Provincial Council.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 164, 25 February 1854, Page 5

Provincial Council.

THURSDAY, Fun, 10, 1854. Members present —Messrs. Bowen, Damj)ier, ll;i)l, Packer, Rhodes and Tancred. Tlie SjH'jiktM1 in the Chair.

Mr. Tancuei> rose to move the following address to His Honor the Superintendent, statin »• that it had been so worded as to avoid any matters which nii<rlit give rise to a difference of opinion amongst the- members of the House, as the presentation of the Address was more a matter of ceremony than otherwise. '' To His Honor ihe Superintendent of Canterbury. Sin, Wrc, tlie Provincial Council, take the earliest opportunity of acknowledging the address with which you have opened this our second session, and beg to tender you our thanks for the information contained therein. This Council will not fail to give its earliest attention to the various and important measures which your Honor has l)rou«h; under its notice. The very variety and importance of these questions, however, will make it unwise for the Council to s>ive expression, on the present occasion, to any decided opinions, which more careful and deliberate examination might induce them to modify. For the present, this Council wishes to confine itself to subjects upon which no difference of opinion is to be apprehended.

Tliis Council wishes to express, in the first place, how fully it appreciates your Honor's unremitting attention to the interests of the Province, as evinced by the great amount of work which has been done, and the great number of measures which you have elaborated.

The financial position of the Province appears to lie upon the whole a subject of congratulation. The Council still lias to regret that the General Assembly of New Zealand has not only not yet been convened, but also that this event appears to be as distant as ever. This delay in the meeting of the General Assembly has'the injurious effect of preventing ihe Province from dealing satisfactorily with many questions which require an early and permanent settlement. The doubt and uncertainty arising from this state of affairs, is in its opinion a great obstruction to the harmonious working of the Constitution Act, not only in matters affecting the general welfare of the colony at. large, but also, though indirectly, as regards the lcgiolatlun of each particular province. The Council considers it due to itself to put on record this expression of its opinion, because it feels that until the General Assembly shall have clearly defined the system of government to be adopted in the whole colony, the free action of the Provincial legislatures is greatly impeded, and the difficulties in the way of passing Useful measures are proportionately increased. Notwithstanding these difficulties, however, this Council is so fully aware that many questions will admit of no further delay, that it entirely agrees with your Honor in the propriety, and, indeed, in the urgent necessity of holding auother session.

_ Your Honor may rest assured that this Council will give its best and most earnest attention to the measures to be brought before it, so as in as far as it lies in its power, to ensure the peace, order, and good government of the Province."

The address having- been read, it was moved by Mr. Tan ere il and seconded by Mr. Bmven " that the address now read be adopted;" but the motion was almost immediately withdrawn in order that the several clauses might be discussed seriatim.

The House having resolved itself into Committee, Mr. Bo wen in the' chair, the address was then read clause by clause, and adopted without alteration with the following exceptions :-—

On the reading of the 6th clause, on the motion of Mr. Packer, seconded by Mr. Rhodes, the following words were added, after the word " congratulation," " Inasmuch as though we were led to rely on a balance of £300 being paid over to the Provincial Government which on an adjustment of the account proved not to be correct, but left the province to start in delit. Yet such is the buoyant nature of the revenue that after meeting all the expenditure, a.small surplus remains on hand for the material improvement of the colony." On the reading of the Bth clause, a slight

verbal alteration was agreed to on the motion oi Mr. lancied, seconded by Capt. Simeon. The Si'KAKKit having resinned j,; 5 se;lt) j^ Chairman of Committee reported progress. On the motion of Mr. Taucred, a deputation consisting of Messrs. Bowen, Rhodes, and the Speaker, was appointed to wait on his Honor the Superintendent with the address.

After some remarks respecting the investigation of the accounts of the late Canterbury Association by Mr. Tancred, Mr. Hall, "and others, Mr. Tnncrod moved " that a Select Committee, consisting of Messrs. Bealey, Packer, Hall, Hamilton and Tancred, be appointed to examine the accounts of the Canterbury Association and to report thereon, as also upon ths proposal which has been made by the Agent of tlie said Association, and to make any recommendations in reference to this subject which to them may appear proper. The Committee to be at liberty to obtain the assistance of an accountant in the investigation of the accounts, and to have power to examine witnesses and call for papers.'"

Tins motion having been seconded, was put lo the House and carried.

It was then moved by Mr. Tancred "that Mr. Sewell be requested to place the 'accounts of the Association in the hands of the Committee." Mr. Hall wished that Mr. Sewell should be requested to attend the Committee. Mr. Dampier considered this quite unnecessary as the accounts would probably explain themselves, and if not the Committee would by the Standing Orders be able to call in Mr. Sewell as a witness to explain them. The motion was then put to the House and carried. MOTION FOR POST OFFICE RKTtJRNS. Mr. Hall stated that the object of the return was to enable the House to ascertain how far the post office revenue had increased in consequence of the increased accommodation, and in the case of Kaiapoi, to ascertain whether it would be practicable to extend the delivery of letters to that place, feither wholly at the expense of Government or with the assistance of funds subscribed by the settlers of that district. The motion was seconded by Mr. llhodes, and adopted. The Steaker wished to know how the returns were to be obtained, suggesting that the proper course would be to address Heads of Departments, and reminded Mr. Hall that on a jjreviuiia uwnaiun -rrl.o.i n similar retUl'll was required, it was resolved that an address should be presented to his Honor the Superintendent on the subject. Mb. Hall, in reply, stated that lie thought it the duty of the Government to obtain the returns how they could, and that on the occasion referred to,' His Honor thought the matter a good ji'ke, as the address was never presented. Mn, Tancred concurred in Mr. Hall's view of the subject, and at the same time observed that it would be a long time before the return could be made. After a few words in reply from Mr. Hall the conversation then dropped. In reply to a question from the Speaker, Mr. Hall stated that he mint postpone the conditional notice of motion respecting the Ecclesiastical Trust Bill, the select committee appointed to consider the petition not having yet met.

Mr. Packer gave notice of motion for Tuesday for the consideration of the Standing Orders in Committee, the present orders being extremely vague and indefinite. Mr. Packer presented a petition from Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, praying for leave to bring in a bill for the diversion of the public road along the southern boundary of Rural Section No. 6.

The petition having been read by the Clerk, it was resolved, on tlie motion of Mr. Packer, seconded by Mr. Hall, " That ;i select committee, consisting of the following members, viz., Messrs. Bowen, Cass, Hall and Packer, be appointed to consider the petition, and report thereon." Mr. Damvikr hedged to ask whether the (Government had any"'infovmation as to when the Supreme Court would ap,;\in sit in the colony, and whether any correspondence had passed oil the subject. He understood that some difficulty bad arisen with the General Government, as to "a provision for the expenses of the Court, and he thought it very hard that justice should be denied from such a cause. If not strictly

in order in asking the question, he would give notice of it fur an enrly day. Mr. Tancked replied that if Mr. Dampier would give (he usual notice, lie would lie prepared to reply, and that if such questions were asked without due notice, it would often be impossible to furnish the desired information. Jn the present case, however, there was really m> information to give, and no correspondence hud recently passed on the subject. The conversation then dropped. On the motion of Mr. Hall, the house adjourned at a quarter lo s>ix o'clock, until Friday, the 17th at 11 a.m. FRIDAY, Feb. 1?. Members present —Messrs. Cookson, Hamilton, Hall, Rhodes, Dainpier, Packer, Tuncred, and Bowen. The Speaker in the chair. Mr. Taxcued, in proposing resolutions on the enlargement of the council, entered at some length into a discussion of the question. He said that it was felt and admitted on all hands that the present Provincial Council was too small, that this entailed a very great amount of work upon each individual member, and in consequence that it often happened that members were obliged to neglect their private business in order to give their attendance in the Council. Alihough a ;very laudable feeling of public duty had hitherto animated hon. members, still it could not be expected that they should continue permanently to absent themselves from their private business. Besides this, it was evideut that the presentJProvincial Council, which ought to represent every shade and variety of opinion in the Province, contained too small a number of members to answer this purpose, and lastly, even if they did do so, they were too few for a deliberative assembly, the smallness of their number giving them more the character of a board. On the other hand, there were objections in the way of proceeding immediately with any measure of this sort. In the first place, the electoral roll, which, ought to be the basis of any alteration in the representation, afforded very insufficient data to go upon, as it would probably undergo very great changes at the next registration, and therefore the present roll was not to be depended upon. There were two ways in which the Council could be enlarged. First by adding new members for the existing electoral districts, or, secondly, by abolishing the present districts, and forming new ones. The inconveniences of the present syfleui wcie itiicaiiy reir, anu nt.ui:.. s .^^mhota ♦,» the existing districts would only increase the evil. It remained, therefore, to consider the plan of making an entire change in the districts. This seemed the most desirable plan, but the I immediate adoption of it was open to serious objections. He (Mr. Taucred) took it for granted that this would involve a dissolution and re-election of both Council and Superintendent, and it was for the Council to consider whether j at the present moment such an event was desirable. After a long and arduous session, and by means of the utmost diligence on the part of the head of the Government, the wheels of government had only just begun to work smoothly. The system of local self-government had hardly [ as yet taken a firm root, and a dissolution just at present might throw every thing into the state of confusion from which our joint efforts had only just extricated them. It was very desirable that before a dissolution took place, some fixed rules for the management of the business, Loth of this Council and of the Government should be determined upon. This once effected, the accession of new persons to office would be attended with little or no inconvenience ; our successors would find every thing ready to their hands. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, and considering also that an enlargement of the Council, however desirable, was not a matter of pressing and urgent utility, he (Mr. Tancred) should propose the following resolutions: —■

]. " That in the opinion of this Council it is desirable that the number of its members should be increased to not le>s than 24 members."

2. " It is desirable to delay any alterations in existing arrangements until alter the next registration v( electors." Mr. Cooksox seconded the resolution, and said that be fully concurred in the desirability of enlarging the Council, as the constant attendance which the present small number of members occasioned, was too great a task to last very long, and at the same lime he felt that the re-

sponsibility of legislating for the Province was shared by*too small a number. Mr. Dam pier cordially agreed with the mover of the resolutions, so far as regarded the desirability of increasing the number of member?, but disagreed with the second resolution, inasmuch :is it deferred the adoption of the measure to an indefinite lime. He therefore proposed that the resolutions should be considered separately, as while he agreed with the one, he wholly dissented from the other.

Mit. Tanckkd had no objection to the suggestion of the learned member, and would request the Speaker to put the first resolution to the Council. He wished it to be clearly understood, as he had already intimated, that should it appear that, notwithstanding1 the inconveniences which had been pointed out, the Council ■were still of opinion that their body should be enlarged immediately the Government were prepared to introduce a measure to that effect. The resolutions were then put separately and passed. CATTLE TRESPASS BILL. Mb. TaNcrkd moved for leave to introduce a Cattle Trespass Bill. Its provisions were almost identical with the bill of last session, except that in the case of special damages, arbitration was not made compulsory. Leave given. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY OS KOADS. Mr. Taxched must beg the Council to postpone the consideration of this matter as the estimates and specifications had not yet come in. Postponed. FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS. Mr. Taxcred moved a resolution to the effect that the Council approve of His Honor's proposal to consider the Provincial revenue as an advance to be accounted for to the General Assembly. He said that in consequence of the views expressed by this Council last session as to the illegality of the Governors arrangements, the only consistent course seemed to be the one proposed by His Honor. Adopted. Mr. Dampier in pursuance of the notice given yesterday to that effect, begged to ask the Government if any information had been received respecting the next sitting of the Supreme Court, and whether there was any correspondence on the subject which could be laid on the table. Mr. Taxcred- replied that the Government had no information on the subject, and that no recent correspondence had taken place. Mr. Dumpier wished to know whether any cause for the delay bad.beeu assigned. -M-.. -'i-A^uu'iiU replied in the negative. Mr. Hamilton said that no reasons could be ■assigned for the simple reason that the Superintendent could get no reply to his letters. ■Mr. Hall moved for leave to bring in the Ecclesiastical Trusts Bill, the select committee nnpointed fur the consideration of the petition having reported in its favour. The Bill was a private Bill promoted by the attorney and agent of tlie Canterbury Association, for the purpose of conferring corporate powers on the members of the Church of England in the settlement. There were two parties to the Bill—on the one hand the members of the Church of England ; on the other hand, the Canterbury Association, who sought to transfer to them the property which it held for their benefit, received under the powers of its charter, and which it was compelled to devote to ecclesiastical and educational purposes. The members of the Church of .England in the settlement were equally anxious with the Association for the transfer of the property in question. A public meeting had been •held, at which a committee had been appointed to conduct the negotiation, and to this Committee the bill bad been submitted for approval. As mi notice of opposition bad been received from tbe Church Committee, it would only remain for the house to consider whether the bill would affect injuriously the interest of any other parties, or whether it was, in its nature iiijiii-ioiiN to the general welfare of the settlement. There was no need to enquire as to the details of the management of the property, as such details belonged to the internal affairs "of a private religious body, and he was certain that those of hi* constituents who were not of the Church, would disclaim any attempt at such inteneremie as much as they would resist any attempt ;<t regulating the affairs of the reli<r} un " s bodies to which they belong. Mr. HaU'^then briefly enumerated the provisions of the bill nml their several objects. He stated that it would not b«. f ol - U IG Council to enquire into the details o. tuo management of the property, as

the trustees named were the very persons who had been elected on the Church Committee. In the bill which would belaid before the House, the Agent for the Canterbury Association had only made provision for the transfer oi the Church property held by the Association, but it was very desirable that there should be a general chinch trust established, iiud, therefore, when the bill came before committee, several alterations would be proposed for that object, to which the promoters of the bill would make no objection. He «as anxious that it should be clearly understood that this bill did not endow the Church—private contributions did not form Stale endowment.' But as the Church here was free from State patronage, so should she be independent of State control, and he thought this freedom would extend her usefulness and purity of char icter. Mr. Tanckep seconded the motion. Mr. Damimku did not wish to oppose the bill, although some difficulties might arise from granting the powers sought for. At present, no provision had been made for meeting the expenses of private bills, and as the Committee would sit on Monday for the purpose of re-con-sidering the Standing Orders, he would move that the first reading of the bill should be adjourned for a fortnight in order to give time to some arrangements being made on the subjecl. Subsequently, the promoters of the bill having given an undertaking to pay all fees and charges that might be imposed by the Standing Orders when revised, Mr. Dampier withdrew his motion. Leave was then given to bring in the bill. Mr. Hall then brought in the bill, and moved for the first reading on Tuesday next. Mr. Packer brought up the report of the select committee on the petition of Mr. E. G. Wakefield, respecting the diversion of the road along the river Avon, bounding his section No. 6. The report of the Committee was then read by the clerk, and after some conversation as to the proper mode of proceeding in private bills, was ordered to lie on the table. Moved by Mr. Packer, seconded by Mr. Hall, that leave be given to bring the bill in on Tuesday next. The promoters of the bill having given an undertak'ivg to pay all fees that might be imposed by the revised Standing Orders, Mr. Hamilton thought it desirable that a considerable time should elapse between the first and second reading, in order to give pubLeave was then given to bring in the bill next Tuesday. [We have not space for further reports of the Provincial Gouncil this week.]

Bibtiis. —On tlio lO.h install*, the wife of JL Parsons Lee, Esq., of si son.

At Bryndur Favni, near Chvistchuvcli, on the 18tl> instant, the wife of C. Jeffreys, Esq. of a daiiplitfer.

On Friday, tlio 24tli instant, the wife of Capt Simeon, of a son.