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Southland Times, Issue 1587, 4 June 1872, Page 3

Tuesday, 28th Mat. Mr M'Arthur moved — " That a respectful Address be presented to His Honor the Superintendent, requesting • that the. sum of £200 be placed on the j Supplementary Estimates as a reward for ! the discovery of a coal Beam of good ! quality, in either of the districts of Winton, Forest Hill, or Hokanui." After some discussion, it was pointed out that attention should first be given to those parts of the Province adjacent to railways, inasmuch as the resources of I the country would be unearthed there with more profitable and satisfactory results. Several amendments were put and lost. After the motion had been somewhat amended by the mover himself, it also was put and lost. Mr Daniel moved — " That an Address be presented to His Honor the Superintendent, requesting that he will place on the Supplementary Estimates such a sum as will raise the salary of the Chief Commissioner of Police to the sum of £500 per annum ; and a further sum, as will raise the other salaries of the Department by Is per diem per man." Mr Reid : The Grovernment saw no reason to alter the decision which they ' had already arrived at in this matter. What would be the utility of increasing the pay of the Police this year, by a small amount, when next year honorable members might in consequence advocate a general reduction ? What the police required was that they should have some guarantee that their salaries would not be again interfered with ; that if there was any further reduction it should be in their number, and not in the salaries. Mr M'Glashan stated that under the circumstances he would move, as an amendment, "That the sum £450 be substituted for £500." Mr G-. F. C. Browne agreed with the remarks which tad been made by Mr i Reid, but he thought the police labored ' under a disadvantage in respect to their travelling expenses. He therefore moved that the motion be so amended as to provide for the payment of a sufficient sum to the police for travelling expensesAfter some further discussion, Mr Cutten pointed out that honorable members were not so well able to judge as the Government of the respective positions of the officers of the different departments, and that theße constant attempts to alter the Estimates had the , effect of disturbing, and creating a feeling

of discontent, amongst the officers of the departments. Neither the amendments nor the motion were carried. Mr Lumsden moved— "That an Address be presented to His Honor the Superintendent, requesting him to place on the Supplementary Estimates the sura of £1000, to be paid as a bonus for the encouragement of the establishment of Ham, Bacon, Cheese, and Butter Manufacturing establishments, with the view of promoting the export of the above products, said bonus to be paid on such conditions and in such proportions as may be fixed by the Government." Motion lost. Consideration of the Education Bill was resumed. Mr Mucassey would address the CounI cil upon this question before it went into i j Committee upon it. He desired to test | the feeling of the Council upon the ; matter, and would therefore move that j the Order of the Day be discharged. He . had four substantial objections to the Bill, j It affected matters of conscience in regard to education ; secondly, there was the question to be considered whether the rate should be a house tax or a property tax. In many districts a number of 3mall occupiers could put a most oppressive tax on the large occupier, and the Bill proposed a rate of so much in the £, and he was in favor of a household rate. Then a^ain, the Bill was purely permissive. If they recognised this form of taxation for educational purposes, it should be put into force all over the province, whereas in some districts it would be a deadletter, and in others would be one year in operation and the next would not. If this system of rating were put into force at all, the amount contributed by the Government should be in accordance with the amount raised. He would say nothing whatever on the unpopularity of such a rate, and the illfeeling it would give rise to. Besides the question of enforcing the rate upon people who did not use the schools, there was also that put forward by Mr Lumsden as to the advisability of raising such a rate until the educational institutions were made of a secular character. The Ordinance also was crude. It did not say whether the owner of property, the lessee, or the occupier was to pay the rate. For these reasons, he moved that the Order of the Day be discharged. Mr Reid, in reply to Mr Maeassey, said that the Council had already considered a property tax to be advisable, and he considered it most just and equitable. This rate was permissive, because it was to apply to expenditure in the several districts, and in which, if provided for in this way, the utmost economy would be exercised. As to the amount of the rates not being in proportion -to the amount of the revenue, the Government was still prepared to pay the teachers' salaries, the first cost of the first school buildings erected in a district, half the cost of repairs, and half the cost of any new buildings ; and in doing so much, the Government would be doing enough. As to the alleged defects in the Bill, they would find a reference in it to the Roads Ordinance, stating that the rate should be levied as therein directed. The wants of the districts in the way of new school buildings could not be met from the revenues of the Province. He would urge honorable members to vote against the motion. The Speaker having announced that the question before the House was, " That the Education Bill be withdrawn," a division was called for, and there voted — Ayes, 14 —^Messrs Armstrong, Basstian, Bastings, Brown J. 0., Browne G. F. C, Clark (teller), Daniel, Green, Holmes, Macassey, M'Dermid, M'Lean, Tolmie (teller), Webster. Noes, 16— Messrs Allan, Barr, Bathgate (teller), Bradshaw, Cutten, Henderson, Hutcheson, Menzies, M' Arthur, M'Glashan, M'Kenzie, Reid, Eeynolds (teller), Shand, Smith, Thomson. The motion was declared to be negatived. The House then went into Committee upon the Bill. Mr M'Lean moved that the Chairman leave the chair. He thought the Bill would have been very commendable if necessary, but it was not required. The motion was lost by a majority of 17 to 14.