LAST NIGHT'S: COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 103, 3 May 1871, Page 2

LAST NIGHT'S : COUNCIL.

„ , ■ •, , : — : '! J \- ~ The Council met at 5 o'clock last night. On the motion of Mr. Macmahon it was resolved that no salajy, should, be attachedto the office of Chairman of Committees. The: Provincial, Secretary moved,' That in the opiniori'bf this Council it is highly' desirable that : the line ' of Rail way from Cobden 'to 1 the Bruhner Coal Mine, ' 'should l be constructed. Witliyilt delay. He believed there would be no difference of „opinj.on,a,B tO;the desirability of, establishing .railway jcommunication' between;, the seaport and a coalmine of almost unlimited extent, which even under the present unsatisfactory method of working 'it had ' for th:e ; last -two 1 years' average(d'C«l yield " f of' ! lOOOto'ns^per i 'm6n"tb'j , ' With M| a railway the 00^1 'put' On' DoaroT snip a^'ljOs per toiiV and atthis ]price the demand would

at least be quadrupled. He then proceeded „to; s liow that a profit 0f £2,800 per- annum might' be expected from the railway traffic and £6,200 from the working of the mjine. 'Mr. Wilkie seconded the motion, and Laid that there was a very large demand for this coal which fetched the highest price all over New Zealand, but under the existing 'circumstances' . there ; were no facilities for supplying it. At, the present moment there was an order for 500 tons from Hokitika, aud there were also orders from Nelson for 100 tons on each return trip of the. Kennedy neither, of which orders could be complied with owing to. the want of any proper means of transit A lengthy ensued relating principally to the most favorable side of the river for constructing the railway, the unanimous opinion being that it should be on the northern bank of the Grey river. The resolution was carried without opposition. The Provincial 'Treasurer moved, That in the opinion of this Council it is highly desirable that tbe line of Railway from Nelson, to Foxhill, should be constructed without delay. It had long been part of the policy of the Council to extend railway commmunication throughout the , country, but, hitherto, all the means tried had fallen through. He believed however that this proposed railway was but the first link in a chain of communication between Nelson aud Cobden. It would, he thought, tend to open up tbe country, and be tbe means of introducing English capitalists who would come and settle in the interior, as well as of enabling the my^rs in tbe out-districts to get their stores at a much cheaper rate. Taking asj^basis tbe traffic on the Waimearoad, a^Bbowu by the receipts at the toll gate/Tnere was every reason to believe there would be quite sufficient to cover all experses, besides being a step in tbe direction of affording good communication with the up-country districts. It was merely for . the Council to express an opinion in favor of tbe resolution, and the survey might be commenced in a week, and the works begun before twelve months had passed. Mr. Wastney seconded the resolution, aud iv doing so staled -that tbe railway between Nelson aud Cobden would prove of greater importance than any other line iv New Zealand. Mr. Rutherford opposed tbe resolution which he concluded was to form a part of Mr. Vogei's scheme, the keystone of which was tbe opening up of the country, whereas he believed that this province was already over-settled, and completely used up, much of it being too poor even to grow Scotch thistles. The population might be divided into two classes, the poorer class and the capitalists, of the latter of which Nelson appeared to entertain a pious horror. In what state the former were might be judged by the miserable little tenements they occupied, while as to the capitalists who were among the origiual settlers, it was well known they were reduced to abject poverty, or driven to politics for a living. Those who talked about , settling the country had evidently forgotten these living instances of the failure that Kad hitherto attended such efforts. Mr. Reid thought that Mr. Rutherford had advanced a very strong argument in favor of the proposed railway, as it was to the want of such facilities for communication that a large amount of the failures alluded to was to be attributed. Instead of being part of Mr. Vogei's scheme, this bad been in the heads aud hearts of the people of Nelson for many years. He shouid support the resolution, as he believed that this railway would tap a country which, if not very rich, had at least many resources which might .be turned to profitable account. Mr. Luckie thought it was a little too strong for a gentleman from the wilds of the to come to the Council and pretend to say that he had explored the whole of the interior of the province and found it worthless, but there was every proof that he had given no thought to what he had to say, for he' first of all asserted' that the land already settled was of no use, and then, when pushed on this subject, stated that he "meant that it was the unoccupied country that was worthless. He (Mr. Luckie) ou the contrary believed that there were many fine valleys and plains to be opened up, the settlement of which would greatly advance the 'prosperity of the Mr: Gibbs qpposed the ; resolution, as he could notbring himself , to say that it was highly desirable 1 that' a line "df railway should be. commenced on a road, on which the only daily coach that ran: was ; frequently without : more .than .one or^iwo", passengers., ]\lr,, Bajgent, supported it, as he thought, this railway was only the commencement of a .line that would openpp ,a , large . extent,. of } rich „a uriferous "country. Mir. ,' Wilkie ' opposed the resolution I 'as"tfier4 'neither was now, T nbn was there Jikely to tie* sufficient traffic to 'support ifci ! '''to'"tai , k about jhpr .timber i$ .wqujd jopen upi, as it was well , known that,, the timber foVyithe Foxhill bridge had to Tbe obtained from

Takaka, and also that Hokitika was shipping timber to Nelson. Mr. O'Connor, must oppose the resolution as no sound arguments, had been adduced in its favor. v The Provincial Treasurer thought there was no need to reply, as he had been ably and warmly supported by those who knew the country, aud only opposed by those who had no acquaintance with it. The resolution was then put, and on a division, carried by 13 to 5. The Provincial Treasurer then moved for a grant of £2,012 Os. lOd. to meet the unauthorised expenditure. This, after a discussion on the expediency of the plan resorted to by the Superintendent of sending out circulars to members asking their opinion on the question of such expenditure, was . agreed to. The Provincial Treasurer moved, that the Council resolve itself into Committee for the consideration of the Estimates. In alluding to the various items of the last year's revenue he stated that the gold duty had fallen off to the amount of £4000, but at least £3000 of this was to be accounted for by the unusually dry season that had been experienced on the Coast, which had caused a reduction in the export for the quarter ending 31st March of 20,000 ounces, aud this he considered furnished a very strong argument in favor of a systematic water supply for the goldtields. It was however gratifying to find that the Goldfields revenue for the year had exceeded the amount, £20,000 at which it had been estimated. This was a healthy sign as being indicative of a rising prosperity which at the present moment when so general a depression prevailed was certainly a matter for congratulation. Reductions has been effected in the departmental expenditure which was reduced as low as was compatible with the requirements of the public service, and the estimates for public works had been framed, with a desire to open up those districts where the consumers of produce might settle down with profit to themselves as well as to the producers. Mr. F/ Kelling seconded the motion. He believed that the Estimates had on this occasion had been prepared with more than ordirary regard to economy. Mr. Gibbs would prefer to see the consideration of the Estimates deferred until the financial statement of the Treasurer was in print. Re failed to discover the reduction spoken of, and felt that it was imperative that the departmental expenditure should, be cut down as all the available funds were' required for opening up the country. Mr. O'Conor thought tbe Estimates should not be rushed forward in that way and therefore proposed that their consideration should be postponed until Monday. This, on a division, was negatived by 12 to 6. Mr. Collins then proposed to adjourn the going into Committee until Thursday, to which the Provincial Treasurer consented, stating that the Government were by no means disposed to burry them on against the wish of the Council. It was then resolved that the Council should go into Committee on the Estimates ou Thursday evening. On the motion of Mr. Tarrant it was resolved tbat the Superintendent be requested to place on the Supplementary Estimates the sum of £300 for extending the dray road up the Motueka River to tbe Dove, and, the sum of £400 for extending the Orinoco dray road to Thorpe. Mr. Wastney moved, That the Estimates be respectfully remitted back to the Executive for consideration, with a view to enable them by reductions, allocation of offices, or otherwise, to effect a saving to at least 20 per cent, on the total amount. A discussion ensued, many raembeis stating that they objected to the wording of the resolution although agreeing with the spirit of it. Opinions were also freely expressed that the salaries of Government, officers should be reduced in proportion to the . falling off that had taken place in the prices of produce, but it was thought, that the debate on this question should be adjourned until the ■ consideration of the Estimates, when the matters referred to would be sure to crop up for discussion. Ultimately,- Mr. O'Conor moved the previous question which was carried on the voices; In reply to a question from Mr. Reid, the Provincial Secretary stated that the Government was not at present; prepared to submit to tbe v Council ' any proposal calculated to ; encourage the development of the Mount Rochfort Coalfield, or the construction of of a raiiway from, the .coalfield to Westport.^