THURSDAY, 18th FEBRUARY. MORNING SITTING.

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

THURSDAY, 18th FEBRUARY. MORNING SITTING.

The Deputy Speaker took tho Chair at 12.5. Present — Messrs. Chalmers, Cowan, M'Kay, Eogers, Howell, .Wilson, Tarlton, and Scott. Mr. Jackson took Ms seat some time after the commencement of the proceedings. ' OENSUS -RETURNS -'INFORMATION. ** In accordance with notice,' Mr. ' M'KAY moved tho following : — " To ask whether the* 'Provincial Treasurer has placed information wMch lias not been laid before the Council, with reference to the Census Returns at tho disposal of the Select Committee, and if so, by what -authority." In doing so he deprecated any system of furmsMng information to. a select committee wMch-- was not placed in possession of all the othef members ofthe House. Ho also questioned the judiciousness — as con- ■ templated hy furnishing such information — of- > dividing the Province into electoral districts,*according to the statistical information .whiob. ■ could he given by the Census Keturns. ; The - most peculiar feature, however, in the'whole affair, Was that afforded by the fact, that any information . should be given one party of the Houso and not to another. He did not see how the House coMd come to any"conclusion on the subject without all the information that could be furnished, and which had been given exclusively to tM-ee members of it — the - select committee. It had always been unanimously allowed thafc any information that legitimately belonged to the whole Council "" should" be furnished to the Council. If the information was- private, he argued that the other tMee members had no title to it more than the rest of the Council. Mr. COWAN, in seconding the motion, thought it was "necessary for the House to have all the statistical information jiossiblc on such , a subject, and was of opinion that any information furnished to the select committee shoMd have furnished also, to' the whole,. House, without which information' the mem- , bers coidd not consider the Bill when it came before them. --• . " -' Mr. TABLTON believed that both of the' hon.^members were under a wrong impression as to the lise wMch the select committee 1 pro-'---posed to make" of the information .given to them in the way referred to. ' He commended the praiseworthy action of the gentleman who had voluntarily furnished- the information, wMch would be of so much service to the select committee in preparing, their' report" on the proposed Bill ; ; and which information Would legitimately be in the possession of the House when that report was before them. . Mr. CHALMERS, who had furnished the " information in question, defended himself' from~tho imputation of suppressing any infor mation to the House, and exclusively givMg it to the select committee," on the ground, first, that the information was of such infinitesshnally small importance that it was nofc worth wlnlo givmg it to the whole House, and secondly, because the suggestions contained in the imperfectly " fihished Census Beturns, wMch he gave to the select* commtttee, it woidd have been inadvisable to • make public, and might mislead people outside if published, a result which would have followed the coiu-se advocated by the mover ofthe motion. As an instance of the injudiciousness of such a course of proceeding, he referred to the first publication of the draft reply to His Honoris address, wMch had been included, in theSuriunai-y'-'of oneof thepapers/'whenonthe following day the draft was amended, and in the amended form published in another paper, so that the people at homo woidd not know which was the actual reply of the House to the Superintendent's Address. The information contained iri the Census Beturns it was not intended to make public until complete, and published in the Gazette; and under, sucfi i ' eh'cumstances, any information wMch he , had communicated to _ the Select Committee must be regarded as much in the light of a - private commumcation, as if the members of ' the Committee had come tJ his office and asked Mm for any information" connected with the Census Beturns, in order to assist . them in drawing up their report, The mover of the motion asked "by what authority" tho information was given. In answer to that, he coidd simply say, the authority he pos- ■' sessed m compiling the Census Eefcurns, and that he considered it of so little importance that ho voluntarily gave it without consulting - His Honor on the subject. The motion was about to be put" by the Speaker, when Mr. CHALMEBS suggested 1 > that it was a notice of question to be. asked, and no motion. The Speaker, however, ; _ . ruling to the contrary, the motion was put, and carried;'- but no' -actual result fol- " lowed, as on the Speaker declaring the motion to be carried, no one rose to ask the question - inferred by the terms of the motion. " - LOAN OE £120,000 ON DEBENTURES EOR PUBLIC WORKS. Mr. CHALMEBS moves! "for leave io '. bring in a bill intituled An Ordinance to . authorise the raising of a loan of £120,000 by the sale of debentures, to defray tho expense- • of constructing certain public works in the Provhico of Southland." Mr. COWAN seconded the motion. The motion was assented to, and leave havmg - been granted, the bill was read a first time, and the second reading made an order of the . day for Friday evening's sitting. APPROPRIATION OE THE LOAN OF £120,000. " Mr. CHALMEBS moved— "for leave to bring in a bill intituled An Ordinance' to ap- „ propriate the sum of £120,000 out of the monies authorised to be raised under and by " virtue of the Debentures Ordinance, No. 2, 1864, of the . Province of SoutMand." Mr. COWAN seconded the motion, wMchwas carried. Leave having been granted, the biU was read a first time, and its second reading made" an order of the day for Friday evening's pitting. . ' The Late Appointment 6e Boad EngiNEER. " Mr. WMJSON moved " that an address he presented to His Honor the Superintendent, 1 praying him tq cause to be laid on tho table of this House copies of all correspondence wMch has taken place between the Deputy Superintendent and Messrs.- Gillies and Street, of Dunedin, relative to the appointment of a" Boad Engineer." He did so simply for the purpose of obtaining a little more information on a subject wliich had placed the Council in a very unpleasant situation with regard to the relative positions of ifc and the Superintendent. The result of Ms motion might not be to' place the Council in possession of any more information than they had at tliat present moment; but on the other hand it -might settle more clearTy the cause of the difference between His Honor and the Council. (Hear, hear, from Mr. Chalmers.) He had no other objects in view than those he had referred to in moving for the address. , ' Mr. CHALMERS seconded the motion, winch was carried without" any dissentient." Town op- Inyercargill Debentures Bill. Mr. CHALMEBS, in moving the second reading of the -Town of Invercargill Debentures Bill,- 1864, remarked' that he did so iri the absence of the hon. member who was to have done so ; but he would, however, be equally in a position to afford auy explanation of the nature of the proposed bill. Without going into the subjects of the capacity, in- ; capacity, qualifications, or otherwise, of = the riiembers of the Town Board, Ije might remark thafc they never had been in.a' legitimate position to raise any Buch large sums of money as were required lo carry on the necessary, andj he might say, urgent publio works of 'the town. He referred to the delay wMch had occurred in the formation of Dee-streefc by the

" refusal of the Board to carry on the Work On tlie terms offered by the" Government iv supplying money and metal for the road, and the - subsequent taking of the matter in hand by ■ the G-overnmenfc themselves in consequence. He fully explained tiie manner in which it was proposed to guarantee the payment of the interest and the loan by the security of-the rates. The principal objection, however, wMch he had to the bill was the proposition to invest the Superintendent with the authority to raise the loan. Mr. BOG-EBS, in seconding the motion pro forma, remarked that the only question which arose in his mind was in reference to the security wMch would be given to.the Provincial; G-overnmenfc by the town rates to pay the debentures. He questioned whether the prospective revenue of tho Town Board would do more than cover the necessary and current expenditure, without the additional encumbrance of paying either interest on or principal of such a loan as that proposed to be. raised. He behoved, however, the Council was not in possession of sufficient information to deal with the motion. Mr. CBL4.LMEBS said that a rough draft of a, bill showing the nature and character of the security proposed to be given for the loan-, was then in course of preparation by the Provmcial Solicitor. Perhaps, under the circumstances, it would be more advisable to, defer the further consideration of the Bill until the draft; referred to was before the House. He would, therefore,, move the postponement pf the second : reading until the folio wiag " (Friday) evemng.; „ Mr. COWAN seconded the motion. Mr.. TARLTON altogether objected to the Government being saddled with more loans than they had already. They were neither warranted nor justified, in the present financial state of the Province, in borrowing money for any such works in the town. The motion for the adjournment of the second reading was carried. •SIESSAG-E EEOII THE STJ3?EEIKTEin)E**S*T. A Message (No. 8) was received from the Superintendent, transmitting ; the followmg returris *:— * '; A 1. Return from Survey Office. 2. Betrirn of land sold m Southland during the year 1863. 3. Return of work done on Bluff Harbor ond Invercargill Railway. Also Bluff Harbor and Invercargill Bailway Specification, Contract No. 1 ; Specifi-cation-and Tender, Contract No. 2, and Specification No. .3; Bluff Pier and Wharf Specification and Tender ; Mokomoko fPier Specification and Tender ; Oreti Bailway Contract A, Specification and Tender. DEBENTURES BILL, No. 1, 1864. The House resolved itself into a committee of the whole for the further consideration of the Debentures Bill, J^o. 1, 1864 — the loan of ' £40,000 by the sale of Debentures, to defray the expense of constructing the Bluff Harbor . and Invercargill Bailway, and branch extensions. The committee was for a considerable time engaged in the discussion of the second clause,. during which some of the members — the minority — were averse to any further expenditure for the works in connection with extending the line to the Mokomoko Jetty, : while- the other members of the Council argued in support of the advantage that would he "derived from such a place for the discharge of vessels, and also that it woidd only be carrying out the origmal purpose m constructing the line, as suggested by the evidence taken before the select committee in February last .year ; and also tliat the money already expended on the Jetty would be tM'own away, uMess the- original propositions were carried out. After considerable discussion, the further consideration of the clause was deferred until the evening sitting. The House having resumed, the Chairman reported progress, and asked leave to sit again, which having been granted, The House then adjourned at 10 minutes past 2 o'clock, until 7 o'clock in fhe evening.