NELSON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 811, 11 May 1871, Page 2

NELSON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Wednesday,' Mat 3. payment to road boards. Mr Gibbs moved, " That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into and report upon the expenditure of the sum of £4BOO, apportioned to this Province out of the sum of £50,000 voted by the General Assembly to be divided among the Road Boards of the Colony, in accordance with the provisions of clause 14 of the • Payment to Provinces Act, 1870;' such Committee to consist of the Speaker, the Provincial Secretary, Messrs Macmahon, C. Kelling, Baigent, and the mover, with power to call for persons and papers." Agreed to.

SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES PROPOSALS. Mr O'Conor's motion, "That his Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to place on the Supplementary Estimates the sum of £ISOO, for the purpose of making a towing track up the Buller river from Westport," was postponed till Thursday ; as were also Mr "VVilkie's two motions, (1) "That the sum of £ISOO be placed upon the Estimates, for the repair and maintenance of the Amuri road,', and (2) " That the sum of £SO be placed upon the Estimates, for the purpose of repairing the fence and clearing the scrub from the Cobden cemetery." KARAMEA ROAD. . Mr Eeid moved, " That in view of the extreme difficulties of reaching the Karamea district by the only available road along the sea beach, the construction of an inland track parallel to the beach at the points where those difficulties are greatest, is desirable. The motion was agreed to. THE EXECUTIVE ACT. Mr Gibbs moved, " That this Council is of opinion that the present Executive Act should bo repealed." His opinion had not altered since last session when he opposed the Act which placed the Superintendent in such a position that he had no power, and consequently no responsibility, whereas, as the elected head of the Province, he was the one to whom both the Council and the public should look for the proper conduct of affairs. It was high time that we should go back to a more reasonable state of things as there was no likelihood of a reduction in the departmental expenditure so long as the present Act remained in force. With regard to the Goldfields' Representative, he thought that officer was of no use whatever, as he had no power either to correct abuses, or to order necessary works to be executed. He hoped the Council was by this time thoroughly convinced that it had made a mistake last session, and would now assist him to remedy it. Mr Collins seconded the resolution. Mr F. Selling had expected to have heard some sound reasons adduced for the proposed repeal of the Act, but had failed to

discover any in Mr Gibbs* speech. It was impossible for an outsider like the mover to form an opinion on the working of the Act, as he had had no opportunity of watching its action. The members of the Executive were the only ones who could judge, and he hoped to hear the opinion of the Provincial Secretary. Last session, Mr Gibbs was one of the most anxious to see the Act brought into force, and now he turned round, and wanted to upset it. Mr Collins had much pleasure in supporting the resolution. He thought Mr Gibbs had urged excellent arguments for the repeal of the Act, and there was only one reason he could think of that might be adduced for preserving the present state of things, namely, whether the appointment of a Goldfields' Representative had had the eftect of conciliating the population of mining districts. If Mr Donne's appointment had produced such an effect, there was something to be said in its favor. Of what use, be would ask, was the Superintendent under existing circumstances? He was simply the scapegoat of the Executive. If their actions were attended with favourable results, and were viewed with favour by the people, they took to themselves all the credit ; if the contrary, they could immediately turn round and blame the Superintendent. No one could say this was a proper position for the head of the Province to occupy. .He hoped to hear the opinions of West Coast members. Mr O'Conor said that he had not intended to address the Council at all upon the subject, simpiy, because his opinions were entirely unaltered, and in his opposition to the Act during the last session of the Council he had fully expressed his sentiments. As an additional reason for his silence he might state his belief that nearly every member had already made up his mind which way to vote, and . that they were beyond the influence of argument. In deference, however, to the expressed wish of the honourable member who had last spoken, he would, as a goldfields' representative, give his view of the working of the Act in its bearing upon West Coast affairs. The appointment of the representative of one district to represent the whole was generally looked upon with disfavour, because it was naturally supposed that a member of the goldfields, who took his seat upon the Executive, would bring there with him his leanings to his own district and to the particular class to which he might belong, and thereby be enabled to have a power which might be used to the prejudice of other districts and other goldfields' members in the Council; in deed, an instance was not wanting to illustrate this. It would be remembered that, last session, a vote of £2OOO was passed which was to be expended on a road between Westport and Charleston, with the understanding that this expenditure should not be incurred unless the actual revenue exceeded the estimated revenue. But, notwithstanding that many road works of great importance were uutouched or unfinished in several districts, this road, useful only for social purposes, was commenced. And that on the evejof a general election, at which Mr Donne was a candidate. Placards were affixed in localities likely to favour the undertaking, to this eftect —" If you wish the road made between Addison's and Charleston, vote for Donne." He had shown an instance of what had occurred, and would leave his hearers to form their own conclusions. For his part he would say, much as he desired to see a fair expenditure of public money in the district he represented, when the revenue was limited he desired the money to be applied in the manner most advantageous to the province. But, apart from special grounds, he would remark that it was not by placing a small sum at the disposal of any one individual that the favour of the goldfields could be obtained, but by devoting an equitable share of the revenue to public works in that part of the province. The two appointments, held by members of council under the Act, would always prove a bone of contention in the Council, and it divided the Council against itself. Last year the Act had been aptly called " broken backed," but it had another deformity—it wanted a head. There was really no one to blame if any thing went wrong. To blame the Superintendent would be absurd, for he would transfer all responsibility to the Executive. If they blamed the Executive they might blame those who were in the right. How they had got on together since last year it was impossible to say, but, whether satisfactorily or not, it would be unreasonable to expect that to satisfy those who disapproved of the Act the Executive would violate all delicacy by abusing one another. He confidently hoped that the Council would pass the resolution investing the Superintendent with the entire control, and hold him responsible for the conduct of affairs; let them return, for want of a better, to the old ordinance: it would certainly be more economical and efficient than the present. „Iu 18G9 when the estimated revenue was £20,000 more than the present, the Estimates and Vote show nearly £6OO less for executive salaries. Members should not imagine that the present Executive appoiutments were satisfactory to the South-West Goldfields. He would undertake to say that they were the reverse. If the inhabitants of the goldfields had the appointment of an executive officer, they would

make a better selection than could U made from the Council. The Provincial Secretary said he wJ placed in a most awkward position, ffi had last session opposed the Act, had since seen no reason to change hi opinion. If he voted for the he would appear to act in a spirit d hostility to his eolleagues, whereas wished distinctly to assert that he hjj no such feeling whatever. If he votec against it he would be acting, he be lieved, in opposition to the wishes u his constituents, and certainly his own convictions.

Mr Luckie was surprised that n more vigorous arguments had beeuaj duced by Mr Gibbs, and was equal disappointed in the torrent of eloquent that poured from Mr O'Conor, but vrbici consisted of words and nothing mot, It was a mistake, and enirely unfair, fc say that no good had been effected \ the Act, for, had it not been for ft change in the Treasury Department there would have been great difficulty I discovering the defalcations of the (J sub-treasurer. Mr Wastney could see no benefit t be derived from the Act, and, as for I vancing the discovery of recent defalk tions as an argument in its favor, t| was ridiculous, as the change in ft system had nothing whatever to do win it. Mr Macmahon could see no reasoi whatever for upsetting the Act of las session. If any officer was objected 1 it was simple enough to remove ha without repealing the whole Act. The Provincial Solicitor would mi vote at all. Mr "Reid was quite willing to mafc every allowance for the conservatw feelings of the old members of the ft ecutive, and it was perhaps not right g expect them to vote. He, howevq must oppose the motion, which u unique, and had nothing appended toil and, while it proposed to undo, B vided nothing in the place of the Acti sought to repeal. Had Mr Gibbs prt posed some amendment, he might hat supported him, as he was by no mean prepared to say that the existing At was perfect, but there must be sou Executive, and as yet there had bee no hint as to its constitution. Was i not far better to go on as they were do ing than to have a Treasurer who | no seat in the Council, but who tooks active part in the Executive and wass much Superintendent as his Honoa himself? Whether the present Gull fields' Representatives had or had 3 given satisfaction on the Coast he con! not say —as a rule Government office did not give satisfaction—but he conli say that he had never heard anythit against him, and that he was most a siduous in his attention to his dutia The previous Executive had beeai complete anomaly from beginning end. It simply consisted of two i three Government officers who m their seats in the Council, coolly look on, and paid no attention to the ei pressed wishes of the members, f repeal the existing Act would be an it jury to the Province, and an insult t the members of the Executive. Mr Tarrant could find no reason is what had been said by the supporte of the resolution for taking so imports a step as repealing the Act.

Mr GHbba said that he had heai no arguments of any value adduci in favour of this Act. The k member for Waimea (Mr Kelling) i suggested to ask the members of fl Executive how the Act -worked, whie seemed to him very ridiculous. ?i it likely they would find fault wit such an Act, which, as he said, h built a very comfortable house £ them, and, he would add, such a n supplied house ? As to his assertia that he (Mr Gibbs) had been : staunch supporter of this bill, he wot! admit he had been appointed a mem ber of the Committee appointed I prepare the resolutions on which j base a bill, but he took no parti doing so, and told the Committee 1 they were preparing something tta would produce an annual fight g the loaves and fishes. He afterwarfj opposed their adoption by the Co* cil, but unfortunately neglected I oppose the second reading cf theW which, however, was a very innocs affair, before the amendments of p Luckie were introduced. These | opposed, as he also did the third nj ing. So much for his staunch supps of the bill. Asiito Mr Luckie's sarcasi reference to his modesty in takin office, he certainly referred to nothia of the sort, but objected to support' vote of no confidence, for fear of £ imputation of wishing to turn outth present occupants of the treasu? benches for the sake of himself getfc their snug places. It was not o| any one was placed in such an exalte position as Mr Luckie was last seisin —that of being sent for to form aP" vincial Ministry. He (Mr Gibbf never expected to attain that eminent! That Executive Act had b* incidental to Harris's defalcation being exposed, through the appoint ment of the present Treasurer, vta 8 nonsense. Harris came to Nelson sa had to balance his books, and there? exposed his own defalcations. 1 Reid had said he believed that, on far as he had heard, Mr Donne | given satisfaction. He (Mr Gi§j would like to know if he had be&f that at Hokitika. He himself | heard very different, and considered! was a very unprofitable way of spe* ing £SOO. On a division, the following was f result:— Ayes, 8 : Messrs. Collins, Bojj ford, Mackley, Wilkie, o'Conor,GiW Baigent, and Wastney.

Noes, 8 : Messrs. Shephard, Donne, Luckie, C. Kelling, Rdd, Tarrant, and Macmahon. The Speaker said that he should give his vote with the Ayes, simply because the existing Act entirely removed the responsibility from the shoulders of the Superintendent upon whom it was clearly intended by the Constitution Act that it should rest, and further he considered responsible gover. meut altogether out of place in a small legislative body such as the Council. He expressed no opinion whatever upon the working of the Act, nor upon the fitness of those who held office under its provisions, bub for the reasons he had given he should vote for the resolution. The Council then adjourned until Thursday.