Provincial Council.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 356, 2 April 1856, Page 7

Provincial Council.

Thursday, 51 arch '27. The Speaker went to prayers at 5 p.m. Mr. Fi'OKS asked leave to withdraw his motion for an addition to the bye-laws, until a later part of the session. It was not desirabU-, he thought, to make an ex post facto law, and he had no desire to stop the progress of any bill now before the House. Mr. Tancred moved that the Speaker should leave the chair, which being earned, the House went into committee on the schedules of the Public-house Bill, which were all passed. It was resolved that the Chairman should report progress, and the Speaker resumed the chair. The Provincial Secretary desired to invert the order of the day, and would,

move that the House do resolve itself into

a committee of supply. The Speaker then left the chair, and the House went into committee on the estimates. On the grant of £1300 for education, The Protixcial Secretaui' said that last vearthe Council had granted £1000 for this purpose, and in adherence to the education ordinance, the sum had been divided proportionally among1 the different denominations. £370 had been apportioned to Christ church, £370 to Lyttelton, £150 to Akaroa, and £80 to Mr. Aldred, as the head of the dissenters' schools. He must explain why it was proposed to increase the grant to £1300 this year. It had been found necessary to put an end to one or two schools which were not satisfactory last year; but now there were more claimants for grants. The calls of Ivaiapoi for a school were urgent. There was one much called

for at Fapanui ; and the claims of Okain/s Bay were much pressed, seeingl that the province was so much in want of money, he thought it redounded much to their credit that they gave to education the precedence over public works. He had a report from the Archdeacon of Akaroa, as head of the Church Schools, in which he stated the sums required to maintain the schools in an efficient state. In accordance with that report, the apportionment he proposed was as follows: —Gbristchurch, £370 ; Lyttelton, £370 ; Akaroa, £130 ; Papanui, £120 ; Governor's Bay, £25 ; Kaiapoi, £120; to the Dissenters, £80: making altogether £1215. There had been a claim put forth for Riccarton, but as the school was not in existence, and might not be in existence during the current 3'ear, it had been judged expedient to omit Riccarton. He proposed to apportion £50 to Okain's Bay. He was not aware what chauce there was to obtain a qualified master, but the grant would be an encouragement to the residents in that district to provide a school and procure a master. There then remained £25. Last year the province was so fortunate as to possess an inspector of schools in Archdeacon Paul ; but, unfortunately, he had been removed, and the Government had not yet been able to supply his place. They would, however, get the best inspection they could ; and had, therefore, devoted the £25 towards paying the travelling expenses of the inspector of schools. Mr. Bowe.v wouid call the attention of the Council to the case of Riccarton. ■He saw a large grant for Papanui, and thought that if the number of children was to determine the distribution, that Riccarton had a greater claim than Papanui. He would ask for an equal sum ior boih the grants. Mr. Davis complained that the schools at Lyttelton seemed to absorb more money than was requisite, and that the claims of the Peninsula for educational grants seemed to be overlooked. Mr. Hall was sorry that so little had been dune by Government for the inspection of the schools, He considered that good inspection was the soul of the system. He hud hoped to see the reports* of Mr. Paul on the table. He also would speak for the urgency of the case as regards the wants of Iliccartoa. Mr. Ollivikr thought that the fees paid by. the parents of the children were too small. At present he saw they were 9s. a qu-irter. lie thought that if the fees were doubled that the grant in aid in each case might be smaller, and that the amount would then go further. He thought that ■the parents v,ould not object to pay twice the fee, and that seeing the present rate of wages they could afford to dv it. The Piiov, Secretary said in regard to the fees that it had been tried in Lyttelton, and that when the advance was made there was a marked falling off. He thought, t)»ik s~> i'ac the question was

answered, and the principle could not be pushed further. The object in the inspection hi> acknowledged ; all our arrangements were necessarily defective; it was unavoidable in our present position. He hoped that the Government would soon be at leisure to make up their minds to some general system of Education. He was sorry that, the fund for Education was so small, but he was happy to see that its smallness was caused by our poverty, not by our disinclination. The vote of £1,300 then passed. The vote for the Public Works then proceeded in their order on the schedule. £500 was voted for the North Road from | Papauui to the New Ferry. In asking for £1,800 to metal the Ferry Road from the Heathcote Ferry to Christchurch, the Prov. Secretary said—That it had been contemplated by the present contractors that the metalling would have to be done, and they had, therefore, placed the materials in readiness for this. The works would be done much cheaper now that the men and plant; were ail on the spot, and the road would then he made secure before the winter.—The vote was granted. £300 was granted for the Governor's Bay road. On the proposal to gra>.t £200 for the assistance of the prison labour on the Sumner road, from Lyttelton to Gollan's Bay, a discussion ensued, and an amendment was proposed by Mr. Dumpier and seconded by Mr. Blak sxon. that the amount be expended on the improvement of the reads in Lyttelton. The amendment was lost by 7 to 4. On the motion for £2,000 for the Sumner read, the Prov. Secretary said— That there was a large body of men with horses, carts, tools, &■";., assembled on the works, and that they could be done far more economically than if the gang were broken up. He considered that the abandonment of the Sumner road would act in the eyes of the world prejudicially to the character of this Province. The history of the settlement was so mixed up with the history of the Sumner road, that to suspend the works now would be to betray an infirmity of purpose that would tend to lower us as a community in the eyes wf ail the other Colonies. Mr. Ojllivikb objected to the continuance of the works on the road. He had inspected the line of road and was convinced that it would never become a practical carting road. He acknowledged that at one time he had been led astray, but be had now judged for himself, an I he ' would not go on with the works until the ; many other pressing requirements of the i colon)' were satisfied. He hoped the Government would not press this subject in such a thin house. The Prov. Secretary said that he saw no reason not to press the subject, as hon. members had had due notice of the business. He was sorry to see so thin an attendance, but the motion must be put. Mr, Olltvier proposed as an amendment that the vote be refused. The house divided, and the amendment was lost by 7 to 4. The remaining votes were passed and the Speaker resumed the chair. The Committee on Justice was discharged, and the house adjourned. Tuesday, April Ist. The house was in committee on the Roads Bill, which occupied nearly the whole of the sitting.