The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 5, 8 February 1851, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times.

SATURDAY, February 8, 1851

We promised to make some remarks on the form of government which has been proposed by Sir George Grey for the provinces of New Zealand ; and which we published in our number of Jan. 25th.

■By referring to that document, our readers will see that we are to have a simple Legislative Council, consisting of a number of members, (not less than nine) to be settled by the Governor-in-Chief, one third- of whom are to be nominated by the Governor, and two-thirds lo be elected by the people. We suppose this provision has been l'ecommended by Sir George Grey because it is that which is most in favout with the Colonial office at this moment, and which has, by the act of the Imperial Parliament last session, been imposed on all the Australian' Colonies. Now there is nothing whatever to be gained by imputing unworthy motives to any political adversary ; and we believe that Her Majesty's Minusters and Sir G. Grey do conscientiously believe that this is the best form of legislature for a Colony ; that the check which is required on the Loo hasty deliberations of an exclusively popular assembly is as effectually obtained by. the presence of nominee members in the same chamber with elected members, as it is in England by the existence of an Upper House formed of an ancient and hereditary aristocracy, or in most of the Uniled States by an Upper House elected by the people, for a longer period, by a wider constituency, and from the older and wealthier

classes of the community, than the lower1 House. This may be their honest opinion :"" but it is not the opinion of the inhabitants of any one of the colonies. A partly nominated chamber has been tried for some years in New South Wales,.when it was universally disliked ; and only so far approved of, that it was better than what they had before that, is than, no popular representative assembly at all.

The objection to a legislative assembly of which one third is nominated by the Crown is this, —that it provides no machinery for ascertaining the collective voiceof the people. The Government having one third of the house at their disposal, can always practically command a majority, if there be any difference of opinion amongst the elected members ; and the idea of representative institutions, becomes a mere faree r operating simply to screen the Government from the responsibility of the power which it really exercises. The almost necessary working of a chamber so constituted is, that an incessant struggle is kept up between the Government and the popular parties, in which calm deliberation on the public interests, is sacrificed. It has well been said that it is almost impossible for a nominee member of the council to give an unbiassed and conscientious vote : if he vote for the Government faction,, he incurs the odium of being influenced by motives of interest - r and if he vote against the Government, he is regarded as a traitor to those who have placed him in power. We think it does not require much argument to prove that any constitution which professes to give us that which we have enjoyed all our lives, namely, a representative government, and which proposes to do so by means of a nominated council, is a sham. No one could imagine that we could, under such a system, have the bona Jide management of our own affairs.

The second clause to which we beg- tin? attention of our readers, is that contained in in clauses 22, 23, and 24, of the proposed constitution. It is th?re to be enacted that the Council, in making laws and ordinances, " shall conform to, and observe all such instructions as Her Majesty shall, from time to time, make for their guidance therein." We are not certain that we lightly comprehend the force of these words ; but let us imagine them applied to the English House of Commons. It is the constitutional law of our native country, that the House of Commons 'fc shall conform to, and observe all such instructions as Her Majesty shall, make for their guidance ?" No,—but exactly the contrary,—that it is a breach of privilege, and a violation of the constitution, if the Crown take any cognizance of bilk dining the time of their.being'discussed in Parliament, and before being presented to the Crown fur its assent or veto. And what do we want here other than the laws and insl.hu tions under which we have lived in England ?

Again it is to be enacted that no law or ordinance shall be repugnant to the law of England. This is a provision utterly..-vngTTV; and unintelligible. It is most likely copied from .the old charters of Government," granted to the North American Colonies, into which it was introduced, no doubt, not as intend- - ing to place at,y definite limit to the exercise] of the powers of legislation, which the charter conferred, but rather as a general intimation of the spirit in which it was contemplated those powers should be wielded. When proposed, however, as in this constitution of Sir George Grey's, as a distant definition of the functions of the Colonial Legislature, it is obviously without meaning

or use

The next, and, perhaps, the most important clause, however, is the 21st, respecting- appropriation of the public revenues. It is there proposed'that subject to a deduction for the cost of collection, " and to any charge which by any l.iw or ordinance now in force, may have been made on the general Revenue of New Zealand, or of the provinces into which the colony may be divided, the proceeds of all duties, taxes," &c, may be expended by the Provincial Councils within the respective provinces. Now the charges on the revenues of the colony which are here referred to as now existing, and ..with which the local legislature are not to deal, comprises the civil list. That is to say, the salaries of all the public officers is especially reserved from the control of the Legislature. Now this lias only to be explained to be pronounced monstrous. It is the one greatest source of complaint from all the colonies, and has ever been so. It has been shewn upon calculation, carefully and accurately made, over and over again, that exactly in the proportion in which the Legislature has a control over the public expenditure, so is the government conducted economically and efficiently. And yet it is now proposed that the most important item in that expenditure, the salaries of the public servants, shall be removed from all public control whatever.

There is one more leading point to be noticed. A power of vetoing, on behalf of the crown any bills passed by the Provincial Legislature, is reserved to the Governor-in-chief—who is not compelled to give his assent or signify his disapproval of the same, till twelve months after its having been received by him.

Now we confess there is something strange in this clause. One of the greatest grievances of the colonies has ever been that all their laws were compelled to be sent to England for approval or disapproval ; that the privilege of veto residing in the Crown should be exercised in England, instead of being deputed to some one resident in the colony, and exercising it there on the part of her Majesty.

The government measure of the last year maintains the obnoxious privilege intact, and expressly retains the power in the hands of the Secretary of State to veto colonial ordinances.

In the proposed constitution for New Zealand however, this power is nowhere reserved for the Secretary of State. The obnoxious colonial office is left out of the question. But the power of vetoing bills is given to the Governor in the colony any time within a year after he receives them. Why ? Why but that he may have time to send them home, and receive an answer from Downing Street, telling him whether he may allow- them or not. So that the obnoxious power of the '• veto of the Colonial office" is left out in words, but retained in reality.

These are the principal features in the Constitution proposed by Sir George Grey why we consider that it ought not to be accepted by the Canterbury colonists. There are other minor points which a careful reading of the draft ordinance will suggest, such as some in the 2'ot.h clause by which we should be forbidden to establish a post between any two towns; —by which if we wanted a lighthouse in our harbour, we should p.ot be permitted to build one, and so on.

j But such are the main features of the proposed government. And now-fellow-settlers, what are you going to do ? Are you going fo signify by your silence your assent to thia plan. Is this the constitution which you"expected to live under, when you came to this country ? Well, then, if it be not, if you desire to have something like that form of government under which our own country has grown to become the great-

est of empires—from the time when a few isolated hordes of Saxon colonists settled themselves round the coasts of England as their descendants have round the shores of this " England of the South," if that be what you expected, and desire ; —ought we not at once to take some mode of expressing our opinion—by a public meeting for the purpose of petitioning the Imperial Parliament agniust the measure proposed by Sir George Grey.

Since writing' the above, we have received the Wellington Independent of Feb. 1. It contains the report of the Committee which was appointed at the last public meeting to draw up the heads of a constitution for the province sucli as would be satisfactory to the great body of the settler?.

This paper, most ably drawn, is too long for insertion in our present number. We hope to give it next week.

The public meeting-, at which the report was read, appears to have been interrupted, the "Independent" asserts by a party of the adherents of the Government. The meeting was adjourned until Monday last, when the clauses were to be gone through one by one, and put to the vote.

A petition which we published, in our nnmber of the lßth of January, is now lying for signature at the Offices of the Canterbury Association 'in this place. It prays her Majesty to put an end to the system of Transportion to Van piemen's Land, and to all the Australian colonies. Most of our readers will probably have made up their minds ns to the impolicy of the system of transportation, .generally ; because there are very few persons who have acquainted themselves with colonial things in the xevy slightest degree, who do not entertain the same view on the subject. But we wish our fellow settlers' to comprehend clearly how the question affects us personally here.

As long as transportation continues to Van Diemen's Land, so long will a considerable number of the convicts escape, and find their way to the neigbouring settlements, and above ail to Canterbury, where, they will imagine there will be less likelihood of their being retaken.

If there be any introduction of escaped convicts to this place, we may be quite certain that there will be, what has not yet been heard of amongst us. nightly depredations upon our property. Almost all the crime which occurred^at ■ Wellington some years ago, was traced-'to the presence, of a gang of runaway convicts.

If this be our misfortune, the police force must be considerably increased, and of course the government expenditure on that head mast be increased. No.v we must recollect two things. First, that as soon as our reserves exceed our expenditure, Canterbury is to be mads an independent province. Secondly, that any surplus reserve will be available for roads or other public works. So that any compulsory increase in our expenditure will tend to postpone the period when we shall be allowed to manage our own affairs, and also to limit the sums which we might otherwise have to spend on public works of importance to our settlement.

We have said this much to shew how the question of transportation applies to our settlement especially. But apart, from this, we do hope that the inhabitants of Canterbury will join heart and hand in the noble struggle which all the southern colonies are making to rid themselves of the abominable nuisance in being compelled to receive the felons of the mother country as labourers, instead of her honest and virtuous peasanty, and that the petition now lying for sig-nature will bear the names of every land holder, and almost even- adult male in Canterbury, before it leaves our settlement.