SPEECH OF THE GOVERNOR AT THE CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 5, 9 April 1842, Page 19

SPEECH OF THE GOVERNOR AT THE CLOSE OF THE SESSION.

Gentlemen — I cannot allow the session to come to a close without congratulating you, and through you the colony at large, on the result of your labours. I believe that the Statute Book of New Zealand for the present year contains a more important code of laws than was ever passed by any colonial legislative body during a single session, and I cannot but esteem it a privilege to have had an opportunity of taking part in laying the foundation of the youngest and most distant, but by no means the least important of the numerous colonial dependencies of Great Britain. During the present session, provision has been made for the efficient administration of justice, in all its various branches, with a due regard to»foe existence of scattered settlements,rapWp^reasrrig in number and extent. For this purfplSgfthe ordinances for establishing a supreme .cburt and dtginty courts, and indeed all the orauiancesv offthe session, have been based upon the principle' 1 of localizing the machinery of the Government of each separate settlement, and of rendering them as independent as possible of the capital. Circuit courts have been established, to sit twice a year— and local courts to sit monthly, for the despatch of both civil and criminal business. Though possessing but limited powers in ordinary cases, the judges of the county courts are JfiKfisted with the power of granting injunctifflHpftttls| other important powers, which mast ' b^^refri'-H cised promptly to secure the end of justice, and I to prevent irreparable injury to property. "" I By confiding to the paid magistrates alone, ! to men who are appointed to the office for their fitness for the efficient discharge of its duties the important power of depriving their fellowsubjects of liberty, on charges of felony or misdemeanor, and, by securing to every man committed for trial the verdict of a jury of his country, openly declared, instead of the secret fiat of the Attorney-General, the Police Magistrates Bill appears to me to be calculated to effect a beneficial alteration in our colonial practice. The power of dealing summarily with cases of larceny, given to the police magistrate by that bill, has been suggested by the recommendation of her Majesty's criminal law commissioners. . In a new country, where land forms so important a subject of commerce, it is desirable ' ttiat its transfer should be made a " simple and ! easy transaction." To effect this object the law \ of real property has undergone a complete re- i vision ; many of the now useless forms and subtleties of that difficult branch of the law ' have now been abolished, short and simple j modes of conveying property have been substi- ' tuted, and I believe it will be found that the ' bill to facilitate the transfer of real property and < to simplify the law relating thereto, embodies almost all the well-considered amendments j which have been recently suggested by the \ most distinguished English lawyers, but which, | from the technical nature of the subject, and the opposing influence of a powerful profession, have not been effected in the law of real pro- i perty in England. It is not only desirable, however, that the transfer of real property, should be made simple and easy, but that the title to so frequent and important a subject of sale and mortgage should, as far as possible, be rendered secure. To effect so desirable an object, a bill has been passed to provide for the registration of deeds and instruments affecting 1 the title to real property. In the framing ci' this comprehensive measure, advantage has been taken of the copious and valuable reports of the English real property law commissioners.' If carried into execution with accuracy and skill, the Registration Bill will, I trust, prove one of the most valuable colonial enactments. In a political point of view, the most important measure of the session remains to be noticed. If her Majesty's Government had not | pointed out the expediency of doing so, th« physical character of the country would have suggested the necessity of investing the inhabitants of the various settlements in this colony ; with ample powers of local self-government, t While it grants to every body corporate the | power of undertaking at the cost of the .borough any works that may be required to promote the | good order, health, and convenience of its inhabitants, and to render the navigation of its ! harbours safe, easy, and commodious, the bill I to provide for the establishment of municipal corporations Ljakes no requirements which may not readily be complied with. By leaving to the various settlements the management of ' their own local affairs, the general Government i will be relieved of a duty it could but ill perform. The inhabitants of each of them will be interested in developing its resources, and in making it as attractive as possible to the emigrant; and by this means an honourable rivalry j will be created, and the prosperity of the colony I at length ultimately promoted. That the ' opposition which this measure met with in iw 1 most popular principles, during its progress^ through the Council, should have been led bjf one who was selected as representing the colo-' 1 nists of the New Zealand Company's principal settlements, a body of people bringing with.; them in all its freshness, unimpaired, the Englishlove of liberty, may well form a subject of ! astonishment and regret. Believing that neither the interests of the ! claimants themselves, nor the future prosperity; of the colony, would be consulted by allowinflUS Sir George Gipps's plan for the settlement of thiH land claims question to be carried into e&cuJß the Local Government with much labour inWHM duced a measure, which alone appeared calcujflß lated to meet the many difficulties in whioK thaffS subject was involved. So .beneficial appwredtraj

me to be the general principles of that measure, that, in introducing it to the approval of this council, I did not hesitate to incur the responsibility of deviating from the letter of my instructions. If that bill had become law, the said claimant would almost immediately have acquired a valuable, and available, and marketable property. Every absentee claimant would have had an interest in bringing before the public the many recommendations and valuable resources of the colony ; a numerous body of settlers would have been drawn around the three principal settlements of the northern part of this island, and the value of property in them rapidly increased. , By satisfying.all the, claimants southwards of Auckland by grants of land in the neighbourhood of this town, a district containing all the advantages of vicinitjr to the capital, and to the two harbours oi Waitemata and Manakau on the eastern and western coasts, fertility of soil, and the extraordinary facilities of internal water communication affbrded by the various branches of the Tarnuk?, it is not easy to decide whether the claimants themselves, or those who are interested in the prosperity of the capital in the colony at large, could have derived the greatest advantage. Believing, though it would now seem erroneously, the clamour raised by its introduction to represent the feeling of the claimants generally, I deemed it my duty to withdraw the bill first introduced for settling the land claims question, though the motives of the Government were then generally misrepresented, vilified, and impugned. I betiev^Qjjj&time is not far distant when it will be as -generally considered, that the original land claims bill would not only have promoted the successful colonization of the country, but could at the same time have materially advanced the interests of the claimant. In the course of the session, it has been made of complaint by one of the members of Ahis Council, and formally recorded by him upon (the minntes, that the suggestions of the mercantile members have not been received with due deference. I trust and believe that such a complaint is without foundation, and that the charge conveyed by it rests on the unsupported assertion of its author. Throughout the discussions of the Council, I have been anxious to avail myself of information, assistance, and advice from all its members without distinction ; and I feel assured it will be acknowledged that, on all occasions, due deference was paid to opinions when deference was due, and that if no deference was paid, it was because no deference was due. Gentlemen, I would now dismiss you with the thanks of ,'the colony for your services in council, confidently trusting that you will endeavour to promote the harmonious working of those laws, which you have been so long and arduously engaged in preparing for the statute book.

A dreadful thunder-storm in Liverpool had nearly destroyed two handsome newly built churches —St. Michael's and St. Martin's.