PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ITEMS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 274, 5 June 1874, Page 3

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ITEMS.

(From Dunedin Papers.) committees' reports. The Waste I .lands and Immigration Committee reported:— On the petition of 28 residents of Hyde, who prayed that, an additional block of land might be opened under the deferred-payment system—that it is desirable .to open another block, nearly all the land recently thrown open having been applied for, but that, while not justified, from the evidence before them, in recommending the special block asked for, strongly recommend the Government, to declare such a block as may be considered advisable, convenient to the land occupied by the petitioners. NASEBY SLUDGE OHANNEt, ANl> HEAD RACE. Mr.de Lautrnr asked the Government—- " Whether they are aware that the alterations in the levels of the Naseby Sludge » Channel, as agreed to by the late Government after careful enquiry, should be immediately determined upon before the works proceed further; and whether the Government are determined to insist upon the contractors on the Sludge Channel and on the Head Race fulfilling their contracts within the time agreed, upon. Mr. Heid was not aware that "the alteration'in the levels of the Naseby Sludge Channel, as agreed to by the late Government after careful enquiry, should be immediately determined upon before the works proceed further, bnt h'! was aware that such an alteration had beey-) requested bv the inhabitants of that locally. The Government had given it. their very careful consideration, had obtained estimates of the probable cost of deepenin ;, and had ascertained that deeptning the channel would be of no avail, unless payable gold was found at a greater depth than that to which it was proposed to go. B.fore incurring such a cost, they hail re- ■' quested Mr. Warden Stratford, and placed a sum of money at his disposal for the purpose, to sink trial shafts in order to ascertain to what extent thoy would be justified in incurring the . additional cost. That, was how the matter stood at present. With regard to the other part of the question, "Whether the Government aro deternmined to insist upon the contractors on the sludge channel, and oil the head race fulfilling their contracts within the time agreed upon ?" it was the ... desire of the Government to have the works constructed as soon as practicable. At the same time they were aware that labor had been scarce in the district. The hon. mem- i byr for Mount. Ida might shake his head No 1 dnuht men could begot at some rate oranother; but the Government should treat their contractors in the same way as individuals did, I and not force them into a position of running thom unless thoy gave exorbitant wages. It was their desire to get the works completed as nearly within contract time as possible; but scarcity of labor had prevented the contractors from getting on as fast as could be wished. At all events that was the opinion ' of the Provincial Engineer. PETITION OF KAKANUI WATER RACK COMPANY. Mr. Bastmgs moved—" That the Interim Report No. 4, from the t?oldfi«lds Committee in re the petit.it,n of William Williamson, Manager of tho Kakanui Water Race Coinpiny he adopted." Kecommendation of Committee as follows:—" Your Committee, having carefully considered this petition, now recommends that the Government should 1 give it its favorable consideration, the Committee being of opinion that the petitioner is i fairly entitled to some compensation." Mr. Eeid regretted that the Committee | had not seen their way to recommend some definite course m the matter. By granting compensation in this caso, they might involve the, Province in a great number of claims for heavy compensation. : Mr. said he oelieved the petitioner had gOodoauat! of complaint, but his difficulty now, as it was last session, was that if they agreed to compensate in this case, they mi_<h't have Ui meet. Claims for compensation amounting to a million. Mr. Bastings withdrew the motion, for the purpose of bringing forward another motion on the subject in Committee of Supply. PETITION OF MINERS AT CLARK-'S DIGGINGS. Mr. Bastings moved—" That tbe Interim Keport, No. 5, fronitheGoldfieldsCommitt.ee, in re petition of miners at Clark'B Diggings be adopted." The following is the recommendation of the Committee: Your Committee recommends that the Government ' should use every effort to bring the parties in this matter to submit their differences to arbitration, and that instructions be given to the Warden not to grant anv new rightß, only subject to' the present workings." Agreed to, WATER POLLUTION AT TINKERS At Tuesday's sitting of the Provincial Council Mr. Hazlett presented a petition from Stephen liead, miner Tinker's, in which he states that his party have spent between £2,000 and £3.000 mining 10 acres of lund held on lease by them at Tinker's, and that Mr. Olassford of Matakanui station, the holder of a pre-emptive right, situated below petitioner's lease, had threatened them with legal proceedings unless they desisted from polluting a stream running through their joint property. The petition goes on to state that there are 40 miners dependent upon the waters of this stream. The prayer of the petitioner was that the Council should, in consideration of the matter, grant such relief as it might think fit. ' SUN DAY TRAINS. The question as to the running of trains on the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway on Sundays was productive of considerable discussion in the Provincial Council. The question was opened on a motion proposed by Mr. Turnbull. Amendment after amend- , mcnt following until past midnight. Finally, Mr. Haggitt moved an amendment to the effect, "That in the opinion of the Council, the running of Sunday trains should be continued as at present., except that the discretion be left to the Government to run additional traius, if found convenient." This amendment, afterwards became a substantive motion; and Mr. Oliver moved, as an amendment, " That all the words after the word ' present' should be struck out," The amendment was carried on a division by 19 votes to 13, Ibe Council therefore deciding that the Tunning of Sunday trains should be continued as at present. A MISTAKE. Considerable amusement was created in the Provincial Council the other day by the reading of Message No. 13, which dealt with blocks intended to be thrown open on deferred payments. As read from the chair, it appeared to bo the intention of the Government to lay a large hand upon the runs, and effect such an opening up of the lands as. could not have been dreamed by the most rapid land agitator. The hearts of those whose cry is "land, land," were made glad by tha prospect of 11,000 acres being thrown open for settlement on this run; 27,000 acres or another; 20,000 acres on a third; and so the figures went on until the Speaker read out a list of between 100,000 and 170,000 acres. The Government were m much astonished as hon. members who are interested in pastoral pursuits. But a glance at the message showed that in copying the Executive minuteß the clerk bad mistaken the figures and included in the Message those which represented the actual acreage of the'runs. The Message.had, of course, to be withdrawn, and as amended showed that about 18,000 acres are to be thrown open. CEMETERY RESERVE FOR ST. BATIIANS Mr J'eid, moved—" That an address be presented to His Honor the Superintendent, recommending that all that area in the Prpvihee of Otago, Colony of New Zealand, Containing by admeasurement one acre, mori or .

ing section numbered 7, block II.; on the map of the said district, be set apart for a public cemetery." Agrepd to. SALE OF AURIFEROUS LANDS. Mr. M'Lean moved—"That, referring to his Honor's opening Address relative to the sale of auriferous lands, this Council is of opinion that the auriferous as well as the no -auriferous lands in this Province should be alienated from the Crown, in such manner and on such terms and conditions as will enable persons of all classes (if so disposed) to acquire the freehold of portions thereof." In.the course of his remarks the honorable member gave some statistics. He said ths total value of the agricultural industry wa3 £1,707,487; while the total annual value of the pastoral industry was £1,703,147. For the year ending March Ist, the value of the gold obtained was £607,645, or only 35 per cent, of either of the other two industries, or only 20 per cent, if the other two industries were taken together. The area set aside for gold-seeking was 6,117,368 acres, while the area under crops, &c., was only 372,398 acres The honorable member then proceeded to argue that the best way to prevent the utter destruction of the land by those who worked it for gold, was to give them the freehold of the land, and to give them an interest in preserving it. The Goldfields industry was in a languishing state, and this state of things could only be altered by giving capitalists the knowledge that they were investing their capital on their own property. Mr. Wood supported the motion. Mr. Reid did not agree with the honorable member. He thought that if there was to be more speculation and competition, less encouragement would be given under the system proposed than under the old system. Mr. de Ln.utour said it wug obvious that if the purchase of auriferous ground were recognised by the law, capitalists would at once get possession of the auriferous laur's ; but it was very doubtful whether they would put th'it land to the best advantage. If they sold those lunds, they would drive away all their mining population. The whole difficulty of getting rid of those lands which were auriferous, but scarcely so to a payable ex tent, might be obvia'ed hy a 'opting a modifier) system of free selection all over th« Pro vince. lie denied there was any jealousy am on 2 the miners of the agriculturists. The whole aim of the miners in his extensive district whb to obtain land for agricultural purposes in conjunction with their mining occupations ; but their requests for agricultural land were unheeded by the Council. Mr. R. Clarke- said that he was quite as much in favor of the resolution as the lion, member who had moved it, if he thought it was practicable. If all the agricultural lands that had been destroyed by miners hud been put together, it would not make a good sized farm. Mr. Stout said that the parting with the freehold on the Goldfields was not the mere parting with auriferous lands, but new discoveries and prospecting were prevented. We must reserve this right on the Gohlfiolds, and this could not possibly be done if the freehold of the land was parted with Tiie goldl.iining interest would be destroved by such a course. There was more reason for reserving the mineral lands than the agricultural and pastoral lands. Let them look at what had happened in a small way in this Province by the sale of coal producing lands. The House divided on the motion, which was negatived, the division being:—Ayes, 4; noes, 23. COAL RESERVE AT KYEBURN. Mr. Reid moved—"That an Address be presented to His Honor the Superintendent, recommending that all that area in the Province of Otago, Colony of New Zealand, containing one hundred and fifteen acres, more or less, situate in block V., Kyeburn district, excepting sections numbered 1 and 2, commencing at a point on the eastern branch of Kyeburn due east from Trig .Station D; thence along the said branch north three hundred and fifty links; thence due west two thousand eight hundred links; thence due south four thousand four hundred links; thence due east three thousand eight hundred links to the eastern branch of Kyeburn; thence along the branch to the north-western bouudary of pre-emptive right (C) App. 6920; thence alon" the said boundary to the eastern branch of Kyeburn; thence along tl e said branch to the starting point, be set »part as a coal reserve." Agreed to. PETITION. A pelifion wns presented by Mr. do Lautour, from 948 miners and others, praying the Government to defend the action in connection with the Maerewhenua water pollution case. MOTIONS. Mr. de Lautour moved—"That there be j laid upon the table a relurn, showing the date of acceptance of all contracts on the Mount Ida public works, the lime allowed for the' tulfilmert of ench such contracl, and the time already elapsed : also showing what contracts, if any, have been taken over by tbe Govern- I ment and relet."—Carried.