Tuesday, 21st May.

Southland Times, Issue 1584, 28 May 1872, Page 2

Tuesday, 21st May.

Mr Mervyn, on behalf of Mr Macasiey, asked the Provincial Treasurer, whether, in the event of the 40th section af the Education Ordinance, 1864, not being repealed, the Government or Education Board would immediately give instructions- to the Inspector _ and Teachers of Schools to see that, according to the interpretation placed by the Provincial Solicit? or° Loii"*Biich section, the Bible should be read without note or comment? .- .>,.--,.—*_ ,-. Mr Eeid—The reply is: in the affirmative. Mr M'Dermid moved —" That this Council, while recognising it to be the duty of the Colonial Government to make provision for education in those Provinces in which it haß been neglected, is of opinion that it is not advisable to interfere with those Provinces which have established a system of education satisfactory to the majority of its inhabitants." The motion was carried on a division by 18 votes to 11. Mr Tolmie moved —" That in view of the radical changes about to be effected in the administration of the affairs of the Province by the introduction of such. measures as the Counties- and Knads Districts Ordinances, this Council is of opinion —Ist. That the present system of responsible Government should be abolished as cumbersome, and calculated to retard business. 2nd. That for the future the Government of the Province should be carried on by a Board, to consist of the Superintendent and members of this Council (to be nominated for that purpose by the Council) ; such board to meet two days in the week (or oftener, if necessary) ; that the Superintendent act as chairman of such board, or in his absence a chairman to be elected as hereafter provided. 3rd. That the proceedings of the board be duly minuted and signed by the Superintendent, or in his absence by the chairman to be elected as provided in the following resolution. 4th. That in the absence of the Superintendent the members present shall elect their chairman from their number for that sitting. 5. Tha.t.at all meetings members shall be necessary to constitute a quorum, and at aIL meetings the chairman for the time being shall have a deli- 1 berative and a casting vote. 6th. That all money payments shall be made under the authority of the Superintendent, and countersigned by two members of the board. 7th. That all business connected with the Goldfields, or otherwise delegated to the Superintendent, shall be submitted to the consideration of the board as aforesaid. Bth. That the members so appointed by the Council as aforesaid be remunerated by a payment of each for each and every attendance. Eesolved: That the Government be requested to take this subject into consideration during the recess, and prepare such a measure as may accord with the views hereby expressed by this Council." Mr Tolmie denied that he moved the resolutions as a vote of want of confidence in the Government; he did so to protect the Province against the contingency of being clipped by the General Government in regard to its resources. He referred to the efficiency of the Provincial officers, which, he said, was rather to be wondered at considering the manner in which their salaries were liable to be screwed down; nothing, in fact, could be more humiliating to Government officers than that the question of their existence should be brought up year by year. Mr Tolmie showed how these and other difficulties might be remedied, in his opinion, to the advancement of the interests of the Province, and dwelt at some length on his various resolutions. The Hon. Mr Holmes had always thought that the sooner the Provincial Council expenditure was brought within narrower limits the better it would be — the machinery of government being too expensive. Mr .Macassey spoke to the motion, and also to the amendment which he had stated he would move contingent on Mr Tolmie's motion being proposed. Mr Macassey's amendment is as follows: — " Ist. That this Council shall consist of not more than 19 members, who shall be elected for, and returned by, the electoral districts created by the Act, 1870, and Amendment Act, 1871. 2nd. That the Executive Council shall consist of not more than two members of this Council, in addition to His Honor the Superintendent." He referred to matters iv connection with the resolutions of Mr Tolmie, notably the second resolution, which echoed the system no.w in operation. If the Provincial system were not abolished, he should desire to Bee it brought within a reasonable compass. Mr Beid was opposed to getting rid of the responsible element of Government. The Hon. Mr M'Lean was of opinion that Mr Tolmie's resolutions proposed nothing better than we had already^ but the amendment of Mr Macassey was distinctive in its terms. Mr M'Glaahan thought the words " should be abolished" should be struck out, though he was willing to say that the present system of responsible Government was cumbersome and calculated to retard business. He would vote for the amendment. Mr Mervyn intimated that he intended to oppose the motion and the amendment, his reason being that as the Council could not deal with the matter definitely, it was waste of time to discuss it further. Mr Bastings supported the amendment because he thought it was a step in the right direction. •.. . Mr Hutcheson opposed any reduction in the number of members because some of the outlying districts were' not sufficiently represented at present. The proposal, if carried out, would tend to centralise the expenditure around Dunedin. Mr Bathgate expressed himself as opposed to hasty and sudden changes,

until experience, or the demands c public opinion, rendered it necessary. Mr Reynolds would support th amendment, because he believed that wit a Council of 19 members the affairs c the Province would be much better con ducted. Throughout the Province ther had been given expressions of opinio: that the present system was too cumber some and expensive, and a general wisi that the number of members should b reduced and the legislation of the Counci simplified. Mr Tolmie, in replying, said he wa pleased that the question had received tb attention it had. The resolutions, crudi as they were, had elicited a certaii amount of discussion which might go fo nothing at the present time ; but then had been expressions of opinion fron several honorable members which de served great consideration ; and those remarks would not be allowed to pass unnoticed by the outside public, whc would in due time come to the conclusior that it was highly necessary that then should be some alteration made in th< Government of the Province. The motion was lost on the voices, and Mr Macassey's amendment was negatived by 23 to 13. The Speaker again brought under the notice of the Council the request of the Select Committee to whom the Chinese Petition presented by Mr Macassey was referred, that it have leave to summon from Queenetown as witnesses, Messrs Beetham, G. B. Barton, Hayes, and Alloo, at a probable cost of £100 ; and asked for an expression of opinion by the Council in reference thereto. After some discussion, the following resolution was passed : — " That in the opinion of this Council it is undesirable that the witnesses which it is proposed to iummon from Queenstown, should be so summoned; that the committee be discharged ; and the allegations contained in the petition be investigated by the Government during the recess." On the motion that the Speaker should leave the chair, in order that the House might go into Committee of Supply, Mr Thomson said he thought it would not be courteous to the Provincial Treasurer if they were to allow his Statement to *go by without some discussion. That Statement was very clear, and on the whole very satisfactory. There were two things in it that he was glad to see. One was that the debt at the Bank had been reduced by £52,000, and that the indebtedness amounted now only to £44,000; and the other, that the revenues arising from Provincial sources were rather on the increase than otherwise. After referring to the rapid absorption of the revenues by the G-enerai Government, he said that, although he had been opposed all along, both in the Assembly and Council, to the present Colonial Treasurer, he did think that if that gentleman were Provincial Treasurer at the present moment he would devise some scheme for retaining at all events their Provincial revenues, under which, things, if they did not get better, would at least get no worse. Mr Beid said that if the fact of the present Colonial Treasurer occupying the Provincial Government benches would secure a legitimate share of the Provincial revenues to the Province, he could only express his regret that that gentleman was not there. He failed to understand what were the remedial measures the honorable member desired. He (Mr Beid) was no party to the passing of the Payments to Provinces Act, 1870. They were merely receiving that amount from the consolidated revenue which the Assembly awarded to this and the other Provinces. He presumed that the honorable member did not mean to imply that they were to rebel — (bear, hear) — but that was the only measure that he could understand would relieve them from the payment of their contribution to the revenues of the country. The House then resolved itself into Committee of Supply. The following items were passed as printed : — Police ; Goldfields ; Road Engineer's Department; General Boad Board ; Bail ways ; Steam Tug and Steam Coastal Subsidy ; Home Agency ; Payments to General Government ; Immigration ; Befund of License Fees to Municipalities, £7000 ; Supplemented Eoad s, £10,000 ; Benevolent Institution and County Hospitals £ for £, £6200 ; Municipalities, liabilities, £1000 ; Miscellaneous, £18,724 ; Main North Eoad, £8520 ; Main South Boad, £9500 (of which only £1250 are to be spent on this side of the Clutha) ; Central Interior Line, £2220 ; Southern Interior Line, £2765 ; Northern Interior Line, £5420. Southland Boads. — Items in all amounting to £2405 were passed. At the item Main Eoads through Invercargill and Biverton, Mr Mervyn declared his intention of opposing the giving of these or any more sums to Municipalities, considering that they had got enough that night already. Mr Eeid would simplify matters by explaining that the expenditure was for works that had been going on since the last financial year had expired. Assuming that the Shires Bill were passed, the licenses for this year would be made over to the Municipalities, less the amount expended by the Government this year on roads. This plan was adopted, as it would not do to allow the roads to get into bad repair. Mr Lumsden understood that the Government were not to hand the roads over to the municipalities, until they were in a proper state of repair, whereas the road through Biverton had not been metalled.