A BIT OF HISTORY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1933, 16 December 1913, Page 12

A BIT OF HISTORY.

ABOUT THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW ZEALAND. ITS GENESIS AT WANGANIiI. ■ It may not ba Rflftcrally known that tlio; Constitutiou of . New Zealand was not.unconnected with Waugariui. An .the'talo- is told iu "Tlio Kcnumco of a .iT'o-Coiisul,by Jlr. James Milne, ..which deals interestingly with the lile aiid works of tlio iate Sir George Grey, ono passage reads: ' "Tho incidents of governing are incongruous. -...They' jostle quoerly. An oilicijil letter was put siito tho lisHids of Sir Geo. Grey as ho stood on the sea shore at Wanganui watching a skirmish in progress, with the Maoris. He Mated: himself,-opened tho envelope, and forgot the crack of tlio muskets in tho document'"'it 1 contained.' This was tiio first Constitution of New Zealand, 11 ml be . was instructed to introduce , tho same. _Ho didn't. Only that is a vary old tale. '' It should bo told simply us Sir George Grey told it. . V 'In the middle of the turmoil at Wanganui,' ,ho stat.cfl, 'out comes a Constitution which had been 'passed by the British Parliament and published in,the Gazette. It was, you umicrstand, to bo tlio instrument under which the .New Zealand people should take their lull i'reo place in the. Umpire. Up to that had not been seli'-goverii- • iiifc, tlio Governor ruled, Well, having studied it carefully where I sat, I know at the 'conclusion that it would not do at all. Conceive my surroundings. •There I was with Maori thief's whom 1 had brought' from Auckland and Wellington. ' They trusted me, they were • helping 1110 ali they could to bring aiiout a peace. This' Constitution 1 discovered would destroy at one stroke a treaty, that of' Waitangi, which every Maori in. New /kaland Holds to be sacred. It was a treaty securing them in the lands. It was their Magna Charta.in every respect, yet tho Constitution would go back on that, ami I should bo held traitor to every ono of my pledges to the Maoris. Moreover, it would have seemed' as if 1 had taken the .chiefs away from their various tribes in order that these might be the more readily despoiled of their lands. •Its treatment of the Maoris made the Constitution impossible in my judgment, and tlicro were other far-reach-ing objections. It -was formed 011 tho cast-iron, methods of tlio Old World, the methods ivhich I hold to bo kept absolutely otit of the new world. My motto might have been, "Leave us to ourselves, let tis try what wo can contrive." What Was.l to do with aConstitution unjust to the bulk of the colonists as well as 'to tho Maoris, a plan going tilt r.jrailisl the federation uioa,' which 1 hoped "would in future years uprise ill .every country speaking Hie Kngiiuii tongue i" V\ nat was 1 to do, indeed? Illy instruction was not aioiio that of the Colonial Office, but the Constitution had been sanctioned by Parliament. A man's responsibility'iii the liigßesC'.sie.ise is alter . adequate deliberation .to proceed as ho determines j iii lie jusi and wise, if ho has to decide not for himself only but for others into future generations, there lies bis course ail the more. There was ono clear lino for me, simply 10 hang up the Constitution, and intimate to hie 1-iomo authorities.my ideas abemi it.' This 1 did,"and fortunately, as i thought, my plea prevailed with tlio Colonial Secretary and with Parliament. The latter j not merely went back upon its Act, a ■ quite extraordinary ' event, in Kuglish Parliamentary hiitory, but empowered . hue to-draw up a&o&uUj foflstitution for Now Zealand.' * ; "You look for a moment to coiitem- ] plate tho Mother of Parliaments having a measure she had given forth bluntly ' returned upon her, It was a trying experience, but he emerged from it more . : worthy than ever of her proud title. 'Wo shall give him,' Peel declared, when Sir George Gray went to New Zealand, 'our nssurtuco of entire cotdidoncc. We shall trust to him so far as is con- . sistcnt willi the Constitution and laws of this country an unfettered discretion.' Parliament lived up to that promise, and Sir Georgo set himself to yno mapping out of an adequate ConatU . iution. , 1 " 'The circumstances under which I 'drafted it,' lie resumed his account,, •were peculiar, not to any romantic ; The folks iu New Zealand were aware of the work that had been delegated to me, and of the date at which it must bo carried out. • 1 was to have tho Constitution going within five-years. There were 'various interests, and somo of these would advance tho request, "Toll us what you are to recommend. Let us have a band in framing tlio laws 1 under which we are to be governed. You arc an autocrat in your-ways, | and it is , intolerable that ; wo should not hare a voice in tho mat- , tor.' Tiion .1 consulted mv Executive ~ Cauncil, and I found it the autocrat, unwilling-to' set me to do anything at \ all. I believed that if left to myself I could fashion something which would sc- ; ciirc tiio gratitude of New Zealand for , all time. I fancied that 1 \va« capable . of that, as 1 had visions of a now form [ of- constitution- being lielpful far beyond New Zealand. In Hie end, when my [ thoughts wont into-shape 1 wont up into • the mountains 'between Auckland and 5 Wellington, camped 011 ltuapobu ill a j little gipsy tent, and set to tho task. 1 A few Maoris accompanied mo to carry the baggage, nobody else, for 1 could , not liaie drawn tho constitution tfitli a •'crV/tv dof advisors about inc. _ ; \ "'Where did f. get iny inspiration? t Oh. bv tiilkiiu: to ilie hills and trees, . from long walks, and many hints from I,- tho. United Stater, Constitution. _ J :::,!i^h■. a. s?:ionio uf Government whieii should be broad,.free, and chargcd with ; n nation's vitality, but tho greatest ' merit of my constitution was' that the , p.-'opi-o of New /.c:'.;:iiu) could-altcr it- any 5 po'iui should they desire to do. so. 'I hat wasSvh.v it appeared to mo unnecessary ; 1,3 f L sk a nunißor of Icaduiß men did they 1 apSove of -what I w«n_doii".g? ' aimed ac'a m-oii lib-eral eoiistitii-iofi, and tlie.v could change it. io their wishes as time wont on.' ' . ".Sir (ieoi"»:e held a man s lughcs,. c-dii-eatioii to bo that which taught Inm the rights and duties of No rad ■could bo more noble. Indeed, nere was the essence of all service and religion. Therefore he conceived the best system of government to be' one wherein the opportunities for tho exercise ol citizenship wore Iho lullcst. )« "at 'couli! l-.n more piiiholic than tne ! cramping of aspirations such as had j been scon in tlio ease of Ireland. H was as if the roots of a tree ivere had destroyed, su prevoiiting the lull llo'A of strength into the Sir Georgo (Jrev's New Zealand Constitution was thus inspired. There was in_ it the breath of the mountains to winch he had gone as the great law-giver of tho ,le!vs°wen| l up un'io them to pray. it proclaimed a minute self Government ending in a. Central Parliament. Iho i powers in London approved it with a .modification, which looking backward wo pronounced a vital wound. He made both tho Houses of Parliament elective, The modification made ono nominative. It spoiled tho fab-rio of .his handiwork. , 'The kernel of my plan,' )io said, 'was j a form of complete Horns Jtule dominU Hied iu I'rovinees. My idea, was to give ail the localities tile right to levy their ■ Own taxes and establish their own ini- { mediate rules. The great landowners j. wero always antagonistic to this, bclicving that these consuls would tax them . I when a sing"« Parliament by Iho isi- | ilueiice they might assert upon it. es- ,) pccially through a nominated Upper J House would not do so. Such was the j force wKicli twenty, years - later tod .. I the destruction of 'tlio Now Zealand I Provincial Cottnoih."