PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 147, 1 December 1870, Page 6

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

The only question of importance which has yet been before the Provincial Council at its special sitting has been the " Immigration and Public Works Act" passed by the General Assembly at its last sitting. Nearly every member of the Council has expressed his views with regard to it, and while they are all in favour of public works being at once initiated, there is a general doubt existing as to the advisability of the General Government having the control of the land revenue of the province. Upon this point, Mr. Reid made his stand, and proposed the following resolution :—lst.: — Ist. " That this Council having had under its consideration the communication from the hon. the Colonial Secretary, enclosed in his Honour's Message No, 2, is of opinion that al«

though it is exceedingly desirable that the works -therein referred to should be constructed without delay, yet, that it is inexpedient for this Council to make any recommendation with the view to the initiation of any works under the 'Immigration and Public "Works Act, 1570,' until the whole policy of that Act has been considered by the various constituencies throughout the province, or either confirmed or modified by a new Parliament." " 2nd. That a copy of the foregoing resolution be presented to his Honour the Superintendent, with a respectful request that he will communicate the same to the hon. the Colonial Secretary."

In the discussion of the subject on Tuesday, Mr. G-illivray moved, as an amendment, " That this Council having had uuder its consideration the communication from the Honourable the Colonial Secretary in his Honour's Message No. 2, resolved :—lst.: — Ist. That, while the Council does not concur in the financial policy of the Geueral Government as a whole, especially in so far as it proposes to construct public works throughout the province irrespective of the control of the Provincial Council, at the same time, rather than forego till an indefinite period the advantages that will accrue to the province by the immediate application of £100,000 towards water supply on goldfields, and a sum for the construction of railways, the Council is of opinion that the offers of the General Government in respect of these works bo closed forthwith. 2nd. That as respects the Southern Trunk Railway, the Council is of opinion that in the event of the Provincial Government being unable to conclude some satisfactory arrangement for its commencement before the Ist of January next, recourse shall be had to the colonial guarantee, so as to secure the accomplishment of a work so absolutely essential to the general progress of the province. 3rd. That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be presented to his Honour the Superintendent, with a respectful request that he will communicate the same to the Honourable the Colonial Secretary."

On Wednesday the discussion was continued, when

Mr. Calder proposed an amendment as follows :—": — " That this Council, having under its consideration the communication from the Honourable the Colonial Secretary, enclosed in his Honour's Message No. 2, is of opinion that though it is desirable that works having for their object the development of the goldfields, and resources of the province generally, should be undertaken without undue delay, yet that it is inexpedient for this Council to make any recommendation with the view to the initiation of any works under the ' Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870,' until the whole policy of that Act has been considered by the various constituencies throughout the province, and either confirmed by a new parliament or modified in such a way as will leave the Middle Island free to deal with its own finances for the promotion of public works and immigration ; and this Council considers the only practicable way to arrive at such a desirable result is by financial separation of the two Islands."

A question arose as to whether the latter clause could be dealt with by the Committee. Ultimately Mr. Cakler decided to jstrike out all the words in the amendment after the words " promotion of public works and immigration," namely, " and this Council considers the only practicable way to arrive at such a desirable result is by a financial separation of the two islands."

Mr. Driver moved that the words "and this Council considers the only practicable way to arrive at such a desirable result is by a financial separation of the two islands," be added to the amendment.

After a discussion, in which several members took part, Mr. Driver's amendment was then put and carried on the voices.

On Thursday, in resuming the debate, two or three members spoke in favour of deferring the operation of the Immigration and Public Works Act till after the general elections.

As Mr. Reid, in his reply, gives a resume of the speeches of the various members, and clearly shows the ground taken up by the Executive, we give his speech in full.

Mr. Reid, on rising to reply, said he would endeavour to answer some of the statements which had been made by various honourable members. Mr. M'lndoe had complained that by his (Mr. Reid's) motion, honourable merabsrs wei-e confined to the consideration of three subjects. That was not the case ; for, besides the. three subjects named by the honourable member, the motion opened up a very large question, namely, the desirability of proceeding with any works under the General Government scheme until it had been remitted to the electors. Mr. M'lndoe also said the Provincial Governments were not sincere in regard to the Clutha railway ; that they were a Government of simulation and dissimulation, and a dog-in-the-manger Government. It would have been much better had the honourable member brought forward cases in support of his statements. But he did not do so ; his whole speech was one series of assertions, and he (Mr. Reid) now challenged the honourable member to bring forward any cases in support of bis statements,

Honourable members knew the position of the matter, and they had before now absolved the Government from the charge which the honourable member seemed desirous of making against them. The honourable member had said that if the work was not done by the Provincial Government, it would, thank God, be soon clone by the General Government. He did not think those remarks corresponded very well with a speech which was made on a later occasion by the honourable member, nor with speeches that had been made by other honourable members, who supported his view of the case. It was also doubtful whether it could not be proved from the speeches of the Colonial Treasurer that there was not the slightest probability of anything being done under this Act during the current financial year.

Mr. Driver : Then why pass the resolution.

Mr. Reid : Because the Government were not prepared to give assent to the scheme in its present shape and under existing circumstances. Why should they be asked to give assent to a scheme that would not come into operation during the present financial year? He could answer the question, bu* he would not do so at present. It had been said that the Government were actuated in the matter by motives of jealousy of a certain individual, but he challenged any honorable member to show that any action of the present Provincial Government had been directed to thwart his Honour in the carrying out of necessary public works in this province on a proper basis. They had always endeavoured to assist his Honour, provided safeguards, which would not prevent any reasonable work from being carried out, were attached. He (Mr. Reid) would next refer to some of the remarks which had been made by Capt. M'Kenzie. That honourable member had accused other honourable members, when speaking in that House, of addressing their constituents. If that were the case, he had also done his share. If there was one member more than another who addressed his constituents in that House it was Capt. M'K«nzie. The hon. member had also made complaints iigainst the L-ind Department, and he now told him that it was a cowardly proceeding for an honourable member to take advantage of his position in that siouse to rail against officers who could not defend themselves. If the honourable member had complaints to make, he should take the proper course to have an enquiry instituted. Mr. Main explained to ths House the reasons which induced hi:n to support the financial policy of the General Government, especially in regard to the loan. The honourable member had said that one reason which weighed with him was that it was the last session of the Parliament. The honourable member, knowing the great talent of the Assembly, appeared to be afraid that the wisdom would vanish with them, and that there would never be another Assembly so competent to deal with the matter. If the Assembly wished to be immortalised, they might rest assured that, during the previous session, they did quite sufficient to leave their names on the pages of the history of Otago, in passing the Otago Hundreds Regulation Act. They might have been content with having done that, without desiring to leave some other great tlr'ng behind them. The honourable member also acknowledged that the meaning of this Act was that our land revenue would be melted up in the same pot as that in the North Island, and that it would go out of our grasp. He thanked the honourable member for that candid admission. Mr. Hay had asked what the Provincial Government intended to do. He would tell the honouiable member what they did not intend to do ; they did not intend to lose the substance whilst they were grasping at a shadow ; they would not consent, in order to get a few surveys, to barter away the people's inheritance — the land revenue. He contended that they could do as much, and even more, with their land revenue than the General Government could do for them. The matter rested with the constituencies ; if they were true to themselves they could do a great deal. He (Mr. Reid) then quoted from the Colonial Treasurer's speech on the Government measures to show that there was no probability of there being anything done under this scheme before the elections took place. The whole speech, he said, was an apology for there being no probability that the works would be proceeded with during the recess. Mr. Ashcroft also opposed the motion of the Government. The words double Government were used. He (Mr Reid) disputed that any compromise had been made in regard to this bill. All the advantage would be on the side of the North Island.

Mr. Ashcroft: The amount was reduced-

Mr. Reid : Yes, but reduced as nmch for the Middle Island as for the North. The honourable member also said he admitted that each province ought to give special security, but that they would get that next session. He (Mr. Reid) said, in reply, let the whole matter stand over until next session, and get the special security first. The surveys were only a blind, and ths honourable member knew it. Mr. M'Dermid also asked certain questions. He "would wish to know, you know," — (Laughter,). He had a large ncte of interrogations against the honourable;

member's name, and if he put his questions down categorically, he' had no doubt one of the messengers would have been able to write answers to them. Mr. Millar favoured the House with a dissertation on the Clutha Railway, and said he had no confidence in the Government. Mr. M'lndoe also said that if any other Government had been in office at the time the offer was made by a company of gentlemen in Dunedin, the construction of the Clutha Railway would by this time have been proceeded with. He (Mr. Reid) read extraccs from a document containing the terms of the offer, and said that if under the circumstances, the Government had placed the construction of the railway in the hands of those gentlemen they would have been in a position to retain it, and exact such terms as they thought fit. The Government asked them to place before them their offer, *but it never came. The Government then said they would advertise it for public competition, but no offer never came. The course pursued by the Government was, he contended, the- most businesslike course they could pursue. He believed an offer was made by Mr. Millar. He said he was prepared to construct the railway, but jealousies stood in the way of their accepting the offer. But it seemed to be forgotten that it Avas outside che power of the Government to accept his offer. The power had not been granted by the Assembly. It was quite clear that they could not accept an offer which embraced proposals to give land for the construction of the line.

Mr. Millar: Perhaps you will explain that I requested you to obtain the power from the General Assembly 1 I knew you had not the power.

Mr Reid said he did not recollect that that was the case. The power, however, had been asked for, but not obtained. He (Mr lleid) then proceeded to show that the action of the Provincial Government had dono more to bring the Clutha railway into notice than any action which had been previously taken, and at less expense. It was in consequence of the action which was taken by the Provincial Government that the letter from Mr Morel, civil engineer, was received; and had it not been for the unfortunate and lamented death of Mr Putcrson, it was possible that the Government would have entered into arrangements with him. Mr Morel wrote a letter to Mr Pater3on, but iv consequence of the accident to Mr Paterson, the letter remained unopen for some time, and before Mr Morel could be communicated with he had left the colony. He next pointed out, in reply to Mr M'Gillivny, that according to his (Mr Reid's) motion, action in connection with the General Government scheme was not to be postponed for all indefinite time, but only till the new Parliament had expressed its opinion of fie scheme. Mr Fraser had said that the Provincial Government knew nothing about the goldfields. Nevertheless, there had not been many complaints from the goldfields that the wants of the residents had not been reasonably attended to. If there were wants that had been unattended to, the honorable member had not been very active in giving the Government information on the subject. It did appear that if there was not something else looming in the distance, they would not have heard so much from the honorable member. After referring to some remarks made by Mr Johnston, he (Mr Reid) said he would give reasons why they should not recommend action to be taken under this Act. The Government considered the matter should be remitted to the electors for their consideration. They looked upon it as the thin end of the wedge which was to take from the people the land revenue. In support of this statement he referred to a speech made by the Colonial Treasurer when the Assembly was in Committee on the Otago Loan Bill. He (Mr Reid) approved of large works being undertaken, provided they were justified by the necessities of the ease ; and provided there was a raasonable probability that the people could meet the engagements incurred on account of them. But we were not in a position to allow these large works to be undertaken in the North Island at our expense. If they were not careful, the taxation would become so heavy that the people would not be able to bear it. The works in the North Island might be necessary in their own way, but they would not likely be reproductive. There was a proposal in the Act that the loan was to be charged provincially, but he said he had little faith in that after what was done in 1367, when a large amount due by the North Island, and which bad been charged against the province on account of works which were considered to be be reproductive, was wiped off at one sweep. After that ho had little doubt about its beiiu charged provincially ; it was a mere blind. He also opposed the General Government scheme because it was, as described, a game of chance ; the tvyo partners were not placed on equal terms. The one had something to lose, and it was doubtful if he would gain anything. The other had nothing to lose ; but, however the dice mi-jht be thrown, he was bound to win, He also mentioned other reasons why he opposed the scheme, and said the Government were adverse to accepting the issue, placed before them by theii\ opponents, and that they were adverse

to all progress, and that they were not willing to countenance the scheme in its present shape, until the electors had had an opportunity of expressing an opinion upon it. They would see when the division was taken who would dare stand between the electors and that 'expression of opinion. Mr Turnbull moved a se'rieo of '•£°2O* lutions to the effect that, while acfrnq^. ting that the province was bettor ab^' to carry on public works, the present condition of affairs, and the depressed state of the province, ' rendered it inexpedient that they should be undertaken by the Colonial Government. These resolutions were rejected by 23 to 13.

Mr Calder'a amendment' was adopted without discussion at 3 o'clock on Friday morning.

superintendent's message no. 3.

In this message his Honour expressed his deep disappointment at the action taken by the Provincial Council with' regard to the financial policy of the General Assembly. He believed their action would prove highly detrementai to the interests of the province. What the colony propose to do, is to borrow money on behalf of such provinces as can show satisfactory security, and to insist upon retaining in its own hands the control of the expenditure. He states that it is altogether a misapprehension that the policy of the General Assembly involves immigration and public works in the North Island at the expense of the South. He thinks it must be evident,- with 45 representatives as against 33, it will be the fault of the South should any such attempt be made. The Superintendent confesses himself utterly amazed that the Provincial Council of. Otago should for one single day forego the advantages which must be conferred upon the province by means of railways, immigration, and waler supply on goldfields. With regard to the Southern Trunk Railway, the Superintendent considers that unless the province is prepared to avail itself of the guarantee of the colony, the enterprise may be held as abandoned.