LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 124, 28 May 1870, Page 2

LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

On the Council meeting, the Speaker announced that he had received a message from the Superintendent, containing information received by the mail respecting the West Coast Railway., Message read. Mr. Gibbs moved thai the Speaker be requested to reply to the Provincial Auditor's letter on the subject of the unauthorised expenditure, by sending him a copy of the Minutes of the Council on the subject. The Provincial Solicitor said he could hardly imagine that the Council intended to adopt the extreme. cour:e of rendering ( the Superintendent liable to a penalty of £100, aud a civil action for £62 10s., as would be the case if the resolution was adopted. The. actual amount of expenditure unauthorised was £37 10s., and the Executive were still of opinion that the salary paid to Mr. Dent had not been too high. The members of the Council could hardly have considered the importance of the resolution before them,- and he hoped that they would think over the matter, and if they were still of opinion that the money should not be paid, that they should say so in some less objectionable form. Mr. Donne thought it extremely undesirable to re-open in that manner a discussion on a distinct resolution already passed by the Council, and entered upon its minutes. The course he had taken on that resolution had been adopted with regret, and only from a strict sense of duty, and if it could be shown to him how the Council could retrace its ..steps without stultifying itself he would be willing to reconsider the subject, but at present he did not see how it was to be done. He. objected to the question being brought on by a side wind, and thought that if it

was . to be, reopened, it should have been done, not by the Auditor, but by the Government, who should have come to the Cpuncil t acknowledged their sense of the sins they had committed, and proposed that for the future they should be a happy family together. It was quite unnecessary, for the Council -to communicate with the Auditor at aU,jind s i?o. u J^_P re^ e F *° ace the resolution shelved altogether. Mr. Ltjckie thought the Act was imperative. The motion; T.efering -to the. unauthorised expenditure, had beea carried with open eyes:, and now. without one expression of regret on the part of the Government, ihe Council were asked to overturn their deliberate vote. If something could be done by which the penalty prescribed by the Act could .be lessened without the- Council losing its dignity, or lowering .itself in the respect of the people at large he would be glad to agree to it, but to depart from their resolution without good reason would be to convict themselves of playing at legislation. He objected to the action- of the Auditor in writing to the Speaker, as by so doing he had. placed the . Council in an unsatisfactory, hard, flipiy character. Mr. O'Conor thought the Council could not rescind their previousresolution. . He was sorry that the Superintendent had rendered himself liable to prosecution, but it was his own doing and the Qouncil had nothing to say to it. Mr F. Kelling thought that their previous resolution had been arrived at in a time of excitement and that -a_ cicumstances had greatly altered now by the concessions made by the Superintendent he should like the voteto be altered if it could be done legally. Mr._SHEPHARD would regret to; see rthe extreme course pursued and if the Executive would point .out some .means whereby the Superintendent could be freed from the penalty, he. believed the Council would be unanimpus.an. voting with them. Mr. Baigent thought the Auditor had been guilty of neglect; of duty in not having already commenced; proceedings. If the Superintendent committed an offence he should not be treated more leniently than would be the case with one of . his clerks. r , Mr,. Tarrant believed that the Council were unanimous in their desire that-the penalty, should not be enforced if it could be avoided, and also that the resolution ; should, not -be pressed. He would therefore move the previous question. „The .Provincial Secretary said, that te, belieyed.he might say for the. Superintendent -that he was willing to refund ■.the. unauthorised expenditure of £37 10a. Mr.. Ltjckie thought that the members of the Government should come, forward, .admit the errors, and express, their regret^ As. the act had been undeniably wrong, an apology might be tendered without any loss .of dignity „on their, , part. The Provincial Secretary said, that the Executive had already, stated their opinion that the . Superintendent was wrong in giving utterance to his threat, but that they were .-of opinion that the expenditure was necessary. Mr Macmahon had thought that ... the sole object of the,Councii was to maintain its dignity and therefore what the Provincial Secretary had said should be quite sufficient. He was sorry, however, to observe a vindictive disposition on the part of some of the members who were not satisfied with knocking their opponent down but then wanted to tread on him. It appeared to him from Mr Luckie's manner that he in particular wished.to degrade the.Superinteod.ent. and he regretted to see such a feeling. Mr Luckie strongly denied being actuated by vindictive motives. After some further discussion, the previous question was put and carried, aud the Council then adjourned until this morning at 11 o'clock. This Day:. On the motion of Mr Donne it was agreed to request the Superintendent to withdraw from the the operation of the Goldfields Act the several blocks of land upon the goldfields which are now occupied by churches, cemeteries, and hospitals, and to have them set apart permanently for the purpose to which they are at present devoted. On the motion of Mr. Tarrant leave of absence Mas granted to Mr. Kutherford for the remainder , of the session. The Council then went into Committee on the Standing Orders and having resumed, adjourned until Monday evening at 5 o'clock.

We understand that Mr. Kynnersley has resigned his seat in the Executive Council.

:•''. Christ Church Organ. — Advices have been received slating that the new organ for Christ Church was to be shipped .in the Rapido which was expected to sail from London some time in this month. __•■■•- '....- --: We. are requested by the Secretary of. the Acclimatisation Society to state that a number of -Minah birds-have recently been turned out and are now to be seen in the neighborhood of the Wood; Persons are requested not to molest them in any wa y* ; Pioneer Company. — The sinking. of a "shaft. 7ft x sft,. to ,a depth of 30ft has been completed at this mine. Throughout the whole depth the shaft passes through copper, which is said to increase in thickness with its distance from the surface. It is now proposed to make a cross cut in order to ascertain, if possible, the width of the lode.' ...:.., Perseverance Battery. — This machine was set in motion by the engineer, Mr. Thompson, on Tuesday last, in the presence, of a large number of excursionists from Nelson, the whole of whom express the greatest delight at the ease and smoothness with which the machinery works, and. also at the strength and solidity of the building in which it is erected, not a shake or a jar being perceptible, although, the ten stampers of sewi f each were pounding away at the rate of 75 blows per miuute. The greatest credit .is due to Mr. Thompson for the skill, perseverance, and energy he has .displayed in erecting this battery, and we trust that. the- Culliford Company will endeavor to securehis services in the erection of the necessary machinery at Wangapeka, for a more able engineer, or one who takes more interest in the work he has in hand, it would be difficult to find anywhere. Culliford Company. — A meeting of the, directors of this Company was held today, when a letter was read from the working-manager, stating that the reef had been struck at a depth of 42 feet, at a distance of 55 yards from the southernmost boundary peg, and that gold was there visible in the stone. The reef, which varies from 2 feet 3 inches .to 3 feet in thickness, is well defined as far as yet traced, and wherever, it has been struck gold has been found. Other reefs as well are known, to exist on the ground, but; have not yet been fully prospected. It is the intention of the directors , at once to. commence a tunnel which shall strike the reef at a depth of 111 feet; they have also determined upon requesting Mr Thompson to visit the ground and report upon the best site for erecting the machinery, and also to furnish an estimate of the cost. The Company is to be registered forthwith, and scrip is now being prepared for issue to the shareholders.

Property of nearly the value of £100, consisting principally of cash and jewellery, and forming part of the private effects of one of the police officers in charge of . the station, was stolen from "the Police Camp, Napoleon Hill, on Saturday last. A Great Maori gathering recently took place at Hokianga, consequent on the disinterment .of the. bones of the native chief Adam Clarke. There were fully 5,000 persons present at the ceremony. The consumption of food was very considerable and the scattering of the natives was peaceful and pleasing. A Schooner called the Waterlily, 51 tons, Captain Brown, from Melbourne, put in to the harbour last night, to procure a boat and some other articles she stood in need of. She has a strong crew, and her owner is on board. She is loaded with general merchandise, provisions, the frame of a house, &c, and professes to be bound for an uninhabited island, where her owner intends to establish hiraself. None of our nautical men, however, seem to be acquainted with this island j. and some of them ask, not unreasonably, why a vessel bound for Melbourne for an island close to the equator, should come to New Zealand, Some people on the wharf imagine that the schooner's real destination is the Auckland Islands, there to make an effort to recover some of the gold lost in the General Grant. This may be the case, but the captain and owners of the Waterlily do not appear to be very communicative about their proceedings. — Wellington, Post. " It's a great comfort to be left alone," said an Irish lover, " especially when yer swateheart is wid ye.".

Mr.Fox's Strictures onihe "doubledyed scoundrel " who corresponds with the Times .have, called forth the following observations from the Timaru Herald of the 18th inst :--f.'The attack: of Mr. Fox on the Otago Daily Times is the greatest piece of impertinence: which we have lately seen, v and we must record a protest against an -apparent attempt to coerce a public journal, and prevent it speaking out the truth, when that truth is unpalatable to. a Minister of the day. The Cabinet secrets of Mr Fox leak out in Wellington— may it not be through some fault in the Cabinet itself? — and the correspondent of the Otago Times is denounced in the vilest language for giving publicity to " secrets" which are known to numbers of people outside the Ministry. Mr Fox clearly endeavors to make the public believe that the;" secrets," as they are called, which have been published recently, were purloined from the Ministers' private despatch box ! We are tempted to ask how Mr. Fox has found out this fact, and why he does not have the individual at once arrested who stole the secrets ? We . can assure Mr Fox the press of this Colony is not given to employing correspondents to "steal" Ministerial, secrete, for these secrets can be picked up in^ all well-informed circles by the score. Mr Fox believes in. the press when it supports him, but when it honestly opposes him he makes the most wild and reckless charges against it, which have no foundation whatever." The Prince op Wales has had a new sensation. ' Twice lately he has been hissed at the theatre. Of course, there are snobs in the pit of a theatre as well as elsewhere.