PARLIAMENTARY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 194, 15 August 1872, Page 2

PARLIAMENTARY.

! • Wellington, August 15. ! Mr Curtis, last night, moved his resolution recommending the Government to utilise provincial machinery for' carrying out public works. He showed that the Public Works and Immigra-tion-policy was not satisfactorily administered from one centre, and quoted a resolution passed at a public meeting in Auckland condemning the . delay and waste caused by General Government administration. He said that the resolution had been misrepresented and that it simply affirmed , the necessity of the General Goverment availing ' 'itself of the assistance and' experience of the local authorities. Mr. Fox said that tie resolution proposed to reverse" the public works policy of 1870, when the House affirmed that its fundamental principle was.that of leaving the sole responsibiliiy to the General Government, in snpport of which he . quoted speeches from Hansard, and read leading ' articles from newspapers. The Government would not treat the motion as one of want of' confidence, but, if carried,' they would resign. ' (Cheers.) Mr. Gillies did not believe that the resolution contemplated any interference with the powers of the General Government. He upheld the Superintendents, and said that the resolution simply implied a protest against the maladministration of the General Government, and referred to • several definite cases of their faulty administration in the Province of Auckland. He deprecated the < ' introduction of any party feeling into the debate. Mr Webster delivered a telling speech against /Provincial Institutions, and compared the colony ' to a small engine with a number of useless cogwheels working in confl ct one with the other. Mr Harrison opposed the motion, and attacked Mr Curtis' supeiintendental administration. . Mr Collins defended Mi- Curtis, but opposed the motion. Mr Bathgate condemnf d the whole administration of the General Government, especially'its breach of the promise of immigration to Otago, and its neglect of Scotch immigration. He condemned the letting of contracts without public ■ - tender, and said that the Mataura railway contract was given to Mr. Brogden at £30,000 or £40,000 above the Engineer's estimate. Mr. O'Rorke moved the adjournment of the debate. 3 p.m. Mr. Stafford has prepared an amendment expressing a direct vote of want of confidence.