PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 78, 29 June 1868, Page 157

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

The Council met on Tuesday at 3 p. m. Present—All the; members. A petition from : Mr- Breingan, presented by Mrßufehanan, complaining that by the Government removing certaia fences at Tuketapu; be bad > lost 34 acres of ground;-was read and/received. /Mr McLean then moved the resolution standing in his name-^ That after recent expressions of opinion,-the Government consular that, before proceeding fur-thsr-with the conduct.of Government business, .it is hetossary to ascertain whether- they have the confidence or not of a majority of the Council ; and; with this, view/ move that the Cbuncil liereby expresses its confidence ia the Gpveriiment. - .

:*yrpie said that the Go consideredthatbeforeproceedinglurther : was- absolutely necessary that /. they. should ascertain yjrbdtber/ or ..not /they >really ,/poWessed thd conddence : of the,Council. /Ona recent occasipn .they found themselves 1 iM the miuonty; and tfiougbi all the

Members did not appear to understand the result of their vote; and some bad since;;expressed -their confidence, Ithe j Government considered that; the most i bai&id r/ Pburs6 was to come before 'the Council and ask directly : whether or not they possessed its con/ ■ fidence. .It had b.-en said outside /the ; Council that the Government - were ; seeking an opportunity to escape from the difficulties; of their position ; but he quite disclaimed any such intention, They Bad not.shrunk from their duties in far more perplexing times than the present,’ and it was not likely that they / would now attempt to do They, had conducted the affairs of the Province .with prudencerand economy; they had not wasted the loan, and had hitherto kept the taxgatherer from the door. As, J far as personal feelings were concerned, if it was the wish of. the Council they would be glad to .baud over the reins of Government to members opposite, and were glad that, there were men iu the.house able and willing to hold them. The Government had hot taken this position from pettishness, as had been stated; but simply from a sense of what was due to them; and whether they continued in office or resigned it to others they could look to the past with satisfaction, aud to the future with hope. Mr Buchanan exceedingly regretted that the. Government could not find a member to undertake trie motion before the house ; but had placed themselves in the position of moving a vote of confidence in themselves. He said that all the confidence felt in the Government was in the personal qualities oi the Superintendent, and Ural .it was behind him that the Executive took refuge. He maintained that the Superintendent and Executive were distinct, arid lie would close w ith a resolu tion to that effect. He denied that the Government bad exercised prudence or economy, and said that on the contrary they had spent . every halfpenny of the loan that they could raise, aud asked what they could show’ for it. He would move as aa amendment “ That all the words from ' that’ to the end be struck out, with a view 7 to the insertion of the words this, Council maintains its confidence in the Superintendent.’ ”, The motion was not seconded.

Mr Carlyon spoke strongly on the uueailed-for character of the resolution The Government he said reminded hioi of a baby goiug. to its father and saying, “ Pa, do you love me ?” He had every confidence in the Superintendent ; but none iu the Government as a body.

Mr Tanner strongly regretted the action the Government had taken, and thought they ought to be content with the expressions of confidence, which the Council had.given.. Lieut.-Col. Whitmore hoped the Government would withdraw the motion, as he considered it yery: unfair to independent members. If/the Government had stated at the time that they would stand or fall by the resolution, the vote'at which they took such umbrage would have been different; but it was now too late to interfere. He hoped they would- not force this unwelcome dose down the throats of members. Il they did; and he/voted with them, it would be uuder protest. Mr Ferard agreed with the last speaker that this would press hard upon the Government supporters. He hoped they would withdraw the motißii.

Mr Wood was utterly at a loss to know what the discussion was about; tor he still completely failed to the ■ Government considered themselves offended.

, Mr /Rhodes said that he thought the wording of the vote of confidence was a pure matter of form,; and of very little importance. 5 He did not think the' Government had gone too far. ihey had said that they; could not reduce the estimates one penny more without abolishing. departments, and Council at once referred them to a'-, committee to make further.; reductions.-.! ‘ The -member who had.; moved for that committeeskuew well/that this was : equivalent, to a vote of waht of confidence.

Mr A’Deane proposed* as an amendment, which' he thought would meet tlie difficulties on both:sides- / *

That,' in the resolution of -a select finance committee;. -this Council had no intention, to express ahy want of confidence in tlie Government,

Mr Carlyon opposed the amendment, as having all the objectionable features of the original motion.

Major Lambert said his object in voting for the committee was to give the members a cliance of looking more closely into, the finance of the Pror. vince. He .would defy any member to follow the. statement, of the member for Porangahau, and- he wished to see whether it was possible to carry on the Government for another year, or, if not, what kind of Government would be got in exchange. He thought the Government should not attempt to force any action upon the Council; but be guided by them.

Mr Ormond-■ made a long speech, stating that the Executive now, after the expressions they had heard, only saw more clearly the necessity of pressing the vote. .The member for Waipukurau said he was not able to follow 7 the financial statement. He pitied his capacity, for a schoolboy of ten years old could have followed him. He then denied Mr Buchanan's statements about * the loan, and concluded by saying that it would be wrong * for the Government to go on with the business without ascertaining'whether or not they had the confidence of the Council.

Mr Buchanan and Major Lambert rose in explanation of their remarks, complaining of having been misrepre* sented by Mr Ormond. ,

The Council then adjourned till 7& The Council resumed at. 7„ when Mr Buchanan moved the substitution of the word “ Superintendent ” for “ Government” in the motion. After a long discussion, this was negatived on a division.

Mr A’Doane asked leave to withdraw his amendment, which was not granted, and it was put ah,i negatived. The original motion was then carried on the following division—Ayes, 14, Messrs M‘Lean, Ormond, Rhodes’ Kennedy, Sutton, Wood, A’Deane, Ferard, Lambert, Whitmore, Parsons, Tauner, Dolbel, Locke. Noes, 3, Messrs Buchanan, Weston, Carlyon. A motion by Mr M‘Lean that , the names of Mr Ferard, Tanner, and Parsons should be added to the finance committee, was carried on a division.

A motion'by/Mr Kennedy, approving of tlie Government Buildings Reserve as a site for the telegraph and post-office was carried on a division,' Messrs Buchanan, Wood, and .Tanner alone voting against it. # The debate on Mr Ferard’s resolutions was then resumed aud continued to half past 10 o’clock, when they were* adopted by the Council, and it adjourned to Wednesday, at the .usual Hour.

Ou Wednesday the Council met at 3 p.m., pursuant to adjournment. /Mr Locke moved for reports relating to the excavations in Coote-road; The motion was agreed to. Mr Dolbel moved for leave to bring in a Cart and Cab Act. Leave was granted and the bill read a first time oh .the casting vote of the Speaker. Mr Wood moved that persons might compound for the right of passing through the Toll-gate by paying for every horse, ass, or mule, MB 10s per annum ; for bvery vehicle drawn by one; horse, <£s ; for every vehicle drawn by two horses, M 7 10s. The. my tion was negatived on a division—Messrs Wood, Sutton, Buchanan, and , Whitmore al me voting for it. Mr Buchanan moved for leave to introduce a bill to repeal the'Executive, Acts. A discussion of several hours took place on this motion, which was ultimately negatived on the following division : Ayes (5) : Messrs Buchanan,' Weston, Sutton, Lambert, Tanner. Noes.(loJ : Messrs M'Leau, Rhodes, Kennedy, Ormond, Locke, Ferard, Whitmore, Dolbel, Parsons, A’Deane. . The Loan Appropriation - Amendment and Education Acts were then read a second time, and. the Council adjourned tiii 3 p.m. this day. , Oa Thursday the Council met at 3 The only important /.notice oh the paper was one by his Honor, requesting the opinion /of the Couucil 'as to jwhether.tiie Provincial system could mot be exchanged for a less expensive form/ of local government. The motion was withdrawn in favor of a series of seven resolutions ofa definite character by Mr Buchanan, consideration of which, as involving new matter, was deferred till,Saturday. After arranging that Saturday and to-day should be sitting-days, the Council adjourned.

y. 7 iaet at rthc ■ A. Gomniittee ito frame An eilucaubn bill was appointed. Mr ‘Leap, as bhairman, bro'ugiit lip ihe progress report'of the. finance comi'nitvwbieh was rfead.. ' The ' Council 3th,en went into .committee, of supply, .and the estimates, with-the. exception of one or' two items, 'were considered ‘ and passed. Several reductions were made in -the police, as well as other departments. One boatman was struck off. the harbor estimates, aud one private off the; police, while similar re- ,. Auctions were made in other particu- . ?ars. The Superintendent’s and other salaries were reduced ;by twenty per gent., in conformity with the original of the Government. On'Saturday, after some minor business had been disposed of, the Council, on. the motion of' Mr Buchanan went-into committee on bis resolutions The first was carried on a division, after considerable discussion: the second was negatived, also on a division. On the latter’half of the third being struck out on the motion of Mr Ferard, Mr Buchanan abandoned the resolu tions, as being practically useless. Mr Ferard, in a speech of great length, moved a long series of resolutions. Mr Buchanan moved the previous Question, which was negatived, and the resolutions were accordingly shelved. Mr Carlyon moved that the Council had no confidence in a ministry which comprised the member for Porangahau. This was negatived, and the Council soon after adjourned.