LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 104, 4 May 1871, Page 2

LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

The Council met at 5 o'clock. Present: •jail- the .memb.ers. ■ -Several motions '. of an : unimportant nature having been disposed ••of/Mr. GrißßSi moved:,' : r J?hatv this Council '.is.pf .opi'mot; $}$' the ";pre'sfent Executive | "Act, sThouid^eU^pealed .' " His': opinion had not alterecl , since 'ilast :j s'essvo'n. : .>yhen :<he'i .. opposed- ; the. Act -which ( placed the .Super-., intendentjin s.uch.a..p'ositi,pjx,,that 1) he had' -np.ppweyj , ancl;; consequently no respoh's'U- • bility, whereas, as the. elected /head of the province, 1 he; wag; \ the -one : : '-to-, whom both the Council aid the ! public" shouldHook for . : th'^ 'proper of affairs. ::It was high time that we should 1 - -go "back' to' a more reasonable iiate of things. „as there was no .likelihood of a reduction^ tl^e departmental expenditure so long as the present Act .Fe.majned in force... ...With regard to the Goldnejds' Representative, he thought i that^SffiftetMas: af jn'o^ws&.iwhateVjeT, 1 as I tts > % 1 8id i itt^ow^i.eiihor"'fe; i cb¥rect abuses or to ordeif^W^a^'^or^'^io'^'S^^executed. 1 "WfcttptfAe CouncU was by this ( ' J time

thoroughly convinced that it; had made a mistake l'^fr session and would now .assist fin* to remedy, it. Mr. Collins jsecon^' • tihej resolution.: Mr. F. Selling had expected-. „so^ have heard some sound . reasons adduced for the proposed repeal of the Act, but had failed to discover any . in Mr. Gibbs' speech. It was impossible for an outsider like th& mover to, form an opinion on the working of the Act as he had had no opportunity of watching its action. The members .-;of the Executive were the only oues who could judge, ;aud" he hoped to hear the opinion of the Provincial Secretary. Last session, Mr. Gibbs was one of the most anxious ,. to see the Act brought into force. and now he turned round and wanted to upset it. Mr. Collins had much pleasure in supporting the resolution. He thought. Mr. Gibbs had urged excellent tfcrguments for the repeal of the Act, and thet e was ouly one reason he could think of that might be adduced for preserving the present, state of things, namely, whether the appointment .of a. Goldfiekls' Representative had had the effect of conciliating . the' population of the mining -districts. If Mr. Donne's appointment had produced such an effect, there was something to be said in its favor. Of what use, he would ask, was the Superintendent, under existing circumstances ? He was simply the scapegoat of the . Executive. If their actions were attended with favorable results, and were viewed .with, favor by the people, they took' to themselves all the credit, if : the contrary, they could, immmediately '.turn 1 round,, and blame the Superintendent. No oue could say this was a proper position for the .head of the province to occupy. He hoped to hear the opinions of the West Coast members. Mr. O'Conor said that his opinion with regard to the Act was not in the slightest ' degree changed. The Executive he looked upon as brokenbacked, and without a head, and how they had got on for the last: year 'the Lord only knew. With: reference to the Goldfields' Representative, the districts on the Coast looked with suspicion upon the man 'to whom, while he only represented one of them, were confided larger powers than his colleagues, powers which he might use in favor of his own locality to the detriment of the others, as had been done by Mr, Donne, with regard to the road between Addison's Flat . and Charleston . If the Council wished to practise' economy they should invest the Superintendent with the , entire control of affairs,' and hold him responsible for their conduct, instead of rendering him a nonentity surrounded by other nonentities in the shape of an Executive Council constituted as it was at present. The population was falling off and the expenditure increasing, and it was high time to put a 'stop to the present expensive and unsatisfactory, system. The Provincial Secretary said he was placed in a most awkward, position. He had last session opposed the Act, and had since seen rio reason to change his opinion. If he voted for , the , resolution he would appear to act in a spirit of hostility to his colleagues,' whereas he wished distinctly to j assert that he had no such feeling whatever. If he voied against it he would be acting, he . believbdHJn opposition to *' the wishes of his constituents, and certainly against, his own convictions. Mr. Luckie was surprised that no more vigorous arguments had been adduced by Mr. .Gibbs, and was equally disappointed in the torrent of eloquence that poured from Mr. o' Conor, but which consisted of words and nothing more. It ; was a mistake, and entirely unfair, to say , that, no good, had been effected by the Act, for had it not been for the change in : the ' Treasury Department there would have been great difficulty ; in •discovering tho ,: defalcations ,of the ,late; jsubrlveasurer, and by.the present system pf accounting, .it ..was impossible that an officer should remain . long in arrears as was. the case witii Mr. Franklyn, who, when 'he took his seat in the .Council last year, was ■a '.defaulter ; to the amount of over i£loo.' , He . beliey ed that ; th,e < Provincial Secretary was entirely .wrong... in '..saying that in dis- : approving of the Act "he was representing the wishes of' his constituents, andi there f h'ad' -been ' 'ho '■' .expression to ! that , effect, .except, .at a meeting held, at the Oddfellow's Hall last year where the grossest : misrepresentation was used in order to mislead ihe r .ppople. Until the! Superintendent iiiand „ Executive Council. ( came j forward and said, the Act would ''noi work it -was not for the Council to say that it had proved a ' failure/.and if ".they wished to be.,. . consistent,, , they would not, at a moment's notice!, overturn the work of last session. ""~Mr. f Wastnet could see Benefit to be deiWd the Act, and, 1 as' for •■MVa I ric l itig'' I tne |:: discovery of :recent defalcations" ' as" au argument in its 'favor, that wia' K rtdi&ilb'u'S' ; : as the change :in the 1 sy&eiii had ; ri6thitfg whatever to' do with it. Mr. Maxdmaeeqn fsould. see no reason! wjjiaff- •, ever for upsetting the Act of last sjession^ Iflany of§;ce.r. to, it y^&\ simple jfinougk tQ,r,emovsl]im r w^thout repealing the whole 'Act. 1 ' Tne Pjso vwciii. SomomobV wotild'Motf vtffe the BiU'%as

before them last year, ,he had expressed an opinion that it would-nofc meet the requirements of tlie Council, but as ; ,it appeared to ;be in accordance; with their wishes he had promised to assist in carrry ing it out. He would state that since it had become law every member of the Executive had done his best to make it work, and that there had been no ill feeling whatever between the old and the new members. Mr. Reid was quite willing to make every allowance for the conservative , feelings of the old members of the Executive, and it was perhaps not right to expect them to vote. He, however, must oppose the motion, which, while it proposed to undo, provided nothing in the place of the Act it sought to j repeal. Had Mr. Gibbs proposed some amendment, he might have supported him, as he was by no means prepared to say that the existing Act was perfect, but there must be some Executive, and as yet there had been no hint as to its constitutor. Was it not far better to go on as they were j doing than to. have a Treasurer who had no seat in the Council, but who took an active part in the Executive and was, as much Superintendent as his Honor himself: ? Whether the present Goldfields' Representative had or had not given satisfaction on the Coast he could not say— as a rule Government officers did not give I satisfaction — but he could say that he had never heard anything against him, and that he was most assiduous in his attention to his duties. The previous Executive had been a complete anomaly from beginning to end. It simply consisted of two or three Government officers who took their seats in the Council, coolly looked on, and paid no attention, to the expressed wishes of the members. To repeal the existing Act would be an injury to the province, and an insult to the members of the Executive. Mr. Tarrant could find no reason in what had . been said : by the supporters of the resolution for taking so important a step as repealing the Act. He believed that it worked, well aud that the Superintendent was satisfied' with it. Mr Donne's ap- : pointment appeai-ecl the great sore, and if this were the case, by far the more direct and straightforward way would be to move a vote of want of confidence in him. Mr. Gibbs having replied, the question was, put' with' the following , result: — Ayes 8 ; Noes 8. The Speaker said he should give his vote, with the Ayes, simply because the existing Act entirely removed the responsibility from the ■ shoulders of the Superintendent upon whom it was clearly intended by the Constitution Act that it should rest,' and further he considered responsible government altogether out of place in a small legislative body, such as the Council. He expressed no opinion whatever upon the working of the Act, nor upon the 'fitness of those fcho held office under its provisions, but fofflthe reasons he had given he^should vote for|he resolution. The Council then adjourntd^ until this evening. : ' . & •„■