Slaughter-house Bill.

New Zealander, Volume 3, Issue 127, 18 August 1847, Page 2

Slaughter-house Bill.

On the motion of the Colonial Secretary, the Council went into Committee on this bill. Mr. Merriman informed the Council that he had several amendments to propose relative to the appointment of Inspectors of brands of cattle, lues to be charged, &c, of which he would then give notice. The Colonial Secretary thought that the expense which would attend the maintenance of inspectors, would be considerable, and such as the present state of the colony would not wquirethe council to incur. Mr. Brown thought tiiat some regulation should be made, to provide for a place, near the public slaughterhouse, where the natives could bring their pigs for sale. He knew that they were frequently imposed on by persoms purchasing pigs from them bciore they arrived in town, and ascertained their value. The Governor said he would feel inclined to go even further than the hon. member ; he thought that the Council should pass an Ordinance to prohibit the natives from selling their produce in the open streets. The want of a public market was one of the greatest defects that he had observed in Auckland. If there was an appointed place to which the natives could repair to dispose of their produce, the inhabitants would be saved from witnessing the many unpleasant sights which were of frequent occurrence in the public streets,— parties rushing upon natives to secure their pigs, &c, as soon as they arrived in town. He hoped the learned' Attorney General would assist the Council in framing such a measure as would make provision for these purposes. The Attorney General would of course have no objection to prepare such an ordinance as his Excellency had referred to ; but perlnps he might not be so warmly inclined to support it. He thought that although there would be no difficulty in providing a market place for the natives, yet there might be some trouble in persuading them to repair to it. They were quite capable of guarding themselves from imposition in the sale of their produce, no matter where they disposed of it, and he questioned whether they would readily fall in with the proposed regulations, as they had been so long accustomed to sell their articles wherever they could find a purchaser. The Governor thought the regulations should be such as would punish Europeans for purchasing any thing from the natives ai any other place than that appointed as a market ,- under such a plan there would be no difficulty in persuading the natives to take their goods to

that place where they could only find customers. Cottages should he erected to lodge them when they arrived, and pens fitted up for the reception of their animals, until they were sold. Such a plan would oven assist in their civilization, for the manner in which they were now obliged to horde together when they arrived in town was even so far beneath their own domestic customs that there was a probability of their habits becoming worse rather than better by their visits to our towns. The natives themselves were desirous for a market place, and had at Wellington peti • lioncd for the establishment of one, and offered to give up the ground of a pah for that purpose. Mr. Ei own thought a few hundred pounds laid out by the government for this purpose would be well laid out. 110 knew iliat from the want of some proper regulations of the kind now proposed, the natives had been frequently imposed on in their dealings with a certain class of people. The Attorney General observed that for his own part he could say that for the last six years he had been trying to buy a cheap pig from the natives, but he had not yet succeeded in getting one. — (laughter.) After several remarks from the Colonial Secretaire and Mr. Merriman, further consideration of the bhf was postponed to Tuesday. The Colonial Treasurer gave notice that he should move the second reading of the Paper Currency JJiH on Tuesday. Council adjourned till Tuesday, 17th instant.