THE HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. NAPIER, THURSDAY, NOV. 27, 1862.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 74, 27 November 1862, Page 2

THE HAWKE'S BAY TIMES. NAPIER, THURSDAY, NOV. 27, 1862.

Centralization, m its progress towards the overthrow of provincialism, received a far greater impetus by the Act of a late General Assembly, which enabled Hawke's Bay to separate from Wellington, and in .appearance raised her to the rank of her parent, than was at the time suspected. By the Act referred to, the political powers of the Electoral body and of their representatives were alike curtailed —the former by the deprivation of the right and duty to elect their own Superintendent, and the latter by the denuding of the Superintendent of his legislative character, and the transferrence of his powers to the Governor. By reference to another part of this day's issue, will he found a despatch recently received by his Excellency from the Colonial Office, which covers an Act of the Imperial Parliament, by which certain legal objections to the New Provinces Act are remedied, and we beg to call attention to the opinion expressed by his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, that the key to the difficulties referred to, is that very difference made by tha't Act between the Superintendents of the original provinces and those originated by the Act. The noble Duke has no objection whatever to see the legislative power of the Provincial Superintendents transferred to the Governor, and those officers reduced to the position of mere presidents or speakers of Council—on the contrary he would like all Superintendents to be so reduced, those of the original Provinces, as well as of the new ones, because it enlarges the powers of the Governor, and so materially strengthens that of the home Government, (or, in other words, weakens that of the Colony), and by this Act the General Assembly is empowered to reduce the Superintendents of the original Provinces to the same condition as soon as they please. There is yet another point, of perhaps more importance just now to the colony than the above, and that is, the power of legislating on the subject of the disposition of native lands is conferred cm the General Assembly of the Colony, and even to pass without reimcoce to the Imperial Parliament, such an Act as the Native Lands Bill of last session.

We have not space at our disposal on this occasion to discuss this matter in the manner which we would like to do, and therefore must defer the consideration of this part of the despatch and the bill till our next. The following is the despatch of the Duke of Newcastle, as given in the New Zealand Gazette.