LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 131, 3 June 1874, Page 2

LAST NIGHT'S COUNCIL.

The Council met at fivo o'clock. A message was received from tbe Superintendent, enclosing the following supplementary, estimates : — Executive Department — Non-official member, £100 ; retiring allowance to Mr Greenfield, £200. Executive Establishment — Clerical assistance, £50. Public Works— Wing Dam, No Town, £100; Nile Bridge, £1000; branch roads to Larry's Creek and George Town, £1000; Bond from Twelve Mile to Red Jack's, £400; Pangntotara road, £150 ; protection river banks, Pangatotara, £100. — The Provincial Solicitor laid on the table a plan that had been suggested for the new wharf and dock. — In reply to Mr Kelling, tbe Provincial Solicitor said that it was the intention of the Government to introduce a Bill to amend tbe Cattle Branding Act. — The debate was resumed on Mr Ivess' motion, That in tho opinion of this Council, the powers which tbe Governor is authorised under "The Goldflelds Act, 1866," and amendments of said Act, to delegate to Superintendents of Provinces ought, in the case of the Province of Nelson, to be delegated to tbe Superintendent and his Executive. That a respectful address signed by the Speaker, be presented to his Honor requesting him to give effect to this resolution, as provided fcr in section 2 of nn Act to amend the Goldfields Act, 1866, passed in the General Assembly, 1867. The Provincial Secretary said that the Act under which Mr Ivess sought to move was one which had been parsed in order to meet (special circumstances in the Province of Otago, circumstances which did not exist here, and as he was sure Mr Ivess did not wish to throw discredit upon the Superintendent, he would move an amendment, to which, he might say that the Superintendent was quite favorable, That in exercising the delegated powers under the "Goldfields Act 1866," and amendments of tbe said Act, tho Superintendent shall bo bound to act only with the advice and consent of the Executive Council. This, on a division, was carried by 15 to 5. Ayes : Messrs Adams, Kerr, Maclean, Boase, Ivesp, Sharp, Corbett, \ Shapter, Maguire, Parker, Kelling, ' Rout, Shephard, the Provincial Secretary, and Provincial Solicitor. Noes : Messrs Tarrant, Wastney, Baigent, Gibbs, nnd Donne. — Mr Keliing moved, That in the opinion of this Council the north bank of the Buller river is preferable to the south bank for the construction of a main road; tbey also recommend tbat, on tbe south si:le of the Buller, n branch road should be mnde from the Mangles, through Hampden, to tbe Matakitaki. The Provincial Secretary said that the Government would not oppose the motion, for they entertained the opinion expressed in it, but he warned the Council that by passing such resolutions they would bo taking the executive functions on their owo shoulders, aud releasing the Government of the responsibility with which they had recently invested them. — This view of the question gave rise to some discussion, and eventually tbe following amendment moved by Mr Tarrant was carried on tbe voices : — That in the opinion of this Council the Government should consider the advisability of constructing the road on the north bank of the Buller River ; they also recommend that, on tbe south side of the Buller, a branch road should be made from the Mangles, through Hampden, to the Matakitaki. —Mr Gibbs moved, (1.) That in the opinion 61 this Council it is expedient that persons who may have lost land by the encroachments of the various rivers of the province should have land scrip issued to them to the amount of the original purchase value of the laud so lost ; (2.) That persons claiming consideration under the above resolution shall do so by memorialising the Superintendent, who shall cause proper enquiry to bo made into the merits of such claims, with a view to their being at once considered by the Petitions Committee of the Council, if then in session, nnd if not so, then at the session next following. Two or three amendments having been proposed and rejected, Mr Rout moved the previous question, which was carried. — The Provincial Treasurer moved, That the Council go into Committee on the Estimates. He would take the opportunity of pointing out the alterations that had been made. Under the bead of «' Executive Establishment" it was proposed to make a reduction in the permanent charges of £500, as members would see by referring to the Estimates. For surveyors they proposed to ask for a block vote, as they thought they saw their way to effecting a saving and to fairly distributing the work, but to do this would require some time, and therefore the Government asked not to be tied down to individual ealaries. Tho Wardens' salaries they asked tbe Council to vote in the same manner, aud he hoped that a reduction might shortly be made by dispensing with one of those officers on the West Coast, For the clerks on the West Coast a block vote would alao be asked as they expected in time to effect a reduction in that direction by lessening the number and redistributing the work. A small reduction of £25 was proposed in the salary of the Gaoler in Nelson on the ground tbat there was another sum voted for the office of Matron which was almost a sinecure, while the Gaoler reaped the benefit of her salary. A like sum would be deducted from the salary of the police Inspector, also Relieving Officer, as it

wa3 proposed to invite the public to assist in the distribution of charity by means of a Benevolent Institution towards which the Government would grant some assistance. For district constables a block vote would be asked as it was thought that their efficiency might be improved by adopting a plau that had suggested itself to the Government but which was not yet sufficiently developed to allow of their laying it before the Counoil. They proposed a reduction of £50 in the j salary of the Nelson Harbor- master, a.d hoped to effect a saving on the salary of a similar officer at Westport by combining the offices of Harbormaster and Signalman. Under j the head "Scab Act" no alteration id the figures was proposed, although it was a matter of doubt with tho Government whether tho salary of the Chief Inspector should not be increased by £50 iv compensation for hia being deprived of traveliiug allowaunea. Strong arguments, he might say, had been urged for doing away with a chief Inspector and placing the province under the charge of a member of district Inspectors. For the Provincial Council it was proposed to allow each member coming from beyond a certain distance a lump sum to be based upon the average duration of the sessions for the last seven years. Under the head " Miscellaneous " it was proposed to strike off the item £45 for Farmers' Clubs, acd he hoped these useful institutions would not suffer by the reduction. With regard to the vote for the Goldflelds District Bourda, it was believed that in some instances the local Boards would not spend tbe money in the direction intended by tbe Government, and there was great danger of their neglecting the main roads for the construction of mere tracks, and therefore the Executive wished to retain the responsibility of seeing that tho money was properly expended, for it would be wrong for them to hand over the power of expenditure to local bodies unless they were sure that it would be spent in accordance with tho wishes of the Council. A sale of land in the neighborhood of CobdeD, which it was proposed to hold would, it was believed, justify an increase of the vote for that district. It was quite evident from tho demands upon (he supplementary estimates thnt the Government wero unable to do all that the members could wish, or that the Government themselves desired, but he hoped that because several sums were put down perhaps for one district, tho Council would not think that, the Government intended to neglect the othors, but that, they would be willing to leave in their hands some discretionary power. With reference to the supplementary estimates that had been sent down thnt, evening Jiulc explanation was necessary. The firet item, namely, £100 for a non-official member ot the Kxecutive fully explained itself, and he was sui e that no words of his would be required to sup port the second which was £200 retiriog allowance for Mr Greenfield Clerical i assistance £50 was put down to meet any possible exigencies that might arise. For the Nile bridge £100 bad been set down This was a work of considerable importance, and the Government would be very glad to find itself in a position to undertake it. He was not without hope that it might be done out of tbe loan, and if so a far' more permanent structure would be made than they would possibly be able to find money for out of the current revenue. The item, branch roads £1000, was no new oue, as provision had been made for it from year to year. It was hoped that by the erection of a toll gate sufficient funds would be raised to keep them in repair. Tho sum for Pangatotara had already been expended io accordance with votes of the Council. Tbe savings they proposed to effect amounted to over £2000, and tbey hoped to make further savings under the heads " contingencies " and " miscellaaeous,'* as expenditure had been allowed under them which they looked upon as wholly unnecessary. — Mr Gibbs objected to the very trifling sum set down for expenditure in the Collingwood district, A great deal had been said at one time and another about developing the resources of that portion of the province, but hitherto the expenditure upon it had been ridiculously small. Mr Maclean said that the Provincial Treasurer bad on the previous evening intimated that the General Government, advance of £20,000 .was not to be used. Was he to abandon all hope of the sum that had been promised to-be expended between the Grip and the Owen and at the Matakitaki being so spent ? The Provincial Treasurer said that the Government would certainly so spend it if they could get the money in a legitimate way, but under the present conditions it would be unfair to the rest of the province to lay it out in any one district. The Provincial Solicitor said tbat Mr Maclean had referred to the allocation of the £20,000 by the late Government, but he wished it to bo understood that the present Government had decided not to spend any of that sum until it was ascertained that the Provincial revenue could not be impounded as security. They had come to the conclusion that it would be more judicious to wait until the Superintendent and Provincial Secretary had had an opportunity of conferring with the General Government on the matter. With regard lo Mr Gibba' complaint, he might say tbat tbe Government fully recognised tbe importance of the Collingwood district, and admitted tbat he had been very modest in bis demands for that

locality. They would offer noopposition to his application for £250 for a wharf at Motupipi. Mr Donne was very much disappointed with the Estimates. Mr O'Conor appeared to bim to have gone op like a rocket but come down like the stick. He went into office on the cry of economy, but had failed to effect any. The salaries bad been comparatively left untouched. The Council wanted immediato reduction, and not a mere promise tbat it should be effected ■luring the next yeur. Five salaries had been reduced, but no such invidious distinction should have been made, but all treated alike. The provision of £100 for a non-official member of tbe Executive was altogether ultra vires, hoth of the spirit ami tho letter of the Executive Act. Mr Shapter was »fraid that Mr Donne was in a chronic state of alarm nud disappointment. He had suggested that, tbey ought to bave commenced by reducing the Superintendent's salary, but it would have bieti a most indelicate thing for an Executive uewly tsking office to have commenced by doing so. Several of the salaries it must bo remembered had already been passed by the Couocil, and reductions must be effected gradually. Ho hoped, however, tbat at tbe next session lhe Government would be able to point to considerable savings. Ho hoped the Council would proceed with (he Estimates without further delay. Mr Boase thought they should go into Committee at once. If they waited much longer he really should be disposed to send down for his wife and family to join him. He was satisfied with tbo proposed reductions, and although officials were tbat thick in some districts that it would be difficult to get a knife in between them, he knew that to reduce their numbers must be a work of time. Mr Adams could not agree with Mr Shapte.r in what be had said about tbe Superintendent's salary, for if there was one more favorable opportunity than another for such a step it was at the time of the appointment of a new and responsible Executive. He thought the Government had shown rather a cheese-paring disposition iv somo of their reductions, but on the whole that they deserved credit for the savings they had effected. The Provincial Secretary bad set a very fair example in connection with his own salary, nud if he performed tbe work efficiently, as he had no doubt he would do, at least one good result would have followed by tho passing of the new Executive Act. The Provincial Treasurer, in reply, said that the policy of tho Government was not to adopt a system of reduction of salaries which would place the officers of tbis province in an inferior position to that of others, bui rather to reduce tbe number of officers. With regard to his own salary, bo thought it, was quite sufficient, seeing tbat aa a member of the House of Representatives he would be absent for three months in the year, and he had no desire to be paid by the province while he was engaged in the service of his own particular district. At the same time he thought it would be advantageous to tbe province that he should attend the Assembly. He then referred to what he termed the unfair cavilling displayed by Mr Donne and Mr Adams, and recommended thero, if they wished to fiud fault, to come

down with n motion of no confidence. —■The Council then went into Committee on the Estimates, over which they were occupied until 11 p.m. The only alterations effected weie the lumping of the sum proposed to be expended under the Scab Act, and making the honorarium for members a fixed sum, namely, £27 for theseesion for members residing at a distance of over four miles from Nelson, ond £35 for those living beyond twenty miles from town.