THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE’S REPLY.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume III, Issue 132, 24 July 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE’S REPLY.

[ From tbo" (Canterbury) Press, Bth July.;

We heard from the North some days ago, that the despatch of the Duke of Newcastle to the Governor, in reply to the address sent home by the General Assembly had been received ; that it was a a very voluminous document, but that the pith of the whole was contained in one sentence, namely, that her Majesty s Government having determined upon abandoning all responsibility for the conduct of Native affairs, was not disposed to alter that decision. We did not think it right to publish information which had come to our hands in confidence, but we have since heard that printed copies of this despatch have been sent to the colony, so that we shall probably learn its contents in the Provinces before his Excellency’s Government can have made up then* minds whether it shall be published at all. We have not been so fortunate as to receive a copy ourselves, but'Mr. Ward has no doubt'sent one to the Lyttelton Times, and we shall therefore not have to await the next mail from Auckland before learning its contents. The fact, however, is, we are informed, as we state. The Home Government are not going to re-enter upon the management of Native affairs. Some conclusions arise out of this fact. First, it is hardly pleasant to reflect that the whole work of the last session of the General Assembly is utterly thrown away. For our own parts we are not only not surprised at this, but should have been surprised had it been otherwise. It is quite true that the General Assembly turned directly round, and distinctly refused what it had for years clamored to obtain. But it did not follow that the Colonial Office would do the same. The Home Government could not consistently take any other course than it has done, and when that course was not only the consistent one, but the pleasantest and most profitable, we really cannot understand the credulity which induced so many members of the House to suppose that the weak and inconsequent address of the Assembly would alter the purpose of the Home Government. But what is to be done next ? That is the question. The General Assembly left Sir George Grey in charge. He is virtually removed from charge by this decision of the Home Government. Who then is in charge of the colony now ? Who is responsible for the policy to be pursued? Only yesterday we argued that a session of the Assembly was immediately necessary. Now it is inevitable. We cannot for a moment believe that Ministers would venture to act without the consent of the Assembly. If they do so, if they shall advise the Governor to spend any money or to adopt any plans which shall involve the expenditure of any large sums of money, without vote of the Assembly, we will not say that they will be liable to impeachment—although that would be the danger they would incur in the old country—but we do say that they will be deemed to have acted with the greatesUreachery towards the colony, and that the Assembly will not hold itself bound to sanction one penny of the expenditure incurred.

Our readers must not mistake the real nature of the question at issue. If the colony is henceforth responsible for the policy pursued by its Governor, the Colony will have to pay for that policy. Responsibility means —money payment —nothing more nor less. That was what the Duke of Newcastle meant by it at first. Now, how did the Assembly leave this question last session ? The Governor was left responsible for the policy to be adopted. The Home Govcrament was to pay for it. To whatever extent our fortunes are implicated in the result, the Governor had the power of incurring all military expenditure on behalf of the English exchequer. Every step taken by the Governor, therefore, did not involve a draft directly on the Colonial chest. But all that is to be changed. It is now the Colony which is to decide and to act, and the Colony therefore which will be made to pay.

Therefore it is, we say, a necessity that the Assembly should be called together forthwith —a necessity which cannot be avoided without a very grave violation of the Constitution.

Let it not be supposed that the present step settles the question. The most difficult point remains still unsolved, and we shall be curious to see whether the Duke of Newcastle touches upon it in the present despatch Itjs—who is to command the military forced

The colony is not safe so long as the army is kept from the control of the Governor. To suppose that any man can gouern a Colony in a state of civil war, when every step he takes is liable to he frustrated by the military authorities who are to carry it into effect, is to suppose a plain absurdity. In times of peace the present system may go on for ever; when the relations between the Governor and the troops are confined to an exchange of civilities, there is not much likelihood of a split. But when the whole question whether a policy shall be adopted or not depends on whether it will be vigorously and energetically pursued, or is likely to be upset by neglect and inert opposition, then the gift of political without military power is like the gift of a steam engine without water or fuel.

There can be then little doubt but that the Assembly will be summoned at Auckland within a month from the present time, and the solemn issue peace or war will be, for the first time in the history of the colony, submitted to the decision of the people.