General Assembly.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 585, 12 June 1858, Page 3

General Assembly.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. I Qar Auckland files are only up to the 14th | jj. m i report on the part of the Legislature, with only one exception, given below, a mere j (.(jgjness of routine; eliciting less of useless ' attd windy debate than wonted. \ On the 4th ult., the following Bills were i a third time, passed, and referred to the ' Toffislative Council :■<— " The Boundaries of ! princes Bill/ " Al*ens Debtors Bill," I (jUgg^amp'ed Instruments Bill," and "Absent defendants Bill." The consideration of the i Foreign Seamen's Bill was postponed. I On the following day (May 5) a long discusi ien took place 6n the motion of Mr. Daldy,—- ---: « that it is desirable this House should, with- ! out further delay, have placed, before it a state- | jnent of the financial policy and, estimates of the proposed expenditure,of the government; also, that it is inexpedient for the House to pro- ! csed with any measures bearing upon the above : subjects until such information has.been communicated to it." •.:■:.. ! The mover complained that they had now ; been upwards, of three- weeks in session and I hitherto had been legislating, completely in the j dark, and he for one must say that; the House I was not being treated with the respect due to ;it The Ministers were not following the usual : course, namely, of obtaining a vote for expen- ! Jiture already incurred, and then Ikying before I the House and the country a statement of their I financial policy, A great number of bills had \ been introduced, which would, if carried, materially affect the financial arrangements bejbveen the General Government and the pro- / pinces, and. in a few weeks the House "might ■ find itself in the position of having authorised iso large, an expenditure $§ would leave it a | very doubtftil question whether the!provinces | might not have to receive one-eighth instead of three-eights of the revenue. They had rejeeived information by drops; but the House had a right to expect full and complete statements. He was glad that the Colonial Treasurer had given notice for a committee of Ways and Means. I Mr. Richmond said that he would notop- ! pose the motion, but he would remind the hon.

member who moved, it that he had overlooked j he fact that the large expenditure ."which he ■eferred to in consequence of the measures inr iroduced by the Government, could only he infeurred by vote of the House, and it was ceritainly advisable that the House should know I what measures they would be expected to legis- ! ate on before going into the question of expenditure. In reference to the supplementary isfcimates, the hon. member urged a personal j excuse for the delay in bringing them forward / ra'account, of his health having recently failed, : i he must at the same time remark that the hon. j pembet for the city (Mr. Daldy) was wrong in \ magining that according to the praetiee of the \ louse of Commons the; ministry should set I 1 forth a statement of their financial policy at i the commencement of .the session ; on the con--1; ;rary the Budget Speech was generally made j ibout the middle of the session. He only |; lesired to see a fuller Hou.se before making the I statement.

I i Mr. Hail wished to know whether the Colo-

lial Treasurer would place the House in possession of the Government's financial policy on Wednesday next. Mr. Richmond replied in the negative. Mr. Hall continued: he heard the reply with regret as he thought it was high time that bhe^ House should be made acquainted-witli the policy of the Ministry in reference-to the financial arrangements between the General Government and the provinces. They could not plead want of time nor could it be supposed that the ministry had made up their minds on the subject, the only conclusion to be come to was that they willfully and with malice aforethought (laughter) withheld the information. The House was called upon to legislate on matters which would involve a large expenditure, and it was quite possible that the House might by legislating on the various measures introduced by the Government find itself committed to a financial policy based on principles of which they did not approve. If the. Government were not prepared to propose estimates, it was not right to legislate in the dark—to pass measures affecting the apportionment of the general and the provincial revenues, without having any information before them as to the relative expenses which would be incurred in the control of departments under the General and Provincial Governments. The honourable, the Colonial Treasurer, had expressed his wish to see a tuller house before bringing forward his financial statement. He might be right not to desire to come to an absolute decision on so important a matter, under such circumtrances, but without taking action in their proposed financial policy might surely afford the House such information as would enable it to discuss and ventilate the question fully. He could not imagine why ministers could not make-up their minds and why they failed to put the House in possession of their views, and enable it to form an. opinion as to what would be the real effect ot the proposed transfers from the Provincial Wrnments to the General Government. I thought that too much retiteneeiliad been exercised by the Government. WL this under present circumstances was altotether^ unnecessary. He could allow for retifcSnSn- V f a Viol6nt ' PerhaPS an un" %pulous opposihon. A government had a Jf'^H ltself gainst attack. But he Hi \ W- aS n. ot the only °™> the har-^fp eiUgrff,at9^with mistrust. He u°afend felt sure that the greater number of \

members knew no more than himself. And this reserve did not merely apply to the session, it applied to the recess likewise. Tho duties of members- were not confined to what took place within the House ; they had to watch over the interests of their constituents continually. He desired not be again misunderstood; he was quite, aware that members were not elected only for; the interests of their own constituents, but for ; those of the %vhole colony; but members had local knowledge, and were supposed to be specially able to supply information concerning the requirements of their own districts. He believed, the Ministry to be capable managers so long as they had strong support. But he somewhat doubted their capacity to keep a weak party together. Where would they be if called upOn to carry on business with a majority of one P why they would be out of office in a week. Although he thought the ministry a good hard working ministry, and although they were defi,cient in tact, he did not know how a better could be formed, But they certainly had created an impression that they held the House in mistrust.

Mr. Stafford said that the hon. member for the city had been, in his oipnion, answered by his colleague, the Colonial Treasurer, and the house had accepted the < plea of indisposition ■which he had assigned as a reason for not placing the estimates of last year on the table. But with regard to an observation which had fallen fram one hon. member, that there was no disposition in that house to oppose the measures of the Ministry, he would say, gratifying as it" was to find; that there was no desire needlessly to impede ministers, still he could not expect the house to be so degraded as to consider themselves bound to come down and register their edicts. But, with the bare quorum at present in (the House, he believed hon. members would see the propriety of postponing the desired statement, Which must inevitably lead to great discussion—possibly to dissension—for on such an important question a motion, involving a totally di fferent financial scheme might be made the day after such statement was brought forward. He (Mr. S.) must add that the ministry were almost overburdened by work. Thirtyfive bills .md returns, containing a.large amount of information had already been sent down, and ministers had been constantly engaged even at their private residences till one or two o'clock in the moftiing with the business of the countiy. In reply to the hon. member for Christchurch Country District, who seemed to think a mystery wag involved in the financial scheme, he would say that it was drawn out on the basis of the policy pointed out by the Constitution Act. The Government proposed to pass first the supplementary estimates for 1157, and the House vfould then be invited to consider the estimates} for the present year. The member for the Bay had complained of needless reticence and had elucidated this reticence, and complained that he had not been taken into the confiidence of ministers during the recess. He would inform that gentleman, however, that no member would be taken into this confidence. They alone wesre responsible for their measures, and would not be consulting here and there. The Government had no desire to propose every measure themselves, though it was their duty i to bring forward the greater number; hon. gentlemen were even invited to assist them in this arduous task. .

Mr. Hall said that he had never accused the Government of want of diligence; on the contrary he fiad complimented them on their application to. the duties of their office. The Colonial Secretary had quite misinterpreted him.

Mr. OiiUVIEB was extremely sorry to hear the remarks which had fallen from the hon. the Colonial Secretary. The tone of his speech was scarcely consistent with the position the Government occupied in that House. Hitherto, there had been perfect confidence placed in them and in their measures. The House had received their statements with the same candour with which they had been made, and looked upon the several bills they had introduced as part and parcel ol? a large scheme of Constitutional Reform, but when time passed on and uo indication was shown of their intention to make their financial, statement, it was not to be wondered at that they sould pause before they continued to allow bill after bill to pass, all more or less involving questions of revenue, until they heard from the Ministry some statement as to their position. No doubt, much of that financial arrangement depended upon the temper of the House to accept or reject their measures. Still the Government, he supposed, had framed their statement, and based their calculations upon their acceptance, and if so then he was at a loss to conceive the necessity for delay. The House had a right to ask that they should be put in possession of this statement. He, like his hon. colleague, was not disposed to go on passing bill after bill, in which he found certain liabilities were cast upon the Provincial Governments without knowing what their financial position was to be. He was there as a representative of the people, charged, it was true, with the interests, of the colony at large; but yet he could not lose sight of the fact that he had a duty devolving upon him of watching over the interests of the province which he, represented. He would ask the honorable gentleman, therefore, from whence were their Provincial Revenues to proceed. The hon. gentleman had taunted the House with indifference to the amount of labor the Ministry had gone through—lie had told them that there. was nothing preventing any hon. member introducing bills into the House for himself—a truism of which they were all well enough iiware; but which stood in their way ? He would merely refer to the notice paper before him. The very first notice there had reference to the Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction, and provision for the judges. What had in-

duced the hon. mover of that notice to place i the matter before the House in the form of a question rather than a bill—simply because he would have been met by the Colonial Treasurer, and properly so, by the objection that there might be financial difficulties in the way, of which" he was ignorant. The hon. gentleman (the Colonial Secretary) had said that they had. adhered to the practice of the House of Commons in this matter; he (Mr. 0.) ventured to think otherwise, and he would quote a passage from May's Practice of the House of Commons in proof of this assertion. The practice seemed to be to submit financial stutements immediately upon the assembling together of the House, the supplementary estimates following at a later period of the session. The House needed not a mere statement of the expenditure to the end of the current financial year, but that to be estimated for the year before them and upon which would be charged the cost of the several matters arising out of the bills now on the table. The withholding of that statement was not reciprocating the confidence the House had reposed in them. It was not a fair imputation to cast upon them th^t advantage might be taken of the position in which they stood to use the majority in the House to produce dissention. He had before borne favourable testimony to their indefatigability and to the value of their measures generally, and it was not likely that he would bind himself to any factious opposition of the kind, but would warn the hon. gentlemen not to be too exacting; there were yet looming in the distance other measures which the House had yet to be made acquainted with, and which would necessarily bring with them consideration of financial policy; there were the bills for the establishment of district courts; there was the native question; of these they had as yet heard nothing. It was necessary to know something of their financial scheme before touching upon these points, and if that scheme was from caprice withheld, the House might be driven to antagonistic position. He did not approve of the system of doling out policy by piecemeal; it was because he wished to see the hon. gentlemen retain the high reputation he had justly earued, and because he did not desire the Government to lay itself open to a norn de guerre such as had distinguished their predecessors thai he should support the motion before the House. They had had a cuff and collar Ministry; they had seen a half-crown Ministry; but he hoped the present Government would not be characterised as the "bit by bit Ministry." At this stage of the discussion, Mr. Daldy asked leave to withdraw his motion, which was granted. The Coroners' Bill, Wool and Oil Securities Bill, and the Foreign Seamen's Bill were passed on the same day. A quorum of members not being present on the 6th, the House adjourned till the 11th ult. On that day, being the last we find reported, the following was all the business done :— Mr. Kichmond informed the House that it was the intention of Ministers to bring forward the financial statement at an early period.

Mr. Staffoed in answer to a question from Mr. Hall informed the House that since the last vessel was chartered for conveying the southern mails three others had received a bonus from Government for the same purpose. • OBDEE OF THE DAY. —THE CENSUS BILL. Mr. Staffobd proposed, and Mr. Hall seconded, the second reading of this bill; and in doing, so Mr. Stafford alluded to the defective character of the statistical statement laid before the House. The bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed. Consideration postponed till next sitting day. A deputation from the Legislative Council brought up the following bills :— " A bill to provide for the payment of costs in proceedings instituted on the part of the Crown."

" A bill to regulate the execution of criminals." Read a first time.

" Sheriff's and Jailer's BilL" Reported with amendments. To be considered next sitting day. " New Zealand Post Office Bill." Committee reported progress. Asked leave to sit again. "Customs Eegulation Bill." Consideration postponed till next sitting day. " Election Writ Bill." Keport to be considered next sitting day.