The New Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 649, 3 July 1852, Page 2

The New Zealander.

Be just and fear not : Let «11 the ends thou aim'st at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1852.

We give in another part of our present number a report of the proceedings at the Public Meeting held on Wednesday for the purpose of taking steps to secure, as far as practicable, a complete and regular registration of all who are qualified to vote at the expected election of members for New Ulster, under tho provisions of the Provincial Councils Ordinance ; — including especially a full outline of Mr. "Whitaker's speech in proposing the first resolution, which affirmed the principle and formed the basis of the whole. If any doubt could have existed as to the expediency of the movement, that address must, we think, be quite sufficient to remove it, and to enlist the co-operation of all who feel interested in the political advancement of the Province. The reflective reader will at once perceive that even were the probabilities stronger that—- whether from some technical faultiness in the colonial legislation on the subject, or from the interposition of any Imperial Act setting aside or materially modifying the Act of the New Zealand Legislative Council, or from any other cause — the measure may not come into operation, still there are most cogent reasons why the registration should be carried forward with spirit throughout all the electoral districts. Apathy with regard to it would indeed go far to prove that the outcry for representative institutions was a mere idle clamour, raised by people who did not understand the import or appreciate the value of the privilege which they demanded. This is the first occasion that has arisen for any manifestation on this point, as m the case of the formation of the Municipal .Roll the Burgesses were almost wholly passive,— at least they had no more to do than to answer a question or two proposed by the police when they went about to collect the names ; but here so much of personal activity is .required as the making of an application involves ; and if any condorablo number entitled to the franchise were to let it slip from them through want of such applications being preferred, it would be a conclusive proof that the much-lalkod-ot right of self-government was, so tar as they were concerned, neither prized nor understood. Apart from this, however, there is much weight in the consideration urged by Mr. Whitaker, that the electoral lists will be regarded as an important and trustworthy statistical record, to which both friends and foes may refer as furnishing data to show the condition and circumstances of New Ulster— both in itself simply,

and as compared with the Southern Province. For these reasons — which, wo repeat, are altogether independent of any uncertainty that may attach to the future fate of the Colonial Ordinance, as well as of all party objects — 't is obviously most desirable that the lists should be as perfect as they can bo made ; and it is equally undeniable that such aid to the body of qualified persons as a Committee may afford, by diffusing information and facilitating the right employment of it when given, is also most desirable, if not absolutely indispensable in some instances. As this is a matter in which all parties are equally concerned, it is to be hoped that there will be a general effort to co; operate with the Committee, such as thai which they solicit in an advertisement to be found in another column. United as they themselves are, so far as the registration movement goes, by a compact or neutrality and rigid impartiality, — any departure from which would be a most dishonorable breach of trust, — they are warranted in expecting that in the several electoral districts the leading residents will — whatever may be their political views— do what they can to further the great object of securing the registration of all who are entitled to vote. j The note of preparation is already sounded for the expected olections, several candidates for the different districts being either avowedly in the field, or reported as likely soon to come forward. We shall have more to say on this subject than our restrict ed space and time will to-day permit. But we trust the electors will seriously weigh the important responsibility which rests upon them, and will seek out and support men who, by their moderation in political opinions, — their non-identification with extreme party — will be likely to direct their influence, if they should obtain seats, to the real welfare of the Province ; men, moreover, who possess the general qualifications of ability and information by which they may make their efforts respected and felt, this early stage, we would strongly urge on electors the propriety of not binding themselves to the support of any particular candidate so unconditionally as that they would not bo at liberty to vote for another— if another whom they may regard as more eligible should, at a later period, be presented for their suffrages.

By the arrival of the Oresswell we have been placed in possession of late and highly important intelligence from England. Our own files are to the 3rd of March, but by the kindness of Captain Williams wo have papers of the 4th, being the day before that on which the Cresswell sailed. AH other news "hides its diminished head" in comparison with the fact that a change of Ministry had really taken place. It was not this time a " ministerial crisis," —a coquetting with office, and a coy halfresignation followed by a willing resumption of place and power ; nor yet a secession of one or two individuals ; but a bona fide and complete change. Aa the Spectator has it, " The Ins are outand th^Outs, are In: 1 ' the Earl of Derby is (or, at any rate, ivas at the latest dates) Her Majesty's Prime Minister, and Lord John Russell was —the leader of "Her Majesty's Opposition." Before adverting to the circumstances which immediately brought about these results, it will be acceptable to our readers that we should at once lay before them the list of the New Ministry. First Lord of the Trea-") sui-y and Prime Mi- >The Earl of Derby, nister J Chancellor of the Ex- ) chequer and Leader f „ „ of the House of Com- ( Mr « Disraeli, mons ) Lord Chancellor j Sh ' E> Sugden (now I Uaron St. Leonards.) Lord President The Earl of Lonsdale. f The Marquis of SalisLovd Privy Seal J bury (with a seat in (. the Cabinet). Secretaries of State : — For the Home Depart- 1 , Tr , . ment j Mr. Walpole. For the Foreign De-) T „, , , par tment j Lord Malmesbury. For the Colonial De-) o . T , „ partment / bir John Pakington. First Lord of the Ad- ) The Duke of Northummiralty / berland. T , . , A . f Rear-Adm. H. Parker. Lords of the Admi- j Rear- Adm. P. Hornby. «% ) Com. Sir T. Herbert. V.Captain Milne. President of the Board) , r TT . of Control j Mr - Herries. Secretary of the Board) „ _ . of Control J" Mr - Cumming Bruce. President of the Board) „ Tr , of Trade J Mr - Henley. Postmaster-General ... The Earl of Hardwicke. Secretary at War Mr. Beresford. Vice-President of the) T , , , Board of Trade ] Lord Colchester. Woods and Forests Lord John Manners. Chancellor of the Duchy"! of Lancaster (not in >Mr. Christopher the Cabinet) J Commander-in-Chief... ( Tbe Duke of Welling- \ ton. Master- General of the) T , TT „ Ordnance / Lord Harduige. Paymaster -General of ) T , , , the Forces j Lord Colchester. Attorney-General Sir F. Thesi^er. Solicitor-General Sir Fitzroy Kelly. Lord Lieutenant of ) -p , „ „ Ireland j J - lie Earl of Eglinton. Secretary for Ireland... Lord Naas. The Chancellorship of\ Lord Chief Justice Ireland j" Blackburne. Attorney - General for),,- ,T, T . Ireland } Mr - Napier. Solicitor - General for),, , xn .. .. I re l aru l J- Mr. Whiteside. Lord Advocate of Scot-),, . , land > Mr. Anderson. Solicitor - Generai for),, T v Scotland ]Mr. Inglis. _ . ("Marquis of Chandos. Lords of the Trea- ) Lord Henry Lennox. SUI 7 )Mr. Bateson. (.Mr. John Neuld. Under-Seci-etary of the) c . .„ T „„ Home Department... / Su " W * Jollffe - Under - Secretary for) T . „,_ . Foreign Affairs / Lorcl Stanley. Judge Advocate Mr. Bankcs.

c.y u l!?..! h . e .. Adm !"} Mr - Stafforcl Chief Commissioner of) o- . t i „ TV^n™™ the Poor Law Board./ Sir John Tlollopc ' Secretary of the Sh . Emerson Tennent . Law Board j Joint Secretaries of the 1 Lord Jocclyn and Mr. Ihdia Board j Henry Baillic* Joint Secretaries of 4. f "ffilJ^T^ lreaaar y (^ M'Kenzie. Clerk of the Ordnance.. Colonel Dunne. The Household. Lord Steward Duke of Montrose. Lord Chamberlain Lord Exeter. Master of the Horse ... Lord Jersey. Master of the Buckhounds (oiFered to) Lord Rosslyn. Treasurer of the House J Lord claude llamiltoll< Clerk Marshal Lord Colville. Conti-oller of the House j Hon Colonel Forester< Vice-Chamberlain Lord Seaham. C Tat^ Ge '.'. Ue . n ! en } Lord Sandwich. Lords in Waiting : — Lords Morton, Lords Vcrulam, Byron, Galway, Crofton, Shannon, Hawarden, Polwarth. The ostensible reason for Lord John's final rclinqnishment of office was a defeat on the Militia Bill, in which the opposition was led on by Lord Palmerston, who thus repaid in kind the treatment he had received from the colleagues who lately so unceremoniously ousted him from the Cabinet. The point of apparent difference did not seem very vital : Lord John Russell would have a " local" militia ; Lord Palmerston would have the militia "regular," or general — so as to bo available not merely for tho respective counties of its members, but for the whole country; — and accordingly he moved the omission of the word " local" from the jtitle of the JBill. The amendment was" carried by a majority of 11, the numbers being 136 to 125. Lord John forthwith signified his intention to resign, and proved as good as his word. The division took place on Friday night (the 20th of February) ; on Saturday he met his colleagues, and waited on the Queen to lav before Her Majesty a resignation for which he had prepared her by a note on the previous night ; on Sunday the Earl of Defby received from the Queen the charge to form a new Administration ; and on Monday the completion of the change was announced in Parliament, and it was thus officially made known that the Government of the country had passed from a Whig to a Conservative Cabinet. We have called the defeat on the Militia Bill the ostensible reason of the resignation of the Russell Ministry ; and undoubtedly it was no more. There was no strength or coherence in the Cabinet to enable it to withstand the blows which threatened it, and, as the Times expresses it, " Lord John selected a much softer place to fall upon than fate seemed to threaten; he made his own bed with, considerable judgment." His Heform—Bill was very- likely to be rejected, seeing that it did not please any party ; but the peril which most immediately impen4ed arose out of Lord Grey's colonial policy. In a few nights (on the next Tuesday evening) Mr. Adderley was to moye — and it was confidently anticipated would carry the motion — " That this House having had under its consideration the papers communicated to it by Her Majesty's command relating to the Cape of Good Hope, is of opinion that the disastrous state of that colony is mainly attributable to its mismanagement by the Government at home ; and that the attempt of Earl Grey, in his despatch of the 14th of January last, to cast the chief blame of the present position of affairs on the Governor of the colony, is unjustifiable." An ignominious defeat, it was believed, awaited the ministry on this motion ; and they were wise in their generation to go out on some less disgraceful occasion. Well, Lord Grey is out ! — Jubilate / The news will be hailed through Britain's vast colonial empire with one burst of joyous acclamation, What the Morning Advertiser says of the Russell Cabinet collectively is applicable pre-eminently to him individually, — " Go where you will you hear no expression of regret at their fall; they lived unrespected, and they have died unlamented." There is not a colony of the fifty that will not breathe more freely on finding that this incubus is taken off its bosom. His successor takes the seals of office under at least this favouring circumstance — that, be his merits or demerits what they may, Lord Grey's rule was so bad that any change will be deemed for the better. Still we cannot be without anxiety as to the capabilities and intentions of Sir John Packington, of whom so little, comparatively speaking, is known. Postponing, as we necessarily must, both comments and extracts on the general constitution of the Derby Cabinet, we shall make room for a few sentences gleaned from the papeis before us with reference to the Minister whose qualifications most directly concern the colonies. But it may not be unacceptable to some of our readers if we first copy from Dodd's Parliamentary Companion (a thoroughly trustworthy authority) a brief biographical notice of the new Colonial Secretary : — "Pakington, Str John Somerset, Bart., Son of William Russell, Esq., of Powick Court, Worcestershire, by the daughter of Sir H. Perrot Pakinglon, Bart., of Westwood. Born at Powick Court, 1799. Married, first, 1822, only child of M. A. Slaney, Esq., of Shiffnal, Salop, (she died 1843); secondly, in 1844, Augusta Anne, third daughter of Bishop Murray, of Rochester. Assumed the name of Pakington on becoming heir to his maternal uncle, Sir J. Pakington, Bart., 1830. Educated at Eton, and Oriel College, Oxon. Chairman of the Worcestershire Quarter Sessions since 1834. A Conservative. Voted for agricultural protection, 1846. Has sat for Droit■wich since 1837. It must be admitted that there is not much in these antecedents to impress us with any brilliant estimate of Sir John's qualifications for the multifarious and onerous duties which now devolve upon him. But let us here quote the opinions of some of the London journals, incidentally given in their comments on the list of the new administration.

The Times says,— " But the two most disproportionate terras in this list are Sir John Pakington and the Colonial Office. It is a great demand on our faith to suppose the active Worcestershire magistrate equal to the task of governing our fifty colonies, all more or less in a stale of disaffection. However, we are ready to believe, if we can " The (now ministerial) Herald rejoins, — " Our contemporary the Times, has affected a well-feigned surprise at the nomination of Sir John Pakington to the colonies. Sir John Pakington, forsooth, is an active Worcestershire magistrate. The fact is undoubtedly true. We have yet to hear that this is a disqualification for high office, or that it unfits a country gentleman for the service of his Sovereign. Our contemporary asks, Is Sir John Pakington equal to the task of governing fifty colonies, more or less in a state of disaffection ? It is no doubt a difficult .and arduous task, but all that the new minister asks is a fair trial, and that he shall only be held accountable for his own measures. We do not hesitate positively to aver, and we have had abundant opportunities of observing both men, that the abilities of Sir John Pakington are just as good as those of Lord Grey, while his temper and judgment are far superior." The Spectator indulges in a jeer at the idea of " Sir John Pakington spelling out the British Colonies in a newly purchased pocket-map of the world, and cramming 'Montgomery Martin' at meal time, instead of quietly digesting as a Chairman of Quarter Sessions should/ The Chronicle more gravely says,— "There is one great department of Government in which, at this moment, circumstances and the public voice peculiarly demand the presence of a statesman, The errors of many years, added to the intrinsic difficulty of the questions at issue, have rendered the task of the Colonial Minister singularly arduous. Mere attention to details and routine dexterity sink into insignificance when future empires are requiring organisation, and when the relations between the mother country and her dependencies of every kind are daily becoming more complicated. It is at such a crisis that Lord Derby has selected, to administer the affairs of a large portion of the world, one Sir John Pakington, Chairman of the Worcestershire Quarter Sessions. It is needless to comment on such a choice. An active and useful country gentleman, totally unversed in official duties, is called from the management of county business to extend his protecting care over fifty different communities, scattered over every region of the globe. It may be answered that the New Colonial Secretary takes an interest in the West Indies, and has even given notice of a motion for resisting the further reduction of the Sugar duties. We have not forgotten the circumstance, nor will either the friends or the opponents of Free-trade allow the Government to forget it." The Times again observes, — "He will not, if he be wise, embarrass himself with the complicated questions relating to Australian lands, which it would require months to master and deal with, but will decide at once to remit the whole decision of the question, with which no authority on tlus side of the globe is comjjetent to deal, to the Governors and Councils of the respective colonies. So, also, with regard to New Zealand, he will be content to delegate to an assembly formed by representatives of the several colonies that power of legislation which Lord Grey has already exercised and been obliged to recal. * * * If Sir John Pakinarton adopt this course, his very ignorance will have made him a valuable servant of his country." We shall only remark on this last opinion that whatever Sir John Pakington's personal want of acquaintance with colonial affairs may bbande — and very probably this is exaggerated by party writers — still, he serves under a Chief who has had long and intimate knowledge of them. Remembering this, and the interest which in various ways Lord Stanley manifested in the concerns of New Zealand, we are inclined to augur good to this colony from the Derby Administration — wg mean positive good, over and above the negative good which we, in common with all the colonies, may calculate on realizing from the downfall of Lord Grey's haughty tyranny. The new Premier had taken an early opportunity of making a statement of his intended line of policy, so far as it could be expected that he would at once declare it. We can to-day only refer here to a copious abstract of his speech on the subject which will be found in another part of the paper, and to the subjoined — perhaps equally significant though more orief— statement m an address from the new Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Disraeli) to his constituents, in soliciting re-election to the seat for Buckinghamshire, vacated by his acceptance of office : — " Gentlemen, — Her Majesty having been graciously pleased to call me to Her Majesty's Privy Council, and appointed me Chancellor of the Exchequer, I resign into your hands, according to the salutary principle of the constitution, that office which you intrusted to me as your representative in the House of Commons. But as I will not believe that the favour of our Sovereign can be any disqualification for the confidence of Her Majesty's loyal subjects, I have the honor to state that on the 12th inst., in our county hall, I shall again venture to claim your suffrages for the high distinction of being your member in the House of Commons... The late administration fell to pieces from internal dissension, and not from the assault of their opponents ; and, notwithstanding the obvious difficulties of our position, we have felt that to shrink from encountering them would be to leave the country without a Government, and Her Majesty without servants. Our first duty will be to provide for the ordinary and current exigencies of the public service; but at no distant period, we hope, with the concurrence of the country, to establish a policy in conformity with the principles which in opposition we have felt it our duty to maintain We shall endeavour to terminate that strife o£ classes which, of late years, has exercised so pernicious an influence over the welfare of this kingdom ; to accomplish those remedial measures which great productive interests, suffering from unequal taxation, have a right to demand from a just Government ; to cultivate friendly relations with all foreign powers, and secure honourable peace 5 to uphold in their spirit, as well as in their form, our political institutions; and to increase the efficiency, as well as maintain the rights, of our national and Protestant Church An administration formed with these objects, and favourable to progressive improvement in every department of the state, is one which, we hope, may obtain j the support and command the confidence of the community, whose sympathies are the best foundation for a strong administration, while they are the best security for a mild Government." Opposition to the new Cabinet was already assuming a bold front. Mr. Villiers had given notice for an early day of a motion pledging the House to "a maintenance of free-trade, and couched in terms obviously designed to embarrass the Ministry. And — not less portentous— the Anti-Corn League was revived, and the old agitators — -Cobden, Bright, Wilson, and Co. were again in the field. A meeting was held

at Manchester on the 2nd of March at which the revival of the League was resolved upon. The extent to which we have devoted our space to the intelligence conuected with the change of Ministry, obliges us to postpone much of the general news. "We hare no doubt that we shall best meet the views of the majority of our readers by thug placing them in immediate possession of full information respecting the engrossing topic of the day. Amongst the other parliamentary proceedings, that which had excited most attention was a motion by Lord Naas condemning Lord Clarendon's transaction with Birch of the World newspaper. After a very interesting debate— in which Lord Palmerston manfully defended his old colleague—the vote of censure was negatived by 229 against 137. In France the elections were going forward, with little doubt that Louis Napoleon's candidates would in a vast majority of instances be chosen. It could scarely be otherwise, considering the unscrupulous means adopted by his Government to gain their ends... '..France was bullying Belgium —demanding it is said, the destruction of the Waterloo monuments. The President was apparently also seeking a quarrel with Switzerland, by seeking to enforce his will respecting the treatment of refugees and of the press. Several distinguished names appear in the obituary lists. Amongst the recently dead were Thomas Moore, "the poet of all circles, the idol of his own :" the Right Rev. Dr. Murray, R. C. Archbishop of Dublin : the Right Rev. Dr. McNicholas, R. C. Bishop of Achoury: Sir Herbert Jenner Fust, Dean of the Court of Archs : Professor Moses Stuart, of Audover, Massachusetts. There was also intelligence of the death of the Queen of Madagascar.