THE MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT AUCKLAND.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 8, 1 July 1861, Page 1

THE MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT AUCKLAND.

The first Session of the Third Parliament of the General Assembly of NewZealand was, on 4th June, opened by the Governor, when His Excellency was pleased to make the following Speech:—

Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, — I am happy to meet you so soon after the late General Election, and to congratulate you on the increased Representation of the various Public Interests of the Colony which has been afforded by the operation ol the Act under which that election was held. You will unite with me in cordial acknowledgments of the prompt and efficient support I have received from the Imperial Government, which will enable me to carry into effect measures necessary for the maintenance of Her Majesty's Authority in these Islands, and for the suppression of armed Insurrection. The assistance which has been afforded to the Colony will tend to the ultimate welfare of both races of Her Majesty's subjects, and will strengthen the bonds of Loyalty whicli attach the Colony to the Throne and Person of Her Majesty, and to the inothjr country. I gladly take this opportunity of expressing the thanks which are due to the Officers and Men of Her Majesty's Army and Navy, and of her Colonial Forces, for the zeal and intrepidity with which they have at all times performed duties of a very arduous and harassing nature. Overtures for Peace having been made by the insurgent natives, I felt it incumbent upon me to insist on the preliminary condition of their ceasing to act as a Confederation ; on their retiring to their Districts, I proceeded to Taranaki, and accepted the submission of part of the insurgent section of the Ngatiawa tribe, on Conditions which will be laid before you. In the policy which I pursued in reference to the affairs of Taranaki, my object

from the first has been to secure Peace by putting an end to the constantly recurring land feuds which for years have maintained barbarism amongst the aboriginal inhabitants of that District. Having now imposed Terms which will, if observed, secure this end, i have thought it right to adhere to the engagement or the 29th November, 1859, in reference to the land purchased at Waitr.ra, and 1 have consequently directed that the investigation be renewed at the point at which it was forcibly interrupted. The Terms offered to the Taranaki and Ngatirunnui tribes will be laid before you. Their aggravated offences can only be pardoned on their giving such tangible proofs of submission as will at once afford a means of reparation for their unprovoked aggressions, and be a memorial to themselves of the punishment due to lawless violence. The Declaration which I have made to the Waikatos will also be laid before' you. It requires submission without reserve to the Queen's Sovereignty and to the ilutharity of the L:iw; whilst from those who have taken up arms I have insisted upon restitution of plunder, and | upon compensation for losses sustained at their hands by Her Majesty's subjects, Native or European. The submission of all Her Majesty's subjects to her Authority and obedience to the Law, are necessary preliminaries, but it no less behoves us to redouble our efforts to afford them the means of substituting Order for Lawlessness, and to promote their moral and social advancement: and I entertain a hope that the approaching conference of Chiefs, which I shall assemble at the earliest opportunity, may assist us in the attainment of so desirable a result.