THE WORK OF THE SESSION.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 135, 7 June 1875, Page 2

THE WORK OF THE SESSION.

It has hitherto been our custom at the c.loße of each session of the Provincial Council to review the proceedings, but on the piese.nt occasion there rfally is nothing to comment upon. The Government have had everything their own way, and their word h/,s heen law, consequently, a correct idea of all that has been dope may be given by recapitulating the titles of the half dozen Acts that have passed, which are ac follows: — « The Goldfields Local Revenues Act Amendment Act.;" "The Tolls Act;" "The Nelson Waterworks Acts Amendment Act;" " The Nelson Scab Act Amendment Act;" "The Nelson Highways Act Amendment Act;" and the "Appropriation Act." From this it will be seen that, with the exception of passing the "Tolls Act," and the Estimates, the four weeks during which the Council was in session were devoted to tinkering Acts that had been paßsed in previous yearß. It may so happen that some amongst us are still admirers of provincial institutions, so, in order to show to what extent we have to pay for the privileges we at present enjoy, we will supplement our summary of the work of the session with an account in detail of THE COST OF THE SESSION. The amount paid (o each member as a quid pro quo for his services was as follows: —

The above does not include the amount (£SB 10a) payable to a member for Westpou, the messenger's honorurium, or the expenditure upon printing, so that the cost of a session of the Nelson Provincial Council may be fairly set down. at £1300. In return for this the province receives—see liet of Acts uhove. Goternoe's Visit.— A number of gentlemen met at Panama House this afternoon, for the purpose of initiating some steps for welcoming his Excellency the Governor at his approaching visit. They decided, among other arrangements, to include a dinner to be given by them to his Excellency Miss May Howabd and Mr Collier, both of whom have been performing with considerable success in the other provinces, will give a single entertainment at the Odd-Fellows' Hall this evening. Miss Howard is an actress of some renown, and as " Lady Isabel " 'in "East Lynne" she will to-night

give a Nelson . audience an opportunity of forming an opinion of her pow* r g. The St. Vincent £ em Concer t Company, who - arrlve a by the Murray this mo- umg) win Rive the firßt of their entertain m en ts in Nelson this evening, at the Masonic Hall. They bring with them the repute of being a very excellent Company. Telegraphic communication with the West Coast is temporarily interrupted, the line having been injured by the storm of yesterday morning. A meeting- of the Reform League will be held at their Rooms this evening. "Wesle^an QiivUcß. Anniversary. — The anniversary of this Church will be celebrated by a public meeting tonight at seven o'clock, when addresses will be delivered by the Rev A. Reid, and other ministers and friends. A heayier. aAi,E than has been experienced in Nelson for some years past suddenly sprung up between two and three o'clock yesterday morning, and, Laving raged with great fury for a couple of hours, subsided as suddenly ns it had commenced, and once more all was peace. During the time that it was blowing the sky was comparatively free from clouds, and the stars were shining brightly. It is very rarely that we get a gale from the south-west, although there is occasionally a strong and disagreeable wind blowing from that quarter. Several instances of damages of a not very serious nature are reported, such as the blowing down of chimneys and outhouses, and in one or two eases roofs have been somewhat rudely disturbed, but beyond this the gale has left no marks behind. The tin, chimney stacks at the Government Buildings are sprawling about the roof in very ungraceful attitudes, and a portion of the unfinished roof of the carriage shed, at the railway station, was blown off, involving the contractor in a loss of some £20 or £30. The gale appears to have been felt elsewhere, particularly at Lyttelton, where there has been heavy loss of life, as will be seen by our telegrams. A fire broke out yesterday morning in the house of Mr W. Wastney, of Wakapuaka, which at one time threatened to destroy the whole build- % ing, but the judiciously applied efforts of several neighbors, who were speedily on the spot, checked it before it had time to spread. A good deal of furniture is said to have been destroyed in the course of removal. Trip to Colltngwood —It will be noticed by the Lady Barkly's timetable for next we°k that it has been specially framed for the purpose of giving persons an opportunity of attending the sale of the Decimal Company's plant, and of visiting the Para Para Company's works nod the coal-mine. The steamer will leave Nelson on Tuesday, the 15ih inst., arriving at Collingwood early next morning, and will leuve there for Nelson on the following Friday morning. We understand that it is probable a number of persons will avail themselves of this unusual opportunity of visiting Collingwood. The Chronicle says : — To supply the wants of the town of Wanganui we are blessed with eighteen public-houses, and it ia considered that the drinking capacity of the people is equal to a larger amount. Mr Vincent, Pyke, M.H.1?., says in print that, after consulting with the representatives of the mining intfreet io the Assembly, he has come to the conclusion, aod they also, that the impecunious provinces are so dependent on. the gold export duty for the means of preserving their wretched existence and paying official salaries, that there is no hope of any reduction of the obnoxious impost so long as the Provincial Governments and Provincial Goldfields Secretaries are suffered to exist. And it is well that the miners should understand this, so that at the next general election they may not Btultify themselves by returning any man who will not pledge himself to vote for the entire abolition of Provincialism throughout the colony.

, £ s. d. The Hon. N. Edwards. 20 0 0 Mr Anton Adams 20 0 o Mr Sharp 20 0 0 Mr Wastney (including travelling expenses) ... 27 13 8 Mrfteilinp, do do do. 35 10 0 Mr Kerr, do. do. do 35 15 o Mr Baigpnt, do do. do 36 18 6 Mr Hiepliard, do. (io do 87 S 0 Mr T rrant, do do. do. ... ... 37 8 0 Mr Parker, do. do. do 87 12 6 MrM'Gregor do do. do 41 0 0 Mr Gik>b=, do. do. do 41 0 0 Mr Boast, do. do. do f 3 15 0 Mr Donne, do. do. do 65 8 0 Mr Corhett, do do. do 6.5 5 0 Mr M'Guire, do. do. do 65 5 o Mr Ivess, do. do. do 65 5 0 724 18 6 To this we may add — The Speaker ("including £50 as member of Waste Lands Board) 2CO 0 0 TheCUrk ISO 0 0 Mr Gibbs (as Chairman of Coinmitieeß 50 0 0 Total jgTiw 18 6