HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 381, 28 June 1856, Page 4

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

■May 2, 1556. .DEBATE ON THE REPLY TO THE ADDRESS. (ConliiHied /'mm our last publication.) Mr. Bell continued : —He would be .satisfied to resign to them the labour and anxiety, which %vould devolve on himself and his colleagues if they continued in. their present position. If the House gave an adverse vote on the present occasion, it would substantially determine that- the Colony should not have a general but a federal government. After much consideration, he and his colleagues had laid down a line of demarcation between the two governments—one consonant with the constitution. He entreated the House to pause before it rejected that part of the policy. To himself and colleagues, individually, a defeat would be matter of perfect unconcern. But this he could say, that if the present ministry was turned out, it would not be upon the predominance of an opposite faith, but upon a miserable shuffle, altogether unworthy at once of the high character and standing of his hon. friend the Superintendent of Auckland, and of the political pretensions of his hon. friend the Member for the Bay of Islands. (Hear, hear.)

Another dead pause ensued. The Speaker put the question, but still no member.of the opposition rose.

Mr. Sewell then rose, and very pointedly exclaimed :—-What! silent still! All silent! (Hear, hear.) -Are we going to a division without, one word?-. Are,.we going to decide upon this great question—one involving the interests of the Colony, it may be for years, and at all events for another year, without one word fromhon. members opposite, as to the grounds on which they oppose the Government? (The lion, member paused, and looked to the benches where the leaders of the 'Wellington opposition sat. No one rose.) Sir, I earnestly trust and hnpe that for their own sakes as public men, they will not allow it to go forth to the world that they record their vote in opposition to the present Ministry, and yet d;ire not rise to give a reason for the course they are about to take. (Another pause.) "Well (resumed Mr. Sewell),: I can well understand the reason of the silence of those gentlamen. The fact is, that this combination of parties is based on no principle whatever, and its members are ashamed to speak out. (Another .pause.) Well, I suppose we are. to go to a division on the bare negative moved by my lion, friend the Superintendent of Auckland. Before we do so, I wish it to be understood that I do not regard this as a personal matter to myself. lam not deprecating an adverse vote. But I do say—Speak and vote. (Cheers.) Is it right,, or in accordance with the. ordinary rules of debate, that we should go to a vote upon so important a subject, in utter ignorance of the real grounds upon which the opposition is based., (No one rising, Mr. Seweii remarked) —He [Mr. Sewell] could not reply to the arguments that had been adduced in support of the amendment—forargumerit there had been none, not even from the hon. member for the Bay of islands, who in 1853, was one of the warmest supporters of the Fhzgerald ministry—a government formed upon principles identically the same as those upon which the present. Ministry has based their support. The question was simply this—Ay or No. Shall the provincial Governments be armed with all the power or the General Government, to be administere: 1. within their own Provinces, but to .be armed with these powers by delegation from the General Government? If the hon. member for Wellington (Dr. Featherston) would address the House, he (Mr. Sewell) would be satisfied, whatever the result; but it was humiliating, it was degrading, that on so great a question, hon. members on the other side of the House, should preserve so ignominious, so pusillanimous a silence (hear, hear from the Ministerial benches).

Afteraiiother pause, Mr. Fkathisrstox moved to the table, and niter an explanation upon a reference to himself in a former speech of Mr, Sewell—made with the twofold object of relieving that hon. oiemher from the charge of having iii'iciiiiunany *iun>ied the House, and also of protecting1 himself—proceeded to characterise the tx|)osiiivii ol' policj given by the honorable

member as an elaborate one, but one, at the same time, in which there were many omissions. There were many points upon which the House was left wholly in the dark. But before entering upon the very wide field for discussion presented by that policy, he would refer to another matter —the opening address of his Excellency. He believed that he expressed the sentiments of every member in that House, when he said that that address was heard with feelings of the highest satisfaction. If an) speech was calculated to open bright hopes for the future, to reconcile discordant elements, to allay provincial jealousies, to advance the great work which that House had to do, to place the. government of the country on the lasting basis of the constitution—it. was the opening address of his Excellency the Governor. No speech could be more strictly constitutional, more characterised by generosity. Although knowing the General Government, to be involved in many difficulties," he alludes not to bis own, but to,.the difficulties of the General Assembly. He make's no allusion to the past—speaking only of the future in the I language of hope. And a most encouraging feature was his Excellency's studied reseive up_on the great questions that now agitated the pTfblic mind—encouraging, inasmuch as. it afforded the best evidence of his Excellency's thorough adherence to the doctrines of responsible government. He regretted much that such a speech should have been permitted to lie so : long unnoticed—that the hon. member for Christehurch should have permitted so great a want of respect to her Majesty's representative. He regretted to have to say that the speech of the hon. member for Chrisichuroh was not the same in tone, temper, and substance. Instead j of endeavouring to get the House 10 work tog«*- ' ther for the common good, he fans the fl.ime of provincial jealousies, and introduces elements of the most discordant character. It was a speech which had in it far more of repulsion than attraction. The House was blindly to adopt the views of the hon. member, or be threatened with the old cry of dismeinheri'ig the colony. In the hon. member's first address, he entered at some length into the relations between the Governor and his adviser-—into thp negotiations' then pending.upon the subject; and in doing so he displayed an anxiety for the approval of the House, which, to him (Mr. Featherston), was an evident indication that the lion, member felt himself upon unsafe ground. He (Mr. F.) re gretted it should have been thought necessary, at that stage, to open these negotiations— to give rise to an untimely and unseemly discussion between his Excellency and his advisers. It was a course which, instead of promoting, was l.kely to ret :rri the object in view—the institution of responsible government. Then the hon. member carna down to the House witii certain terms upon which his Excellency was prepared to give effect to the principle of responsible government. These terms were propounded in a form the most obnoxious ; and, in doin<r so, the hon. member, although the tevin had been sneered at, had acted most unconstitutionally. Fancy her Majesty's ministers couveyin* a; message., from the Crown to the. House o? Commons, and pronouncing it to be her Majesty's .ultimatum. Would not the House characterise- such a course as arbitrary and ■unconstitutional? Ii really did appear that | the bole desire of the honourable member and his colleagues had .been either to establish their own position, or render another ministry wholly impracticable. He (Dr. F.) objected to the very term ultimatum ; and considered its use on the present occasion to be as great an absurdity as for the garrison of Kars to send their ultimatum to the Russians. From the speech of the hou. member, he (Mr. F.) gathered that, on one subject intimately connected with the peace, order, and good Government of the Colony, all w,»s retained in the hands of ! the Governor. A resp.-nsil.le ministry was to have no control over Native Affaiis. He trusted he would not be guilty of disrespect to his Excellency if he ventured to affirm that it would be utterly impossible for him to move a siivle step in the establishment of responsible «'overnment.if the ministry, amenable to the'ilouse, should be debarred from takinsr part in native affairs. Were he to ask, what was the principal object that the country expected-to be attained by ihe introduction of -responsible government, ihe answer would be, to take the administration of Native affairs from inefficient and irresponsible men, and invest it in the hands of a ministry responsible, through the S ilouse. to the country. Were he to ask to

what is to be attributed the present unsatisfactory state of Niitive relations, the'unvarying answer would be, gross mis-management on the part of those in power. Anil yet on ttiis c|uesiioii of questions, control was to be completely withheld from a responsible ministry—it was a mutter involving Imperial interests. But to prove in what light this question was viewed by her 'Majesty's Government, he would refer to the 73rd clause of the Constitution Ac, where it was provided that the administration of Native affairs might be delegated, not merely to the Governor, but to tiie Superintendent of Provinces. He maintained that the advice tendered his Excellency by the hon. member for Ciiristehiirch, to retain that power in his own hands, w.is likely to. produce the most disastrous results.. 'No sooner would the hon. member and his colleagues abdicate their functions than al'tiost insuperable, difficulties would, by ibe course they had pursued,.be experienced in the construction . of another ministry. In touching upon the relations between the General and Provincial Governments, blame had been attached to Sir George Grey fur. convening the latter before the former; but seeing that, according to the Constitution Ai;t, writs for both are required to be issued within six months, and that it was physically impossible that the General Assembly could meet within that period, he could notconcur in the censures that had been passed.On the contrary, the result, in his opinion, had shown ibe wisdom of the course taken, and had laid the Colony under a debt of gratitude to Sir George Grey. It had been contended that the Provincial Councils were merely municipal, and in suppoit of that opinion, Sir John Pakiugton liad been quoted as the author of the Constitution Act. Ii was the first time thai lie (Mr. F.I had heard Sir John Paliington named as the author of the Constitution Act. So Car from such beinsr the case, th.it statesman had publicly mentioned that, when he went into office, he found two Bills prepared by his predecessors, on which were founded the Constitution Act. Sir George Grey was one of those predecessors; and that minister, in the despatch which accompanied the Constitution Act, not only declared the Provincial Councils not to -,be mnnicina. l. .institutions, but ti'e.vo:ed a considerable . ortion of that despatch to the description of inu.nuijwlilies, properly so called, and which assume a very different form to the Provincial Councils. But the most convincing argument that these bodies were destined to'a much higher sphere of legislation, 'may be dta'wn from another part of that very despatch. Sir George Grey says, '" Any attempt, therefore, to form a General Legislature for such a group of colonies, which should at present annually, or even frequently ass-.-mhle, and which should he so composed as fairly to represent the various interests of all parts of this country, must, I think, fail; because there are, as yet, no persons in these islands who have the mean 4 or leisure to enable them to abandon their own affairs each year, for the purpose of resorting to another province there to discharge their senatorial duties." Assuming that opinion to be correct, how was the legislation of the country to be conducted ? If the General Assembly were not intended to meet oftener than every two or three years, would it not follow that the principal government of th* country would he conducted by means of the Provincial Legislatures? Indeed, throughout the Act itself, and. Sir George Grey's despatch, the distinction'between the Provincial ' Legislatures and municipal institutions was clearly marked. The, hon. member for Ciiristuhurch had argued the municipal character .of the fanner in this way. The office of Superintendent was elective! the mayor of a corporation was elective ; therefore, a Superintendent was a mayor. When a charter was granted to Rhode Island, in the time of Charles the Second, the .Governor was an elective officer; the President of the United States was an elective officer ; yet neither was looked upon as a mayor. The object of the hon. member for Christehurch, in framing liis policy, was however much it might he disguised, sufficiently apparent. It was i.. reduce the Provincial Governments to municipal institutions ; it was to make the Superintendents mere agents of the Governor, and forswear allegiance to their constituents. The hon. member for Christehurch was not content that the Governor should exercise a controlling power over provincial legislation ; the central executive was to have a hand in the great provincial pie; and the Superintendent was to become the servant of a respon-

nible ministry. 'The'-Superintendents were no longer to act on a:polioy.tliat was accepted and approved hy>their constituents, but.to obey the mandates of what miijlit .prove a most incompetent ministry. Instead of: passing. laws for the peace, order, and good.government of the Province, the Superintendent and his Council Would lie bound down by instructions, issued beforehand, from the office of the Colonial Secretary. This was a violation of the Constitution. It was a system of centralization more suitable to China, where.centralizaiion exists -to its ; greatest extent, than/to . the colony of New Zealand. In considering this scheme, a new phase presents .itself. Suppose those orders issued, and the Superintendent to refuse obedience to them. What then? Would his lion, friend propose to dissolve the : Provincial Councils'? Would he dare to recommend that ? Did he for ane moment imagine that ihe Superintendents and Provincial Councils would not maintain intact, and unimpaired their provincial liberties? a eoirest would ensue—one, he ventured to predict, that would end in the discomfiture and annihilation of the ministry who would attempt it—one which he much doubted if the lion, member had 'couraue- to- engage in. What then would be-next? The lion; member for Chriv-tchurch -would then contemplate organic changes;-he would pass an Act that would'convert1 the superintendents of provinces

into nominees of tlie' Governor, —an . ide:i, he >.h;id no hesitation in saying,, utterly unworthy of'the office held by the hon. member for.'Christ. churcli. Oil! but, said the hoti:.member, the superintendents-were,.'t» be raised to dignity, clothed in purple and fine linen^ made to sit in high places, ranked as next to the chief ruler of the colony,-griven'dominion :over:<si)l around; but all this <>n one. condition—one simple conditinn,that they -should' desert their constituents. If there wsis one portion of the hon. member's speech more unsatisfactory'than'smother, it was that which related to financial arrangements. The hon. member showed from the' public accounts la<i published; th.it'(he b.ilance available for'distribution among thu-'-ix provinces was not likely to exceed; ,£j4,ooo, which was -totally in-1 commensurate with •. tlitir requirements. Yet the hon. member would require these bankrupt provinces to rep;iy certain fee* which he declared they had t;iken illegally, but res pec linn1. which he (Mr. F.) could show, the' hon. member that lie was entirely in error. But the hon. member would al-o relieve the provinces by putting all the department* of. government on the general revenue,- w:t'iout, however,-explaining h«'w. The-hon.'member-,-when he made that p ropo<ition, was areidy c'.mrkling over ihe deinoli'ion of the provincial governments. He (Mr. Featherston) wo-ild <«"ly add that ha voted against themotion of his hon. friend, t.uslinjr and belieung that it w ui-tt re.sult in the defeat of his government. . He d'd s> in distinct con demnation of the'p'i'iciplt** upon which hi.', policy w.is founded an lin firm adhesion.to' the principle of locil self govern<neut. Still he must say that;, so-far ;is the .lidii;, member for Chiistchiirch was conceineditheiMlid so with no small regret. He euienained. for that man the very highest esicem — had the highest admirat'on and appreciation of his great abili. ties. "If de'eaied no»v, he' (Mr.'F.) hoped that they would • notI'therefore • lo<>e him. 'When a ministry whs formed upon a-policy'; the aim ol which would be t'» confine -the -genera! •-government to i:s own functions,: he hoped, that his hon.:friend would .'begone of that ministry, ratner than exhaust his energies in si fruitless contest , with the provinces. When, a ministry, would come forward with a policy that.would give,the provinces control over' their own affairs—that , would except from their jurisdiction only the ! customs,'the supreme-court, and the post office, j he (Mr. F.) would- he ■ prepared to-give' that ministry >hisi cordial and hearty support,-and not ! theless hearty and cordial if the- hon. member for Christchnrch were.one of its members. '

. May 3. Mr. Ludlam, as the mover of the adjournment, resinned the debate, and said, that the House-wuuld'agree with him; that sifter the candid -and full manner in whi h the lion, memberifor Ghiistchuich had placed'his policy before tie House, that hon. member*had aright to claim us full an-exposition of.their seutimenls from the Hoise, so that he might know whether he would be able to. carry on his Government. The hon. member for Christchurcb had, in so doing, pursued a much more manly and politic course, thau if in the reply he had placed before

the House a mere vague echo of his Excellency'saddress: otherwise the house might hare gone on debating on a variety of topics, for many weeks, without coming to any definite conclusions as to the policy that should be adopted. 'There could not, infleed,-he,a better guarantee for the future management of the colony, under Responsible Government, than tins cominuicement to economise the time of the' House. His Honor the Superintendent of Auckland had moved a mere negative by moving to expunge one clause of the reply. This was a very unsatisfactory course, for it kepi the house in perfect ignorance of what views would afterwards he proposed. It surely was the duty of the Superintendent of the largest Province to hare proposed some, policy to the house in place of that he proposed to reject, instead of moving a mere negation. Even if he (Mr. Ludlam) disapproved parts of the policy of the.hon. member for Christchurch, he would rather take it as a whole, as that which could be modified hereafter, than thus, act in direct opposition to it. But all that i the lion, member'for the City (Dr. Campbell) said, was, that this policy would curtail the powers of the Provincial Government, hut he irave no arguments in proof of this assertion. Suppose, in case that lion, gentleman was in a position to form a Government, what would be his policy ? He had left them completely in the dark. As to the oilier Auckland members who followed him, they gave no arguments at all. Tiiesole leason assigned wasb;ised on personal animosity. The sum and substance of the objections raised by the hon. member foT the Bay ' of Islands was, that the hon. member for Christchurch had used the word municipal, and must, ! therefore, he pinned to that word. The Supe- | iutendent for New Plymouth did not say a word against the policy of the hon. member for Chviscimrch, and would, most probably, support many points of itin the long run ; but he said he did not like one of the msit, and therefore would not support the-Ministry. The doctrine laid down by the Opposition was "men, not measures." Tliis - whs-the case with ihe hon. member for the City (Mr. Daldy), who approved of much of the Ministerial policy, but voted against it because of some personal antipathy to Mr. Whit taker. Then there was an lion, member for Wellington, who objected to the proposed policy because of centralizing tendencies and yet said that he wished to see the Constitution Aci worked out strictly as it was. Why, that was the extreme of centralization. The speech of that hon -memher, everyone must admit, was an able and gentlemanlike speech : it. put.the case, on the whole, very fairly, and contained a srreat'deal of valuable matter; and .though he (Mr. Ludlam)'differed from that hon. member, he believed him to be .thoroughly sincere. But there was one point in it which was surprising—the credit given to Sir George Grey for ihe origin of the Constitution Act, a creditwhioh had generally been claimed by and given'fo the' Wellington Constitutional-Associa-tion—He (Mr. Ludlam) was gl;id to. hear the praise given where it was really due. There was another rather curious point in the-same speech—the - praise given- to-Sir-Get-rge Grey for calling -the1-Provincial Councils -into-exis-tence before the General Assembly. If the hon member had not b en superintendent, it was hardly conceivable that lie would have made such a statement, after the views lie had formeily expressed on this point. For many years he (Mr. Ludlam) supported Sir George' Grey,' where he thought him right; but he thought him •wronir-iir'allowing' the action of the Provincial to precede that of-the general Government, as he had told Sir George; and on the ground thaMhe Gtiiieral Government ought to define the powers of the Provincial Governments ; for, if the latter met first, they would assume powers of legislation which would.bring them into collision with the, General Government. This had proved the case; but he thought at" the time, that if the General Government l;ad been called into existence first, they would have been disposed to grant fair powers to the Prqv,incial,Cquncils. „ So strong, indeed, was the feeling in Wellington, they adopted .an address to the Queen, finding fault, though not in very strong- lanuruaire, with-'Sir George Grey. One of ithe gentlemen who framed' thatiaddresSj said he hadisofteued it down to meet,his (Mr. Ludlaui's) views, as-he hul always been a supporter of Sir George Grey, so that he mightswaWow it. He (Mr. Ludlam), replied that, if it had.been much stronger, he-,could have swallowed it, as he had always been of opinion that Sir George

was wrong in not cilJing the General Assembly into existence first. The ,hon. members ,yv6o supported the amendment consisted partly of the majority of the members for Wellington, aqd partly of those foi Auckland, and *'were pre-pared-to throw out .the present Government without having anything in common, or being prepared with any policy of their own—a course which would lead to great confusion. Tlj* hon. member then proceeded to state his reasons for generally supporting the policy of the hon. member for Christchurch. He thought that gentleman was .justified in.asking for his' Ex* cellency's ultimatum, ,and also for his opinion as to the relations between hjmself and bit ministers, for he believed that his Excellency,'* statement was in accordance with his instructions from Home. He approved, on the whole, of his Excellency's stipulations as to Native affairs,-looking upon that as really and , truly a question for the Imperial, Government. 'If the colony was in a position to take upon itself the expenses of the troops, then out not before, the Governor would have no right to assume the control of the native department. The Governor might, it was tiue, receive some wrong advice on this point'; but he did not debar the-House'from advising him through the ministers; and as it was a question of peace or war, the control ought to be left, with the Governor. Had his Excellency's - conditions 1 with regard to the purchase of Native land* | remained without explanation, he (Mr. Ludlam) would not have considered that part of the relations with his Excellency very satisfactory. Still, he thought the Governor of a colony should have a discretionary power, since it was quite possible that bodies of settlers might sometimes wish to force him to buy lands which could not be obtained without entailing a quarrel, with the natives. ' His Excellency had acted well in leaving it to the house to say what amount should be expended at a time in purchasing land's, and he (Mr. Liullam) thought the house should also have the power—being frequently in the position of knowing best—of deciding what districts should be bought. He thought some explanation was required as to the Native Land Commissioner and his subordinates taking their Orders from the Governor alone ; all must admit that that department was not in a satisfactory state; and he (Mr. Liidlara) thought he gathered from the tone of the address, that his Excellency would avail himself of the advice of his Executive and of the. House on this question. A change in the system of purchasing #as certainly required, as the present one tended to lead to very'disastrous results; but even, with this reservation, the ultimatum of the Governor on this head was a wise one—though the lime might come wben, with altered circumstances, it might be perfectly safe to leave the General Assembly full powers over this subject; but that time had not yet come. The real turning point of the debate seemed to be, the relations between the General and Provincial Governments. On one side were the men of moderate views, like himself, who wished to see Nevy Zealand remain a united colony—the Provincial Legislatures possessing a fair amount of. power, but the General Government possessing a legirnate control over matters relating to the whole colony;—on the other were those whose ultiaProvincial views, if carried out, must lead to the breaking up of the colony into six independent Republics with a. weak General Government. His 'views .on this subject., were well known, were openly avowed «t the hustings, and on this understanding he waselected. In the main, he approved of'the views on this head stated by the hon. me'ml>ei\ and he did not see that this supervising power of the General Legislature would in any way reduce the Superintendents to the position of mere servants, tor they themselves were part ot the very Legislature which would decide how that control was to be exercised. After some further remarks in reply to Mr. Fox, on the foregoing question, the hon. member dm lined—Supposing the present Ministry to be defeated,- whai policy was likely to be proposed by those gentlemen who were prepared, and, as he.believed, so anxious to go into office? He, knevv what they were, and some of Mr. Fox's had been already quoted b/ the hon. member for the Hutti They were very ultra-Provincial and well defined. But now,these gentlemen would probably come .forward with a 'modified .policy—indeed, they had already given up a deal of their ultra-Provincial-ism. '"That.might.do ..very well for the hustings, but now it was a question of forming a Ministry, there must be concession aud compromise.

That was not the way in which they talked at the election •, then they wanted ultra-Provin-cialism to be tested, and they would have opposed him (Mr. Ludlam) on that ground, but they could not. But supposing them to come forward with a moderate policy, as the lion, member for Wellington (Mr. F.) did the other day—a much more moderate policy than he had ever before enunciated ; supposing they thus should cut very much of the ground from under •ur feet, .and . get rid of the hon. member for Christchurch, they would then come before the House with a policy very much resembling his. .Even if they did this he (Mr. Ludlam) should ■till very much distrust the men who professed •ne policy on the hustings >to getteturned to the House, and now put forth another in order to get into office. He should regard them as merely professing this modified policy to enable them to wait the tide of events to carry •ut their real intentions. He distrusted them for their double dealing. Either they should resolve to carry out the views they professed before election, or, if they had really changed their opinions, they should return to their constituents for re-eiection or give place to other wen. For these reasons he wanted from them as explicit a declaration of their policy as the bon. member for Chrisichnrch had already given, before he could place any confidence in them.—The hon. member then adverting to the rexed question of the method of dealing with the General and Provincial revenues, said that he had heard it said thai hon. members for Otago had received an offer for their .votes' from ihe leaders of the Opposition, that they should be allowed to retain their Land Fund on payment of half-a-crown an acre into the General Revenue. Well, they were probably open to a better bid, and this was certainly not a very liberal offer. But, supposing the New Zealand Company's Dtbt to be settled, the whole expense of the General Government would thus be thrown on the Northern Island. He could hardly believe the hon. member for Wellington (Mr. F.) was prepared for such an alternative; and he could hardly think the members for Otago could have been guilty of such a dereliction of political principle ;*for hon. members ought not to come these to obtain exclusive advantages for any one Province, but to' legislate for the benefit of the whole Colony- °In reference to the Land Scrip question, tlie hon. member said he was for having justice done to the Sripholdrrs, but for a limit as to the time being fixed for their Scrip being brought in, and he would also wish to see it excluded from being allowed to be tendered in payment for land allotted for small farms, since the capitalist, with this Scrip iv his hand, could afford to pay two shillings against one shilling of the working man, if he were allowed to compete against him. The only other point to which he would aliude wa< that called " the Seat of Government." It should rather be "the Seat if the General Assembly," since everybody knew 3hat the Governor could fix his residence wherever he pleased. This question must remain, as the hon. member for Chrisichurch had left it' an open question. He (Mr. Ludlam) should deeply lament to see a partition of the Colony • and with respect to the suggested removal'of the Seal of Government to Nelsoir, he thought it would prove anyiliinjr but beneficial to that Province in the !on;> run.—ln conclusion, he would support die moderate policy of the hon. member for Clirislchnrch as calculated to be. on the whole, far more advantage..us to the Colony at large than th* ultra- Provincialism of. his lion, colleagues fo the province of Wellington, to which hi- ha i always been opposed, as being injurious o the best interests both uf that Province ai-ci «.f the Colony at large; though, in giving this general support to his hon. friend, lie should of course reserve to himself the right of differing on some of the questions to which he alluded. (to be continued.)