General Assembly.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 377, 18 June 1856, Page 6

General Assembly.

We showed in a former article the strength of parties in the House of Representatives as tested by a division : the votes on the ministerial side consisting of four Auckland meinhers, two New Plymouth, four Nelson, three Wellington, four Canterbury, and three Otago—twenty in all ; while the votes of the opposition numbered thirteen, namly,|Auckland eight, New Plymouth one and Wellington four. This division was on the Pension Bill, which, although made to a great extent a parly question, could not perhaps be considered wholly so, as changes followed which showed that it was not viewed in that lijrht by : some of the members themselves. It was on the next question brought forward—the address in reply to the Governor's opening speech—that the first real party division tout place. The address, as moved by Mr. Sewell, nas as follows : —

We, tlie Commons of New Zealand, assembled in their House of Representatives acknowledge, with sentiments of deep respect, the address delivered by your Excellency at the opening of the present sestion.

We de>ire to convey to your Excellency the expression of our gratitude for the prompt manner in which you have given effect to the principle of ministerial responsibility in the conduct of the executive affairs of Government.

We entertain no doubt that the relations proposed to be established between your Excellency and your responsible advisers will secure the efficient CH£rying out of'that principle.

Fully sensible of the duty which devolves upon the General Legislature of the colony, of maintaining unimpaired tlie authority, and functions which are reserved for the General Government by the Constitution, it will be our earnest endeavour, as one of the brandies of that Legislature, to join in exeicising those functions in cordial co-operation with the Provincial authorities, and with as little interference as possible in all matters within their own municipal sphere.

Whatever measures may be submitted to us through your Excellency's responsible advisers shall receive our best' Consideration. And we pray you to accept this assurance of our desire to co-o'peraie with your Excellency in whaiever may piomote the welfare of the colony and maintain the public credit. Upon this- address an animated discussion ensued, which lasted two days. The grounds of objection taken by the opposition were various. Some objected to the entire policy of the ministry, others to a portion of it only ; while some found little fault with the policy/but objected to the men. Mr. Hall joined the opposition because lie disapproved of the relationship which Mr. Sewell would establish between the General and Provincial 'Governments;' and also from an apprehension that the ministry would treat the whole of the proceeds of the land sales at Canterbury as land revenue, and deduct therefrom a certain prouoition for the

purposes of the General Government, instead of looking upon ten shillings an acre as the price of the land from which such proportion was to be taken from, the regaining thirty sh llings a<* a sort of local tax. The three members from Otago were also influenced by local interests, which led them to look about and see which side of the house would offer them the best terms for their support. These geuilemen had two special objects which they were anxious id secure; the first being that the Middle Island should contribute to the General Government only 2s. 6d. an acre from live proceeds of its land sales ; the other, the repeal, of the clauses of the present Paper Currency Act which prohibits the issue of notes by private banks—■ the. repeal of the existing Bank Charters Act; — and the passing of an Act which would allow of the establishment of private banks with but few restrictions. In the interviews whioh took place between the Otago members ami- (he ministry, these gentlemen found thataiVh'o'jrljh Mr. jSewell was most anxious to.' protect "the interests of the Middle Island and present'''that pillage of its land fund which the Wellington party had advocated, he was yet unwilling to tie himself down to any specific contribution from that fund for general purposes until he had better ascertained what the necessities v of the Government were ; and with the respect flj|| the supposed tinkering of the hanking question, Mr. Sewell expressed his willingness to remove any existing impediments in the way of chartered or other banks, established upon a sound basis, carrying on operations in New Zealand, but declared that nothing should induce him to sanction such a measure as that which Mr. jtfacandrew (the member for Dunedin) sought to induce the House of .Representatives to pass. Finding that so little could be got from the ministry, the Otago members went over to the Wellington party, with whom (as their votes would just turn a minority into a majority) they found nodifficulty in coming to an understanding: The Wellington leaders, who had hitherto claimed as their right under the Constitution Act that the land fund of the Middle Island should be appropriated to the purchase of lands from the aborigines in their own and other northern provinces, alter a biief consultation consented to abandon ibis fdridlv cherished principle, and, in consideration r of receiving the support '.of the Otago'! members, pledged themselves to take from'-the proceeds of the land sale in this island only 2s. 6d. an acre as a contribution to the General Government. Upon receving this assurance, the Otago members ranged themselves with the opposition ; and when tthe division on an.amendment to the address took place, ministers found themselves in a minority oi one, the members being-, for ministers 16; against, 17. Inimediately°after this division the Sewell ministry resigned ; and Dr. Campbell (the Superintendent of Auckland), whe had'moved the amendment, was sent for by the Governor, and requested to take upon himself the task of forming a new ministr When Dr. Campbell allowed himself to be persuaded to move an amendment to the address, for the purpose of turning out the Sewell ministry, he (as he afterwards confessed) had never contemplated the consequence of that act, namely, that upon him would devolve the task of constructing a new one. Accordingly, when summoned by the Governor and lequested to undertake that duty, he at once declined doing so ; and Dr. Featherstone, the Superintendent of Wellington, was then scut for by his Excel, lenoy, and to him was entrusted the task of funning a new ministry. After three dayssjjnt in 'fruitless negotiations, with a 'view-'-to'vßie formation of a ministry of. which Mr. Fox should be the head, the attempt was abandoned, because no member of tiie minoiity could be induced to join the party; and to carry on the government of the colony with a bare'majority of one was considered to be altogether a hopeless affair. The Sewell ministry therefore'remained in office; and to some overtures made to it that' it should consent to be partially remodelled, in order to admit some member of the opposition either frmn the manner in which the proposal was nmde, or from the nature of the change proposed, the ministry found itself compelled to decline the proposal. After a few days spent in an almost profitless manner, the ministry having no power to force on the work of the session, and the time of the house being chiefly taken up in parly crimina-tions,-the opposition plucked up courage "and determined to attempt to .govern ihecotonvAvith ti majority of one in the House of Representative!;

and without a single vote in the Legislative Council, and, accordingly, on the 14th of May, the following resolutions were moved by Mr. Fox, with the view of turning the ministry out ; 1. That this house is of opinion that in apportioning the Customs revenue of the colony, not less than two-thirds of the net receipts ought to be secured by appropriation to the provinces,; and with that view the appropriations of the General Assembly ought to be limited as much as possible, consistent y with th.3 efficient exercise of. the legitimate functions of the General. Government. 2. That so long as the appropriation of twothirds of the Customs revenue shall be so secured to the provinces, the General Government should receive a contribution" of two shillings aud sixpence per acre and no more, on all lands sold within the colony. i 3. That the over-mling legislative power of the General Assembly and the veto of the Governor on Prayincial legislation should remain as at present provided Toy the .Constitution Act, and should neither be extended nor limited. . . "-._„. . ■ f• " 4- .That the General Assembly, ought to define any of the thirteen subjects specified in the 19th section of the Constitution Act on which it may be of opinion that the provinces ought to legislate; and also to define any other subjects on which legislation ought to be uniform; and should by enactment Preserve the exclusive right of legislation on. such last mentioned subjects ; but that, until such definition, the powers of the Provincial Councils ought to continue as at present. • . , 5. /.That - the relations of. the Superintendents towards the General Executive, and their responsibility, to the electors of the several provinces, ought ,'to continue as at present. . These resolutions were not received by the Sewell party in the manner expected ; for supposing the financial condition of the colony .would admit of the principles euuticiated iv the first and second resolutions being carried out; , he Middle Island representatives would only have been too glad to support them, while it ■was evident that the three latter resolutions accorded far more with the policy of the ministry .than witli that of the opposition as stated by ' them on all previous occasions. In order that the House might be. able to judge, before it euninitted itself to the first and second resolutions, whether the financial condition of the ; colouy would admit of so much of the revenue . being tied up from the General Government, Mr. Sewellasked. for two days' delay, to enable '<■ him to bring down his budget, when the true! financial condition of the colony would he seen ; but this the opposition refused, and upon this the ministry was again defeated by a majority of one. At first the ministry were not disposed to accept this vote as an intimation to resign, but on notice being given that a vote of want of confidence would be pressed the day following, they vacated their seats. . In the interval which had eaps^cl since the ministry sustained its defeat on the address, a change had taken place in the sentiments of one of the members, which, although it led to no immediate result of importance, has since been the cause of a remodelling of parties, aud has given, as it is expected, what was so much wanted, a good wjrki'ig majority to a ministry. We have already stated that Dr. Campbell, the Superintendent of Auckland, moved the amendment to the address, and was afterwards sent for by the Governor to form a ministry, which task he declined. Whether among political friends or opponents, there is uo man in Auck land who fs ;per>oually so popular us Dr. Campbell, and to ithis popularity of the Superintendent much of the success of ; the part) of which he h'iid. become the head was attributable at the late e'feOXions. Unlike his partner in business, Mr. Brown,'the late Superintendent, Dr. Campbell had never been a very ;ictive politician, and it is believed that it was with great reluctance he

suffered himself to be brought forward as the

successor to his partner in the Superintendency, when the latter ginileman left the^ colony for England. When Mr. Sevvell .was first charged with the taslc of forming a ministry, he naturally looked for support to the stronger of the parties which divide the province of Auckland, and offered the office of Attorney-General to Mr. Birtley, a member of the Legislative Council, and one of the "progress" parly, which party counted eight out of the twelve Auckland votes in the .House of Representatives. On Mr. Bartley declining to accept the office, on account chiefly of .his age, Mr. Sewell addressed himself to Mr. Wbitaker, a memner of the opposite party, the then acting Attorney-General and Speaker- of- the Legislative Council, and offered to that gentleman the legal appointment in his

ministry. It was the fact tha,t. Mr. Wui.taker was the Attorney-General that induced the Auckland " progress" party to go into opposition to the Sewell ministry, and ally themselves with the Wellington federalists, instead of accepting what they have since so anxiously desired, the services of their acknowledge*! most able man to represent their province hi the ministry. "When Dr. Featherston's efforts to form a ministry had failed, Dr.. Campbell, fro ta a. desire to see the work of legislation progress, intimated his intention to support the ministry then in office, and thus the head of the Auckland "progress"' p:irty was found voting with the ministry and the party which bad opposed him in his province. This secession of Dr. Campbell from the Wellington party was the death-blow to their, power in the House; for although the remaining seven " progress" memhers assisted afterwards to carry a Fox ministry into office, and sustain them there for ten days, it was seen from the first that they would" not long remain in opposition to their political head, backed as he was by a strong.and unanimous public opinion. When Mr.-jSewell resigned the second time, instead of advising the Governor to send for Mr. Fox, who had been the leader of the opposition, he recommended his Excellency to send for Mr.'Stafford, and to charge him with the task of forming a ministry. Mr. Stafford accepted the duty, and, assisted by Dr. Campbell, endeavoured to construct a ministry which should be able to command a fair working majority. This ministry was to have had Mr. Domett as Colonial Secretary, Mr. Richmond Attorney-General, and the third office, the Treasury, was placed at the disposal of the Auckland members. The circumstance that Mr. Stafford was sent for by the Governor instead of Mr. Fox—that to a member of the minority was entrusted ihe task of forming a ministry, instead of calling in a member of the majority—was represented to be an insult to the whole of that majority ; and although.some of the Auckland "progress" men were most anxious to re-join their Superintendent, they yet aliowed themselves to be persuaded that they could not do so honorably, until the "slight put upon them had been removed," and something like a written pledge to this effect was said to have been signed by the whole body of the opposition. Finding the task of forming a. working ministry a hopeless ,one in the then temper of the House, Mr. Stafford abandoned the task ; and Mr. Fox, as the necessary alternative, was sent fur by the Governor, and to him was entrusted the office. When Mr. Fox came into power, he found panics in the same position in which they stood a fortnight before, when the task of forming a ministry was thrown up by Dr, Featherston. -It is true in the meantime the Wellington party had lost the support of Dr. Campbell, but the loss of the vote of that gentleman was counterbalanced by the accession to their ranks of Mr. :Cuff, the member for Akaroa, who swallowed the bait of limiting the contribution from the Middle Island hind fund to 2s. 6d. per acre. To carry on a Government successfully, with a .precarious.majority of one, was therefore as difficult as it was fourteen days before ; and the minister found it necessary to break the phalanx of his opponents, if possible, and win over to himself some additional support. In the negotiations which followed, and which occupied"two or three days,overtures of various kinds were made, not only to the leaders of the minority, but'to individual members who were thought to have a vulnerable point. We have not dine to give here the details of what we have heard took place on this occasion, or to stale the arguments urged on members of the minority to change sides ; bnt there was one ciTcums'tanue of the negotiations which ought to be known. \Veha\e already said that the opposition to the Sewell ministry of the Auckland " progress" party was mainly attributable to the fact, that Mr. Whitaker, the late opponent of Mr. Brown and Dr. Campbell for the Superintendency. was the Attorney-General, and in the first direct attack which Mr. Fox made on the Sewell ministry, that gentleman urged against it, as one of its greatest sins, that two out of three of the official offices were filled by gentlemen who represented provincial minorities, instead of by persons who were the representatives of the party who were the majority in the provinces. But when the time arrived for Mr. Fox to form a ministry, lie found it difficult to carry out in office the principles be had advocated in opposition, and one of the first "steps taken by him was to solicit

Mr. Whitaker, whose appointment as AttorneyGeneral by- Mr. Sewell he bad condemned, to become the legal adviser of the ministry be was about, to form. Mr. Wbitaker baring some, regard to his own character as a public man, resisted all importunities to become a member of the Fox ministry, hacked, too, as these were by the members of the Auckland '■' progress" party, who also had become suitors for his support. With.no other choice left lain, Mr. Fox assumed office as Attorney-General, with, the Premiership, Mr. Hall (of Canterbury) Colonial Secretary, Mr. B.rown (Superintendent of New Plymouth) Colonial Treasurer, and giving to Mr. Daldy (of Auckland) a seat in the Executive, without office. This ministry was at first wholly unrepresented in the Legislative Council, for, it is said, no member of that House could be induced to accept a seat in it. Dr. Richardson was afterwards prevailed upon' to become a sort of agent for the ministry, to introduce their bills into the Legislative Council; but to this arrangement the Council took just exception, which caused Dr. Richardson to accept a seat in the Executive, without office. The arrival of two. additional members in Auckland, on the 24th of May, led quickly to the defeat of the Fox ministry,"for Mr. Travers and Mr. Curtis naturally joined the other representatives from Nelson in opposing the policy of the Wellington federal party, and the r f few days that this ministry had been in office I was quite long enough to show that the govern-?; inent of the colony could not safely be continued | in their hands. '

On the 23rd of May, the Estimates were placed in the hands of members, and ministers gave notice that on the 27th they would bring down their budget, and make their financial statement. On examining the Estimates it was found that they were wholly imtrustworthy. Pledged on the "one hand to the Otago members to exact only 2s. 6d. an acre'from-the sales of land in the Middle Island, and to Auckland and Wellington to take only one-third of the net proceeds of the Customs' revenue for the purposes of the General Government, Mr. Fox jound himself on the horns of a dilemma when he came to learn what the necessities of the Government of the colony weie. In the opinion of the Collectors of Customs in the various provinces, and of merchants who had been consulted on the subject, the Customs' revenue for the next year could not prudently be estimated above £100,000, but forthe purpose of showing upon paper that the necessary expenditure of the colony could be provided for, £12,000 j-dditional was added by the ministry to the above sum ; and this wasjiwtilied on the ground that the Customs'revenue yielded £112,000 in the year ending June 30, 1855, the most prosperous year the colony has ever seen, while the depression of the present period, which is so notorious, was attempted to be kept out of view. It is only charitable, perhaps, to assume that the ministry were guilty of sell-deception in estimating the revenue for the next year, but, if so thev°were the less to be misted as financiers. Bad, howev.r, as this was, worse remained To relieve the land fund of the Middle Island from beiii" swallowed up in extinguishing the native title in the North Island, ihe House of Representatives had agreed that a loan should be raised for that purpose, to be made chargeable on the «*eneral revenue of the colony, ami in the estimate expenditure™ find £4 000 set.down as the interest of a contemplated loan o! 00.000. Now supposing that it was intended to appropriate £25,000, or one-half of thisproposeu loau in purchasing native land, the remaining half, or £25,000 might be expended on liquidating the debts of the colony, many ol which bad become most urgent. But the ministers never took the trouble to ascertain what the ueots ot the colony amounted to before they brought fo-ward their budget. By disclosures made before a Finance Committee, it «as louna that a debt of £70,000 required for which ministers had made no provision in ilieir estimates, either by »avin«* of the capital sum, or interest upon-it. " When' the time for discussing the bmiget arrived, the House refused to entertain U without first going into a committee ot supply, and on this the ministry was deieutcd i>v <t mi .ioritv of one; and on -Mr. F.-x stating that lie did "not accept that vote as ex^essmg a want-of confidence in his ministry a ilnect vote to that effect was carried on tne t..]lo«i»ff evening (Wednesday, May 28), also h\ a majority of.oue, on which ilic; Fox nnuutiy resigned.

1 This defeat of the Fox ministry dissolved the compact, whatever might have been its character, which existed between the Auckland *'■ progress" party and the Wellington members, and gave Mr. Stafford (who was again sent for by the Governor) a prospect of forming a strong ministry. When the steamer left Maiuikau on Sunday morning, the new ministry had not been gazetted, but its intended composition was generally known. Mr. Richmond, of Taranaki, was to be the Colonial Secretary ; Mr. Whitaker, Attorney-General; Mr. Sewell, Colonial Treasurer, and Mr. Stafford and Dr. Campbell were to have seats in the Executive without'office. This ministry would command, it was expected, at least a majority of ten votes, and be thus enabled to cany the work of legislation forward.

The House of Representatives came to a vote on the 26ih of May, " that the next sitting of the General Assembly be held at snob mote central place as his Excellency the Governor shall deem most convenient." This was carried by nineteen to fifteen. The attempt to decide in favour of either Nelson or Wellington was defeated by the northern members voting against both of these, places.