow on any land! . When the largejaiea of land covered 1 with thistles’ in the Provides was tak&ii iu'tO'bdhsideratiori, it would be seen how lmpracticable this/prbpbsiticm was.'-- Its first £fiect wb.iild' be entirely to prevent occupation or subdision of land; 1 ' l A in'ah might-wish tb take a block of landfor a small farm j rhe would not' be or cultivate it all the fi™t ; year j^would! not the . penalty . of 80s. adaysap bis' very means ? (Hear,"hear.) dmall'%rmeirs wbuld beiyery : of'taking with me Atli - person i whose land adjoined a road or river bed should Idea

vras should be tlie lrjßpeotSj'jsj auiy.'Fbr they shouldhave a good^;useful .working man,, who-would bccupyhiatitne in eradicating; andriiot io riding aboutjblte, country.to-lay informations. It was certainly ttijj pst that land adjoined,a I’iyer bed shouldbe forced to. keepit .clear, yvhilehis frientf behind him, who derived equal; benefit., from .the operations, should’/share neither trouble 'nor .expense. ; As the.bill now stood, a man’s entire, energies might have to be devoted to the task of olearing aii extensile river bed adjoining his farm. The Bill did . not state by whom the Inspector should be paid, but his friend who had last spoken had referred to that point. By the clause providing that the cost of clearing absentees’ land should be borne by the ordinary revenue, the Superintendent wpa rendered liable for any amount of expense. The Council would certainly never sanction this. An absentee’s block, of about 40 acres, well covered with thistles, might very probably remain unoccupied for several years. By that time the debt incurred by the yearly process of clearing would have become so enormous as to far exceed the value of the land, which might then remain for ever unclaimed and unoccupied. Again, the expense which the Government rendered itself liable to by the 9th clause was/perfectly preposterous. The waste lands of the Crown, and public re|serves within proclaimed districts,, were to |be cleared from money appropriated by the Provincial Council. He would refer to the Pukahu Block, wiiiek came within the meaning of the clause, and which was covered with thistles. The Council would never find the Government adequate means to keep this block clear. He would suggest that the distinction made, between agricultural and unagricultural land being so ambiguous, should be altered to cultivated and uncultivated lands. There were uncultivated, agricultural lands on the plains where it wus impossible to destroy thistles, they being subjected to a terrific influence from the adjoining hills. Any traveller by the Te Aute road must have seen the ground covered with the down, and seen it flying like a snow-storm over the country. He | had heard practicaltmen say that the best ieradicator of thistles was English grass. It choked them, and grew all the more luxuriantly where they had been. In Wairarapa and; Auckland there were magnificent pasture grounds in parts of the country! which at no very distant period had been covered with thistles—these having been driven back into smallisolatedpatches. He would draw attention to a letter by Mr j Nairn, a. man who was qualified to judge, in one of the local papers, in which he stated his belief that the thistle will very soon die out, leaving the ground in a better and richer condition than it found it. He considered that no boundaries should be fixed by the Government, but left to the inhabitants of proclaimed districts. He would not pledge himself to support the amendment he had proposed, as, if any member should propose, that the bill be done away with altogether, he would support that in preference. . Mr WOOD said that, having something to do with the bill—he could not say with, the framing of it, for it was almost entirely taken from the Canterbury Act—he mightmake a few remarks on the subject. The inhabitants of Havelock, his constituents, had told him that their cultivated lands were continually becoming overgrown with thistles from the lands of absentees, and were strongly in favor of such a bill as the present. The same was the case at Meanee. He was present at a large meeting of the electors of Meanee some time ago, at which several of the present members attended, and the feeling of the meeting was strongly in favor of a Thistle Act. Ho and his colleague who had brought forward the Act were perfectly open to receive any suggestion which might be made for the improvement of the Act. He was quite ready to strike out the 7th clause if it was objected to ; it was one which had been copied from the Canterbury Act. He had some thoughts of referring the matter to a select commit-, tee, and was quite willing to follow the! wishes of the Council in any particular.

Mr ORMOND said the Government took noactioh in regard to this matter. Personally he would, be glad to-support a bill likely to be of a permanent character.

’’iLieut.-Col. WHITMORE had attended the meeting of. settlers spoken of by the member for Havelock. The meeting strongly expressed its opinion in favor of a. Thistle. ,He should like to know how native land would ■ be dealt with. It would be very unfair that: A on one side of the river should have to keep his land froe from thistles because he happened,unfortunately to be a .European aud a British subject, while his neighbour B,:on the other side, may cultivate-as many as he likea. aud allow their seed to blow over on A’edand. Re would support any;Thistle Bill thkt had the consent, of thoGouncil. They, had been told that Thistle Bills, had always failed: j but.he believed .they had;never had a fair trial.; He could not support the amendment! to alter. ‘Vagricultural” to V cultivated.” jit would be a premium to gentlemen -who held large, blocks, of. good land for speculation and mot use. : . He did not bahey.o that. thistlea improved the soih , They must exhaust it.: He had read somewhore recently that-thistleshad committed'dread-, fill-ravages in South.America,over-running the.country andimpov.erislungthe s’oil.’to snoh an -extentjthah grow ;upon it.*” A member Bad said that efforts to arrest its progress were fruitless from the distance the seed* blew. If that

ilownse+wpuld find'that not on# in a bua» jlred carried# peed.” !.-• ,<j •»,•«-; -o,*: ; Major said that agreatdeajt, had! spid'fWith. .reference,:to,thia Affc which slipuld haTe .bfien deferred-till it was, considered ■in committee, and he did notthink the lose any . more time at present in;considering this subject, there were two classes'of, Oarmeradnu this Province—the- one who was simply' the small farmer, and the other who was also an agriculturist. He noticed that, the latter—the man who understood his work >

cared nothing for the thistle. He might name one with whom he had, had some conversation on the subject, and who Had taken the same view; of the case,— Mr Knox, who was. a practical man, and could be relied on ; and he was not the only one He understood that his Honor had com* rnunicated with the Tasmanian Go vernment on the subject, and.ho should like .to kuocr the result of these enquiries., Several, additional amendments were moved and seconded —“that the bill he read this day six months,” &0., hut they were not put. ■ ; His HO NOB said he bad heard that many years ago the colony of Tasmania was so over-run with thistles that the inhabitants contemplatedabandoning.it. He therefore sent to the Government for their Thistle Act and reports of their inspectors, and received for reply that there had been neithor acts nor reports for 20 years. The South Australian Government sent two copies of their Act, and the New South Wales Act, he believed, was on its way. Mr CAKLYON said that the Government might have sent to Wellington for information, as they'had had two or three acts and inspectors, and of one of the latter it was observed that there were more this* ties growing on his land than on that of anyone else (laughter.) After a few remarks from Messrs, Whitmore and Tanner,— Mr WOOD moved as an amendment,—

That the Bill be referred to a select committee.

Major LAMBERT did not think the Council knew enough about the subject to legislate upon it. The bill was evidently got up by a man who never understood anything about the subject. Mr TIFFEN said it had been observed

that he was lukewarm. He admitted that he was. At the meeting at Meanee which 0 he attended public Idling was strongly in favor of a Thistle Apt,' but he found that many practical men who spoke in favor of it then had since had occasion to alter their minds, considering it a hopeless case. Mr WOOD’S amendment, was then put

and agreed to j and, it being a quarter to six o’clock, the Council, on the motion of Mr M'LEAN, adjourned till seven.

The Council met again at 7 o’clock. The business before the .Council was the second reading of the Cattle Trespass and Impounding Bill and Fencing Bill, both brought bn by Mr CARLYON. • The first of these passed, the second reading, and the second,. on the motion of Mr CARLYON, was referred to a select committee, .. consisting of Messrs Ormond, Tiffen, Barsons, Lambert, and the mover j the report of the committee to be brought up this day. The Council went into committee. proforma on the former bill, the.Chairmaa - ; repo.tad progress; to the. Speaker, and the. . . bouse adjourned on the motion of Major Lambert, at B*ls p.m. ...

WEDNESDAY, 3ed JULY.

The Council met at 3 p.m.. Present,— The Speaker and' all the members. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

NUHAKA BLOCK.

Mr BUCHANAN moved— That therehe laid on. the table, of. this Council a copy of the correspondence, (if any) with th* Aii»ir|nnd Government relative to the recovery from it of the value of .the Nuhaka Block, lying; within the bounds of that Province, and referred to as an available asset in the paper accompanying' his Honor’s opening address. . —This land was included in the statement laid on the t-ible ah au amount iik'ely.to be realised by the . 30th ' A return 1 stated this block to consist of 110,000 acres, and it bad : cost ! the Province £3,600. There had bpen no sales of this land,; and the Province had been lying out of its money invested in the Province of Auckland—another investment of questionable expediency, and no doubt one of the causes of. the. present pressure. - Mr M‘LEAN said that the estimate re* ~"' ferred to was made previous to the survey . of . the land, and that the real extent of the. block was 100,000 acres. It was altogether a mistake to say that nneoof the . land had been sold, as the Government had already realised £3,000 by it., A. small] portion of .the block, consisting of 10,000 acres, was within the'. Province of] Hawke’s Hay. The portion] of.V the; block' within the Province of Auckland ]had been the subject of negotiation between the Superintendent of that Province and himself, and he how laid.the . correspondence on tho table. Hohad also entered into an. understanding with several members of the Auckland .ExecutiyeCon. .. this, subject,—they considering that tho . . rate offered was a very reasonablebne;r'S<> ; ' far from the ipurcha&e being„an qne,iew;had:haen more j:eprddpotive,mhd.;vi«»j there Was no. laud in the Province better fitted for the requirements of aaagrioulv turalpopulation r

RECEIPTS and exp^otittob. Mr BTJGBLAiNAN -| gj&V*'/ That a Committee be the Abstracts of "Receipts ana BspehdituftrKid. before the Council by the Speaker on the I:27th' ultimo, with power to call foripersoflraiid the said Commi tteejr consist of Messrs • Tanner, Lambert, ■ Parsons, Wood; 1 and~the mover;- “V,-

—This -duty was ordinarily throughout New Zealand 'an anilual one, but' in'fiiis Proyince-it had been neglected for the last three years. It was not his . intention to deal with the past, but as the accounts'd'f the past year had just come , before the Council, be considered it was their duty to deal with'them a regular manner. H' had made the selection of members to the best of his judgement, and the reason ho names of members of Government were, mentioned was that it was not usual to include them in committees of this kind, as they virtually satin review of the proceedings of Government during the year, If any member had any objection to being in the Committee he would remove his name, as he had made no pre-arrangemen with members in this matter. Mr M‘LEAN seconded the motion.

Mr WOOD had no wish to evade any of his duties as a member, but he ligpuld euggest that for his name there shom<f : be substituted that of a member who had not, as, he had, been in receipt,of money from the treasury during the'course of the year. Mr BUCHANAN substituted'the name of ,Mr Dolbel, and added—" Report to be brought up on the 10th July.” '' The motion was put and agreed to! •

REGULATION OF CEMETERIES.

Mr TIFFEN asked his Honor the Superintendent—

Whether it is the intention, of the Government to introduce this session an Act for the regulation of public cemeteries.

>—No one could visit the cemetery in its present condition without seeing the neseessity of such a measure.as he had proposed. The cemetery had been a standing disgrace to the Province during the last two years. The Act would need to he- a very short one—simply appointing Trustees. His HONOR said that the Government would bo very happy to introduce such aD Act. He thanked the member for the Country Districts for drawing the attention of the Government to the matter, as he believed such a measure was very desirable.'

.Mr CARLTON thought the proper course to have been adopted by the member for the-Country Districts would have been to have prepared such a bill, and moved for leave to introduce it. He did libt'see why all the measures should hare to be introduced by- the Government. His HONOR said that the' tinfe of 'th’e Government at present was Very fullyidceupied, and if the mover had no objection to prepare the bill, he should have the assistance of the Provincial Solicitor.

• Mr TJFFEN gave notice ofliis intention to bring in such a bill.

LAUD FOR THE COLONIAL DEFENCE FORCE. Mr TIFFEN asked his Honor the Superintendent— What steps have been taken towards putting the members of the late Colonial Defence Corps in possession of their land.

—He was aware that the matter related to the General Government, and put the question, though with some diffidence, to £is Honor as General Government Agent. His HONOR said that very positive instructions had been lately received bj all the. General Government officers, which would entirely preclude him from giving fie information desired. He could there fore,-state nothing positive on: the, subject, but believedthe men.would get their land on the settlement of the land question at Poverty Bay.

COACH COMMUNICATION WITH WELLINGTON.

Mr TIFFEN asked. his Honor the Superintendent—

Whether any correspondence has passed between the Provincial Government of Wellington and that pf Hawke’s-Bay relative to the offer of Mr Peters, pgent of Messrs Cobb & Co., to run a line of poaches between Napier, add Welling'.on.

I —He put this question because he had heard it commonly reported that the Wellington Government were willing to pay a large-subsidy for the establishment.of this lino. ' ’ *

His HONOR said that the whole correspondence on this subject consisted of a letter'"of recommendation from his Honor the Superintendent of "Wellington, which ppoke of the great advantage to be derived from this line of eomr§unication. Since then he had had a" personal interview with Pr Featherston on the subject, but nothing specific-had been said. In connection with this subject He could state .that a very large portion of the road in the Wellington Province would , have to be finished before It could be made available for coach traffic.

SHEEP AND SGAR AMENDMENT,

Mr ORMOND moved-r • For feaye to bring in a bill to-amend the ' t exist fog Sheep and Scab Acts. ■ "'" ' ’

***-The .‘object of this bill was that sheep,dri. yen through ah infected district should be* deemed infected, and come! within the meaning of the existing Act, * Leaye being granted, the bill was introduced. read a first time, and ordered to .be printed- The second reading was nndei an order of the day for Friday.,

IMMIGRANTS’ .p^OMJSSORXNOTES,

Mr WESTON moved—

_ That tlierehe laid-pn the table of this Council a Jist pf overdue Immigrants’ guaranteedproujissory fo)tes, showing the data of thesame,the names of the makers,by: wjiojn guaranteed,. and .the amonnt each noli respgctiygly represshts, , object, was. to plappthe house in posimmjL&iufwmtion u to .tow mwh the

P likely to ■< from this L&urce. As/it:* was : a.'delicate ’subject ho would" mike !no i fui|ther remarks.'• J v. His HQ NOR said' no- good ‘result could be obtained* by publishing a return of this :i Aa„a general rulo the immigrants P a id‘ very regularly the amouutv of their notes; a,hd it was the intention 3f the 1 Government to insist upon regularity .in this hiatter, as they believed these people Were in a' position to; afford!'it'. He hoped this statement would' satisfy the member for Wairaarama, as it was, as he'had said, e very delicate subject. It would be a great annoyance to the friends .of the immigrants, and would in no way facilitate payment. > " 1 ■ 1 ' Mr WESTON had hot wished the return to be printed, but only to be laid on the table/that members might- know whether the balance was a substantive dr merely a figurative one. Witli the permission of the Council, he withdrew his motion.

PROTECTION OE THE SPIT,

Major LAMBERT moved— ‘

That the Government he requested to inform the Council whether the expense incurred by the works now going on for the protection of the Spit is defrayed by the Province or by the owners (in all in part) of property in that locality.

—The subject he had referred to was an old sore. They had got rid of the Huntress, and now they had got the Spit to take care of.. He .wished to know what had been done at the Spit, and how much of it had been done by Government money, and to ■prevent the expenditure, of money at the Spit or anywhere else unsanctioned by the Council. From the report of Mr Balfour he found that the disappearance of the Spit, if it was taking place, was by a very slow process, and that it was oaused by the action of Nature being destroyed by the merchants there taking away'the large stones which formed the natnral protection. He thought the Council had had enough to do with Harbor Improvements, but now it seemed that they were going to have the harbor again. He had Been the harbor recently, and instead of being in the shape of an “iron pot,” as it once was, it had been converted by these improvements into' a narrow channel. The persons on the Spit who removed the stones had themselves entirely to blame for the result. He remembered when an eminent firm on the Spit resisted the piling of the harbor in front of their store, as it would destroy their water frontage. He thought the most the Government should have done would have been to employ convict labor and made those people pay for it, and this would have beau a great concession The merchants on the Spit were-of no rea: advantage to the Province. The real pioneers of the place—country settlers—men like Mr Gollan, like every other army, had their camp followers, and it was for their benefit that these improvements had been made. [Laughter.J Every one knew that camp followers were not the most respectable portion of an army, but yet they generally came iu for a share of die good things.

Mr CARLTON seconded the motion. He did not oppose the improvements at the Spit, but the owners of iand there had removed wliat Nature had placed there for their protection, and they ought- to make it good. He understood from Mr Balfour’s report that the houses should have beeu built two feet higher. This he understood, was strictly a private matter, and it was iiot fair to "the Province that the Government should have to pay it. His HONOR said that after the high floods he received a letter signed by ail the, merchants, which he read. [The letter stated that during'the flood the stores and property of the merchants were in imminent danger and urgently requested the Government to take steps to prevent the encroachments of the. sea. 3 In reply he proposed that the Government,should, take measures to protect the Spit, on condition that the gentlemen signing the letter should pay oue-lialf of the expense, which, would not be likely to exced £lO3. Ii was quite necessary that in a case of emergency like this tlie Superintendent should have the requisite power to act. Operations were then commenced, and, according to the advice of Mr Balfour, the old boilers of the Huntress were placed on the beach, and large quantities of large stones were also put there.; all the carts returning empty from town being engaged to carry them. With regard to wh at had been said about the Spit he considered, it necessary for the welfare of the inland settlers. The best advice had been taken upon the pubject of improvements Of the Harbor, and although the expense incurred in Harbor works had been great, and the result unfortunate, it could not be considered wholly unproductive. : Major LAMBERT considerd the letter just read, to place the affair in a worse light than it was before. - The letter entirely referred to private property.; there was not even a reference; to- the public buildings on the Spit. He did not see why a poor Government should'bear . half the expense of-protecting the property of when they :were .-so well able ;to do it- themselves. ’ It was a .similar ease to that of the Papakura settlers* who * had-; received no relief, and he felt bound, on belndf of his" constituents, to oppose the action the Government had taken. •

■- Mr CARLTON said his views were altered, by. his Honor’s, "explanation. He thought some very extravagant sum had been spent, but- when he found-how small it was, he thought' it was no credit to the merchants that they should ask the Government for so paltry a sum as £SO when they could-afford £50,000. ' Mr ORMOND .saichthe'merchants could not have been allowed |o tafce any action

ixi the protection, of their, property/as their pperations might injure!; the harbor. The works must necessarily have been under the supervision of-jhe,Government.": With regard to the hat^bei s / he thought that as a province, the only estuary for receipt and discharge of goods should be kept open.

► TOWN BOARD.

(Mr SUTTjQN moved—

‘ Por a Committe to frame a Town-. Board' Act: such Comyiittee _tp- consist*, of Messrs .Kennedy, Locke,, Wocid,' Irvine, and the mover.

Mr LOGKE seconded the motion. ' He was very, sorry that an. attempt had been made to Bet the town against the country again. ! CATTLE TRESPASS AND IMPOUNDING -RTT.T..

On the motion of Mr CARLTON the Council went into Committee on -this bill, after passing which, the Council adjourned till Thursday. 1