LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 118, 20 May 1870, Page 2

LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

On the Council meeting,. Mr.. Wastney. brought up the report of the Select Committee on. the. message of the Superintendent. Mr. Mackley moved that the Superintendent be requested to apply to the. House of Representatives for power to borrow £26,000 for a railway from the Brunner mine to Cobden. Mr. O'Conor in seconding the: resolution said that it was merely carrying out the views of a Committee which considered the subject last year. This was a work of the greatest importance, as it would not only develop the smaller towns in the district but would bring to Cobden the trade which now went to Greymouth, and it was a cause of general complaint that this last named town was receiving all the Customs revenue, and handing over but a very insignificant sum to this province. Greymouth owed its position entirely to accident from the fact of the first rush having taken place there, but now matters were different, and if a little encouragement were offered to merchants, Cobden, ■which was much more convenient, would become the chief seat of trade. The proposed railway would open up a vast tract of country,, and tend to cheapen provisions for the diggers, and the conveyance of those with the passeDger trade would form a considerable item in the receipts. All that was wanted was a guarantee, and the railway would soon become an accomplished fact. It was an act of justice which would bring its own reward; and the matter should be brought before . the General Government in order to show that the province was duly impressed with its importance. Mr. Gibbs opposed, and Mr. F. Kelling supported the resolution. The Provincial Secretary, in reply to a question, stated that the Brunner coalmine was not included in the land to be given to the promoters of the West Coast Railway, but it was one of the conditions that it should be leased to them. He fully recognised the importance of this railway, and would be glad to see it obtained, but thought that the motion should be put in a different form, he would therefore move as an amendment, That application should be made to the House of Representatives, through the Colonial Government, to obtain a loan of £30,000 to construct a railway from Cobden to the Arnold aud Grey junction. In a very short time the question of the West Coast Railway would be settled one way or another, and if that was not successfulthere would be no harm in trying to obtain this one. Mr. Shephard thought it was a great object to have some means of bringing our large mineral wealth to a market. He thought that forcible arguments might be adduced for obtaining for Nelson a loan of even £100,000 if required, as she was so far behind the other provinces in the matter of debt. The great scheme of railways which it was understood that the General Government would bring forward would not apply to such such small lines as this, and no. time should be lost in. procuring it. The amendment was put and carried. The Council then went into Committee to consider the Superintendent's message enclosing a letter from. Mr. Kynnersley, asking for immediate information as to whether or not the Council proposed to retain his services, as if not he intanded to become a candidate for the General Assembly for Westknd North. Along discussion ensued, the general opioion being in favor of securing Mr. Kynnersley's services as warden but objecting, to the office of Commissioner of the Goldfields. The tone of the letter in question was also objected to on the ground that there was an assumption of authority about it which was described by one of the members as savouring of the quarter deck, and being scarcely compatible with the democratic ideas of colonists. Eventually it was decided to abolish the office of an irresponsible Commissioner. On the Council going into Committee to consider the report of the Select Committee on the Superintendent's message on the subject of the Executive, the Provincial Secretary acked for information as to the exact intention of the framers of the report, as the clauses appeared, to require explanation. Mr. O'Conor considered the proposal of the Committee to be an excellent attempt at a constitutional check on the head of the Government. It also had the merit of relieving members from the difficulty they had hitherto experienced in reconciling their personal estimation for the occupants of the Government benches

witn their desire to advance the interests of the province. Mr. Reid could hardly understand what the Government were driviDg at in offering any opposition. They appeared to be fishing — not for compliments, as they never got them — but, he supposed, for information, He too must fish, as he was in want of information, aud if the Provincial Solicitor would only bite, he would- sit and draw him. The Provincial Solicitor thought that, instead of three members resigning their seats on an adverse vote, only two should do so. They must not forget thai; the Superintendent was the elected head of the province, and he should not be left entirely at the mercy of the Council. Mr. Shephard said that as the first advances had come from the Superintendent, tha Committee felt that some concession was due to him, otherwise they would have preferred to see all "the members of the Executive responsible. He thought the Provincial Solicitor was wrong, in supposing that the Superintendent would at the mercy of the Council, for it was proposed to give him a casting as well as a deliberative vote, so that even supposing the extreme case of the three responsible advisers opposing, he would still, with the two permanent officers, have a majority. Mr. Barnicoat believed that responsible government in its entirety would never answer in so small a body as the Provincial Council, he also thought that it would introduce extreme rancour iuto their deliberations which were now conducted with a considerable approach, to decorum. On a small scale such as that proposed, the introduction of the responsible element might prove successful ; but he was decidedly of opinion that in its entirety ife would be pregnant with mischief of the worst possible description. Mr. Luckie said that the Provincial Solicitor's objections to the Superintendent being afc the mercy of the Council would not apply now, since, as Mr. Shephard had stated, it was proposed to give him a casting as well as a deliberative vote. There was another question, however, which must not be altogether lost sight of, namely — Was the Council to be entirely at the mercy of the Superintendent ? The report was then adopted, and after appointing a deputation consisting of the Speaker, Mr. Reid, Mr. Luckie, Mr. Macmahon, and Mr. Wastney to wait upon the Superintendent, the Council adjourned. until 2 this afternoon.