PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 45, 19 February 1864, Page 5

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

: 4i..y j-"'V'_. ; r";".BYJ3iOH;Q : '^SIIJTrw^^ ' ,'•; " -.- .. " 'The; Deputy-Speaker, took, :> tho chfvnvat a quartor-past seven. .:.'.■■ ;•■'.-■. : ; A, Pressnt": Mossrs. Colder, Stuart, Tarlton, Rogers j -Wilson, * Howell,* M'Kay, Jackson, Cov/ah-and Chalmers. -;;; ■"' . : The minutes of last sittings were road and : COnfiniied. ; :•' -Ji, yy ;..*,- * „/ .NOTICE OE MOMQK, r : Mr, M'Ka.l? gave noticp that, at next morn*; "iflg'a 'sittings;,* he . w6iild-'.ask "whether the Provincial Treasurer ;has placed' information -whicli has not becniloid ljefore-tho Council, ; with rofeiUhce to. the- rOensus Iletiu'na at the ; disposal. of the. Seleot Committee, and if. so, hy '' ,, p p ; Messages seom'His HoKbii, | answer to the EErir,bi; cprxpri. Message, No.' 6. was received froni His Honor.' It enclosed draft of a, bill to raise a loan "by debentures, of -£120,000, .for publio works, almost exolvisiv-ely roads. : ■ A statement of the expenditure on roads in the Province was also enclosed. ..,:.. :HpMessage „Np. -7, enclosed His Honor's answW-to the reply of the Provincial Oouncil to His "Honor! s memorandum. The Clerk read the answer asfollows :— -'■-•■-. THE SUPERINTENDENT'S • : ANSWER- IN REPI"? ; TO THE ADDRESS. " To the Provincial Council of Southland. " The Superintendent has to acknowledge • the' receipt 7 oorf r a reply, from the Provincial Council to his. address at the commencement of the session. " The.Siiperintaudent. must regret that on any point of importance he should .have the misfortune, to differ from the Provincial Council; but as such a difference has arisen, lie has tp>exprefss his satisfaction that the Couneil;has v now given liim this opportunity of pntering : ihtd the question in one of its aspects- YyV A A.J^oii6'\ dojes; so somewhat in detail, with the ;||ijiw?.pf:;- assisting -to clear up. any misapjire;^^^p^^at;in'ay exist on the subject. however, -that the Counc'l isri'h.'fjoSif^iOn of some information upon 7^a^rs"allu^|cl to in the reply, which it hao : npl 'ppmmuiiigated to the Superintendent. '• ; -;|';Tf^ch shohld be" the case, and that the VSu^rintehdent is a party concerned, the .Council-would show no more than a duo consideration, yif it would furnigh bun with a state*'.?m'ent?w^6fi'.; r the circumstances, and ascertain wiie tlici* lip concurred in or desr*ed to supplement it. ' *'" " In the eighth paragraph of the reply, it is stated — ' The note referred to in your address affirms that the administrative powers of the Superintendent,- which arc derived from the legislation of the; Provincial Council, can be exercised only udder the conditions prescribed by the Ordinance referred to therovi.' " Now, this construction of the note is highly ambiguous ; it either means, on tlie one hand, that such administrative powers ai-e derived from provincial legislation, in so far only as such legislation can lawfully confer such powers ; or on the other, that the administrative powers derived from provincial legislation (i.e., the Provincial Government Ordinance) aye absolute. If the Superintendent had construed the note in the former sense, he would have seen little reason to dissent from the abstract opiniofl contained, however he might object to it for other reasons ; but itappeared to him to be intended to convey the latter view ; and that meaning having been strongly insisted on by the gentleman who presented tlie note, and who took a lead in the discussion that ensued at the meeting of the Executive, and who was also one of those who called together the meeting of", gentlemen who signed the note, the Superintendent assumed that others who signed the note concurred in the same view ; and he is borne v out in this opinion by the expressions contained in other paragraphs of the reply, wliich would be altogether contradictory of the former explanation, but are quite in harmony with the latter. " The memorandum states that the opinion of the Superintendent, that ' substantially the meaning of the note amounts to an affirmation iliat the administrative powers of the Superintendent are derived from the legislation of the Provincial Council, and that, consequently thoy can be exercised only under the conditions prescribed by the Ordinance refeivcd to.' 'It would appear that such an opinion is erroneous.' "Now, the 14th paragraph of the reply affirms the absolute character of the Provincial G-overnment Ordinance when it states that it " provides for the administration of the Provincial Executive Government by the Superintendent, who shall act with the advice and consent of the Executive Council." In the 10th paragraph it repeats the remark quoted above, ' that such an opinion is erroneous,' adding,." but youi* memorandum does not make it appear;' and, in the llth paragraph, it unequivocally accepts the premises of upon those, and joins issue with, the Superintendent, when it says that his reply contains ' nothing f m.'ther than a simple expression of opinion contrary to ours,' " It is scarcely necessary to say that until the premises were agreed upon, no antagonism of opinion could exist upon them. As the opinion expressed by the Superintendent has been disputed, it is advisable that he should explain some of the grounds upon which he has formed it. " When addressing the memorandum to the Executive Council, the Superintendent did not enter into deta Is, which are somewhat trite, having assumed rather too hastily, as it would seem, that the facts were patent to members of the Provincial Legislature. " The opinion appears to be erroneous, because it could be shown that the administrative powers of the Superintendent were not derived from the legislation of the Provincial Council only, but in many important matters from other sources. "The Constitution Act authorises a Superintendent to convene a Provincial Council, to prorogue it, to issue writs for the election bf : members to vacant seats in it, to grant warrants for the issue of puttie money: — to give, withhold, or reserve for the assent of the G-overnor all. bills passed by the Provincial Council. " Here are administrative functions of a : very important character, and incidentally the information is afforded as to various powers so vested, with . regard to which the llth paragraph of the reply states that the Council has •■ no knowledge. . 7 "Acts of the Assembly — such, for example, as the Superintendent's Deputy Act, the New ; Provinces' Act, the Marine Boards Acts of ' 1862 and 1863, directly, and others, such as the' Waste lands Act, 1858, G-old Fields Acts bf 1860 and 1862, among others, indirectly— have conveyed large administrative powers.. It cannot be maintained that ..these depend on provincial; legislation, and it . therefore follows ; that the administrative powers of tlie Superin- > tendent are not derived -froih the legislation of . tlie Provincial Council only; some of tlie most; important having beeii- conferred by Imperial f ■; and Colonial Acts. *..-■* :,!■', '.y'A. , " If the Provincial: Government Ordinance vests the administration of the affafrs of the; Province in the Superintendent and Executive? absolutely, then whatever . administrative, 7 powers the Superintendent may' possess^-- . whether derived fromlprovincial legislation or; otherwise — must be exercised with the advice! and consent of the Executive. Now the Pro-: vincial Council is of course aware that the; Waste Lands Abtv 1858, authorises the GoIvdrhor to delegate under that Act to; ithe Superintendent of a Province, or to 'such: other person as hemay th-p-ifit.^ (Section 6.)} . If the G-overnor Saw fit delegate those

powers y to a private individual ih this Province, neither the Provincial Council hor the , .Executive ooulcl claim, any authority to control hini' in their' exercise. Those ; delegated powers would give the holder " .authority to. : V'. appoint.' and ; remove the officers of two of the most : important departniont's in tho PrdvinoQ—natnoly, the Waste Lands and SlU'Vey Departments ; so that, in the proaenoo of a superior authority, the Provincial Government Qrdinanco would bo absolutely' 7 ••powerless ; ,bithes-,* to .control the administration of those departments, ov to Tost it in thp Su*p&intendent and Exeoutivo. " 7 "ißut.on the supposition that thoso wore ; ? delegated, to fcho Superintendent, it might be . : contended that Iho mode of; conducting the * administration could : beconip a' rrtottei? oi Agreement ! b6fc\voen the; Superintendent and tho Provincial Council. The; Provincial Government Ordinance wbxild probably be citod as an instancie, ' ; yi "To this it might bo replied | that the provisions of; a Provirioial "Ordinanco are valid only in so' far, as they deal with a subjiect upon which the Provincial Legislatures have not been forbidden to legislate,.* or are not repugnant to any Imperial or .Colonial 'Acts. In either case, infraction: of 'those conditions ■would render provincial enactments null and void.— (Constitution Act, Sec. 53.) , " For example, in the early' days of New Zealand provincial institutions under the Con-, stitution Act, before the -principles of constitutional legislation came to be thoroughly understood in all the provinces, various Provincial Ordinances were passed, which, although assented to by the officer acting as Governor at the time, yet were invalid, inasmuch as they were contrary to the provisions ofthe Constitution Act. " These irregularities were soon challenged. Much inconvenience and confusion f jllowed, until an Act was passed by the General Assembly — Provincial . Laws Act, 1856 — which declared these Ordinances to be valid retrospectively, ' in the same way as if they had been passed by the' General Assembly.' " Another example must be fresh in the recollection of the Council. The 6th clause of the Marine Boards Ordinance, passed by it in February, 1863, provided that — " It shall be lawful for the Superintendent, with the* | advice and consent of the Executive Council, by proclamation in the Provincial Government Gazette, to define the limits of the juris--1 diction of the said Board, and such limits to revoke and alter as occasion shall require." This Bill was not assented to by the Governor, and one of the objections to it was thus stated by the Attorn ey- General — " The 6th section is ultra vires. The Provincial , Legislature cannot limit or extend enactments of the G eneral Assembly. This section does both ; it requires the advice and consent of the Provincial Executive to an Act which the Colonial Act declares shall be done by the Superintendent alone, and it gives a power of alteration and revocation which is not authorised by that Act." The assertion, then, that tho powers of administration have beon given by the Provincial Government Ordinance, would amount to a claim on behalf of the Provincial Council for legislative powers superior to those of the Imperial or Colonial Parliaments. The provincial legislation conveys ample powers to the Superintendent and Executive, to be exercised conjointly ; but the Superintendent, cither acting alone or with the Executive, can exercise large administrative powers conferred by authority which, in its relations to the Provincial Legislature, is not exceptional, but fundamental. " No Act of the Council can absolve the Superintendent from responsibiJ ity, for the exercise of powers conferred on him by an authority above that of the Council, neither can ifrauthorise him to devolve their exercise to others when tliey have been conferred on Mm alone. The Superintendent trusts that in the foregoing remarks he has made ifc appear that some satisfactory reasons can be adduced for the opinion which he hazarded in the memorandum wifch reference to the substantial meaning of the note, and which is quoted inparagraph 10, of the reply accompanied with On expression of dissent. "In paragraph 12 of the reply, it is stated that 'As regards acliniri stratum the Constitution Act is silent, that matter, as will be seen by Sir John Pak'ngton's despatch accompanying the Act, was intended to be left to the Superintendent and Provincial Council to regulate by Ordinance.' It has been shown above that as regards administration the Constitution Act is not silent, ifc makes some very definite provisions. Sir John Pakmgtoii in his despatch, 16th July, 1852 (Constitution Act, page 57), r says in section 9, ' Nor have provisions been inserted giving Executive authority of any kind to Superintendents, this is a point on which Her Majesty's Government did not feci that they had sufficient information to adopt any definite course, while the general prerogative ofthe Crown and the power of the general and local Legislatures seemed amply sufficient to provide whatever might be ultimately deemed advisable.' " This passage cannot bo construed to mean that the administration ' was intended to be left to the Superintendent and Provincial Council to regulate by Ordinance.' And after perusing the despatch the Superintendent has been unable to find a passage which can be so construed ; but one occurs in fche succeeding section which definitely states the source from whence the Executive powers was to emanate, and the intention therein expressed does not lv.r.monise witli tho assertion contained in paragraph 12 of the reply above quoted. " Sir John Pakington goes on to say in section 10, 'It is, however, my wish that any svich Executive powers as may be found necessary in order to carry on the functions of Government in the respective settlements may be entrusted to those officers. This may be done by your own authority ai representing the Crown, or by Act of the Central Legislature as the case may require.' " The Superintendent cannot avoid noticing thafc fcM'ough a part of the reply there seems to be an undercurrent of assumption, indicated rather than expressed, that the Superintendent desires to conduct the affairs of the Province without the aid of an Executive Council — the nature of the x administration since a Government was first formed in Southland does not appear fco give much countenance to such an idea. The Council will remember that when the election took place on 3rd of August, 1861, the following . clause of the New Provinces Act was ih operation, namely — Section 4>. ' All laws in force within any Province of wliich any new Province established under tMs Act niay have formed a part, shall, subject to the provisions of tMs Act and to the alteration or repeal. of such laws by the Provincial Legislature of such new Province, continue in force within such new Province so far as the same are; applicable: Provided always that until such alteration or repeal, all powers by any such laws vested in the Superintendent of such original province either solely,_ or with the advice, or the advice and consent of the Executive Council of such original Province, 1 shall, within suchnew Province, become yestecbin the Superintendent, thereof .' " TMs provision was not superseded by the Provincial Government Ordinance until Aug., 1862 ; in ;:the;' : mea,ntime the earliest Act of admimstratioh was 'to form an Executive Coxihcil,;wMch : has*cohtinued -with some alteration of the constituent members from that time until a recent period. . : ...'.-" The note already referred to inferentially charged the Superintendent with an infraction of the provincial laws— i as the gentlemen who ; signed the note- coiild be regarded, when the Council -was out of session, only in the light of > private individuals, with the ex:ception of those: who fprmed. the Executive. ; The ; Superintend clent conceived that the eohcltiding " paragraph-

in the memorandum foi* the Executive was a sufficient notice of tho charge— -but the case is widely differont when the Council endorses this charge. It has done so in the ; reply by implications. .... Ay .-A : " The, Superintendent Tiolds that he has a right to demand, that "tho charge thus indirectly oonveyod should be made speoiflcially and openly j and when it is ascertained to what extont and in what way Ms actions havo laid him open to oensure, he will not shrink from meeting it. ■-.; „...-', '■■;*'■ ,- ■ •"J. A. R, Menzies, .", Superintendent,' • - " Superintendent's Offioe, SoutMand, " 17th Feb., imi." ' . Mr. ; COWAN moved— '.-* That the messagPf just received, be printed." .:...;:. . Mr, CALDER seconded the.moti on,, which was' agreed to. 4. .*■-:. * , Mr. COWAN moved— "That the. answer be taken into consideration, at Friday evening's sitting." A'-.i .-■'.." Mr. CHALMEBS seconded the motion. Agreed to. •> THE ESTIMATES. Mr. CHALMEBS, asked that -consideration of the Estimates be deferred till tomorrow evening. ' • ~*. Mr. .SCOTT seconded tho motion.— Agreed to. ■ INYERCARGILL DEBENTURES BILL. ' Mr. ROGERS asked leave to introduce a Bill authorising - the raising of a loan by Debentures, for improving the town of Invercargill. -..:-'.■) Leave was ganted, the Bill read a first timo ; ordered to be printed, and the second reading agpointed an order of the day for to-morrow morning's sitting. THE REPRESENTATION BILL. Mr. STUART asked leave to postpone tho second readidg of tliis Bill till Friday morning's sitting. Leave was granted. LOAN oe £40,000. Mr. CHALMERS asked that consideration of the Debentures Bill No. 1, in Committee, be postponed till Friday morning's sitting. Some of the papers required were not quite ready. Mr. STUART seconded the motion. Mr. TARLTON saw no reason for postponing. On the preamble, the question, whether it was expedient to to raise the money or not, they could not enter in the absence of the papers, but they could go on then with the clauses. The motion was agreed to. HEJIORIALS ON THE WASTE LANDS ACT. Mr. WILSON said, that before going into Committee on the memorials against the Waste Land Act, he would ofler a few words : — There seemed to be, on tho previous evening some difference of opinion with regard to some important feature of tho matter. It was to be regretted •such was the case, as it was a subject on which ' the Council should be unanimous, and he conld not see anythmg in the memorials which the Council might not unanimously adopt. The legislation complained of was, that the Act was passed without the knowledge and without the consent of the inhabitants of Southland. They knew absolutely nofchiog about it till ifc was passed, and he believed if it came into operation it woidd be injurious to the proviuce. It had been tried to make it appear that there was no difference between the Otago and. SoutMand Waste Lands Act, 1863. Why, in the one Province ? land was purchased at 20s. per acre wifch a Crown Grant given immediately, and in the other, Southland, ifc was to be £2 per acre with the Crown Grant. He asked any reasonable man if there was no difference there ? And, moreover, when, as was said in the memorials, Southland was bounded on three sides by Otago. Mr. COWAN— What of the restrictions ? Mr. WILSON had nothing to do with the restriction. If he went as, what is called a bona fide settler, whether with £100 or £10,000, ancl bought, say 1000 acres in Otago, he gofc his Crown grant at once for the same quantity of land that woidd cost him £2000 in Southland. A Crown Grant was certainly very good, bufc, he asked, was it not as good for one pound as for two pounds ? If one man settled in Otago, and paid £1000, and another in SoutMand paying £2000, the one could borrow money on his land as readily as the other, and the first had £1000 to improve his land with. It might be an advantage to raise the price to some people, who may perhaps have speculated in land ; to those who may have a few 'sections hanging heavy on / their hands, by raismg, these might be dis- , posed of with advantage. These individuals, ,' however, were sacrificing the Province to their own particular interest. He read the Vth clause of the Otago Waste Lands Act, wMch fixed the price at 20s. per acre, and if there was any competition that was to be the upset price. The clause in the SoutMand Waste* Lands Act was the same, except that the price is fixed at 40s. por acre. By the old land regulations of 1856 the settler only got a receipt when he paid his money ; then a certificate of occupation ; and although he might make any amount of improvements within two or three days, he often had to wait many months before he got the Crown Grant. But here was a Crown Grant at once on payment of the 20s. It was doxibtful if these improvements could be enforced under the old regulations — how much more doubtful these when the man had his Crown Grant in Ms pocket. These new regulations therefore were an improvement. But the SoutMand Act was a very different tMng. No man woidd pay down two pounds per acre in SoutMand, when he coidd stand in the main street of its capital and look across the boundary, where he coMd get it at half the price, and borrow money on it equally as readily. If the House woidd allow it, he wished to read the memorials again, as a slight alteration had been made. Leave was granted, and Mr. Wilson proceeded to read,: when Mr. COWAN submitted that it was not the memorial of the jirevious evening that was being read. Mr. WILSON said it was substantially tho same, only different in the wording. Mr. CALDER corrected Mr Cowan. Mr. ! Wilson had said there was a slight alteration, and leave was given him by the Council to read it. j Mr. COWAN said it was not the same i memorial. Mr. WILSON appealed to the chair, if he did not ask leave to read the amended memorial. | Mr. SPEAKER replied in the affirmative. ! After some discussion, Mr. Wilson was advised to put Ms motion agam, wMch he did, leave was again granted. He then read the two memorials, and concluded by moving that the House go into committee on the amended [copy. ; ' . 1 Mr. BO GEES would submit an amendment to the motion, to have it decided whether the principle contained in the amendment woMd be accepted ; or the principle of the whole of the memorial. He thought it of very littlo use sending up a memorial, endeavouring to alter, or stay, that wMch would certainly have taken place before the memorial could arrive. It was now two months since the Land Bill had been sent to England for the assent of the Queen. It would be another month before His Honor could consider the memorial, and it. reach Auckland,, arid another length Of time woidd : elapse, before it received the consideration of trie Government there. He was therefore riot mentioning an extravagant time, when he said it would take two months before' the. riiemorial was - ori : its -way to England. What then was its use ? There was no use in discussing the Land Act-Bast Session they could.have memorialised the G-eneral' Govern- ; 'merit, arid perhaps obtained * something that; Would have met the wishes of the colonists, but ridw that .was: pastj in all likelihdod-the Act'

was assented to 5 they must accept it ; and they could, only express an opinion that the Council and people should know that legislation- was 'taking place on 7 the subject. >He moved as an amendment—" That, ifc is the ; opimon of this Council that the legislation by the General Government, altering the price of the Waste Lands. mtMs Provmce without the knowledge of the Provincial Council is an arbitrary act on the part of a superior Legislature wMch was not for directly 'or indirectly by the Provincetpf;: SoutMand." . Mr. COWAN seconded :■■ the airieridment. He iwould that the resolution of the House was based expressly on the opinion that the improvement clauses contained in the' present Waste Lands Begulations should ;;be' removed;' Before sUch a resolution? could be" made; at all, it was necessary that a fresh BiU* be passed by the G-eneral Assembly.. He sub-, mitted that the General Assembly had alOrie the power to deal with the Waste Lands, and in dpaling , with those. Lands^ in compliance with a resolution of the House that restrictions shoidd be ramoyed, he presumed the Assembly were quite cohipetent, but whether itwas aorripetent'for those representiiig- the. Province to propose any other alterations - -without consulting ; tlie Council 'or inhabitants, he did not believe. It was these gentleriieri who were to blame. Mr. TABLTON considered the whole trans-; actions ofthe evening most irregular. Mr; SPEAKER : I- 6an'tr see it. Mr. TABLTON : Thb House ought to have gone into committee according to the order of the day, at once. ■..-, I have '. nothing more- to say. He then showed- at length that the Imperial Government were not in sucli a hurry doing business as spme members seemed to imagine. For aughfc they know there might be maiiy communications passing between the Hohie and tHe Colonial Governments, which wuld delay assent being given, to. the Bill, and he instanced one ease where two years elapsed before assent was given to a Bill sent* from Auckland.'- He concluded by again stating that they should have' gone into committee. .*'*' " ' " Mr. CHALMEBS congratulated the hon;: member on the facility with wMch he made a speech, ' arid talked ori every subject,- then ■ wound up by' telHhg them they should have obeyed the order of the day arid gone into committee. So far as he (Mr. Chalmers) could see, they were drifting again into consideration of matters not before the House. Ho then went into a. comparison of the Otago and Southland Provinces; Mr. Wilson,' in the course 'of it, uttering frequent demals of thestatements made. " Mr. SPEAKER "interfered/ He would have no one interrupted. Mr. WILSON : Mr Speaker, in the Mghest seat of legislature in the British dominion — ■ Mr. SPEAKER : I raled, sir, you were out of order, and you will sit down, or I will find ways and means to "make you do so. Mr. Wilson having resumed Ms seat Mr. CHALMEBS continued to say that tho only fear for Southland-was, if the Tax Bill in Otago was disallowed. If thafc was not the case, what with' restrictions and burdens, land in SoutMand at 40s. per acre, woidd be as cheap as that in Otago afc 20s. Messrs. STUART, CALDER, M'KAY, and SCOTT followed successively with a '-few words" on the subject. Mr. TARLTON wished to say a few words, and woMd propose — 'Mr. ROGEBS rose to order. The hon. member had already spoken. Mr. SPEAKEB was just looking at the standing orders. Mr. Bogers was right. Mr. TARLTON had a motion. He made it on pru'pose that he might be enabled to speak. He moved that the House go mto committee on the original amendment. Mr. CHALMEBS : This is a very ingenious way of getting to speak. Mr. TABLTON : Is it out of order to be irigemous ? Mr. CHALMERS : Now, see if I wish to speak twice. I have just to mako a fresh motion ; then any one can reply to ifc, and the discussion prolonged indefinitely. Mr. TARLTON : I told the gentleman once before I did not wish to be interrupted. He then, in a long address amid considerable laughter, compared trie land to flour, wMch a merchant could buy in Otago at 20s. per bag, and in SoutMand ho would have to pay 40s. In such circumstances, the merchant would be sure to come to SoutMand. Mr. ROGERS rose to order. Mr. TARLTON begged pardon, but he was in order. Mr. ROGERS repeated that he rose to order. What was the question ? Mr. TARLTON had stated the question. Several members at this stage of the proceedings were calling "Order," or "Question." When something like harmony had been restored — Mr. TARLTON would continue about the flour. (Laughter.) Mr., COWAN submitted that there was hotMng about flour before the House. (Laughter.) Mr. WILSON remarked that anything coidd be used as an illustration. Mr. TARLTON: Certainly, sir; and if the 1 gentleman can't see it', I should say he requires my spectacles. He continued Ms illustration,, endeavoring to show how much the jinrchaser in Otago gained over the purchaser in Southland, and concluded by moving Ms amendment. Mr. CHALMERS complimented the hon. member on Ms very lucid "illustration. He had given him credit for being better at thafc 'kind of work. Mr. BEAVEN seconded the amendment. Mr. WILSON briefly replied, and the House divided . on Mr. Tarlton's amendment, with the following result :— Ayes. — Messrs. Calder, Howell/ Scott, Stuart, M'Kay, Wilson, Beaven and Tarlton — 8. Noes.— Messrs. Cowan, Rogers, Jackson and Chalmers. — 4. The amendment was accordingly carried. The motion that the House go into Committee on the memorials was next put and carried by a majority. The House then went into Committee on the memorials, which were passed. Progress was reported and the House resumed. ' **• Mr. CALDEB moved that the memorials be adopted. Mr. BEAYEN dissented, as- there was oMy one . copy. He considered , hon. members shoMd have time to consider them. Mr. CHALMERS moved —'" That the memorials be printed, and their adoption postponed." r Mr. COWAN seconded. A division followed on the amendment. Ayes— Messrs. Chalmers and Cowan— 2. '-' Noes— Messrs. Beaven, Tarlton, Wilson, Howell, M'Kay, Scott, and •.Calder— -7..J The motion was then put arid carried.