OTAGO.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 163, 18 February 1854, Page 9

OTAGO.

The following1 appointments have been made by His Honor the Superintendent:— James Mac Andrew, and Wm. Henry Gotten, Esqrs., to be Members of the Executive Council. Wm. Henry Cutten, Esq., to he Provincial Secretary. John M'Glashan, Esq., to he Solicitor to the Province, and Provincial Treasurer. I Petek Pjroudfoot, Esq., to be Surveyor of Boads, &c. Pbovincial Council, Jan. 10.—The Executive Bill, after several amendments had been proposed, was read a third time and passed this day. Jan. 22. —Mr. Cutten explained the course the Executive intended to pnrsue. They " did not consider it advisable to give notice of leave to bring in bills until they were prepared with a draft of them. Owing to the difficulties which the late Treasurer experiences in making up his accounts since the 30th Sept., by reason of the length of time which had elapsed between the date of the despatches addressed to him and his receipts of them, the Executive Council were unable to lay before them the Estimates, or to form a correct idea of the funds which would be at their disposal: and as upon this point so much depended, they did not think it advisable to prepare bills until they were in a position to bring the Estimates before the House." Afterwards Mr. Cutten proposed two resolutions to the house; the first, referring to the suspension of the Constitution, the other to the subject of the Waste Lands. We append the more material portions of the resolutions. " ASSEMBLY. "Thatit is an infringement of the rights of New Zealand colonists to deprive them of a General Assembly or to suspend the erection of the Constitution in all its fulness. " LAND. " That it is the opinion of this Council that the administration of waste lands should be in the hands and under the control of the Provincial Government, subject to such general laws as the Assembly, or, until it met, the General Government, might impose. "That, with respect to the Otago Block, the administration should rightfully be in the hands of the Superintendent and Council, as the elected representatives of the Otago settlers." Mr. Gillies proposed the following amendment, which, after some discussion, was negatived by the «asting-vote of the Speaker only:— "The Provincial Council resolve to represent to His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, that it is the earnest desire of this Council that the General Assembly of the colony of New Zealand be convened without delay, so that the provisions of the New Zealand Constitution, Act 15 and 16 Viet., passed 30th June, 1852, may be fully carried out, and the benefits thereby granted to the colony be practically secured. And further resolve, that as some doubts have arisen as to the legality of certain acts of His Excellency the Governor, especially with respflet to the revenue of New Zealand, and the mode in which he has disposed thereof—the Provincial Council of Otago protest that any act or deed done by them in regard thereto, or to the distribution of that portion thereof put into their hands by His Excellency, or with regard to any other matter or thing as to which Shey shall deem it expedient to legislate, shall Dot he held or construed into an approval of, or acquiescence in, any illegal act done by the Governor. " That it is the opinion of this Council that great injury is done to the Province of Otago by the conflicting regulations for the sale of Crown Lands therein, and especially those Re- ■ gulations by which some lands are sold at the jow rates of ss. and 10s. per acre, while other lands contiguous thereto are only open for sale at the rate of 40s. and 60s. per acre. That in

order to the correction of this and other evils, and to secure as far as possible the rights and privileges promised to the present settlers by the terms under which they purchased land and settled in Otago, the whole lands of the Crown in the Province should be placed under the management of the Provincial Government, subject to such general control as the.General Assembly, or, until it is holden, the General Government of New Zealand might exercise. "Further resolved—That a copy of these Resolutions be signed by the Speaker, and delivered to His Honor the Superintendent, and praying him to transmit the same to His Excellency the Governor." Jan. 31.—0n the 2nd reading of the Appropriation Bill, Mr. Gillies moved the following resolution, which was seconded by Mr. Harris : " That previous to making any appropriation of the Revenue of the Province, this Council resolve that it is their opinion that, to prevent doubts which have arisen as to the legality of the conduct of his Excellency the Governor of New-Zealand, especially as to the mode in which he has disposed of the Revenues of the Provinces, and for other good reasons, the General Assembly of New Zealand should have been convened, and at least the permanent distribution of the revenue as well as the adoption of proper regulations with regard to the Waste Lands of the Crown, should be regulated by that Assembly: and therefore this Council protest that any act or deed done, or to be done, by this Council with regard to the disposal of that portion of the revenue placed in their hands by His Excellency the Governor, or with regard to any other matter or thing as to which they shall deem it expedient to legislate, shall ' not be held or construed into an approval of, or acquiescence in, any illegal act done by the Governor." After some discussion this resolution was unanimously adopted by the Council. Considerable debating followed, remarkable only for its personalities—a distinguishing feature in the Provincial Council proceedings. Feb. 2.—Mr.M'Glashan introduced again the subject of the Waste Lands, and after a speech of considerable length, in which he enumerated the popular ideas in favour of cheap land, moved the following resolutions: —"That under the existing regulations for the sale of land within the Province of Otago, including the Otago Block, a grievous injury is being done to the Settlement, and a retardation of its progress occasioned by the conflicting and complicated regulations therein—and more particularly in connection with the high price of land within the block. It is the opinion of this Council that the same regulations for the sale of land should operate within and without the Otago block; and without signifying any opinion as to whether the Council do entirely approve of the Government regulations, they are most anxious that the administration of the Waste Lauds of the Province should be in the hands of the Provincial Council, subject nevertheless to such general control as the General Assembly might deem it necessary to exercise, in order that there may not be any conflicting interests involved. " That the following members be appointed a committee to prepare a petition, in terms of the above resolutions, for presentation to the General Assembly, or in the event of the Assembly not being convened, to His Excellency the Governor, or other officer representing the Governor for the time being, praying that immediate proceedings be taken to carry out the objects of the above resolution; —Messrs. Harris, Gillies, and M'Glashan ; -Mr. M'Glashan, Convener." The result of the debate was not given. Schemes op Taxation. —The revenue of Otago is scarcely sufficient to furnish means for the payment of" the Provincial officers under the new Government. To obtain the necessary funds for the purposes of surveys, immigration, &c, the Editor of the Witness, who may fairly be looked upon as something more than semiofficial, concludes taxation must be resorted to. He says, " Direct taxation we are not accustomed' to; indirect taxation, though apparently less burdensome, is in reality far more expensive, besides the usual source of this kind of impost—the import duty—is already extravagantly high......The only other means of indirect taxation —the sale of the waste lands — 7ias to a great extent been destroyed by the late proceedings of the Government; and public opinion demands a reduction from the original price upon which lands were sold in 0tag0.......The

only source left to us seems to be a local tax. Then comes the question, what is a tax to be levied upon ? and what is to be the amouut of it? We observe that in Nelson they have commenced taxation on land—6d. per acre to be raised upon cultivated, and 3d. upon uncultivated. At a public meeting in the province of Wellington, 4d. and 2ci. were suggested We conceive that we must at least double the Nelson assessment. We must confess it surprises us, after the demand for cheap land in the North, and the cry that it was all for the benefit of the working man, that taxation should have fallen upon land alone, and in Nelson, with this additional peculiarity, that land bought at 5s. —that is, pastoral or supposed pastoral lands —are exempted."— OtagoWitness.