RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 6, 15 February 1851, Page 6

RESIDENT MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Feb. 7. Crawford v. Carerhill — A claim for 2. 10s, for the keep of a cow for four mouths. It appeared upon evidence that the cow had been ill for the first three weeks of the time and required extra, care and trouble. Defendant to pay os. per week for the first week, and os. per month for the remainder. Costs divided.

Feb. 8, Thornkill v. Russell and two others. —These three men were brought up under a warrant charged by Cap. Tlicvnhill of the Castle Eden with having refused to perform their duty on board the ship. 14 days' imprisonment. Feh.W. Thorn hill v. Kidney aid IS others. —These were brought up charged with the same offence. 14 days' imprisonment on board

ship. Feb. 12. Ilornbrook v. Bond. —For an assault and creating a disturbance. Fined IZ, or one week's imprisonment. Committed. Wilkinson v. Brittan. —A claim for 41. 4s. for professional services. Mr. Wilkinson, formerly the surgeon of the " Sir George Seymour" was requested by Mr. Brittan to proceed to the ship "Cressy," when she was lying in this harbour, to consult with the surgeons of the other ships, upon the case of a patient on board the "Cresssy." Mr. Earle, the surgeon of the "Randolph," who was one employed, stated that he considered himself at the time to be in the service of the Association, and not entitled to private practice. He consequently did undertake the duty with any expectation of receiving a fee, A letter from Mr. Barker, the surgeon of the " Charlotte Jane" to the same effect was also put in. Mr. Donald was also examined—but merely as to the practice. Mr. Wilkinson made a statement in support of his claim.

Case adjourned till tomorrow (Thursday) Feb. 13. This case was resumed to-day, and dismissed with costs.

Report of the Committee appointed at a Public Meeting held at Wellington on the 15 th of November, 1850, on the form of Constitution which it is desiralle to suggest to the Home Government for adoption in New Zealand.

1. Your Committee has been appointed for the purpose of considering what form of Constitution is best adapted to secure the advantages of Self-government to the Colony of New Zealand': and to aid you in suggesting to her Majesty's Ministers the principles which, it is conceived, ought to be introduced into the measure which they have expressed their intention of bringing before Parliament in the ensuing Session ; and the following are the conclusions at which your Committee have arrived.

2. That by the term Self-Government is to to be understood the absolute control of all the internal affairs of the colony, without any interference whatsoever on the part of the Imperial Government, either by means of a Veto on Local Legislation reserved to the Home Government, or by the powers of initiating or regulating such Legislation by Royal or Ministerial instructions. To this end it is essential to provide for the responsibility of the Executive, by making their offices dependent on their retaining the confidence of the colonists.

3. That further to ensure Self-Government it is essential, that all Legislative power on local matters should be vested in a chamber or chambers entirely selected from the colonists, without the presence in it of any Nominees of the Grown, the Governor only possessing in Iris local capacity as one of the Estates of the Legislature, a Veto on measures'passed by such chamber or chamber?, to be exercised by him on his independent will and on his direct responsibility, and that of his Local Advisers, without reference to her Majesty's Ministers or the Colonial Office, and unguided by any instructions from either.

4. That till acts of tlie Local Legislature should take effect immediately on passing", or at such other period as may be fixed by such acts, and when passed should not be liable to be suspended, postponed, or revoked by any other authority than that of the Legislature passing- the same. 5. That the Governor be appointed by the Imperial Government, but removable on an address to the Crown from two-thirds of the Members of the Legislative Chamber, (or of each Chamber if more than one.) That ihe term of office should be five years, but renewable with or without increase of salary, at the option of the Home Government. 6. That the Governor being au officer ap-

pointed by the Imperial Government, and maintained in great degree for imperial purposes, should be paid by the Home Government. That the appointment of all other officers of Government should rest in the Governor, but their salaries (with the exception of the judges) should be voted annually by the legislature ; no Civil List whatever being necessary in the colony, and none therefore to be reserved.

7. That the Judges of the Supreme Court should hold their o/Hces during good behaviour, being removable only on an address to the Governor from two-thirds of the Members of the Legislative Chamber or Chambers ; on presentation of which address the functions of any Judge should ipso facto cease, the Governor be bound forthwith to declare his office vacant, and take immediate steps to fill the same with some other ifit person. The salaries of the Judges should be paid by the Legislature from time to time, but not be liable to reduction or abolition during tenure.

. S. That the following subjects of Legislation and administration are imperial, and should not be under the control of the Local Government, nevertheless it should be competent for the Legislative Chambers to discuss the same and address the Imperial Government thereon.

1. The power of sending and receiving ambassadors to and from, and of making treaties, leagues, and alliance with, any foreign state or prince.

2. The power of making peace and war,

3. The powers of granting letters of marque and reprisal during peace or war, and of granting safe conducts in time of war.

4. The power of confiscating the property of alien enemies, and of laying an embargo on shipping.

5. The power of keeping any land or naval forces in the said colony, or on the coasts thereof.

6. The power of enlisting men within the said colony for the supply of such force.

7. The command, at all times, of all regular military and naval forces employed in or about the said colony, and the command of the militia in time of war.

S. The power of erecting forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other buildings, for military or naval purposes.

9. The exercise of exclusive jurisdiction within the limits of any place occupied for such purposes. 10. The power of taking any waste land, and likewise, on making due compensation, any other land, for the purpose of erecting thereon such forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other buildings as aforesaid, and for any other military or naval purpose.

11. The power of determining all cases brought before her Majesty on appeal from the courts of the said Colony.

12. The power of establishing prize courts. 13. The power of coining money, and of regulating the value of foreign coin.

14. The power of granting titles of nobility,

15. The power of regulating the transmission of letters by sea, between the said colony and any other place.

And all powers necessary for giving effect to the above powers and prerogatives.

9. That if any question shall arise between the Home Government and the Local Legislature, or such question raised in litigation by private parties as to their respective Jurisdiction, on any matter which shall not clearly fall within the above specified exceptions, the same shall be referred to the decision of the Supreme Court in the shape of a special case, with right of appeal to her Majesty's Privy Council, a course which inasmuch as the members of such tribunal are appointed by the Crown, can it is conceived, be open to no objection on the part of the Home Government.

10. The question of a double or single chamber, is one winch has undergone much discussion by your Committee. It is believed by them that a single chamber, consisting- entirely of elective members, might for some years to come, prove efficient for all purposes of legislation, and on the whole they would for (lie present prefer a Legislature consisting of only one Chamber. But they are aware that elsewhere, under the most free Governments, a second chamber has been found desirable, if not essential, and, moreover, they have not failed to observe that a well-supported and decided opinion in favour of two chambers, is entertained by the most enlightened Colonial Reformers both in and out of Parliament. In deference to this opinion, and in full conviction of the utility of a second Chamber at no remote period, your Committee have come to the conclusion that it would be unwise to allow even the appearance of disunion on so important a point, and would recommend the adoption at once of an elective Upper House, which, however, shoulduot have

power to originate any money Bills, such beifj"1 reserved exclusively as the privilege pi'the loU'er House. '- 11. That the period for re-election of die Lower House shall be three years, for the Upper, fire. 12. That Parliament should be summoned for the despatch of fbusiness at least once in every year. 13. The question of Elective Franchise is one of the greatest importance, and has undergone much consideration by your Committee. I. As regards the European inhabitants of the Colony— Your Committee believes that the requisite qualifications for the proper exercise of political power are very widely extended and generally possessed in the colony ; that there is no class of persons of European origin whose moral or intellectual defects would render it unsafe to entrust them with a vote for Representatives in the Legislature, while almost every adult male has some stake in the colony, and an interest in its stability and general welfare. Your Committee are also of opinion that it never can contribute to the general prosperity of the colony, or the contentment of its inhabitants, to restrict political privileges to any one class or limited section of the Colonists. In a colony like New Zealand there is little prospect, for years to come, of the existence of any considerable number of large to umber of landed proprietors, or possessors of any great wealth of any sort. The distribution of property is and is likely to continue, for many years, very equal, comparatively with older and larger communities ; while no class will be found which does not possess some substantial property or at all events the means and tl.e prospect of speedily acquiring it. Any qualification for electors which would be at all restrictive in practice, would confer exclusive powers of government on a very small portion of the colonists, creating an oligarchy to whose rule the bulk of the people would not submit: while if you at all extend the Franchise beyond this narrow pale, what you give virtually amounts to Universal Suffrage. The Franchise proposed by Sir George Grey, in the opinion of your Committee, amounts to that. Is it not better then to designate things by their right names, and when you give what amounts to Universal Suffrage, to call it so ? A great advantage of doing so would be your getting rid of the rating and registration necessarily attendant on a property qualification, and which are productive elsewhere of so much party heat and contention—to say nothing of the possibility of the Executive Government exercising an unfair influence on the Elections by means of the rating which must necessarily be left on its hands. Your Committee therefore recommend that no other qualification for Electors should be required than to be a male of adult age, having resided 12 months in the Colony, and not being subject to disqualification by crime and conviction, as hereinafter provided. The opponents of Universal Suffrage object to the danger of the Colony being at some period inundated by a class of immigrants pos> sessing no stake in it, and otherwise unfitted to. be entrusted with political power, and who by mere numbers may outvote the longer resident and better qualified electors. Such an evil consequence is said to exist in the United States of America at present, where it is alleged that many newly arrived immigrants of the lowest class, and the locofoco population of the Slave States, exercise a prejudicial influence. But while it must be admitted that such a state of tilings is to be deprecated, no tendency towards it h apparent at present in New Zealand, nor do we anticipate its occurrence at any future pericO.; while the evils of an oligarchy, the only alternative for Universal Suffrage, would be im-i mediately felt. What is wanted is a Governin en {. suited to our present wants, which may facilitate the immediate progress of the Colony ; and though in framing a constitution we would not discard all foresight of the future, yet neither would we adopt a form of Government unsuited to our present wants, merely to preclude some remote and theoretical possibility of evil. Your Committee believe that, while the population consists of the same sort of material as at present, not only may it be trusted With political power to the fullest extent, but that the greater the extension of such power, the greater iv- ould be the probability of its resulting in an I .ctive and effective Government. Nor do your ': Committee consider it a conclusive argument against Universal Suffrage, that if a limited Franchise-be bestowed ut first, it can always be

afteVwards enlarged, but tliat an extended one can never if once given, be afterwards narrowed. The difficulty of enlarging a narrow Franchise your Committee consider as little, if at all, less, than that of limiting an extended one. None are so slow to admit others to a participation of power of those who already possessess it, and history records numerous instances where an extension of political liberty perfectly just and expedient for the general good has only been achieved by great political convulsions. Among a people of less solidity of character than the English, the Iteform Bill would scarcely have * passed without an appeal to arms. The late French Revolution received its chief impulse from the attempt on the one hand to restrict, and on the other to extend the Franchise ; and had a sufficiently extended Franchise been bestowed in 1830, that event would probably not have occurred. Your Committee consider it safer at once to extend political power to all classes in the Colony now fitted for its exercise, than to sow the seeds of immediate discontent and future contention by limiting the Franchise though only for a time. That, considering the large convict population of some neighbouring colonies, and the system of conditional pardons lately introduced into one of them, and seeing that the Home Government perseveres in the practice of sending convicts in one shape or other to these seas, it is prudent to guard against the consequences of a possible influx of a criminal population. To deprive a man for ever of political privileges because he has once been convicted seems unnecessarily rigorous, and more than the emergency requires. The end aimed at might, in the opinion of your Committee, be attained, if it were provided that no person who had been convicted anywhere of a transportable offence should possess the Elective Franchise—till he should have resided in the Colony for seven years, without being again convicted of an offence of the same degree. Your Committee are favourable to an Educational Qualification, as a matter of theory ; but in the present state of the Colony they think it inexpedient. There are many good colonists, intelligent and possessed of property, who, owing to the defective state of education in the parent country, have received no schooling, and who would be excluded by such a test, though otherwise every way qualified. At a future period when a sound system of general education shall have been established in the Colony, and in operation for a sufficient time, your Committee are of opinion that it may be introduced with advantage. 11. The question how far the Native race should be admitted to political privileges requires much consideration. Their total ignorance on almost every subject of knowledge which qualifies for the exercise of political rights—their entire want of acquaintance with the nature and principles of the British Constitution, the whole force and power of which they have been accustomed to regard as vested in the Governor and his executive officers, or in the Queen and her deputies—the fact that the idea of self-government by means of the legislation of deliberative assemblies constituted by a representative and elective process has never been presented to their minds—the facility with which they might be used to influence elections —these and other considerations suggest great caution in dealing with the question. Nor can your Committee conceal from themselves the fact, that, owing to causes over which the Colonists have no control, the Native race is fast becoming extinct, and that there is no prospect of their becoming as a body sufficiently enlightened for the exercise of political privileges before the period of their extinction shall arrive. * Nevertheless your Committee are willing to admit them to some participation in political privileges, provided sufficient guarantees be given against the possibility of the superior in- . telligence of the' Europeans being over-balanced >-r§>y the ignorance of the uncivilized race. A qualification ought to be required sufficiently high to restrict the privilege of voting to the few natives who form exceptions to the general barbarism of the rest, and this your Committee would leave the responsibility of fixing to the Home Government. But whatever qualification may be thought proper, your Committee feel bound to protest in the strongest and most determined manner against the proposal to make the Native Franchise rest upon a' certificate of fitness to be granted by the Governor—-a power which it is evident would enable that officer to influence the elections at pleasure.

14. Your Committee are of opinion that the qualification for members of the Lower House ought to be the same as that of Electors —adult age and 12 months residence. If the franchise be conferred on those who are fitted to exercise it, why should they be limited in their choice of representatives? 'This is to give and to withhold at the same time. If there be any doubt of the probability of a given class exercising a sound discretion in electing representatives, withhold the privilege if you will; but do not, while you profess to confer the privilege, render it nugatory by restricting the field for its exercise. To do so would not be to confer self-government, but to confer the power only of deciding by what members of one class all classes should be governed—a shifting of a portion of responsibility on to the shoulders of the latter, while all power is in fact bestowed on the former.

As regards a distinctional qualification for the Upper House, the true grounds of such ought to be superior intelligence and experience. Your Committee do not consider that either wealth or age are at all sure criteria of superior fitness for the duties oflpgislation, and they doubt whether it might not be safely left to the electors to promote to the Upper House the true aristocracy of talent. The mere fact of such a House being constituted for the purpose of being a check on the lower, and the greater independence created by its longer term of election, would ensure a certain amount of conservative tendency in its members; and your Committee conceive no distinctive qualification necessary beyond five years' residence in the colony, which they would require for the purpose of ensuring a probable higher degree of acquaintance with its affairs.

15. That the Waste Lands of the Colony ought to be placed at the disposal of the Colonists, to be administered in "such manner as to the Legislature may from time to time seem fit.

1(3. The foregoing are the points which your Committee consider essential to any Constitution intendod to confer on the colonists the realities of Self-Government. All matters of detail, such as open or secret -voting, electoral districts, and such like, should be left to the Legislatures themselves. So also should the question of Municipal Government, the machinery of which it will probably be found necessary to superadd, but which is a purely local question, and therefore to be disposed of by the Local Legislatures. The form of Government now proposed supposes the abolition of the present cumbrous and costly system of Provincial Government, one which seems to have been framed with no other object than the increase of patronage, and the extension of the influence of the head of the Executive Government.

17. That the Colonial Parliament should have fall power from time to time to alter and amend the Constitution, in all particulars, except those reserved for Imperial jurisdiction, or withdrawn from Colonial control in Clause S of this report, IS. Your Committee think it necessary to express their cordial concurrence in the general provisions of the measure proposed to be introduced into Parliament by Sir William Molesworth in the shape of amendments to the Australian Constitution Bill of last Session, with the exception of the qualification for representatives. On the subject of the Elective Franchize Sir William Molesworth has not expressed an opinion ; but, whatever it may be, that of your Committee, is, they trust, sufficiently clear, and it is a Fpoint on which they entertain no doubt, and are not inclined to advise any concession. Your Committee have also studied with care and increasing admiration the excelcellent speeches of the Hon. Baronet delivered in Parliament on the great question of Colonial Reform, and they are desirous of expressing their full concurrence in the general views contained in them, and their anxious desire to see his suggestions adopted by the Imperial Legislature.

19. In conclusion, your Committee express their great regret that the departure of Mr. Godley (one of their number) for the Canterbury Settlement has prevented his taking- an active part in their deliberations ; lie is therefore in no way responsible for any suggestions contained in this report. His sentiments, however, on the general question of the entire independence of the Colonies on all local matters are sufficiently known and wcro so forcibly expressed at the Public Meeting' at which your CuMimittee was appointed, as to Hsave no doubt of Lis concurrence in the suggestions on that head, though uncommitted on the matters of detail into which your Committee have entered.