PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 78, 29 June 1868, Page 1 (Supplement)

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

TUESDAY, JUNE 23. The Council met at 3 p.m. Present— All the members. ; \ Pagers. Mr. M‘Lean laid on the table the following papers:—A return moved for by Major Lambert, showing the name of persons and the quantity of land forfeited by each of. them, for non-compliance with the 78tb clause of the “ Auckland Waste Lands Act.” : Correspondence, moved for Major Lambert, as to the establishment of Courts of. Petty Sessions. Correspondence, moved for by Mr. Buchanan, with reference to the erection of alighthouse at Ahuriri Bluff. Return, moved for by Major Lambert, with reference to the road between Waipawa and Waipukurau. Return of sums expended under the Loan Appropriation Act. Petition. Mr. Buchanan presented a petition from Mr. 11. Breingan, Puketapu, prayiug the Council to take into consideration the loss of 34 acres of ground, which he had sustained by the compulsory removal of fencing at Puketapu, consequent on the confusion in surveys there. The petition was read and received. . General Government Charges. Mr. Febabd obtained leave to postpone his question on this subject until the motion of confidence had been gone into. Vote of confidence. Mr. M‘Lean, pursuant to notice, moved— That, after recent expressions of opinion, the Government consider that, before proceeding further with the conduct of Government busiuess, it is necessary to ascertain whether they have the confidence or not of a majority of the Council; and, with this view, move that the Council hereby expresses its confidence in the Government.

—The position of the Government now was such that they considered it necessary, before proceeding any further with the business of the session, to ascertain whether or not they possessed the confidence of the Council. They could not carry on their duties either with satisfaction to the province or credit to themselves if they were not certain that they wore in the majority; and in a late division they had not that majority. No doubt some of the members who voted oh that occasion were led away by tlie names on the proposed committee, without full consideration bf the consequences of their vote. Ho did not doubt that these members would place themselves -in a proper position when they saw the full consequences of the vote —how it would injure himself as Superintendent and in the other capacity in which he represented the public of this province. Under these circumstances he considered that the most frank and candid course the Government could adopt was to come at once before the Council and ask if they possessed their confidence. It had been said—not within the Council, but elsewhere—that the Government were gladof thepresent opportunity to make their escape from the difficulties of their position ; but he could say that such an idea had never occurred to

them. They had retained their position during times of far more difficulty and perplexity than the present; and would adhere to it as long as they possessed the confidence of the Council. He thought the position of the Province would not now contrast unfavorably with that of others in the Colony, and that as the Government did not shrink from their position during times of much greater difficulty, it was not likely that they would do so now.’ .It had always been the endeavor of the Government to conduct the, business of the province with prudence and economy; they had neither spent the £60,000 loan nor sacrificed it for a present advantage, but had carried the province through till they could dispose of it on the best possible terms. They had hitherto succeeded in keeping the tax-gatherer from the door, and would probably do so for some time longer. As far as his personal feelings j were concerned, he was perfectly prepared to hand over the reins of Government, and he was glad that there were in the Council able and intelligent members, competent to carry out the duties of Government. The action of the Government was not taken, as he had heard it said, from pettishness ; but simply from a sense of what was. due to them. In every matter affecting the interests of the province he and his-Executive had worked together fairly and earnestly; they had held to their post through times of difficulty and danger ; and, now that these difficulties had disappeared, and peace, and tranquillity prethey could have the satisfaction of reflecting that they had been more or less instrumental in bringing it about.. They considered the position; of the province such that, whether they continued to hold the. reins of office or yielded them to others, they could look to the. past. with; satisfaction, and to the future with hope. (Hear, hear.) ' Mr. Buchanan exceedingly regretted , to see the Government ih the position in

which it was placed—that in an assembly , of this nature they could find ho one to propose a vote of confidence in them except one of their own number. They were, in. fact, proposing a vote of confidence in themselves; and though it was only human nature to be self-confident, ho thought this public exhibition of the failing was hardly calculated to raise the status of the Government in the eyes of the Colony. Surely among the members there was a supporter of the Government who would have undertaken that duty, and it would have come with much greater delicacy from such a member than from the Government themselves. He was aware

that the support given to the Government in Council was simply owing to the confidence felt by the majority of members in the gentleman at the head of the Government, and this on account of his own personal qualities. No man, he would admit, was more skilful in the art of making friends; and all must acknowledge his suavity of disposition and urbanity of manners. Under the shelter of this gentleman the Executive reposed in safety; behind his Atlantean shoulders they took refuge, and from thence sent forth their darts; and when they themselves came before the Council they always dragged his Honor in as part and parcel of themselves. Now he maintained that the Superintendent and his Executive were altogether distinct and divisible; that the Council ought to dissever them when considering their actions ; and he intended to close with a motion to that effect. His Honor, in the remarks he had just made, claimed credit for singular prudence and economy. On this subject he would take issue with him, for ho denied the statement in tobo. This was not a fitting occasion to go into figures ; but he would not allow it to pass unquestioned. His Honor had in effect said that he had not squandered the loan as he might have done ; while the truth was that he had spent every halfpenny of it that he could raise. Eor a long time the loan was utterly unsaleable, and when at last it became possible to dispose of it, before it was sold they had spent a great portion of the money. They had spent over £30,000 of the loan and the balance they found in the Treasury, and what had they to show for it ? His Honor had referred to important changes to take place in the Government; but of what character these changes were no one knew. It was certainly clear that whatever they might be the province would get no more assistance from the General Assembly. There was no chance of any more loans, and whatever money was raised in future must be by taxation. It. was in preparation for this change that he had said that the Council ought to set; its house in order, and with that distinct view he moved for the finance committee. The financial statements might have been perfectly correct —he had his own opinion on that subject—but there was nothing offensive to the Government in the Council asking to investigate them for itself. The Government at the time admitted the impartiality of the committee; they did not state they would make it a Government <;u< stion; and it was evidently an after-thought, to obtain a kind of vote of approval from the Council of all that it had done for the years it had been in office. Such a vote he was not prepared to give. He would move as an amendment that all the words after “ That” be struck out, with a view to the insertion of the words, “ this Council maintains its confidence in the Superintendent.” The amendment did not find a seconder. Mr. Eerard objected to the form of the motion before the House, as it was uot properly expressed. It said “the Government consider.” It should be in such a form as to show the opiuion of the Council, and not of the Government alone. Mr. Cari/yon said that, because the Council had confidence in their Superintendent, it did not follow necessarily that it had confidence in his party. He thought that the Government had no right to put such a question to the House. It was the first time he had ever heard of a Government moving a vqte of confidence in themselves. They reminded him of a baby going to its father and saying, “ Pa, do you love me?” (Laughter). If the Council felt no confidence in the Government, they would have expressed themselves to that effect. It was an unwarrantable course that had been adopted by the Government. Instead of working with the Council, and following the wishes of the majority, they came before them and said, “We will stop the business of the session till you pledge yourselves to confidence in us.” It was not the right of the Government to ask a deliberative assembly such a question: on shell matters as the impending changes in the Government of the Colony, whore they might have been expected to Lave brought forward something substantive for the Council, thby had simply asked for an expression of opinion. If they attempted to obstruct the business of the Council oh every minor matter where they might meet with an adverse vote, it was evident that they wishod the-Council to be tKe mere echo of the Government, and pledged to follow its dictates: He agreed with the member for the Couhtiy District in having every

confidence in the Superintendent personally ; but he had no confidence in the Government as a body. However he might vote on the amendment, he .would cer-

tainly oppose the motion. Mr. Tanner could not think the mo-

tion before, the bouse a necessary one, (Hear, bear) and was sorry that the Government had taken that view of the case. At the time of the discussion on the motion for a committee he had not seen anything liko a hostile intention to the G overnment in the action of the member for the Country District; and since reading the report in the newspapers he was more than ever confident that he was right. That gentleman had said that he had not asked the opinion of a single member on the subject; that he was not actuated by any motives of opposition ; and that he thought the proposed committee only fit and proper in consideration of the important changes impending. He felt satisfied that this was the view the Government took of the matter ; and it was apparently the view taken by the Government. The member for Porangahau was the only gentleman on the government benches who spoke on the subject, and he admitted tliatthecommittee was fairly constituted. The only question raised was, whether tlic question would be more fairly considered by the whole house, or by a select committee, the great objection against the former being that it might tread on somebody’s corns. On this the member for Porangahau very bravely offered to bear his full share of the odium which might attach to the members on this account; and he (Mr. Tanner) was sure that no member thought the Government considered the vote very serious. As that member had said, when he made his financial statement, that the Government would afford all advantage and support to the Council in making reductions in the estimates, he (Mr. Tanner) had voted with the Government on this occasion, thinking that where all were working for the general good the matter was of vory slight importance. He thought the Government should always attend to the wishes of a majority. He should consider it a piece of conceit on his own part if he were to tell a majority they were in the wrong. If this question was pressed he would vote to retain the Government in their position, as he had evory confidence in their integrity and -honesty of purpose; but he considered that the proper course for the Government would be to withdraw it, as the Council conld not pass such a motion without compromising their own dignity. Lieut.-Colonel W hitmoee hoped the Government would withdraw the motion. He would be extremely sorry to see the Government overthrown; but be felt that this motion was very unfair to independent members. In a general- way he would go great lengths to support the Government; but he must differ from them in this respect. It was not fair play for the Government, especially when this motion was distasteful to their own followers, to cram it down the throats of members. He did not believe any member understood that when the division was taken upon the motion of the member for the Country District, the Government intended to stand or fall by it. He had supported the Government simply because he thought it preferable to discuss the question of reduction in open Council. The only member of tbe Government wlio spoke on that occasion gave no indication of their intention to consider the question in any serious light. It was a pity the Council had not before this time adopted responsible Government, for it would have prevented an occurrence like this. Under that system, if the Government thought any vote hostile they had only to walk over to the other side of the house, and see if other gentlemen could fulfil their duties better. Those others certainly would not wait ten days before they stated their opinion upon any vote. Tbe question had been dealt with by tbe Council entirely on its own merits, and if the Government wished to make it a vital question they should first have asked the Council to rescind it. If anything would provoke the Couueil into hostile action against the Government, their present course would; and as this vote passed through their own neglect, they should he content to suffer the consequences. He wished to know what security the Council had that on every occasion when an adverse vote was sustained by tlie Government, on a trivial subject, they would. not come down with a vote of confidence. On this occasion they had said little or nothing at the time, but bad gone away, and, it appeared, got more and more angry every day ; until at last they came forward and represented the vote as a kind of stab in tlie dark. The Government had carried the matter to far too great a length; but he supposed that if they pressed it ho must submit with what grace he might. Mr. Ferabd agreed that the course the course the Government had taken would press hard on those members who wished to be their supporters. . He thought it was not only unnecessary blit- improper, as bringing forward a motion which ought properly to proceed from the Council itself. . He complained that the Government had not treated the, Council with that consideration which was its due, and

though he felt bound, if the motion was pressed so far, to give them his support, he could not help regarding the course they had adopted as being a display of petulanee. Mr. Wood was quite at a loss to know what had given rise to this discussion, — he still failed to see the cause of offence. He had voted for the committee because he considered that the subject could be better considered by*a limited number of members at first than in the whole house, and on this point alone did he think there was any difference of opinion at the time. (Hear, hear.) No member of the Government had said in wbat manner the Council had given umbrage to the Government, but, however it was done, it must have been -unawares, for the votes had not been given in any hostile spirit. Indeed, it was on the invitation of the member for Porangahau—who talked of possible amalgamation of offices, that he voted for the motion. Such being the case, it was unfair to ask the Council to pass such ■ a resolution. But if they had to do so, the following would be the proper form to s do it in.—“ Without admitting that any- ! thing lias occurred to justify the Govemi ment in the course they have pursued, s this Council expresses its confidence in , the Government.” He .should not at pre- ■ sent move this as an amendment; but he t merely read it as an indication of his own > views.

Mr. Rhodes said that the Government were not particular as to the wording of , the resolution. For his part he considered that part a pure matter of form, and of very little moment. He could not admit that the Government had gone a step too far. The majority of the members who had voted for the motion of the member for the Country District no doubt were . unaware of the full effect of the resolution ; that gentleman must have been perfectly aware of its full bearing. It was precisely the same thing, though in different words, as he attempted last year. [Mr. Buchanan : IN o.] If it had not this meaning, it had none at all. When the Government had taken the pains to prepare the estimates, and said that they could not see their way to reduce them by another penny without abolishing departments, he could not see what a finance committee was wanted for. It was of course a want of confidence, as implying that the Government were deficient in the necessary ability to prepare the estimates, and that it would have to be done after them by a committee. He had one other topic to speak upon, and he, would, as was his habit, use as few and plain words as possible. If any members opposite fancied that a change in the Government was required, and that the Executive availed themselves of the shelter of his Honor’s ability and popularity, let them bring a plain motion of want of confidence in them before the Council. If this was passed, tho Executive would be vciy glad to resign their position to the members opposite, and would walk contentedly into the happy opposition benches, whore they might perhaps show the Council that they could exist quite as well without “ the shelter of the Atlanteau shoulders of his Honor the Superintendent.” (Laughter.) Mr. A 1 Deane was amused at the member for Clive calling particular seats “ the opposition benches,” simply from the accident of their being on the opposite side of tho house. It was scarcely fair to the members who occupied those seats ; for had it not been for the support of the socalled “ opposition benches,” the Government would very frequently have found themselves in a minority. They had now. done something which had offended the Government, but in what manner he did not know, and tho Government at once demanded a vote of confidence. Every one knew that the Council had full con- [ fidencc in the Government, and the position of that body was very like that of a man who demands a retractation and ample aipology from one who has never insulted, him. He could not concur with the member for the Country District that, the confidence of the Council was wholly centred in the Superintendent; for he believed that the Council at present had every confidence in the Executive, and that they were amply worthy of it. At any rate they could on all important subjects command a majority in the house, and he could not define possessing confidence in any better way. He would propose an amendment, which bethought would meet the difficulties on both sides, and prevent the Council being placed in the unworthy position of almost making a-recantation. That, in the resolution of -a select finance committee, this Council had no intention to express any want of confidence in the Government,

Mr. Caebyon would oppose the amendment, as haying the same objection as the original' motion. It was a mere piece of flattery, and the member for Hampden had not made it one whit better by altering the form. - Major Lambert would make a few remarks without any personal feeling on the matter. He would first refer to the, committee. Ho wished the members of the Council to know exactly how the aflairsof the Province stood. It .was true that the estimates were olt the table, and that the

leading member of the Executive had made a long financial statement; but he would -defy any- member to-follow that gentleman through his explanations. He wished to examine the ‘ estimates for the particular purpose if it was possible to carry on Government of the province, in its present form, for another year. He did not^wish the System to be commenced without due cal-

. vacillation, and to break down in the middle, also wished to know, if it did come' to xin end, what wo would get in exchange for our Superintendent- There were few members out of the Government who were well acquainted with the circumstances of the Province—few who had proper opportunities of ascertaining the ways and means, —and it was such matters as these that he was anxious to learn- ITe thought there were very few members who knew how much of the loan remained unexpended. They 'had heard that the bank overdraft would probably exceed £2,000, but they did not know at what date. [Mr. Osmond said these matters could easily be ascertained by reference to papers on the table.] This was his position, and he thought also that of many others. He felt hurt at the position the Government hadtaken; and they were altogether too late with their objections—in fact he thought they were very difficult to please. The Executive did appear, as had. been said, to fall back behind his Honor the Superintendent, .and take advantage ot his strength. Supposing that this motion should pass, what guarantee would the Council have that the Government would not do the same thing the next time anything might happen that they did not quite approve of? There was too much . tendency to take everything from the member for the Country District as opposition, and accordingly to oppose it on that ground. He believed the member for Porangahau was quite capable of conducting the business of the province ; but ho was unfortunately so headstrong that he must have his own way. On the least difficulty or, opposition, up would go his bristles, and he would not go on. (Laughter.) The gentlemen who formed the Executive, were all, he believed, quite capable of performing their duties well, and there were few others in the Council who could spare as much time to attend to them; and his Honor did not forget to take' credit to the Government for what they had done. How, he admitted that they all owed the Government a debt of gratitude for what they had done for the province; hut it seemed to him to be considerably lessened by their habits of referring to it. They could not always fall * back on these services. The Government should be guided by the majority of the Council. He believed that if members had thought a crisis would be the result of the motion, they would have voted the other way. The Government, however, took no notice at the time, and members, he . believed, voted independently, and without party feeling. He followed thb member for Wairoain wishing that the Government had not thought it necessary to stand upon their dignity. He remembered the member for Porangahau saying that he should feel humiliated if the committee was appointed, by the manner in which the position of his friend the Superintendent had been lowered in the colony. How, much as he (Major Lambert) admired a good Samaritan who would pick up a fallen man, he could not admire the member for Porangahau ; for he thought he was rather before the time. The good name of the Superintendent would not be lost by a simple affair like this ; and he thought that if his Honor never had a greater fall than this he would not need the hon. gentleman’s assistance to pick him up. He should like to know more with respect to the changes in the future. Ho did not wish for any change until he knew what we were to get instead; and if his Honor was bound to go out with the Government, he should certainly oppose it. If the General Government were to appoint a gentleman to the head of the Government, he would require to be possessed of the utmost ability and firmness, or he would be the-slave of the General Government on the one hand, or four or five gentlemen in the province on the other, under whose government he (Major L.) should not at all like to live. He thought he had said all that was necessary on the subject, and would now wait to see what would be the result of the motion. Mr. Osmond said that the remarks he had heard showed the Government only more strongly the necessity of this motion being put to the. vote. The member for the country district was now hot alone in the expressions he had used about considering the Executive, as separate and distinct from the Superintendent. The Goyerrunont had unitedly come to the conclusion to press this question in its present form, not with a view to self-glorification; but simply with a. view to know—what they had a. perfect right to ask—-what their real position with the Council was. Much had .been said about the ten days which were suffered to elapse between the passing of the vote and the Government taking up their position. There was a special reason for this- delay, and it was

simpiy this—that, at the time, his Honor the Superintendent had for his guest his Excellency the Governor, ;and his Executive thought it would not be well to bring forward a question which might result in. his Honor being compelled to place his resignation in the hands of his Excellency while he was a guest in his house. As for the great point, that they had taken ten days to make up their minds, it was not true, for the vote had no sooner been come to tban the whole Government saw its necessary consequence. His remark on a previous occasion that the committee was a fair one, was simply referring to its constitution, and not to its principle. After the explanation generally given as to the vote arrived at, the Government might have been willing to accept the amendment of the momberfor Hampden, butcould not think of accepting any motion which would separate the Superintendent from his Executive. The .member for W^aipukurau said plainly that the Executive only received the support of the Council through the Superintendent; but he had not the manliness of the member for the Country District, who came forward and proposed a motion to that effect. His Honor had already said all that need be advanced on the subject; but one or two remarks had been made that required contradiction. The momber for Waipukurau had said that he could not follow the financial statement, and did not know anything of the position of the province.If this was the case he pitied that gentleman’s incapacity. He was sure that the explanation of the accounts was so simple that any school-boy of ten years old might ‘ have - followed it. He also appeared to have mixed up the bank overdraft with the unexpended balance of the loan. It would appear that the member had been wandering, and could not grasp the features of the accounts, small as they were. If a gentleman who had once held office as Provincial Treasurer could not understand the simple details of the present financial statement, he could only repeat that he pitied his incapacity, and certainly would be unable to assist him. He would now refer to the statements of the member for the countiy district referring to the loan, which could be easily shown to bo inaccurate. That member had said the only reason the Government did not use the loan was because they could not get it." (Mr. Buchanan : Except at such a sacrifice as would not be sanctioned by the Council. Mr. Ormond : Ah, you did not say that. Mr. Buchanan : Fifty per cent.) If that member had been acquainted with the subject he would have known that very good terms had been made with the Union Bank for the loan, and that the loan had not been realised at a time when the province was much in want of money, because it must have been at too great a sacrifice. As for the question of what was due to the Government, that, was of course a matter of opinion. The member for the Country District bad spoken of indemnifying the Government for past actions by the motion. He was not aware that it would have any effect in indemnifying them for the past; what he wanted to know was what was their present position, and it would he wrong to go on with the business before they knew how they stood with the Council. Mr. Ormond concluded by explaining, in answer to Mr. Ferard, that the Government did not intend expending any of the unexpended portion of the loan in repairing the main roads, but completing them, and making them fitly available for traffic. Mr. Buchanan made a few remarks in explanation, with reference to the loan. Major Lambert explained that the member for Porangahau had ingeniously twisted his meaning. The Council then (6 p.m.) adjourned to half-past 7.

The Council resumed at half-past 7. Mr. Buchanan rose to move an amendment. It was substantially tho same as the one he had moved at first, and was simply the substitution of the word “ Superintendent” for “ Government;” It was perfectly clear that the Council had confidence in the Superintendent, and he was prepared to how to it in this respect; hut his intention in bringing this before the house was to separate the Executive from him. This was also consistent with a motion which hc-had given notice to bring on later, for a repeal of the Executive acts. He wished that the Superintendent should become the voice of the Council—become a kind of President. The Government of this province had been administered in a form quite different from the intention of the New Provinces Act, which, was, he believed, that the Superintendent should occupy .much the same position as the Mayor of a municipality. Mr. Weston seconded the amendment. Mr. Carlyon said that he had said it was not an extraordinary thing for a finance committee, to be appointed to consider the Government estimates. He had now taken down, quite indiscriminately, the first four volumes of the Wellington Council proceedings, and he found that in each session a finance committee had been appointed, and was in some cases moved for by, the Government, and in others by private members.

Mr; Ormond was glad that the member for the country district had put the motion' in this shape, as the subject was a Very proper one on which to test the opinions of the- Council. He agreed with' that l member that the Councils of the new Provinces had been intended to Tbe merely Boards, and that there had been-,a great deal of nonsense in the manner in which they had aped the forms and powers of .higher assemblies. The position of the Superintendent in a Council of eighteen members without an Executive, would, he thought, be a very awkward one—something similar to that of a calf among lions. The Government certainly could not support a vote of confidence in the Superintendent, and not in his Executive, implying that the latter had by their actions lost the confidence of the Council.

Mr. Ferard was forced, very much against his will, to speak on this subject. He had confidence that the Superintendent and Executive members were the best fitted for their office in tho Council, and yet from the present position of affairs he believed he should be obliged to vote against either ono or both. The Council was placed in this disagreeable position, aud would yet be dragged through the dirt in consequence of the miserable petulance of one member of the Executive. He did not wish the Council to be dictated to and kicked by the Executive; he could not stand it, and as he intended to give the Superintendent his support, he should feel bound to vote for the amendment.

Lieut.-Col. Whitmore thought that the word “ Government” in the motion was preferable to “ Superintendent.” He should support the Government, but under protest, after making every effort to induce them to re-considcr their action; but he considered they had shown extremely bad taste in allowing the Council to be dragged into its present position. The matter was far too trivial to justify their action and though ho believed that, from their former administration they deserved the confidence of the Council, yet his feeling of obligation to them was very much lessened.

Mr. Tanner thought his Honor the Superintendent ought to be very well satisfied with the expressions of opinion which .had been given in his favor from all sides of the house. The member for the Country District, in particular, had passed a eulogy on him which was as much as any man could wish, and he had been followed in the same strain by almost every speaker on the subject. The question at present appeared to be whether a single member of the Executive or the whole Council were to pocket their dignity—one or all; he could not defend the action of the member who he believed had brought affairs into this position. Where nearly all the members of the Council were more or less supporters of the Government, he thought the member for Porangahau must have cast about for a casus belli , though lie could not understand his motive in doing so; and he considered that the Government’s present course tended more than anything else to render the Government unpopular. Mr. A’Deane said that when he voted for the committee he bad the most implicit confidence in the Government as at prosent constituted ; but their violent opposition to the wishes of the Council had since greatly weakened that confidence. After the expressions of confidence in the Superintendent which had been given by nearly every member in the room, the Executive should have taken a middle course; and, in fact, he* believed they would have done so but for the ill-advised opposition of one of their number. He believed that it was his duty to support the present Government; and he had had a struggle between his self respect and his duty to his constituents; but had at last been reluctantly compelled to sacrifice the former, and to be pulled through the mire, strongly as he objected to it, solely to do bis duty to the public. He would therefore give his support to the Government. Mr. Locke agreed with the member for Te Aute that the Government in this matter should have met the Council half-way, and he was sorry that they had not done so. Ho had always been an out-and-out supporter of tbe Government, and when he looked back on what they had done for the province, he was proud of it. He would support them in this matter, though it was a pity that they had not withdrawn their motion.

Major Lambert said that the Government had in this case, placed all the members, whether their supporters or not, in a very awkward position. He would vote for the Government, -as he was very anxious to prevent anything like a deadlock. He felt his own honor and dignity as a member involved; but he had a greater feeling for the interests of the province.' If the Government pressed the question they would make a grave mistake. He wished they would withdraw the motion, though he did not think they would. Mr. M‘Lean must say distinctly and emphatically that while expressing' his thanks for the complimentary expressions used regarding himself, he should feel utterly powerless without the aid, assistance, and co-operation of as good ah

Executive as the Council could afford. He attributed the compliments he had re» ceived as fairly belonging to; them, for they had borne with him the burden and heat of the day; and of whatever credit might be done to the Government, a full share belonged to tbe Executive. He and they had. commenced! their duties together, and together they would end them. A misapprehension seemed to exist that it was the desire of the Government to wound the feelings of the Council; hut he could not see how it had arisen. The Government did not, as they did last year, ask the Council to rescind any vote that they had passed; but had simply asked, them to state whether they reposed confidence in them or not. - He was at a loss to know why the objections of members to the Government were, chiefly levelled against the member for Porangahau. He was of all the members the most indefatigable; he had worked day and night, and often came great distances when his personal interest required his presence elsewhere. He was very sorry that that member had been personally attacked, and that he had been blamed for what, if they were faults, the whole Government were responsible for. It had been asked why the Government did not state at the time that they would make this a Government question; but they had no idea that it would be passed. It was impossible for the Government to know which way members would vote on the question, and the Government could not go round and ask. It was only after the vote that they found there was a majority against them. When they found that members had not intended it as a resolution of want of confidence, they simply asked them to express this in a resolution ; and he saw nothing in this to hurt the feelings of the members, however refined they might be. Tho Government had never shunned inquiry or scrutiny from the Council, and were always prepared to give them any information and assistance. If they had offended the Council they had not intended to do so, and with these remarks they placed themselves unreservedly at the mercy of the Council, to do as it considered best. The amendment “ That the words proposed to be omitted stand part of the amendment,” was then put, and carried on a division, the noes being Messrs. Buchanan, Weston, Carlyon, and Ferard. The original motion by his Honor was then put and also carried, the Council dividing with the following result:—Ayes, 14 —Messrs. M‘Lean, Ormond, Bhodes, Kennedy, Sutton, Wood, A’Deane, Ferard, Lambert, Parsons, Wkitmore, Tanner, Dolbel, and Locke. Hoes, 3—Messrs. Buchanan, Weston, and Carlyon.