Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 642, 31 December 1858, Page 4

Colonial.

WELLINGTON,

(From our own Correspondent.)

"I take the opportunity of the White Swan's sailing to-morrow to drop a few lines, chiefly for the sake of preserving regularity in my communications, as on the present occasion I have really little or nothing to inform you of. The chief item is the result of the'trial for'libel (Mundle v. Stokes), in which the jury gave a verdict for the plaintiff for £50. These repeated trials for "libel, to say the least of it, show an irritable state of feeling as existing among the members of our community. The Oliver Lang sold for £600, and a company has been formed, I bilieve, for the. purpose of erecting a deep water wharf, her present owners readily granting her for that purpose, arid his Honor the Superintendent on being requested yielding a grant of land with a frontage for the same object. We are now every hour in expectation of the October English mail, the Boomerang being due this day. A dinner was'given on the 11th instant to J. C. Crawford, Esquire, by his workmen, on which occasion a testimo- ■ nial was presented to him expressive of their ■ admiration of the energy and spirit he has displayed in the works that have been completed, under his'auspices, and the occupation he has been the means of affording to so.many of the labouring class. The entertainment, which was catered for by Mr. Brown, of Barrett's Hotel,-*was •of the most elegant and recherche description, and' afforded perfect satisfaction to a large number of guests, among whom were Ins Honor the Superintendent, the Hon. Charles Clifford, and many others of the leading members of our community. There are to be no races this year at Wellington, but Whanganui gives us a tempting bill of fare in this respect. Mr. Roy, the Provincial Engiueer for this province, has resigned his appointment, and a Mr. Anderson, who has been provisionally appointed in his stead, will doubtless be his successor. A new Odd fellow's Hall will shortly be erected on Lambton Quay; it will be a plain but handsome building, and a very desirable addition to the city. The contract is taken by Sir. Carter, and his name is a sufficient guarantee that the work will be well carried out. Another portion of the town has been proclaimed as coming under the operation of the Sewerage and Drainage Act, from which beneficial results are looked for. In politics there is peace, and not a cloud at present darkens the political atmosphere. Business is decidedly improving, and in fact we are now beginning to recover from that depression of spirits under which we have so long laboured, and our commercial community is j already beginning to experience an impetus from the increased opportunities in steam that we possess. Our harbour is well filled, and fresh arrivals are daily looked for. The weather has been-.beautiful of late and still continues so, and we look forward to a pleasant Christmas, which I trust you and your readers may likewise experience, "j

The papers received from this province are to the 22nd instant, not later than the arrival of the mail. The chief items of-local news are given in our correspqndenVs letter above The 'Independent 'has discovered some difficulties in the operation of the New Provinces Act, as follows:—

THE XEXT MEETING OF THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. A rumour has been floating about town during the last few days, relative to the illegality of calling the Provincial Council together until after the meeting of the General Assembly in 1860! At first we were inclined to treat this as a cock and bull story, one of the many so frequently circulated by that gossiping class who know how to attend to other people's business so much better than they do to their own. On further enquiry, we regret to find that there is more foundation for it than we were at first prepared to believe. The New Provinces Bill, as our readers will recollect, was introduced into the General As- ] sembly at the fag end of the session, when it became perfectly clearthat, in consequence of the first writs having been made returnable within i too short a period, the elections in this province could • not take place in sufficient time to allow of the members taking their seats. Jaded -with-their live months'legislation, it is not much to be wondered at if the Assembly should have inadvertently allowed clauses to be passed, with the practical effect of which they were unable to make themselves acquainted. 'Omissions and inadvertencies of the most serious kind have thus resulted,-and leave little doubt •but that the Imperial Government will disallow ■ the act. The Otago Council have, in a memorial forwarded to the Queen, pointed out some of these, but the one with which we have now rio do will he found in clause VII. This clause professes to make provision in respect of electoral districts of the original province, wholly or partially comprised in the new province. It provides that in such a case as 'that of Hawke's Bay, where the boundaries of • the new- province are the same as those of the ■electoral district returning members to the Wel--lington Provincial Council, the members shall ■ forthwith cease to sit. Messrs. Gollan and Fitzgerald, who were returned'for the Ahuriri last year, are no longer members, and the Wellington Provincial Council now consists of 28 members, instead of ,30 as before. Here is the difficulty! The "Council Enlargement Act" declares that the Provincial Council shall consist of 30 mem- ' hers, but there can be only 28, until the General 'Government amends the New Provinces Act by inserting a provisoto the necessary effect. If the Provincial Council now meet it will consist only of 28 members, whereas the law requires there should be 30. Any and every act done ■by a Council of 28 would consequently be illegal, .and it cannot therefore remedy the error,°by the act of Council which fixes the num■ber of members. The General Assembly alone has the power. The Constitution Act requires } the Conucil to meet once a year, so that it must be summoned between now and next September, •only to be told that it can do nothing legallvj *wrt is therefore again prorogued. .Such is the foundation for Hit belief which is expressed by many. Whether it is valid we are

not prepared to say, but-as it appears to be so, we trust that some steps will be taken to have the question decided. HASTY LEGISLATION. When wo culled attention the other flay to the doubt -which had been thrown on the legality of any future proceedings of the Provincial Council, until the New Provinces Act had been amended by the General.Assembly, we were unaware of another very serious inconvenience to which the same Act Would immediately subject this province. ! Whether the Provincial Council can legally proceed to business when called together, is a matter of -uncertainty-, but there can be no uncertainty with regard to the'transfer to the Superintendent of "Hawke's Bay, under the 16 th clause, of all the public reserves in tJiis province ; the land on the beach between high ana law tcater mark ; the land reclaimed from the harbotir; and all the property vested in the Superintendent of Wellington by the Public Reserves Act, 1854. That-such a transfer was ever contemplated by the Legislature cannot for one moment be supposed; but to \he hurry with -which the Ministry passed the Act to dismember this Province, must we look for the solutionof this and many other grave errors to be found therein. t

So excessively absurd does it seem, that the Assembly, .vith all the legal talent possessed by the Upper House, should have allowed such an Act to liave passed, that many refuse to give credence to the position in which the reserves of this Province are placed. A perusal of the I6th clause will however convince our readers that there is -no ambiguity, in the language, but that in wofds, as plain as can be written, it is enacted that from the date of the Proclamation of the 'New Province of Hawke's Bay (the Ist 2fov. last), all the estate and interest of the Superintendent of Wellington in any lands theretofore granted to him under the Public Reserves Act, ■were forthwith-vest-fed in the Superintendent of Hawke's'Bar.

The intention of the-Act evidently-was that the estate of the old province should cease in any lands within the bouudaries of the new province, but from the words we have italicized having been omitted, there can -be no doubt that legally we are denuded -of our reserves and Hawke's Bay has the title to them. While it would be preposterous to suppose that Hawke's Bay would act upon the power thus conferred, it wiU be at once seen that the effect of this error is to tieup the hands of the Wellington Government until the next session of the General Assembly.

Ministers may pride themselves on the voluminous measures they initiated and carried through the last session; but the less they say of their quality thebetter. It is only as the Acts come into -operation that the flaws will be made apparent. No settler in New Zealand will ever give himself the trouble to sit down to the study of the eighty Acts just added to the Statute Book, and into what hopeless state we may fall before the Assembly shall meet to repeal and amend such as are found to be objectionable, is impossible for any of us to imagine.

The following is the clause of the Kew Provinces Act, above alluded to:—

'XVI. XlpQa_tb.e.establishmenfc of any pro--viace under this act, all estate aid "Interest of the Superintendent of any province, of which such new province shall have formed a part, in any lands theretofore granted to the Superinten - dent of such original province, under the Act of Assembly entituled " The Public Reserves Act, 1854," shall forthwith vesfin the Superintendent of such new province, and shall be deemed and taken to have been granted to him and his successors under the provisions of the said "Public Reserves Act, 1854."