New Zealand Parliament

Marlborough Express, Volume III, Issue 144, 14 November 1868, Page 4

New Zealand Parliament

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

The Resident Magistrate , Blenheim.

On October 30th, in Committee of Sup ply,; upon the department of Law and Justice 1 cpmihg under :di-;cnsai6n, the sum of' X£2,257 10a., : was proposed as provin!<nal'Charges. ’’ 1 ■ '■ ; ; Major Atkinson moved that this amount be reduced by.: £3oojii being l the sum ! set down for the Resident Magistrate at New T - ".. Captain Kenny would like to know what provision was made- for the .administration of justice in Havelock.Wh'e found there was no allowance for a!’ clerk. He would suggest that a small sum ‘should be allowed for a resident clerk'at Hia velock, Mr. Stafford thought an arrangement could, be made for 1 the Resident Magistrate, to perform ,all ;the.- duties,r-as the business' i to’ be sdonOi was! not much. dudet' the impression that |the ; gdtr'instrjictiblis fa asfdS&jdH^^el-' ; Mh; suggested lliatdf .'the resident ..magistrates *\rerd d^K^w^y.with to a'considerable e**- ' tenti at, would also~reduce the’revenue to a considetable extent ' : Li ‘ TTfT : TT i . at rwv; ■ an vs*

' Mr. Eyes thought that the general feeling, in Marlborough, at kflf hVeiits,' vyas'thac t|te' resident j of the could perform the' without the fcepessity' vbf paid magistratesand although' it was riot his intention; tb press'the ,matter to a division, he appealed to the^Bom the Ooio hial Secretary’ not be done there, 'as,ntef_thought, in, .opposition to arguments adduced to the contrary,; .t)iatj if the'duties were throwjn upon .the, justices, of the peace, they would, fully, endeavour to render themselves competent tp the m. He thought the argument of the, JdLpn. the Colonial Secretary,' as to loss of revenue, was a very poor one, and that in- the long run there would be really a saving to the people. He would therefore move that the item be still further reduced by although, at the same time, he thought it necessary there should be efficient clerks to the justices, and it would be necessary,' therefore, to increase the first item of XiUO, and employ a really efficient clerk ; but with regard to the other item of .£IOO, the Hon. the Colonial Secretary .would remember that he suggested that the duties of clerk to the bench and clerk to the registrar at Picton might be combined, and so make an adequate salary for one efficient officer. He thought with regard to the travelling expenses of the resident magistrate and clerk, that, as far as the clerk was concerned, they were not necessary, as he was to remain at Blenheim ; ana he thought the salary of the clerk to the registrar might be reduced if the combination was made.

Mr. Stafford said he would endeavour to give effect to the wishes of the honorable member, and have a combination of the clerks.

Captain Kenny said there was a necessity for a clerk at h avelock, and a large sum would not be required. Mr. (Stafford said that, in consequence of the saving in Picton, the Government would be able to give a small sum for the sei vices of a cleik at Havelock.

The total item, as reduced to £51,637, was agreed to.

Financial Position of Marlborough. Mr. Eyes asked the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Whether it is the intention of the Government to, make any proposition to this House to enable the provincial authorities of the Province of .Marlborough, and other Provinces in a similar state of financial embarrassment, to carry on the necessary functions of Government until the next meeting of the General Legislature? He considered it his duty, hot only as the representative of a large portion of Marlborough, but also as the Superintendent of that Province, to place the question on the Order Paper. The position 'of the Province ot Marlborough was such, that unless some means were afforded to carry on the necessary functions of Government, it would have to come to a stand still. He believed, from what he had heard, that other. Provinces were in a somewhat similar position. lie looked upou it as a colouial question that should be settled some way or other —what was to be done with such Provinces during the recess. He might be told that a smm had been placed on the estimates to assist the Province of Marlborough to carry on the necessary functions of Government, but the amount named was. totally inadequate. The House had been informed by the Acting Treasurer that it was intended to recoup the Colony out of the land fund of the Province of Marlborough, Considering the unfairpositionia which Marlborough was placed with reference to her Customs duties, he thought it was hardly justice to her. The amount as placed on the estimates was quite inadequate, if that was all the means of assistance to be afforded to the Province. There would be double that sum at the disposal of the Province in a very; few months. In February there would be a sum of over 4*4,001) due to the Province in the, shape of rents, and: next mouth a sum of £2,000 might be expected from land sales, which were advertised to be held shortly. If the Province was to be'relieved at ail, he might be allowed to say that the assistance promised to her might be enlarged. He hoped the Colonial Secretary would take the matter into consideration, and enable the Province to carry on at all events until some other means of Government Mr. Stafford replied that the Government had no fund opt of which it could make advances to any tup purppse , of maintaining; its M those departments were to be jaamtained, it must be •under sonde well-considered system to which the Legislature had given l its sanction; The proposition of the 6bverhmebt ;, With'respect to ‘ .i.arlborough was that, aper tain sum should bo given by way of adyaipeft to enable certain important departments tq bp,msdhtaiued; until next session of the Assembly. J a v dea-»*,on the part "6f. that be.ipud» arieihg frotn' tli'e safe *pf lands in the month t <>f Februaryyafidtaddln 'inMe ! present year,, It did b^hae^tti^re was thirt sum beaming MesV. the Governmeut 5 8hourd 5 ‘a»y that ■the'advauco should be yHedhoughrtJie ; Go'verqm#{ might gOhseqtl to• slip wiibu’y aavaucb plos 'coramg into the provincial treasury—-‘to remain pnauiueted isuiitt •would give an advance for the ‘ mamtenkifce of Add gad^ ’ of tifejxulapeesdf ■ to^adva^

not,-maintain itself<-.-tLat of the' question.’ it could not rbcß apposed that the House was to borro w money tq maintain a'ayatem whicn coaJU nut irtai-acadi itaelHh all its departments. All the House could beeJtpectedttfdo was to provide aeertaiu-ampunt to maintain the necessary part Of tue macninery of GoyeraineuC jynieh.would require tu ii; maintained waether tae' provincial system collapsed or nor. To tliat extent the Government would-be prepare 1 to ask the House to support tae province by a money vote ; but to ask,tae Jbioase ; to keep up, out of’the revenues of the colony, the provincial system m a particular Province', was a thing tue .Government,'could not consent to, as' they did‘not see that in justice or equity such*a demand could be made. Jf .tlie honorable mem oer would snow that the sum of £3,0U0 proposed to, bejadvanced, which tue Government. aid not wish to bp recouped immediately, was insufficient to maintain certain essential departments, the (Government would be prepared to make a further proposition to the House ; . but from what had incidentally fallen from the honorable genth man himself;* they had derived he information tiiat .he sum placed on the estimates would be quite sufficient—. . Air.- Eyes had been leu to believe that as the laud fund accrued'tUe amount would be stopped,, in order to recoup the £iJ,UOO. , if the adjustment was to stand oyer;until the next session, perhaps the amount placed on the estimates w ould be sufficient.

Air, fox’is asked whether the sura of £3,000 to be paid to Alariborough was likely to be permanents .

Air STAFFORD said that the Province had a good claim, and the Colony was bound to see that certain necessary departments did nob lapse.