THE OPPOSITION AND A DISSOLUTION.

Evening Star, Issue 3199, 22 May 1873, Page 3

THE OPPOSITION AND A DISSOLUTION.

The following «the text of the memorial agoinat the Superintendent’s application for dissolution, which was wired to the Go vernnient yesterday in order tjiat the matter gbt be considered at e Cabinet Counci 1 •day s

To Hli Excellency Sir Gkoboe Abney, Knight, Acting-Governor and Com-mender-in-Chief in and over the Colony of New Zealand, ne memorial of the undersigned, being members of the Provincial Council of Otago, Humbly sheweth—

That, believing that his Honor the Superintendent of Otago has, with the advice and consent of the Executive of the Province now in office, but Hie members of which have tendered their resignations, requested your Excellency to dissolve the’Couneil, your memorialists desire to laTeertain facts before your Excellency. That the Provincial Council was prorogued on the thirty-first day of May, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, with the following members of Executive, viz.;— Mr Donald Reid, Provincial Secretary and Treasurer; Mr James Benn Bradshaw, Secretary for

Goldfields and Works ; > > Mr John Bathgate, Provincial Solicitor; Mr William Henry Cutten, Non-official. That, on the acceptance of the office of Minister for Public Works for the Colony, Hr Donald Reid, who was Provincial Treasurer, was dismissed by bis Honor the Superintendent from the office of Provincial Treasurer, on the sele ground that the holding of the two offices was incompatible. That certain correspondence took place between his Honor the Superintendent and Mr Reid, a copy of which is hereunto annexed and marked “A.” That at the time of Mr Reid’s dismissal, he was not acting as Provincial and Treasurer, Mr Cutten being Acting-Provincial Secretary and Treasurer in his stead. That his Honor the Superintendent, instead of asking some members of the Council of the party who are in the majority to form an Executive, sought for advice from gentlemen who are of the party in the minority in the Counci', That before an Executive was definitely formed, a memorial (copy of which is annexed and marked “ B”) was sent to bis Honor the Superintendent, signed by twenty-seven members of the Council That his Honor declined to call the Council together, the grounds of his decision being set forth in the letter, also annexed hereto, marked “C.” That the Council was opened on the sixth day of May instant, and when his Honor the Superintendent’s Address came on for consideration a reply annexed hereto marked “ D” was moved by Mr Fish, and Mr Reid thereupon moved an amendment, a copy of which is annexed hereto and market! “E.” After discussion, Dr Webster moved a further amendment, copy of which is annexed hereto and marked “F.” To this last amendment one or more members of the Executive assented, and the Executive thereupon resigned. That Mr Tolmie, the leader of the Government, in intimating the resignation of the Executive to the Council said that it was the general feeling of the supporters of the Government that they should resign. Mr Reid’s amendment was carried.

That his Honor the Superintendent sent for Mr Reid, and entrusted him with the task of forming an Executive. That before Mr Reid had time to form an Executive, his Honor the Superintendent, without the advice and consent of his Executive, sent a Message, No. 3, urging the Council to agree to a dissolution, copy of which Message is annexed and marked *‘G.” Th»t seeing a dissolution threatened, and that the business of the country would suffer in consequence, Mr Reid, with the consent of the party in a majority, submitted to the party in the minority proposals for a coalition. That the party in the minority met this proposal by the following resolution “ That Dr Webster be requested to intimate to Mr Reid that the Opposition, whilst thanking him for the overtures he has made, are of opinion that no good to the country would result from a coalition.” • That, finding there was thus no hope of f coalition, and knowing that he had a sufficient majority to carry on the business in the Council, Mr Reid submitted the following names to his Honor the Superintendent, as members who were willing to form an Executive, viz. Mr Donald Herd, Provincial Secretary and Treasurer; Mr James Green, Secretary for Lands and Works; Mr James Clarke Brown, Secretary for Goldfields ; Mr Robert Stout, Provincial Solicitor; Mr George Lumsden, without office.

That his Honor declined to accept those members, but assigned no reason for doing so except the following“ That he did not think the Executive was a satisfactory one, and that he did not think either the country or the Council would approve of it.” That his Honor transmitted to the Council another Message, NV 5,‘ also, without the advice and consent of his Executive, pony of which is also hereto annexed, parked “ H. That no opportunity whatever was given to thp Council tq discuss his Messages. Mr Tolmie, tfte head of (fop Executive, gave POtlcP that be would mpve that Message No. 3 be taken into consideration, but before this motion could come on for hearing, _ adjournments of the House from time to time were moved by the Government, and agreed to. That Dr Webster, one of the party in the minority, was entrusted by his Honor the Superintendent with the formation of an Executive, but he was unsuccessful That Mr Clark gave notice of the motion, copy of which is also annexed, and marked *'L,” but the House was prorogued on the same day. That before the prorogation of the Council, his Honor forwarded Message No. 6, copy of which is annexed hereto, and marked “ K. That your memorialists believe that it will be seen from the foregoing that the Provincial Council has never declined to consider any proposal submitted to it by his Honor the Superintendent, nor has it refused to proceed with the consideration of matters affecting the well-being of the Province. Your memorialists therefore pray that for the following reasons amongst others your Excellency will refrain from dissolving

the Gqqneil; , |. That thprp is a majority in the Council sufficient to cany on the business of the country, there being (not including the Speaker) twenty-seven members out of a total number of forty-six, willing to act together in all matters of general policy, 2, That in no Council is it probable that a greater proportion of members will agree to act together as one party. 3. That no proposals ever submitted to the Council oy his Honor the Superintendent have been refused consideration

by the Council 4. That it would be at variance with the principles of Responsible Government for the Superintendent to force on the Council an Executive that does not pos-

sesß its confidence. •fhat wpile the R*fCTsY«, > aß Cpoucii did by adopting Mr Reid’s apiendment, it was vindicating its constitutional position; and should the Council be deprived of this power, its existence is an absurdity and an anoinaly. 6. That the expense to the country of an election would he great, and your memorialists believe perfectly useless, as the parties would not be materially changed by an appeal to the country. 7. That there are various pressing matters of public interest requiring speedy action on the part of the Council, the delay of which would entail considerable injuiy on the Province, such as opening land for settlement, providing buildings for sphools, 8. That therp is no question pf pplipy whatever to submit to the country, except indeed it be considered a question whether the power* granted by the Constitution Act and the various Provincial Council Ordinances are to be set aside by the dictatorial action of a Superintendent. 9. That if the Superintendent of a Province W tp hp allowed \q chppse his advisers fpqi feelings p£ personal likes or displfps, ihp system of responsible government, which h<M hitherto worked well in this Province, will cease to exist. 10. That an election at the present time would be most inopportune, as many members of the Council are members of the General Assembly, which will soon meet. Ti?*t no supplies whatever have been voted by the Cpunql, and unless the business pf the pountry be carried on in filiation Q * pff ,T * ,loni °* the Provincial Audit Acts, great loss must necessarily result to the Province.

12. That there has already been paid, under special order, upwards of L 19,000 during the past twelve months, for which no appropriation has yet been made. 13. That the financial year of the Province ended on the 31st March, 1873, but provision was made by the Appropnation Ordinance for an expenditure at the same rate for r two months longer, and this time ends on 31st May, 1873. 14. That the settlement of the country has already been delayed by the provisions of the Waste Lands Act of 1872, relating to the disposal of land on deferred payments not being taken advantage of, and a dissolution of the Council will necessitate a further needless delay. 16. That your memorialists have at all times been ready to carry on the business of the country, but they decline to be forced to submit to an Executive conducting the business of the country, which has not their confidence. Ifi. That your memorialists respectfully submit that, were the request of his Honor the Superintendent complied with, a most dangerous would be established, as an Executive in whom the Council has no confidence would be allowed to remain in power ; and whenever a Superintendent could not get an Executive according to his own liking, a dissolution would have to take place, notwithstanding that the Council did not concur with him in requesting it. 17. That the present Executive, notwithstanding that it hag not had the confidence of the Council, has held office for six months, and if a dissolution be granted, will hold office for some months longer. , , A ; , And your memorialists, as m duty bound, will ever pray. t Signed by Messrs J. A. R. Menzies, M.L.C., Matthew Holmes, M.L.C., B. Hallenstein, M.H.R., James W. Thomson, M H.R., IX H. Mervyn, J. C. Brown, J. B. Bradshaw, M.H.R., Donald Reid, M.H.R., Geo. Luinsden, Win, Wood, George Sumpter, W. H. Cutten, Alex. Mollison, J. P. Armstrong, D. Henderson, A. Innes, J. ACKenzie, R Stout, C. Hickey, H. Clark, J. Allan, D. Hutcheson, George Duncan, Jas. Green, John Smith, G. M. Webster, Jas. Shand, Wm. Barr, J, L. Gillies.