The New-Zealander.
AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, OCT. 22, 1853.
Be just and fear not: Let all the ends thou aim’st at, be thy Country’s, Thy God’s, and Truth’s.
The Address of the Supcrinlendcnlon opening the first session of the first Provincial Council of Auckland elected under the provisions of the New Constitution Act, was published in exlenso in our last number, and no doubt has since received from most of our readers the attention to which it may fairly lay claim, both from the circumstances under which it was delivered, and from its own intrinsic merits. We believe wc only express a very general feeling when we say that it reflected high credit on itsaulhor, and was excellently adapted not merely for its immediate purpose, but also to take rank as a document of permanent importance, the circulation of which, in the adjacent colonies and in other countries, must materially lend to the diffusion of valuable information respecting this Province, —both as it is, and as it is likely to be in the future years of rapid advancement which many evidences warrant us to anticipate for itinformation which, coming as it does with lhe»official authentication of the
Superintendent, will be received as accurate and trust-worthy, and, wherever it is thus received, cannot fail to make a favourable impression with respect to the present condition and the prospects of a portion of New Zealand which, until within a very recent period, obtained little of the prominence (as i compared with the Southern Settlements) to which it was justly entitled. For, it cannot be doubted that to intending emigrants, or others who may inquire—what is this newly erected Province of Auckland? it will be an encouraging and satisfactory reply, proceeding from high official authority, that the Auckland Province extends about 300 miles, with an extreme breadth of \3O miles; that it is in ihedirect line of steam communication between England and Australia ; that it possesses an extensive seaboard, with numerous harbours, a fine climate, a fertile soil, abundance of water, and other endowments which amply justify the assertion that “it would be difficult to find any equal portion of the earth’s surface which comprises so many natural advantages for British colonization”: —that its population includes two-thirds of the native, and more than one-third of the European, inhabitants of the New Zealand Islands, and that this population has continued to increase, notwithstanding all the attractions of the Australian gold-fields:—that its Revenues exceed the aggregate Revenues of the whole of the other five Provinces of New Zealand; —that the exports from the Portof Auckland alone have amounted during the last year to nearly 128,000/. of which the greater part was the actual Produce of the Province; and that its shipping and general commercial interests exhibit a rapid increasewhile as respects its agricultural condition, there are already 20,000 acres of land fenced and in cultivation within a few miles of Auckland, and the activity which now prevails amongst agriculturists—especially since the reduction in the price of land effected by Sir George Grey—affords solid reason for anticipating that this and the next few years will be marked by a rapidity of advancement far beyond anything hitherto experienced. These are facts which are well-known here, and on which we have ourselves repeatedly dwelt, as proofs and illustralionsof them were presented from time to time; hut we shall be excused for thus again recapitulating them in connexion with the Address, —in which they were appropriately introduced as grounds of congratulation to the Council now entering on the administration of the affairs af a Province which enjoys so abundantly “the blessings of peace and plenty,” and has before it so cheering a “prospect of a prosperous career.” The responsibility which rests upon the members of the Council to forward the prosperity thus in progress, and to prove to the British Nation that the privilege of selfgovernment has not been too soon or 100 unrestrictedly -conferred on the colonists, though weighty, is not more than they can creditably and beneficially meet, if they only set themselves to the discharge of their duties in that spirit of practical and commonsense earnestness which we trust will he found to characterise Their proceedings. The Superintendent has pointed out various powers of legislation which, under the Act of Parliament, they possess; and has intimated how largely they may invest their own Provincial Executive with the control of local affairs and interests. Nor are they left without pecuniary means. His Honour estimated that, after providing for the payment of salaries and the ordinary expenses of the various establishments maintainable out of the Provincial Revenue, there will be a sum of 44,000/. or 13,000/. at their disposal during the current year. It is needless to say how much really valuable work might he performed by a judicious appropriation of this sum, or how r large an amount of benefit might he conferred on the Province by the combined influences of the employment of the money thus placed in the bands of the Council by the liberality of His Excellency Sir George Grey, and the, enlightened and vigorous exercise of the legislative authority with which they are invested by Parliament, for the peace, order, and good-government of the Province. His Honour glanced rapidly at some of the measures which, inliis judgment, ought to engage the early attention of the Council,—not, of course, intending to give a complete list of such measures, or, by any implication however remote, to cast a slight upon, or insinuate disapprobation of, measures which he did not particularise, but which the Council may see fit to undertake. On this point, nothing could be more explicit than his words, “It would he competent for me, under the provision of the Constitution relating to the appropriation of public moneys, at once to recommend you to vote a certain amount for the above mentioned or any other specific public purposes. I should prefer, however, to avail myself of your greater knowledge and experience, and I shall be prepared to give the most favourable consideration to any resolutions the Council may adopt, specifying ihe Public Works they would deem it most desirable to undertake, and the several sums to he appropriated to their completion.” On the whole, then, we feel free to congratulate the Council on the favourable position in which they are placed,—a position which, it should not be forgotten however, they owe in a largo measure, to the confidence reposed by the Governor in the fitness of the people to exercise the functions of local self-government, and the firmness with which His Excellency has carried out his liberal views by placing the Provincial Revenue in the first instance at the disposal of the Provincial Representatives, instead of handing it over—as he might have done, and as some mock-patriots say he should have done—to the General Assembly, to he dealt with as the majority from all the Provinces might think proper.
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New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 785, 22 October 1853, Page 2
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1,153The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, OCT. 22, 1853. New Zealander, Volume 9, Issue 785, 22 October 1853, Page 2
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