The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30, 1853

New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 796, 30 November 1853, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 30, 1853

Be just and fear not: Let nil the ends thou aim'st at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

"Tin: Esttmatks" are in every Representative Legislature naturally and properly a subject of great interest; and we have heard much of them, and are likely to hear more, in connection with the present Session of our Provincial Council. Considerable misapprehension has, however, Mniosl from the outset, prevailed as to the course taken by ihe Superintendent on the matter, and the result has been that His Honour's motives and proceedings have, in our opinion, neither, been righily understood, nor duly appreciated. • The facts lie within a very small compass. In his Opening Address, on the 18ih of October, 12is Honour staled with respect to one important division of the —tthe salaries of public officers, — "Two courses were open for pie to pursuit cither to estimate for them on such a scale as might appear to myself lo be calculated to command .the zealous services of able ami efficient men; or !o place Ihe salaries before you on the same scale at which they have bereloforc been paid...: I propose to,. adopt the latter course." Then, with regard to the second great division., viz -.--Public Works, His Honour, —after calling attention to some of the most important and pressing,—continued,— - "II would be competent for me, under the provision of the Constitution relating lo the appropriation of public moneys, at once lo recommend lo }cvu lo vole a certain amount for the above-meniionv'd, or any other specific public

purposes. / should prefer, however, to avail myself of your greater knowledge- and experience; and 1 shall be prepared lo give the most fovourahle consideration to any Resolutions the Council may adopt, specifying the Public Works they would deem it most desirable lo undertake, j and the several sums to be appropriated to their ; completion." i

The plain meaning- of all this evidently was that His Honour' not only desired to avoid even the semblance of dictation in financial mailers, but that lie was willing to waive, as fai" as possible, bis own right to recommend particular appropriations of the Revenue, and to give ihe widest scope lo the popular concessions of ihe Constitution Act, by leaving even llie initiative in naming the amounts to be applied for specific purposes to be regulated according to ''the knowledge and experience" of the representatives of the people. Following out the principle which be bad thus slaled, His Honour forwarded lo the Council documents which, —bad they been examined (as they certainly should have been) so soon as they were received, —would have placed the Council in possession on the Ist instant—yesterday four weeks—of the Financial Statement and Estimates which these previous explanations might have Jed them to anticipate. There was an Estimate of the Probable Revenue far the year, (the "probable" amount being all that in the nature of the case could be specified); together with the particulars of the receipts and expenditure for the month then just ended:—there was a statement communicating His Honour's views as to what was necessary and desirable in the several Departments of ihe Public Service, taken seriatim :-sm\ there was a List of the Offices for which he deemed it fitting that provision should be made, accompanied (according to the intimation in the Opening Address) by a statement of the Salaries voted to Officers by the last Legislative Council, designed to serve as a guide in fixing the new salaries; but these salaries themselves were left wholly to the discretion of the Council, it being probably His Honour's—not. very unreasonable—expectation that gentlemen who had blank columns placed before them lo (ill up with such figures as they pleased, could scarcely be otherwise than satisfied with the arrangement.

Notwithstanding all (his, it Ims heen said, both in and out of the Council, that "the Estimates'- have not been laid on the table; aadmurmuringsbecausePublicWorksai'enot actuallyinprogressarefrequentlyansweredby (he plea that nothing can be done until "the Estimates" are sent down. But what more was to be looked for, under die circumstances, from the Superintendent? If the Council had informed him that they declined to avail themselves of his offer (that they should in ihe first instance specify the amounts they were willing to vole for the several services,) no doubt he would at once have forwarded an Appropriation Bill with the particular sums staled on the scale he judged right. But they shaped their course in a totally different direction. Their Committee on Provincial Officers were engaged in inquiries which, in their own words, "inincluded, in fact, every official duty and appointment in the Province," and which, we were told, were designed to "smooth the way" for the Estimates; but, up to the meeting of yesterday, the Report of that Committee was still unadopted— under consideration—by the Council. Delay there undoubtedly has been, which, even if we admit it to have been unavoidable, is still much to be regretted, now that the harvest is so close at hand, when sufficient labour will be obtainable with difficulty, if at all. But how was the Superintendent to remedy it? He had received only one recommendation relating to an appointment—that of a Legal Adviser—and with it he at once complied. He had at the desire of the Council invited Plans and Specifications for various works, but how was he to go further when no money had been voted for the purpose,— and, when it was notorious that some of the points which it was indispensably necessary should be determined, (as the line of road to Onehunga and the starting place for the North Shore Ferry Boat) were still disputed questions? We do not mean to impute blame anywhere. We are well assured that the Provincial Officers Committee were diligent and laborious in their efforts; and we are willing to assume that- they did not extend their inquiries unnecessarily, or spend time over matters which might have been postponed without serious disadvantage until the most pressing claims had been practically disposed of. But, taking all the circumstances into account, we must say it clashes with our notions of candour and faii'play to say that Estimates were not forwarded by the Superintendent, and that therefore no more rapid progress Could have been made.

The Appropriation Bill was, however, laid on the table yesterday, with an explanatory Financial Minute, and we trust that all ground for misapprehension being now removed, this important part of the duties of the Council will be proceeded with rapidly,—for the fact that most of the propositions are in accordance with the decisions already arrived at by the Council in lhe discussions on the Provincial Officers Committee's Report renders detailed investigation of the items to a great degree unnecessary. As the extent—amounting almost to a monopoly —to which a complete Report of the Debate on Mr. Busby's (happily defeated) Land Claimants' motion this day engrosses our columns, obliges us to postpone our Report of yesterday's proceedings until Saturday, we can only introduce here the estimated Income and Expenditure. Estimate of the Probable Receipts for Quarter endimj Tyist December,, 1853. Auckland (Customs) ' . . £5,000 0 0 Russell (Ditto) . . 250 0 0 Auckland (Land Fund) . 2,450 0 0 £7,700 0 0 Probable Expenditure for same period . . . . 1 3,738 14 2 Balance carried to 1854 . 1 5,001 510 Estimate of the Provincial Revenue for the Year 1854. Probable Receipts from the Ordinary Revenue after ike authorized dedue-

tions £20,285, 7 G Probable Receipts from the Land Fund, clear of all deductions ... . 4,656 12 10 i 24,94-0 0 A Surplus from 1853 . 5,901 510 Total . . 128,901 6 2 Proposed Expenditure for 1851.

There being no business standing- for this day, the Council at its rising adjourned until 5 o'clock to-morrow (Thursday).

L s, d. Superintendent .... Provincial Council . . . 800 0 0 Superin tendent's Eslablisb1,497 0 0 Provincial Engineer 400 0 0 Public Works (General) 529 id 6 Road Department . . . 572 0 6 Harbour Department . . Oil 10 0 Police Department . . .. 3,550 2 6 Medical Department 1,789 5 0 Judicial Department . . 592 0 0 400 0 0 Resident Magistrates . . 237 15 0 Sheriff's Department . . 1,078 7 (■) Coroners' Department . . 30 0 0 Miscellaneous .... 2,755 10 0 Public Works (Special) . . 12,000 0 0