OTAGO PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 143, 1 May 1862, Page 4

OTAGO PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Wednesday, 30th April, 1862.

The SPEAKER took the Chair at a quarterpast four, and opened the proceedings with the usual form of prayer. . ■ MESSAGE NO. G. The following Message, No. 6, was brought up and ordered to be read : ; — '.-... Superintendent's Office, Dunedin, 30th April, 1862. In forwarding tlie accompanying letter from Messrs.'Richmond and Gillies, on- the subject of certain Runs injuriously affected by the Gold Fields, .The Superintendent desires to bring the questionas to the method of dealing with these and similar cases before the Provincial Council, .as, being intimately connected with the' appropriation of public'money, the action which it is neccassary totake must be decided on by them. Already the Executive Government have ex-, tinguished the title to .two runs necessary to the due location.of the miners, and the depasturing of cattle" and horses required for their use ; but it is evident that the question is one of considerable and needs the most careful consideration, for the land being principally auriferous, -it cannot by conversion into Hundreds be thrown into the market as of ordinary quality. ~.The Superintendent forwards for "the information of the Council a map of tlie Gold Fields, colored yellow, showing the rnns partially or 'vrtibijy affected, jand those which have by the extiaguishmeyt^ of ~.tlie Licensee's title, become pubficsproperty for'the remainder of the License. ': J. RICHARDSON, ". ■ Superintendent. (True Copy.) Dunedin, 17th. April, 1862. Sir, —The cases of Messrs. Cargill and Smith* and Martin, being now disposed of, we beg the attention of your Honor to the remaining claims for compensation of the runholders, within the limits of the Gold Fields. The claimants.^ as your Honor is aware, are Messrs. J. and R. Fulton, A. and W. Shennan, and W. J. Cutnine, all of whom have placed their interests in our hands. All these gentlemen are willing, if required, to waive the reference of then* cases to arbitration in the manner provided by the Gold Fields Act, 1859," and to accept any reasonable settlement ■which may be proposed by the Provincial Government. We may, perhaps, venture to suggest that the runs of these claimants, which have to them become well-nigh worthless, might under a proper system of administration, become a sourca of revenue to the Provincial Government, to an extent which would pay a high rate of interest on the sums required for their purchase from the present owners. . We have, &c, (Sigued) . Richmond & Gillies. Mr. DICK moved " That the above message be taken into consideration to-morrow." Mr. M'GLASHAN seconded. Question put and carried. r MINUTES. ■ ■':'• The Clerk of the Council read the minutes of yesterday's proceedings. , . ■ ■ DIVISIONS OF THE HOUSE. Mr. DICK directed the attention of the House to the omission from the recorded; minutes,'just read, of the divisions which had taken place in Committee of Supply on the preceeding day, and suggested that vhe same should be rectified. The Clerk of Council, assisted by Mr. Chapman, (late clerk), then amended the minutes accordingly by inserting the various division lists. Tlie minutes, as amended, were then put and confirmed. OFFICIAL PAPERS. ■/ Mr. DICK laid on the table the undermentioned documents :— , 1. Memorandum respecting Electric Telegraph' 2. Copy of letter to the Superintendent, from Mr. Langlands, Superintendent of Public Buildings, respecting the union of the offices of Engineer, and Superintendent of Public Buildings. 3. Map of the District Roads of the? Province of Otago. " : BOADS BILL. ! On the motion of Mr. M'GLASHAN, seconded by Mi. DICK, the House resolved: itself into committee, to take up the first order of the day— Recommittal of Roads Bill. - On the reading of the schedule ; Mr. DICK proposed submitting the -whole of the matter to the Surveyor, as it was not necessary that the schedule to the Bill should be passed as an Act. .'■ Mr. CUTTEN said that small; towns were springing up all through the - country,' which towns form roud districts, aud a person possessing a quarter of an acre in these towns would have an opportunity of voting in an acreage tax ; and he thought some provision should be made by which the Superintendent, or the Road Board, might proclaim any town into a separate district, in order that the parties residing in that district might form themselves into a road board. The hon. member could understand how a number of persons residing in a village might tax the whole of the adjoining country for the purpose of forming their roads. He thought it would be better for them to rate themselves, so that they might be able to form their own roads. He made these suggestions, to enable the Government to alter the Bill. Jla. HOWORTH did not think it was necessary to make any alteration in the Bill. It was quite true that much land had been converted into townships, but the truth was that many were scarcely inhabited : and he did not think this, was a subject that the House need trouble : itself with at the present time. The fact that land had been sold for the formation of townships, did not prove that they would become thickly populated in any district, although he should be glad to see that such was the case. .Me. GILLIES said the remarks of the hon. member.who had just resumed his seat, emanated from a gentleman who had not travelled over the country within the last few months-: and he thought it necessary that some measure should be adopted by the House with reference to this question. With respect to the district he represented, one town already posessed some twenty or thirty buildings, and another was rapidly increasing, in such a manner that, in the course of a few months, the townships would be settled. Mil. CUTTUN remarked tlint the possession of land gave a man a title to vote, and he apprehended that the House was about' introducing a new element into the electoral districts, which might eventually, and entirely, swamp the older districts, for instance, take the township of St. Kilda ; the persons resident there vjmld be in the Caversham district, and they woujd actually, if they chose to^combine, have the whole command of that district. :

Mr. HO WORTH observed that the road boards would have the power of remedying any evil of the kind alluded to by the last speaker, by creating townships into separate road districts, and not letting them have anything to do with any of the roads but those situated in the town--ships. ■■'■'•.'- The SPEAKER then put the question,—That the schedule, as printed, stand part of the BiU. j; Carried. On the motion of MR. M'GLASHAN the title •f the Bill was then read, and ordered to stand a part of the Bill; after which the preamble was read and affirmed. HOUSE RESUMED. The Chairman of Committees having brought up his report, MR. M'GLASHAN moved—"That the Roads Bill be read a third time on Monday." Question put and carried. On the motion of MR. M'GLASHAN, seconded by MR. DICK, the House then resolved itself into COMMITTEE. OF STJPI'LT. • MR. DICK piloted the Estimates, taking them up at the place where adjourned on the preceding1 day, namely, the Executive Council Department, and passing on to the Provincial Solicitor's Department, Audit, and Treasurer's. Upon the propostd appropriation of £200 being read by the Clerk for a Sub-Treasurer and Accountant, Mr. GILLIES moved, as an amendment, "That the sum bo reduced to £175, the figure at which' ' that item formerly stood from Ist October, 1861, to 31st March, 18G2." Some discussion ensued, resulting in the committee affirming'the proposed appropriation from Ist April to 30th September, 1862. On the Land.Department, a debate took place on the proposed, appropriationof £300 for the halfyear's salary \of the Chief Commissioner, Mr. Cutten withdrawing himself during the discussion. Mr. GILLIES proposed " Thnt the Committee should fall back upon the former amount of £225 for the half-yetir," arguing that the heads of other departments might take umbrage at being excluded from a corresponding augmentation of. their scale of emoluments. Mr. HOWORTH defended the principle of the proposed appropriation, and remarked that the officer whose salary ha<l provoked this discussion, was emphatically one of the.mbst efficient and responsible members of the public service. Mr. RENNIE-tooka different'view of the question, and observed that the business of the Land Department appeared to him to have been very irregularly conducted. Surveys had been authorised which were never performed; and others hnd been carried out so imperfectly, that it would have been better had they never been undertaken at ail. . ; •-.;■.. The committee eventually adopted the proposed appropriation of £600 per annum as salary to the Chief Commissioner under the Land Department. Upon reading the > salary proposed for a, provincial engineer, under the Provincial Engineer's department. Mr. CUTTEN asked the Government what it was their intention to do with this branch of the service. He understood that this department was separate from the department of public buildings, and he would invite the attention of lion, members to the fact, that some time ago, these departments were united, and that the Civil Engineer presided over the office;. subsequently the Chief Surveyor took ono branch, while the other was placed under the supervision of the former officer. The Council, however, expressed- itself as being dissatisfied with the arrangement, and : adopted a resolution to the "effect that thc'Execntive should be authorised to send to,Australia-for, a competent engineer. . An engineer had been selected, and had been brought down, and he (Mr. Cutten) had entertained hopes that these two departments would have fallen back into the former position; as one of the chief objects in sending for a competent engineer -was, that the Government contemplated the erection of important public buildings, and hence he was of opinion that it would be wise to insist on the original arrangement. It appeared from a message on the table of the House, that the General Government called upon the Council to erect a gaol, post office, supreme court, and, registry department; and they had intimated that unless the province did erect those buildings, the General Government would undertake the erection of them, and charge the cost to the provincial account. He thought it was highly desirable that these proposed buildings should 1)0 erected in a proper manner. The General Government proposed to consent to any. bill raising a sum of money as a loan for that purpose, the amount so raised to be paid off by a sinking fund. He believed that would be a wise courselbr the Council to pursue now, and if the House determined to erect suitable public buildings, the lion, member was1;: of opinion they should be erected under the immediate direction of some gentleman who possessed the requisite experience on the subject.

Mr. REYNOLDS said that the estimates were prepared before the present Government entered upon office. The Superintendent of the Province taking the view of having a civil engineer and architect, had secured the professional services of a gentleman, who was considered to be thoroughly qualified to undertake both branches. How the public works department became detached from the civil engineer's department per- ; haps some of the members of the late Government / would be able to explain, and. the Executive! would be quite prepared to abide by any decision i at which the House might arrive; on the'subjcct.^ The Executive cherished no particular views o^ ■' their own upon this question, and for his own part, he should be very much disappointed if tlii departments were not amalgamated, seeing th.i| the resolution passed last session, by which Mr. Swire was appointed, contemplated that arrange, ment. ' I

Mr: DICK said that this matter had been unde^ the consideration of the Superintendent, so mucli. so indeed that his Honor had requested the gentle-i man presiding over the public buildings depart-j ment to communicate his opinions on the. sub-, ject, and he (Mr. Dick) had laid upon the table) this afternoon a letter from the officer at the head! of the public buildings department, which, with-j out saying any more, he would move should bei read by the clerk of the Council. 1 The Clerk then read the document, of which j the following is a copy. i

Auneville, Monday morning, i 31st March, 1862. To his Honor Major Richardson, Superintendent of Otago. Sir, —I have" the honor (as orally invited by you on Saturday) to express my opinion concerning a pro-, posed re-union of the department of Public Buildings with that of the Civil Engineers. There can be no doubt, I think, that the reason which led to their) division was a good one, namely: that civil engineer-, ing and architecture are recognised, studied, and practised as quite; distinct and separate professions. So much so is this the case that it is very rare to find an instance in which the same individual is proficient in both, while, as a general rule, it will bo found that civil engineers, in the prosecution of their studies give little or no.attention to the details of architecture, or that the inquiries of either extend into the proyinca of the otl" ■" beyond investigations into the'qualities, strength, v.id applications of materials, the xises of which are common to both.

Peculiar circumstances made such a combination suitable enough for the early nays, and simple wants of a young Province ; but as that Province was rapidly outgrowing such a very imperfect and jiriuiitm arrangements, something better adapted to its wants was required ani organized ; if such was liecessarj then, much more is it so now, with vastly increase^ resources, and actellerated progress.. ; In these senlinents, doubtless, the gentlcniai who is destined to,lll the ofliee of Provincial JKngineei will concur, nud! I feel sure that the Provincial Council never intcad the architectural department (o be again attached t> the Civil Un canceling. Certainly, I have charge of scne works, such as piers, quays, and harbors, which properly belong to Civil .Engineering ; those, it , vns arranged when I entereJ, I should . carry out for a time, at least, Mr. Thompson "not wishing that his operations should eUciid beyond the Roads andBridges As to thest works, I can either finish such as I have begun, soihr as contracts have been entered into for them, or hand them over to the new

tengineer.' Whatever course be adopted, it is clear that he ought to take up all new works of this kind for the future. " May I be permitted to add that these and all other' works under my charge are progressing rapidly, and I trust to youi-'satisfaction, while thn extent of those initiated during the past live months has been very considerable, It has been my solicitude, I assure you, to conduct them creditably to myself, and sa as to merit your approval, in both of which I nope I Lave, in a fair measure succeeded. On every consideration, however, I must decline a re-attached subordination to the Civil Engineer, should it be officially proposed to me. i have, &c, (Signed) W. Langlands, _ v B ■ Super, of Public Buildings. The debate on the question was resumed by MR. WALKER saying that ho should prefer keeping the two offices distinct. MR.. CUTTEN proposed that the designation of the department be—".Engineers and Public Works Department," —instead of, Engineers Department, only. Question put, and carried^ .At this stage, it was decided that all the congecutivc items, of the Provincial Eng:neer's, and Public Building's Departments should stand over Tor consideration : the Committee applying itself to the salaries, proposed to be appropriated to the Police branch of the public service. At seven o'clock the Committee having disposed •f the 'Police items Jas proposed in the prepared Estimates, adjourned for refreshment. Upon resuming busineis at twenty minutes after seven o'clock, the committee proceeded the Gold lields department, all of which items were adopted without alteration. During the consideration ot these items: Mr. CARGILL inquired it any correspondence had been carried on between the General Government at Auckland, and the Wardens of the Otago Gold Fields, without their communicating the same to the Provincial Government ? ■"Mr. REYNOLDS answered in the affirmative, spent which Mr. CARGILL expressed an opinion that such a proceeding was highly unsatisfactory. '/Upon, the: consideration of the Hospital Do" Jattmeht, -where the Provincial Surgeon's rate of emolument was entered on the scale of proposed appropriation for the current financial half-year at £200, ■MB. CARGILL moved an amendment,to'he effect that the figures be altered to £250. The hon. member eulogised, in flattering terms, the professional abilities, and official zeal, displayed by Dr. Hulme ever since he,assumed charge of the hospital, and enlarged upon the strong claims which that officer had upon the liberality of the Government from the fact Of his having. assiduously devoted all his leisure time to the department over which he presided with so much efficiency and honor. A debate ensued, terminating in an equal division, but the casting vote of the Chairman defeated the amendment.' The following is the division list For Mr." Cargill's Amendment: AYJES. NOES. Messrs. Taylor Messrs. Healy Ifenwick Todd M'Masters . Reynolds Gillies . Howorth Cuttcn Martin •Oswin Rennie Steel Kilgour Cargill (teller) Dick (teller) The original question was then put and carried. On the consideration of a salary calculated at JEISO, for the half-year ending 30th September next, for a Resident Surgeon. Mr. HOWORTH took occasion to express his entire and cordial satisfaction with that appointment. Under the head of "Education Department," the lump sum of JE1,327 was voted by the Committee towards payment of teachers' salaries, the figures as printcd'in the Estimates—to wit, £782 —under the'Tiead of- proposed appropriation for the financial period ending 30th September next, being incorrect. Upon the several items devoted to Roads and Bridges, • Mr. CAIJGILL- considered it would prove beneficial to the financial interests of the country. if the members of the Executive would divide themselves so as to enable eacli of the contemplated seetidris, north, south, and central trunk lines, main roads and bridges, to receive undivided and particular attention at the hands of the Government. Mr. DICK said that his colleagues and himself had, since their accession to office, applied themselves almost day and night to this business, in order to get well up in information on these matters ; but, if the hon. member who had "just Bpoken woulil propose an adjournment for a fey .days togivejthe Executive additional time, he for one would be happy to concur in the motion. Not having, been in office at. the time that the contracts were token and the works commenced, the present Ministry had much back work to get through. \ Mr. HOWORTH remarked that the Committee, had already disposed of the most important part of the Estimates, and he trusted that the public business would not be retarded by adopting the views of the heu. member who had just «poken. For the Northern Trunk line, in the item for the construction of the road from Oamaru to Waitaki. the printrd. figures of jgIOOO were amended by tlio substitution of £2500. In considering the main branch roads, Mr. I-IQWAHTII (on the introduction before the Committee c'jf the item of £1600 for a road from JDuuedin t|o PortoLello), expressed his hope that.itfne"Executive would invite the immediate -attention ~tf the'proper constituted authorities to the presenMauguraus condition of the main roads 'generally, before any serious accident occurred. Mr. DlCKajked for thia'paxticular item to be allowed to staut\ over, in order: to aflbrd time to the Executive to" institute a few - inquiries concerning it Adjourned accordingly. The line of road from Dnnedin to West Taieri as also that from North : East Valley to the timber district, and ..Port Chalmers to the northern •trunk, gave rise to a discussion. The SPEAKER took general objection to the cross-heading of main branch roads being applied to the above, and -, ' Mr. DICK explained that the phrase had been suggested by the fact of these voads being endowed from the public revenue. The CHAIRMAN having reported progress, the House rescnied, and at half-past ten the House adjourned until four o'clock 10-morrow (this'day.) ■