UNKNOWN

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 240, 17 February 1855, Page 3

UNKNOWN

■ fENTLBMEN,— When you did me the honor B Jlectin"- ">e as your representative, I told you kit I ci»uld guarantee my zeal, if not my obi-. B^'nvusuance'of that pledge, I have for four HLnll's devoted myself exclusively and unreKiitin<rly i<> public business, not only as a private Keffll'ei' of the House of Representatives, but Mjsonsone «»f a» Administration formed under Kicniiistniices of peculiar difficulty. Of my Hfficiency it is for you to judge. B It becomes, then, my duty to lay before you ■n account of the manner in which I have Bndearoiired to fulfil the trust you have imposed Bpon me, and I will; endeavour to do so as Reaily and as fully as the limits of an,address ■ike this will permit. B I shall confine myself sis rigidly as possible to ■acts which admit of h'» dispute, and shall ■nerelv ask you to judge in an imnartialand Kandifi spirit, upon a plain matter-of-fact '-state-.' Bnent of my acts, my votes, and "my opinions. I At the commencement of the Session I supKorted the resolution and address (June 3 Sc 6) fcassefl by tlie House of Representatives in favour lif Ministerial Responsibility: the immediate, lidinission of that system was rendered the more Biiiperative by the absence of any organ of the iGovernmeiit in the House of Representatives. I, Rave ever believed' MinisteiiaVliespbnsibilitv to Ibe essential to the harmonious working of Representative institutions, and the events of the j last four months have practically illustrated the truth of that opinion. ' When, at the desire of the Officeradminister\ng the Government, Mr. Fitz Gerald undertook to form a Responsible Ministry, he did Mr. Sewell and myself the honour of requesting us to join him. To do so, I was aware, not only involved for a time the relinquishment of."my usual pursuits—of that attention to triv "personal": affuivs important to every bond fide working colonist—but it also, in the present political position of the colony, held -.out a prospect of difficulties which might well endanger failure laud consequent loss of political reputation. On' Ithe other hand, [felt it a duty in-honournot^ to [refuse my assistance when called upon to carry put a system for which I had voted; and as several leading men of the Assembly '\eyen"ih---[cltidin<r Air. E.G.WakefieJdj had expressed to ; me their desire that I should take part in the (lovennnent—for these reasons T felt bound to Recede to the proposal of Mr. Fitz Gerald, hay^ iii? previtiusly ascertained the general similarity :«i our political views. ■'.-•' We entered office on the promise of the full and entire confidence of his .Excellency— on' the 'promise of the cordial cooperation of the old Executive officers so long as the preis of politi,Ciil business on our hands should render their ;assistftiice necessary—and on the full under-" |Staiuliug- that they would, oa the receipt ofproper reimnnr pensions re^io-n when the public mio-ht require it. On this latter head has been much casuistry and hair splitting ■ to the real meaning of certain documentary "'ueiice. Ihe proof is simple : ft is found in fie , llt(Jll a]ifi ed and deliberate concurrence of ''s Excellency and his old officials in our ExeZT, Gove. ri "nent Bill, which, whilst providing c latter with pensions, virtually abolished their unH I iUI, a»ain iv the <acf that such was the aJiW "p V ff' "f the lumse as'shown" by the m ess of tln.nks presented "to" his Excellency ; ■; «>e speeches, both of the ministry and "of

stateml", .Fitz herald, 15th June, in the Ministerial therein ll, Baid-"" But l am authorized to say that «rv ,S of 5h iPo ifficuUyon the part °fthe l)feseni admitof 0 . f,,C. mwn re'i»ng from office so as to sponsll.L p uU "Production of the principle of Retake ad Goverinnei«. should the house see fit to of their r.-' • reasonallle provision in the event lander, Ju^T? 10110*" permanent office."—Mw ZcaWs ExS'" fit' UIV in movln £ rt>e address thanking «hil tv ;„ m thth, eipdesire that Ministerial responproceili"J L^' 1?" of WWative and £r W «/i W wi «iout drf « » ,Govevnol> should he established ncr'"nwl,Ef ,BP° ke?* f<>"ow a : "Astothemansib'e memh»r P aY? ol)tailied il' (1»« bouse respou-. fro lll( !SS lhe E*ee»tfve, I cannot refrain P^mise iw ? "''T OWn sat"factto.y,with the comhaw cb P en Z % , V' ews of the great majority two. ' A e, n ""onn'led with those of the minority of r- Porsv, h UntleIMt1 Mt! )0'1 fc»^ honourable member,. °'Brie,, 1; I*"?' the ho»°««ible J member, Mr. •' y hiid oul one objection to the immedi-

their opponents, and that this understanding was tmcontradicted by his Excellency or the old officials.

We found the affairs of the country in a most unsatisfactory and complicated state—the relations of the General;with the Provincial Governments unsystematic and • undefined:—powers conferred.on one Province and withheld from another—bills passed by soraeof the Provincial Legislatures and assented to by his Excellency calculated seriously to affect the unity of the colony and in violation of the spirit of the Constitution Act. In preparation for the business of the Session neitlier was any consistent line of policy imagined, nor any measures of the least importance prepared. In the financial department matters were yet worse; no Es.t im'ates were in readiness —a balance sheet, showing; the complete assets and liabilities of the colonj, is even now .perfectly iin;ittaiuable—no complete audit of the- accounts x»f;the; colony has been made for years—piiblie debts exist to a large amount, of which no mention was made in his Excellency's opening address, and of which the public were . utiawire. The revenue of the colony, from September, 1853, to the passing of our appropriation Act, has been expended without authority of law—land scrip has been issued to natives at the free will of Governor Sir Geo. Grey, and in other cases without any. system of check-or registration, so that the quantity issued throughout the conn try is unknown—the land claims in the North, so far from being adjusted may even now (as the Native secretary has officially reported) give rise to Maori disturbances, owing,-'-'ainongst other causes, to Crown grants having been made without specific boundaries, whilst in many cases gross •, injustice has been done to land\claimants by the neglect of the Government to fulfil its partof the conditions it had prescribed—-injustice acknowledged by the old officials themselves. : I might allude to the state of'the land office- at Auckland, and the system which prevailed'there on our arrival of reserving- land for individuals, many of them high in Government employ, without requiring any payment or deposit in cash, and to other flagrant instances of accumulated misgoyerninent; but I have no doubt said enough to show that the difficulties we had; to grapple with as a Government were of no ordinary kind, and will only mention, as an instance of the state of the public offices, that the Government of New Zealand does not possess a single list of the old land claimants, nor a complete copy of the laws and ordinances which have been passed since the establishment of;.the colony.

In our attempt as: far as possible to rectify this mass of confusion and misgovern inent, and to enunciate a policy which might localize administration and {jive power to the Provinces for provincial purposes, reserving to the General Government full control over all matters affecting "the interests of the whole colony, we received from the House of Bepresentalives a fair trial and generous support, the move honourable to both parties, because, meeting for the first lime and representing no pftrty, we bad ourselves alone to rely upon. ~ Opposition to particular measures we constantly encountered, but.it was usually opposition of the most fair and legitimate kind, always excepting that of Mr. E. G. Wakefield, which was at first -insidious, and afterwards violent, though, despite of his great fund of information upon colonial matters, and his activity and energy of mind, it was rendered innocuous by his want of tact, his self-contradic-tions, and his too palpable intriguing, until at length wounded vanity and disappointment drove him into the anus of the anti-responsible -government party. The measures we brought forward have been so often discussed, that I shall notice them as briefly as possible. The Executive Government Bill, which made use of the power obliteration of the Civil List given us by the Constitution Act, to make way for Responsible Government,

ate establishment of Ministerial Responsibility ; namely that it could not be done legally without permission from the Imperial authorities ; that the law stood in our way ; that without a reference home there would be an infraction of constitutional law; that objection, that difficulty, I am pleased to find, has be.»n evaded or obviated, by the willingness of the old members jf the Executive to retire whenever they may be culled upon to do so ; a compromise of connicrinir legal opinions, under which neither party is to give way, and of which the happy eftlct is, that this house, instead of being- divided with regard to giving immediate effect to the new principle of Government, is now, 1 apprehend, unanimous on that print." (Cheers). — New Zcalatuler.

I have already alhuled to ; it proposed to grant retiring pensions to the old officials, without which provision, after the example of other colonies, the Governor could .hardly hare been expected to assent to. it. It was deliberately agreed t<» by the whole executive. The oi»jecc of the Waste Lauds' BUI was to localise the administration of tlie wast* lands, leaving to the Provinces the power of fixing the price and mode of sale, restricting them, however, from imposing such conditions in the terms of purchase as might lend to*.litigation and disunion by the establishment of class colonies, and reservingl the ultimate control through the responsible Executive to the General Assembly. The Empowering Bill was designed to meet the difficulty and confusion which has arisen, partly from the fact that the present law? of New Zealand have been enacted under a different system of government from our present one, and partly on account of the meeiing of the- Provincial Councils having preceded that of the General Assembly. It would have been impossible during the first session to have entirely remodelled and reconstructed the whole code: until this could be done, partly by general and partly by provincial enactments, we proposed to meet the immediate requirements of the ease by reserving the power given by certain ordinances to the Governor, and those of others to the Provinces; whilst with that numerous class conferring powers, some of a nature strictly appertaining to the Governor, and sit the.same time containing others that could only be efficiently exercised by the Superintendents, we proposed to deal by permitting tlie delegation of such ■powers to the Superintendents.^ It is true that this measure would have legally vested in the hands of a Governor and his responsible advisers a large discretionary p"«wejy which, however, has been hitherto exercised by an irresponsible Government. In my opinion it was needed at a a time to reduoii the Government of the country to any thing like system or order. The Revenues Bill and, the Public Reserves Act require but little comment. Several other bills were also brought before the house or were in course of preparation. Amongst them was a measure in reference, to the land claims, which we trusted would have had the effect of remedying such injustice, and of finally setting that vexed question at rest. The reconstitution of the Legis----lative Council, the complete efficiency and independence of the Supreme Court, the organization of a really effective Native Department iv connexion with one for the purchase of native land (Executive Government Bill), the improved management of the Post-Oißee department, the independence of the Audit department (Executive Government Bill), the reform of the Tariff, and other questions of scarcely less importance, administiative and legislative—were taken into our most anxious consideration. Education and Immigration we proposed to leave to the Provinces. I will not recapitulate the various committees for which we asked the house?, and the result of whose labours li;is baeu of much value to us and the public; I will only say that we were always ready to afford to them, as well as to private members every assistance in our power in the way of information or documentary evidence. In this manner—with the exception of a difficultyoccasioned by the refusal of the Attorney.. General, and other members of the old, Executive, to cany on the government business in the Legislative Council, which was obviatetH^tlse..^.; introduction of Mr. F. D. Bell, and suhsequently of M r. Bartley, into the Government —wallers proceeded to all outward .-ippearairce smoothly enough for some lime ; an estimate of the cur« rent expences had been at length prepared by the Auditor-General, a singularly unsatisfactory document, which we printed for the information of members, and submitted to a cmi mil tee, as a preparatory step to bringing forward our estimates for the year. The bills I have before mentioned had either passed the House of Representatives, ov were in their last stages ; the Executive Goforument Bill.(having reference to finance), after passing the second rcadinsr, had been only delayed until the Auditor General could prepare the esii.u IU-s.". At this juncture it became necessary, in our opinion, that tlie pevmamMit arruu»euiemsof the Government should be made—th;;t be.fort; we could ask a. finai vote for the reining pensions—for supplies —fir executive powrv>, the Assembly bad a .right to know that the obi otliaals would at oin-e iviirt! upon those pensions—that those supplies were to be "ranted, s;nd tln> c powers conlera1;! upon a purely responsible executive.

Such, also, wus the unmistakeable feeling: of the great, majority, of the house: to have stiiotl against it would have been putting ourselves in a false position, and exposing ourselves to just animadversion and. defeat. But this was not all. The disorder of the public affairs, of which each day revealed some new example, required a strong and united Government in a position to secure the services of efficient assistants, and working heart and hand to rectify abuses, and to endeavour to bring matteis in a more tangible form tor the next meeting of the General Assembly.: this,-in itself no easy task, would "have been impossible whilst linked to the old officials—the responsible and irresponsible principles bound together in unnatural union ; for now, insiead of the promised cordial co-opera-lion, we experienced nothing but ill-concealed antagonism; and, to crown all, we at length discovered that ili lieu of the " full and entire confidence" which his Excellency had been pleased to promise us, despatches had been written to England without our cognizance, and ■which had, for obvious reasons, been concealed from us. There was now no longer room for doubt ; either we, or the irresponsible members of the Executive (on the receipt of their pensions) must resign. After various discussions with his Excellency and the official members of the Executive, and after sending in a written memorandum at their request, his Excellency ultimately decided on retaining the-services of his old executive, the Colonial Secretary alone offering to retire (August 3). We resigned : to have done otherwise would have been to have lent ourselves to a deception of the Assembly and of the country—to have exchanged our position as colonists endeavouring to serve the colony,'for that of professional 'politicians bartering principles for office. In the course Jwe had taken we found ourselves justified and supported by the overwhelming majority of the house. "A Besponsible Government party was formed, including many Who had heretofore opposed us upon various questions, and others to whom privately we were almost umknown. We had the honour of receiving (August 3) a unanimous vote of confidence and thanks, moved by the Hon. J. Stuart Wortley, and seconded by Mr. Picard, our few oppo- _ .nents previously leaving the house. The house then re-affirmed the resolution of the commencement of the session in favour of responsible Government (moved by Mr. Featherstone, seconded by Mr. Carlelon), which was forwarded in a respectful address (moved by Mr. Ludlam) to IK Excellency. As the next step in the political drama, his Excellency sent hr Mr. E. G. Wafceficld, who, whilst refusing to assume the responsibility of office, yet undertook to act a? an irresponsible adviser; he commenced by bringing his Excellency into the arena, by "advising him to send down a message (No. 25) containing grave imputations upon his late advisers : a deviation from usual constitutional practice the more remarkable, ns the acceptance of our resignations had just before been accompanied by courteous and complimentary expressions, in writing, on the part of his Excellency. Simply confining myself to an expression of regret that bis Excellency was (at a somewhat later period) advised not to accede to our request that he would publish the whole of our correspondence with him an this subject (more especially after having *v writing given us permission to' nnke public use of all, that had passed between us), I shall continue my narrative of events. The house "proceeded to address his Excellency (on the motion of I>. Mourn, August 9), remonstrating with him upon the unconstitu.tional'position of Mr. Waketield, who,,whilst remaimug a private member, had declared himself to be his Excellency's sole, adviser. His Excellency, in reply, (Message No. 30), contradicted Mr. Wain-field's assertion. Another address was also presented (moved by Mr. Hart, seconded by Mr. Taylor, August 15th), entering fully ami scardiingly into the state of the public affair?, and the relations of the house with his Excellency ; and which concluded a powerful line of argument by praying for the establishment nffnmplete ministerial responsibility. This address was ..ppnsed by Mr. Fo-.-saith, the consistent opponent of the" immediate introduction of responsible government, who was supported by the Wakefield party, forming in all a minority of 10. [ n reply, his Excellency adhered to the opinion expressed i:> Message No. 20; lie considered himself absolutely precluded by the Royal Instructions from acceding to our request. This interpretation of the lloval In-

stiuctions of 18th December, 1852 (so different from that put upon them in the Attorney General's written " opinion" ut ihe commencement of the session, and from the opinion of other the best legal authorities), was,however, final. Had such construction been'inade known to us at the commencement of the session, much waste of labour and time might have b«en saved, necessary supplies would have been voted, and a few simple measures passed. My own feeling, and tli at of the great majority of the house, was decidedly in favour of now pursuing that course, as complete responsibility was unattainable. From'a compromise or sham ministry we could hope no public advantage. Nothing remained but unwillingly to submit, for a time, to the continuance of the old system. This, however, was not so pleasing to the advisers of his Excellency. The old officials, though averse to resigning their offices, had no objection to sheltering themselves behind a pseudo-responsible ministry, or to relief from that political labour which they were unwilling or incompetent to perform. The Forsaith-YVakefield party, too, hankered after the position we had rejected ; precluded from real, political power, there were possibly other compensating inducements— there were yet chances on the cards that they thought might still give them a working party ; foremost of these was a prorogation till after the steamer had left for the south—southern members mi<rht leave in disgust; to gain such ends the whole work of a session was swept away at a blow.

The prorogation (17th August) was effected in an mi usual, if not in an illegal mode. In order to .prevent discussion, or expression of opinion, a singular device was resorted to; whilst his Excellency's message, notifying his intention of proroguing the house was being1 read, the bearer stood behind the door with a second message of prorogation in his hand, ready to rush forward with it before the former message could be taken into consideration ; he was, however, observed and forestalled. The house, taken by surprise at this coup cV etat, supposing itself on the eve of a lengthened prorogation, after some interruption and confusion little creditable to its originators, but which they have studiously exaggerated to throw discredit upon the body they could not, influence, proceeded to pass resolutions to meet the emergency, the most important of which was the resolution to appeal to a legal tribunal, in vindication of the lights granted to the representatives of the people by the Constitution Act, should the Executive continue to raise and expend revenues without .the sanction of law. This threatened appeal to law, in defence of the Constitution Act, has been denounced as " rebellious" by the Fmsaith-Wiikeficld party.

During the recess, Mr. E. G. Wakefield gave place to a ministry, consisting of Mr. Forsaith, Mi. E.J. Wakefield, Mr. Travcrs,aiicl Mr.'Macai)drew. It was to be the inauguration of a new system : the executive, instead of representing some general policy affirmed by the house, •vere to represent various provinces, without, however, the sanction of those provinces. Tlfe scheme did not appear very promising in its plan, still less so in its results. The Legislative Council 'contributed no member to the new Government—the provinces of Wellington and New Plymouth were unrepresented.

The new session was opened by his Excellency (August [31), in a speech which partook rather of the character of an electioneering manifesto, than of a calm and practical exposition of policy : still less was it a speech lobe put into the mouth of a representative of the Crown. It recommended various measures, the cherished offspring of gentlemen on all sides of the house, and many of which were most deserving of adoption ; others, Mich as giving to the Superintendent power over the currency, were simply preposterous : but it went on lo express the intention of his Excellency to assume for the present on his own responsibility, the management of the waste lands, in order to carry into effect the last iieiv scheme propounded l>y Mr. E. G. Wakefield, and expressly and avowedly.to ignore the Assembly ami representatives of the people.

The new ministry (September 1) now announced themselves to the House of llcnresenlatives; they refused all information as to their arrangements .wii.li the old oflicials, or on any other puiiii : they would not even assume the responsibility of his Excellency's speech. Tliey were met by an address lo the Officer administering the Government, moved by Dr. Monro ami seconded by Air. Carlr.-ton, which slated that the limiso could have no confidence in a mixed

Executive, especially in one formed o^7 small minority, and offeriug,?as a choice (ifcvji* to grant necessary supplies to the old Execnti,*1 The address was carried by a majority of 22 f" 11, and was followed by the resignation of"/ Forsaitli ministry. Au address to tlio Q. lee c was the.last act of the political struggle. " If the house of representatives has fur a tim failed in obtaining the object of that strnHe it has at least taken its stand upon a jjj? ' principle, and the (inn enunciation of a meat principle is seldom without its effect upon future of a country. In this struggle, too, « c have learnt to know ourselves and one another On the first occasion I'had the honor to address yon, I reminded you that difficulties are the „]. most inevitable accompaniments of tl>e first efforts of self-government, but it is in y ollr Lands to rectify them.

It now remains to me to give some account of my acts of the latter part of the session. On the discussion of the estimates, I proposed tliat the Audi tor-General should be in attendance: he afforded us what information 1,-iy in hj 3 power, but there being no minister in the house responsible for the expenditure of supplies, the discussions on. the estimates were necessarily unsatisfactory. I was guided in my votes by two principles:—retrenchment of offices,.where retrenchment could be shown to be practicable, without detriment to the public service; increase of salaries where, as in many cases, arduous duties were performed with., inadequate remuneration.

I voted against tiie transfer of the Resident Magistrates' Court to llie provinces,' In my opinion, judicial officers ought not to be nominated by elective superintendents. I hold llwt all questions of native management should be retained under the control of the General Go* vernment, not from any distrust of the provincial authorities, but because it appears to me that the native policy pursued throughout the colony should be uniform, and placed underline department; and that the resident magistrates in several native districts are, or should be,political agents. I supported the grant to schools for natives, although I believed some new and different system of distribution should he divised byita Government, which a (To riled us no information on this point. I could not, however, coiwnt to allow institutions productive of much advantage to the colony, and upon which so much outlay has been incurred on the faith of a Governor's promise, to be suddenly destroyed, cs pecially as they may be hereafter comprised in some more comprehensive system. I was of opinion that the payment voted to members was in excess of their necessary expenditure, and I divided in favour of a less amount.

With some difficulty I obtained, in conjunction with the other Nelson members, a' vote of £200 for postal communication to the Waivau, anil some other trifling grants affecting this province. . I also joined in memorializing l' )e Acting Governor to name Wai ran as a port ot entry, which I trust may prove to the advantage of this rapidly rising district. In respect to the division of revenue, I amo' opinion that as the establishment of the Gene* nil Government affects the land as well as any other colonial property, (he provincial quo'Bß should be calculated on the gross revenue ot each province, but that the surplus land revalue should be given up to the province in winch it is raised, to be appropriated by it after del )">)'" inir its own expenses of collection and manage" inent; at present, the hind revenue of the s"11"1' em Island is liable to spoliation lor the purchase of laud in the Northern one. "My. Sewell njoved and I seconded and in effectually used my l'ef' endeavours to support a clause in the A|>pll>l )fl" alion Act to prevent this great injustice, wliico, though permitted, is not enjoined, totheGi» vel" nor by the Constitution Act. . ,

Though fully impressed with tlie necessity o» an alteration in, :iml simplification of, the «sis" in<? 'J'ariff, I could not support llie tneusnic tntroclueed. by Mr. Mackay, the assumption °" which it was founded, that an increase of «ills upon any article must necessarily produce t commensunue increase of revenue, bei»P , ig diiuneirically opposed to the successful l )l>aC '^ of the most eminent modern financiers, |j* though I am aware that some reasons n"? li.tve b«en nrjrefl against the apj)licatio» «' rule in its full force to a colonial ciunmi"I'^ yet lam inclincil to <rive weight to,the eVlllc'j, 0 of the Collector of (Jnstoii)s at Anclvlun'1) slated his conviction that the measure wot

Auckland alone, diminish the revenue to the ' bunt of £10,000, besides, giving a great imU s to smuggling. lam also of opinion tlint ill of this naliii'e should be a Government millm-ely considered and supported by evi- ,'. ( . t fi-nin all the settlements of New Zealand. ]'lie Eli-cioral Districts' Bill, I can only cha■levizi; as a measure to lay the Southern seln o,,ts' bound and prostrate at the foot of ckliiiiil, by giving her nearly half the repreitiition of the colony. It was founded on in— ruct data, and upon a. principle of represenio'n which, if carried into effect at home, iild "ive to a few large towns the whole gomnent of the country. lam perfectly aware it that principle was perhaps necessarily opted at tbe inauguration of the Constitution, t it docs not follow that we are to have annual form bills, calculated upon an imperfect regisition, and presented to us to gulp down at the vile of a session. This attempt is not however without its isoii. In many of the more extensive districts, icre the population is scattered, as in the one lich I have the honour to represent, a large unher of qualified electors are not upon the ectoral roll. I may be allowed' to impress ion all such the necessity of registering, their aims. To the Marriage Bill I was able to give my irdial support. It places all denominations on footing of perfect equality, avoids all interrence with ecclesiastical matters, whilst I trust will ensure that publicity and afford those usmntees required by Her Majesty's Secretary 'Stale in rpfeience to the disallowed ordinance nd which the civil power has a right to demand. may here state that I called attention to the eces'sily of appointing deputy-registrars of irths, deaths, and marriages, to meet the reuirements of country districts. Of the Nelson Trust Funds' Bill I could not Hit el y approve. I stated my objections to soire its provisions in a select committee. It was muled, however, upon the recommendations a meeting of land owners, and as, moreover, was supported by a majority of the Nelson lemhers, any attempt on my part to have obu'ned any alteration in the house, would pronbly, at that late period uf the session, have ad no other effect than to jeopardise the passing f a measure necessary to.lhis Province. Perhaps the most important of the measures mt finally passed the Assembly was the Waste .iuids Bills—most important as it secured to le colonists the management of the waste uuls, which the opening speech of the second ission had threatened to usurp for an irresponble Fxecutive. It met with bitter opposition om the minority, who put in force every pnsble manoeuvre to impede its progress; it fially passed ; and the Legislative Council, by H amendment strengthening the principle of >c bill, but an additional barrier to the designs f the Wakefield.party. ]n the various disousons upon the waste Innds there was, as might avebeen anticipated, endless diversity of opin»n- My own view is, that the price and mode t sule of the waste lands can best be regulated y local knowledge and local requirements. '.ilier gentlemen however presented to the AsMibly schemes of all kinds. One wanted renssion land for emigrants—a plan not new, J u' wlndi, under local instead of central ma;>gement, ini»ht be worthy'of attention. Anop" gentleman rushed into the arena as the ■•lampion of soldiers and sailors, and asked for 'em peculiar privileges ; whilst a third claimed ne exclusive ri.ulit to patronise the " workinof r \xr°! New Zealand—this gentleman, Mr. ni H „;■ eliel(1« is tlie sai»e who, in his work vie Art of Colonization," sums up an elaf»ate argument as follows: "There can only LvH °", C 01lJect of il Price» ni»l al)Ollt tlia't «'ecan be no mistake; the sole object of a te is to prevent the labourers from turning 5.7f c"! U)0 S0(>11; lll° illice »lllst I>e s»fle v lonhat one purpose and no other" (n.34H). X * tie lll° *or(ls "f^r. E. Gibbon Wak elield, Wew • WoUtdilssmne t() he the protector of |£cV s T^? °- f NCW ZettlnUll he W»»W Kieflv i-p, JCC V lgllolin-^ tlle representatives, IW- I I ri' I," ■" Uiree 'mnionss l*° loft ..pen Ev«v 1, ' '■' T"° Vt>Vms (of which,,hv the hs ai the 1 V Wovkl" X sp" ers," establislifccide the, KICJJ staff«f Coinmhsiohers to N"I r! !lt ( fficult P»i«Vof who. reallyH into effeii Ti a i I>!iU> Wllidl ' if """ P»d Ms pa tvC Uld no-do^VTo given him J Paity Vmnense power and paironage,

hut which, I think, would have neither benefited the colony nor any class or interest in it. For my own part, I have no hesitation in expressing my opinion upon this matter. Ido not in the least value popularity purchased by delusions, neither shall I pretend to entertain exclusive (sympathies f<>r any one class of my fellow colonists. My opinion, then, is, that a plan that, is good for one-third of the waste lands is good for the whole ; that the only mode I of preventing undue land speculation would be a local land tax expended strictly on local subjects of a nature to laise the value of the land ; but I further hold as an incontrovertible doctrine, that if the operations of capital are fictitiously embarrassed, and ils relations with labour interfered with, that the evil will fall even more heavily on the small farmer and on the labourer than on the capitalist. There has been a great deal of verbiage and declamation about " Squattocrats." The word itself is chosen to convey an erroneous impression. The pastoral interest —as an interest — has never come forward on any occasion to advocate any particular measure or line of policy. As one of tbe few representatives of pastoral districts, I may safely challenge reference to any act. or opinion of mine seeking to confer exclusive advantages on any special class or interest in the colony. In my first address to the electors of this district I spoke of the pastoral interest as one " which had provided the colony vith its most valuable export —which has at once Efforded employment to the labouring man, and profitable investment to the capitalist-— opened up the country, and acted as pioneer to agriculture. I consider, therefore, that the pastoral interest has a claim to ..every support that can be given to it without detriment to the rights of the agriculturist and the land purchaser, and no further." To this opinion I still adhere. Gentlemen, I have prolonged this address because the scattered nature of the population of this district renders it almost impossible for me to hope personally to meet you. I shall, however, be at any time ready to afford you any furiher explanation* you may require, as unavoidably a sketch like this must be found im.perfect in . many points. Necessarily some amongst you will differ from me on particular subjects, but I trust that yon will concur in opinion that I have at least honestly endeavoured to do my duty. 1 I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Your most obedient servant, Filed. A. Weld. Flaxhourne, Nov. 8, 1854.