PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ITEMS.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 275, 12 June 1874, Page 2

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL ITEMS.

" QUESTIONS. Mr. de Lautour asked the Provincial Secretary whether certain lpcal information had been received from IN aseby. bearing upon the necessity Jof deepening the'channel ? .: Mr.- Eeid .replied that information had been received from the district of-a highly satisfactory character: that:the deepening of the channel would open up three miles of payable ground, at a depth much below that necessary 'to work the ground; and the Government had recommended the Colonial Government to proceed with an additional contract for deepening the 'channel. SUPERINTENDENT AND EXECUTIVE COUNCIL. ~, Superintendent,; £l-,ooo.—Passed ? without comment. .. Secretary and Storekeeper, £350. Mr. Fish proposed that the item be reduced £SO; but, on explanations being given, the proposal- was withdrawn; and the vote passed. • ■ Provincial Secretary and- Secretary for Land and>.Works, £6OO, was passed after discussion. ■ ; S -:■ ■ 1 ■ Provincial Treasurer, £4oo.—Passed after discussion. ' ' ■ ■■■;.* '• Secretary, for ftoldfields, £4OO.

Mr. Fish intimated his intention to oppose this item by everymeans in his power. He' contended they had no right to place such an amount on the Estimates until they wereprepared to say by whom the office would be tilled up. • i It had, been rumored that a gentleman had been asked to fill the office, and that he was to be allowed to remain at his usual place of residence. If that gentleman had to come to town, then the salary proposed would be only a reasonable one, but it was too much if he was to be allowed'to remain at his own home. As apolitical move' it was also to be deprecated.. In the event of : a- motion ■of want' of 'confidence "being brought forward, it would be held put as an inducement to members to* vote with'the Government

■ i ;Mr. - Stout ( replied- -.that > the -honi .member, was one of the loudest in denouncing factious ( opposition, and.now.,he was threatening.. the ' House with such an opposition. It would, he maintained, be, derogatory to the character of the House to allow itself to be'influenced by such a threat.

; iA- motion was'then tabled l that the amount be reduced by a sum of £399. . On being pressed to a. division, votes were recorded for the ayes, and 21 for the jnoes. / v () ;>: -it ha r .<:■■■ The motion was declared lost. ■-■■■■ is ' • Mr. Fish then moved that the vote be reduced' by a sum'of £398.

The motion, was ■ lost.' > : ■ ; . Mr. J. C. Brown then movedj that the .sum be reduced by '£397. The motion was lost." 1 Mr. Fish now intimated that he would giveiup the; and'he advised-those who: had voted -with him - also to ! give way. . Mr. J. C. Brown-and Mr. de Lautour-took' up the contest, - and- moved alternately a ■ reduction of the.item before-the committee, of £1 by £l, and, that progress ? be ( reported. Each' motion' was 1 pressed to ■ a .division," the majority of these showing that the two members in question,stood.ak.ne, the,-others. ;who supported th'em earlier in the evening having left the House. , , A.t 10 p.m. the. Chairman left the chair for 10 minutes. < -

On resuming, Mr""J. C. Brown intimated his determination to go on contesting the .vote. - • Z ;i M !' ' Mr. Shand sairl.tliat, while he voted' with the Government, still he sympathised to a certain extent with ithe' -stand taken* by 'the two Goldfields members/ It would not do the Government any harm to give the information sought far.. ~,„Had the member for Caversham been on that side of the House* as he was last year, he would have kept them dividing''for a week before he would have given in. • i ' Mr. Reid said he had given all the explanation he could possibly give at an earlier part of the evening. Mr. de Lautour; No. • Mr. Reid said-he could riot expect the member for Mount Ida, would have : been satisfied. l Had they made their request in a fair and proper ."manner he (Mr.. Reid).'would have done his best to answer eveiy member of the Council, but when'approached as they had been in a taunting way the circumstances were different; The: office 'of Secretary for Goldfields.would not be .filled up during the sitting of:the Council. . . . , , Mr. de. Lautour said that it i^vasiquite refreshing, to (hear the explanation.; that had been ,made.' If it .was not •; intended- to ; make the appointment durmg the^session;"-then he: could see no reason wliy the .Government should object to have the item struck out. On;.the item being again pu%! Mr./de Lautour moved that progress be' reported. For the amendment 10 votes were recorded, and againsf it 14. The motion was lost.

Mr. Brown- then'-moved that the item be reduced by a sum of £3&£. The division was: Ayes, 2; noes, 17. At about 2 30 a.m. , at which hour twentyseven divisions had been recorded, the Chairman of Committees left the chair for an hour to allow members refreshment. After resuming, tile "item £4-)0 for Goldfields Secretary was again put' from the chair, Mr. Brown being absent- from the House, and Mr. de Laiitour /allowed ithe question to be put from the chair, when it was that the ayes had it. - Mr. de Lautour then stated, >he had. been,on his ,legs,to . make an ameridirieht before the' division, 'was de - clared, but ! it' waS i-316d : by tlie ' Chairman that such was not the case. Mr. Brown, who had in the > meantime come into the Council Chamber, stated the following case for ruling: That, as it was stated by Mr. de Lautour that he had been on his feet (and other members beingof' the .same; opinion) to Speak to an amendment to the motion" before the Committee, lie desired the Speaker's ruling, and- requested the 'Chairman to aslc for a ruling on-the point. 1 The'Speaker'having taken the chair, the point of order Avas put by tlie Chairman of Committees.—ln reply to a question of - the Speaker, Mr. M 'Glashan stated that he would not take any member by surprise; and in this case, expecting some amendment to ? be propsed by Ivlr. ■ d,e Lautour, he .closely, .patched the member for Mbuni Ida, but the hon; member at the time was in conversation -with the member for the Arrow (Mr! Clark), and did not rise until after the vote was declared for the Ayes. , : v ;. After" this explanation, the Speaker ruled that the Chairman of Committees' rulin" was strictly in order" ° KOADS AND BTIIDGES. " -.; Main Road.—-Ealuie'rston ! to 'MatnuKeriKia River, £7,730. • Main Branch Road.—-Eve burn Grossing to Eden Creek, via iv'aa.iby, £250. ' Miscellaneous Roads.—Hyde to Hamilton, £150; .Sti'at-hfuieri void; £2uo ; road to Clark's Diggings;.£so ; -Naseby to JEyeburn Diggings, £SO; Kyebura Crossing-to Diggings, £SO; .KyebnyiY to Maevewhenua, ■ui« the ]Pi!SS', £200; Shag Valley to Eyeburn, via Macraes and Hyde, £1,130; Beck's to D.unstan Creek, £SO; Upper Kyeburn to Coalpit, £SO; Beck's -to

Tinker's and Drybread, £75; >Naseby to Hamilton, £SO. Bridges.—Manuherikia (at Blacks)' £500; Taieri liiver (Naseby'to Hyde) £I,OOO. REDUCTION OF 'GOLD DUTY. Mr. de Lautour said that the Council were merely asked by this motion to practically carry out the abstract resolution they had already agreed to—That it was desirable to reduce the gold duty 6d. per ounce. The principle under which this duty was imposed was merely that special taxation should be'imposedi:o an" exteiit"sufficient''~ta protect'' the Provinces in the special expenditure incurred in the management of the Goldfields. So carefully was this principle traced out that, ; -in-the first' Gold power was reserved in: the Governor in Council to reduce or altogether abate the 2s. 6d. duty beforeyfche next: session'of the Assembly, if he found it necessary. The Legislature never contemplated the idea that Provinces should make a profit out of' the special taxation of the miners. - The effect of this motion, if . ; carried, would be.possibly to reduce directly the estimated, revenue (£19,000) from gold duty £4ooo—no more; , for it iwas with great pleasure he had listened to the statement of the Treasurer, that the loss of the previous reduction of 6d. was not as might have been expected, one fifth of the sum, but the returns had exceeded the estimate by over £1500; although the other gold revenue had fallen off nearly £2OOO. This apparent loss of £4OOO would not be a true 1 one,- for the amount would be spent by the miners in the procur- - ing of luxuries they were at present debarred from. Supposing, however, that £4OOO were the- loss, that would reduce -the item t0£15,000 £15,000 gold duty; add to this £18:„000 estimated for Goldfields i lie venue, we > arrive at the sum proposed., to be raised for -special' taxation of £33,000, against a sum of about£Booo to be expended. The ; ( original Gold-"i fields Act,' and all subsequent' Amendment i Acts, distinctly lay down that this revenue i -.is to be dealt with:; as revenue arising from the disposal of Crown-lands. ; 'This being case, -the motion wassqoite within "the'real*! i of the Council, it'mightibe that the Assembly would not have a right to give away the Provincial , Revenue. If, itwere not for the impecuniosity of the northern Provinces' the tax, would long .ago -havej been reduced in the' Assembly." The Goldfields owed this'to the' Provincial Secretary, that he had; on > all occasions supported the reduction, and no. doubt ; he would; supports the 'motion:He might' state that his Honor the Superintendent •blearly recognised the principle in his address, for he there stated thatiif:-the miners occupied' their ' freeholds there would be no occasion to collect gold , duty—clearly'.' indicating, > tax l Jwas only to meet the special, charges. Mr. Heid said it was. true he had supported the reduction of, the chityj_, and he would still support it wlien it could be legally supported in, the Assembly . „ He .could ' not, fhowever, support the motion now- before the Committee. : He did not see,that it was practicable, or that the miners would get the benefit of it. '' • 1 ' '

. Mr. J. L. Gillies said he would- go any lengths in condemning the f special .taxation complained of ; but he was certain this would not meet it—the banks alone would protit by it, and he would.oppose it. Mr. JFish would, supports,the. motion, not on its intrinsic merits, but because the Council had already, agreed .to it, ; and for;the sake_ of consistency -the: motion,ought to be passed. It was nonsense to say the miners would not get the benefit, -for the effect must, 'be to give them the increase in price. ■.■■* Mr. de Lautour pointed out that the Government and a new bank-both : offer facili~ ties for; theexport'of gold 'to obtain for" thed miners the ( full value^.^. -1 charges'to cover the expanses: "This-fact hacL broken the monopoly of'the banks, and caused a rise of 6d. an ounce. c -

i Mr. B . Clarke stated, that the .special taxation of the miners in his district amounted ito £5 per head. ~ " iS iu The motion, being put/ was carrfedby 17 to 11. , ■ ■ ;/ 1 , PETITION. " '? . By Mr. Sumpter, /from 144,-residents:; of Maerewhenna, prayingfor.theerection of a i bridge.,.: . ..■■, . .. -. . »< (•, i ; '" GOLTI-SAVING APPARATUS. Mr., de Lautour That a; respectj'"ful acldress address be presented'to his Sonor the SuperintendentJ~requesting him to place on the Supplementarjr'Estimates such sum as may appear to him snfficient as a bonus for the best gold-saving- apparatus—for saving gold extracted byMhydraulic i sluicing—that can be devised cheap > ,enough to be practice able; ; th e; said apparatus to be v. constructed subject to such competition and regulations as.to his Honor may seem fit. " ~ ; i ; Mr. Reid said it would be very desirable if the mover would, indicate what he considered would be the -best 1 apparatus. That was..4 a. .difficulty . which,s.the; > Government could readily foresee,—although they were l not by, any means -. opposed to a small vote for the purpose, say £250. "' . " ■ ; Mr. de Lautour replied that that would meet his views.' '" - /' ■ " • ' '

Mr. lieid eventually-moved the following alteration on. the motion:—" Such bonus to be paid to such can extent, on such terms,: and subject to such competition as the •iSuperihtenrtent might see fit.."_- i The mo.tionj as amended, was carried; KAKANOI WATER RACE COJirANY.; 1 Mr. Bastings moved, " That an address! ■be presented to his Honor the Superinten-: dent, requesting that a sum of-'£4oo be placed on the Supplementary Estimates as compensation to Mr. William Williamson, as manager of the Kakanui;Water Race.Company." To prevent the vote, being' hereafter pointed to as a precedent, Mr. Ileid suggested that the word granted be substituted for the word compensation. The motion was passed. / ■ i ».. ' ?