Provincial Council.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XII, Issue 720, 1 October 1859, Page 4

Provincial Council.

The Eleventh Session of the Council of the Province of Canterbury was opened on Thursday last, the 29th September, the day appointed by proclamation of tho Superintendent in adjourning the day of meeting from the the 25th of August, to which the Council had been prorogued at the close of last session. In accordance with, the" practice initiated when the Council first met, and maintained ut the opening of each successive session, the members first joined in public worship at the old church, on which occasion the interesting ceremony of consecrating the building was performed by (he Bishop of tho Diocese. The.Yen. Archdeacon of Akaroa, Incumbent, and the Rev. C. Alabaster, assistant Curate of Christchurch, with seven of the clergy of the diocese, assisted in the service. That part of the ceremony which related to the consecration was in exact, conformity with the usual ritual, the details' of which we have given on the occasions of consecrating Avonside and Riccarton Chusches. The Bishop of Christchurch delivered an impressive address upon the occasion, taking for his text the 22nd verse of ', the 21st chapter, of the Book of Revelations. The congregation was' a large one, being almost equal in number to-that usually pre-, sent at a Sunday morning's service; for the accommodation of which number, we may here observe, a new aisle has but lately been added to the church, affording,one hundred additional sittings. After the service a collection was made in aid of the building expenses; and the Holy Sacrament .was administered to a large number of communicants. , It.was a little after one o'clock when the Speaker, attended by about twenty members, arrived in the new Council Chamber. This apartment, now made use of for the first time, is, as far as regards the inside, handsome and comfortable, and decidedly an improvement upon the make-shift chambers which have in sessions gone by served for the accommodation of the legislature. It is of sufficient size for the number of members at present forming the Council, besides allowing space outside the bar, a public gallery and a reporter's gallery, as well as some room behind the speaker's chair for the accommodation of favoured spectators. The roof of the chamber is high, supported on massive arches and handsomely decorated; the walls are pannelled, and the various beauties of which woodwork is susceptible are tastefully brought out. The furniture of the room remains as before, with some small additions and repairs. The most singular feature ;in the room, taken as a whole, is the large window .in the corner, throwing a strong light into one end of the chamber, and forming a recess which does not correspond with any other portion of the room's arrangement, and certainly has the effect of spoiling the symmetry of the apartment. When the Speaker took his seat, the following members were also present:—Messrs. Alport, Bishop, Cass, Cookson, Davis, • Dobbs,. Duncan, Fooks, Hall, Harman, Higgins, Lockhart, Miln, Ollivier, Potts, Rhodes, Thomson, Ward, and Wyatt. All available portions of the room and galleries were crowded with spectators, about 180 being accommodated, not less than 70 of whom were ladies. , , Prayers having been read by the chaplain, the Speaker announced that Mr. George Duncan Lockhart had .been duly elected member for Timaru, and was entitled to take his seat. . His Honor the Superintendent was then announced, and being conducted to the right of the chair, proceeded to deliver the following ADDEESS.

Mr. Speaker, "and Gentlemen of the. Pbovincial Council,— I have to congratulate you to-day on meeting for the first time in a Chamber which is not unworthy of the Legislative Council of the Province, The convenience of the legislature as well as of the whole public service is consulted by the proximity; of the different departments of the Government' within the building in which we are now assembled,' and which is progressing fast towards completion. The business of the session, as heretofore, will comprise the consideration of such matters only as come within the constitutional range of your functions, namely—the framing of such Jaws as are indispensable to the profitable working of local institutions and necessary to promote the highest development,of local material resources. And,as the principles governing the various proposals I have to lay before you are not new to this Council, I trust that you will have but little difficulty in organizing'the several systems; under/which those principles shall be effectively asserted. - In considering some of the measures which I . shall send down for your acceptance, reference must be had to the fact that growth of, wealth"and popu-. lation necessarily bring with them a demand for more perfect orgariizcition, which in its turn inevitably entails increased expenditure, and an enquiry as to how funds to meet that expenditure shall be provided. ■ I shallsubmit to you a bill for the Establishment of Municipal Institutions, which has for its object the better regulation of towns and populous districts ■within the province.

. Your acceptance or rejection of this measure will for the present determine whether the cost of the maintenance of public works within this boundaries of towns shall be charged upon the' common revenues of the province or be mainly provided by the inhabitants of the towns themselves. In the course of your deliberations on this very important matter, I would have you observe that the towns have grown to a magnitude.that! precludes any further postponement of measures to secure, at any rate, the public health. With you now rests the grave, responsibility of , deciding whether the improvements I suggest are actually necessary or not;* and if you decide affirmatively you will then have to weigh the propriety of charging the expense of those improvements , mainly upon those for whose use and benefit they ; are principally intended. . The principles governing most of the other bills that will be brought to your notioe you have in your legislative capacity already affirmed, and I have taken care to submit no business except what I have found during the recess and by previous experience, to deserve immediate attention. " The Waste Lands Regulations," which have ™ ™y Polished pursuant, to the Waste Lands Actol 1854,, are not intended to effect any alter at.on of the waste land system of this province; but as the Waste .Lands Act of 1858 has.not been assented to by Her Majesty, I propose to secure the system at present oh annng in its unaltered shape bj < complying with the Waste.Lands Act of 1854 which is now the general land law of the colony ' By the returns that are.to.be laid before you will the amount of. revenue resulting from the sale of waste lands of the crown during the past financial year, which amount is considerably in excess of the sum I estimated during your last

•I have reason to hope that an increase of land IXSr? 10"6^ % tUe 6XPansion of commerce and growth of population, will bo realised during the current year. But the land sales will neces° sanly very tnuch depend upon, the facilities which may be at the disposal of Government for the pur■pose of opening up the unsold portion of the public estate No capitalist will be found to purchase land at the present rate unless there exists a reasonable prospect of such purohaso being a presently remunerative investment; and although we may calculate on large land sales for the next two or three wars around' tho now settled districts it would bo perfectly idle to propose soiling tueikr ««tlymg knds for merely pastoral occupation

The groat inducement to the useful settler is « present return for tlie money invested. The land; survey maps of the province disclose the fact that a great proportion of the Best land, within a convenient distance of markets itr already gold. 'J^ remainder of the adjacent country will probably find purchasers within the next two years. It w i|| then become absolutely necessary either to stem public works and make other remarkable and i n , convenient retrenchments of Government expend!.* ture, or to supplement a deficient revenue by taxation. Both these evils may he averted for many years by a timely adoption of B omo means of equalising the value of agricultural lands throughout the province, and thia can only, be effected by means of a thoroughly efficient road system. Ordinary cart roads between the places of production and export of agricultural produce, although adapted to the convenient working of farms at short distances from the market, would not (for perfectly obvious reasons) be any great advantage to the agriculturist whose lands lava day's journey or more from the cohsutaera's dep6fc. So soon therefore, as the lands within a comparatively limited area have been sold, it does not appear probable that the demand for agricultural land will continue in quantity sufficient, to supply the proportion which the present proceeds' of land salesbear to the gross Provincial Revenue. It must also be borne in mind that a sufficient quantity of land for agricultural purpose* will be- required by the rapidly increasing popnlation> of, the province, and that this land must Be fcrougbt1 within a reasonable proximity to a paying' market.. Gontem.plating the great'damage that' would* result to tlieprovince either by a diminution of "revenue or-ijh'e-adoption of a paralysing system of'taxation-to supply deficiencies consequent on a falling off in theland sales, I have projected a scheme by-which I conceive it practicable to furnish a thoroughly efficient system of railwaysthroughout tire-most valuable portions of the province, bringing the remotest agricultural lands into practically inexpensive communication with our sea port town, ari&so givingl that immediate guarantee of highly profitable* occupation which is the strongest incentive to purchase waste land, and without which incentive wecannot look for any appreciable proceeds fromthe. sale of widely outlying districts, however excellent; the soil. ' I have not yet received from our English agent the report of the commission appbintedj pursuant to your resolutions of last session, to enquire into, the question of communication between the port and the plains. I shall however cause to be laid' before you copies of all correspondence that hasn transpired on the subject, from which you1 will gather that the commissioners .are in communication with one of the first engineers of the day whose opinions, together with-the report of thecommissioners, I expect to receive by the. next mail. You will also learn that a semi-official communication of mine to our political agent (Mr~ Selfe) has been under the consideration _of the1 commission; and, having thus become a public document, will be placed at your disposal. Before the conclusion of the present session.l hope to receive such information as will enable me to place in your hands a distinct proposition on the subject of railway communication-. Shoujd unexpected delays in the receipt of necessary information from England occur; 1 propose to; call; a special session to be exclusively devoted to: railway matters; . In the meantime 1 shall ask you to confirm the several reserves which I have deemed it necessary to make--for railway lines and sundry other public uses. : ._ In framing the estimates of revenue for thecurrent year, great care has been taken to avoid extravagant and fanciful conjecture; and in each of the items wherein an. increase upon last year's estimates of: revenue may appear, such estimated increase may be safely expected as being the natural effect of patent and positive causesi * I shall during this session ask you to grant me large sums of money, in order to carry out viarious necessary public works, detailed particulars of which have been carefully prepared for your infonnatiou.

, Among the bills to be submitted to you are a number rendered necessary by circumstances already within your knowledge. The nature of these bills are. pretty^ clearly disclosed by their titles, vifc':— A. Diversion of Boads Bill, Cathedral Square Ordinance Amendment Bill, Hagley, Park Mill Site Bill, Lunatic Asylum arid- Gravel Pit Reserves Land Sale Bill, A Public Hospital Bill, Race Course Reserve Bill, and a Loan Ordinance Amendment Bill; by which last the principal of the debentures will be made payable in London, pursuant to ah undertaking by the Provincial Government to that effect.

The very liberal supplies voted last year have been expended conformably to your expressed wishes and with all& possible economy. The greatest diligence has been used to, accomplish the various important and extensive public works in every , quarter of the province, and I am much gratified in being able to announce that the public improvements which you have enabled.me to effect during i the past financial year more than equal in extent the aggregated labours of the province during all the > preceding years of its history. The great additional demand for labour caused by this extraordinary advance rendered it necessary to import operatives in sufficient numbersto secure individual employers against that deprivation of labour which would, in the absence of copious immigration from the mother country, have mischievoiuly interfered with the productive power of the province. The recent Avar in Europe (now happily terminated) during its continuance exerted a depressing infiuence on. colonial trade, and induced a corresponding contraction of money circulation, which combined causes appeared for a very brief season to chill theindustry of the community, and to threaten a curtailment of public as well as private resources. The • announcement of European peace has, however, effected a change in our immediate mercantile pros- ; pects that cannot fail to confirm general confidencein the future expansive capability of Canterbury,, and fully justify its Government in the'maintenance, of a vigorous and enterprising policy. I may here state that since we last met I havecaused to be remitted to London £3500, in further payment of the principal monies due to the late Canterbury Association's Estate, and that deben-

tnres to the amount of £500 presented in the province have been also paid off. You are already aware that the property conveyed to the province by the Association has been so disposed of as to relieve the provincial revenue of any burden in respect of the Canterbury Association's debentures;, so that practically the £30,000 loan raised for emigration purposes is the sole extent of our provincial encumbrances. '

■ The several matters to which I have briefly alluded will constitute the bulk of the business for this session. I have taken measures to furnish you-with all the information available upon every subject you will have po consider. Gentlemen, I have the utmost confidence that the liberality, wisdom, and candour that have always been apparent in your proceedings will be stall cultivated by you as the most cherished characteristics of the representatives.of a spirited and poUte community^ Past legislation has inspired me. with confidence in your judgment and capability* It only remains ithen for us to labour for the advancement of oar country, and endeavour to secure the great advantages which united will to do, good, under God's blessing, is certain to acnomplisb. .1 now dficlaro this Council duly open iw the dispatch of business. .

His Honor then retired, awltW Council pro* ceeded to business.

M» Hall presented a petition from Mr. J. I. Peacock, asking leave to introduce a bill for the extension of his wharf and jetty in Lyttolton liarLour. The petition was received and read by fche clerk. Mr. Thomson presented a petition from the Church Property Trust Body, signed, by the Bishop of Christchurch,.and sealed with the seal of the Corporation, praying for leave to introduce a bill enabling them to sell and otherwise dispose of certain lands included in the trust. This petition was also received and read,by,the clerk. ■ Mr. Olmvikr' then' laid on ,the table of the Council letters received fVoni Mr. Godley, the late, and Mr. Selfe, the present agent of the province in England, acknowledging the receipt of the testimonials forwarded to them by resolution of the Council last session. The letters were read by the clerk [they were published in the 'Lyttelton Times' on the 23rd February last], and on the niotion of Mr. Ollivier, they were oi'clored t& be recorded on thejoUrnala of the House. Mr. Ollivier also laid upon the table,—Copy of a letter addressed by the Superintendent to the English agent on the subject of railways.—Minutes of proceedings before the Railway Commission in England.—Correspondence between the Provincial Government and Dr. Hochstetter. —Despatches from the Colonial Secretary on the subject of 'waste-lands legislation.—-Despatches and correspondence from the Emigration Agent .of the province "in England from June 18i>8 —and other

papers. After notices of motion, involving a large amount of work, the Council adjourned till Tuesday next •at 5 p.m.