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The New-Zealander.

AUCKLAND MONDAY, SEPT. 18, 1854. STEAMER EDITION FOR THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. PROROGATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Thy God’s, and Trull, s.

The Last Day of the Session. The proceedings of the General Assembly on Saturday, though properly 0 f a winding-up character, included some features of interest, particularly in relation to the New Zealand Company’s debt. . We must premise, however, that late on Friday night, the Report of the Committee of the House of Representatives on this subject having been read, Dr. Monro moved the Resolutions which appear below, and which were adopted by the House. On Saturday, addresses to Her Majesty, both Houses ot Parliament, and the Governor, embodying these Resolutions, were moved by Dr. Monro, and agreed to. Mr. Fitzgerald moved that an agent be appointed in England to cany into effect the object of the Resolutions, which was also agreed to. A conference between the Legislative Council and the House or Representatives then took place, for the purpose of making practical arrangements to carry out the object. The result was, that it was resolved to choose Mr. Adderley as the agent in England to promote the views and decisions of the General Assembly relative to the Company’s Debt; and that His Excellency the Officer administering the Government be requested to communicate the Resolutions of the Assembly to that gentleman, and to inform him that a sum not exceeding £SOO would be at his disposal to cover any law expenses that might be incurred in the prosecution of the object. Mr. Sewell’s Resolutions on the distribution of the financial charges of the Colony amongst the Provinces (which we published on Saturday), together with others brought forward by the same hon. member, which will be found below, were embodied in an address to His Excellency, which the House adopted. An accidental transposition of MrResolutions of Fridav night having occurred in our issue of Saturday, we now re-publish that series.

Precisely at the appointed hour (3 o’clock) His Excellency arrived at the Assembly buildings, where he was received by a Guard of Honour of the 58th Regiment. In a few minutes he entered the Council Chamber,attended by the principal Officers of the Government, The Speakers and members of both Houses were present, and the stranger s gallery was crowded by the public. His Excellency assented, in Her Majesty’s name, to the following measures : —the Secondary Punishments Act; the Powers of Attorney Act; the Act for regulating the Law of Marriage; and the Appropriation Act. The Provincial Waste Lands Act he declared reserved for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure thereupon. His Excellency then proceeded to rc34 the following address : Gentlemen of the Legislative Council and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives.—

You will be glad to learn that the state of the public business enables me to bring the present Session to a close. On the occasion of its first meeting I urged upon the consideration of the Assembly the necessity of deciding upon the most advantageous apportionment of power between the General and the Provincial authorities, of maturing the measures necessary for securing its practical adjustment, and of adopting some guiding principle on which the Assembly should proceed in the exercise of its own constituent powers. Although hut little progress lias yet been made towards the accomplishment of these important objects, I cannot bring the business of the Assembly to a close without congratulating you on the amount of useful legislation you have accomplished during the brief period which has elapsed since the commencement of the present Session. Of the various measures which have been presented for my acceptance, there is not one to which I have thought it my duty to refuse my assent, and with the exception of the Appropriation Bill, I have been able to give to all the measures you have passed, an unqualified approval. Oentlemen of the House of Representatives, — It is provided by the Constitution Act, as you are aware, that it shall be competent for the Governor before declaring his pleasure in regard to any Bill presented for his assent, to make such amendments in it as he may think expedient, and to return it with such amendments for the further consideration of the House. I have to express my regret that the lateness of the period at which it has been presented for my assent has virtually precluded me from exercising that power with respect to the Bill for appropriating the Public Revenues.

'With an explanation before you of the reasons for which provision was recommended to be made for the services which I find have been left unprovided for by that Bill,! can entertain no doubt that, with respect to some of them at least, you would, on reconsideration, have recognized the necessity which exists fur their continued maintenance.

Without expressing any opinion as to the policy of transferring certain of the Public Departments from the control of the General Government to that of the Provincial authorities, an object sought to be accomplished by the Bill, I cannot refrain Ironi expressing my conviction that a measure involving so important a question as the apportionment oi Legislative and Executive power between the General Government and the subordinate local authorities ought rather to ho determined by a permanent enactment, to which, after full discussion, and with ample time for consideration, all the three blanches of the Legislature shall have given their deliberate assent.

Gentlemen of the Assembly, — I have had great pleasure in giving my assent, ui Her Majesty’s name, to the Bill “ For regulating the disposal of the Waste Lands of the Crown in New Zealand.”

With regard to the system now in operation for disposing of the Waste Lands of the Crown, established by Governor Sir George Grey, the Act aflirms the validity of the Proclamation of the 4th March,,lßs3, and von firms the General Land Regulations contained in it, and at the same time, makes provision against their hasty or inconsiderate alteration. With regard to the future, the Waste Lands Act in effect provides that henceforward the Demesne Lands of the Crown shall lie disposed of in accordance with the wishes of the Colonists of New Zealand. So far us may depend upon myself I have only to repeat the assurance 1 have already conveyed to both Houses of the Legislature, that I shall be prepared, as occasion may require, to adapt the existing Land Regulations to the particular requirements of the various Provinces, and ns far as may he consistent with the Interests of the Colony at large, in conformity with the wants and wishes of the several inhabitants—with respect to the unsatisfied claims alluded to in my address on opening the Session —it will now mainly rest with the colonists themselves to determine in what manner and to what extent compensation shall he awarded to those who may be found to have just and unsatisfied claims to compensation on account of their losses and sufferings arising out of the unfulfilled engagements of the New Zealand Company, and to which pointed reference lias been made in the recent report ot a Select Committee, of the House of Representatives on the subject of that Company’s debt. The operation of the no less important Bill to authorize the General Assembly to empower the Provincial Councils to make laws for regulating the sale and disposal of the Waste Lands of the Crown must necessarily be deferred until it shall have received the Royal assent; I shall not fail (o urge Her Majesty’s Government to take such measures as may be deemed necessary lor enabling the General Assembly lawfully to delegate to the Provincial Legislatures the powers conferred upon the Assembly by the New Zealand Constitution Act.

Owing to the late period at which the “Bill for regulating the Law of Marriage,” has Been presented for my assent, I have been unable to give to its provisions that careful attention which the importance of that measure most undoubtedly demands; neither have I had the opportunity of offering to you any amendments which a deliberate consideration of the measure in its details might have enabled me to suggest; 1 have much pleasure, however, in declaring my entire .approval of the principle on which the Act has been based, and I am happy to believe that the Assembly have succeeded in devising a_ measure which, without disturbing the good feeling which lias hitherto subsisted between the_ various religious denominations —without creating invidious distinctions betweeon them, and without unnecessarily interfering with existing usages, mil be found more efficient in its provisions than the disallowed Ordinance of 1851. The “English Acts Act,” to which I have also given my assent will have (he effect of extending to New "calami the benefit of those amendments, which, within the hist few jeans have been effected by the British Parliament m the laws relating to the Administration of Justice ; and the Provisions of the “ Socoudai j 1 unishments Act” will, 1 trust, be found to operate not less beneficially in promoting the efficiency of the Law, „ „„ . On the subject of the charge of 208,000/. upon the Waste Lunds of : the Colony in favour of the New Zealand Company, it will no doubt he satisfactory to the Colonists, to he informed that both the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives have agreed to a Resolution to the effect, that the charge in favour of the New Zealand Company on the Land bund of the Colony, is an oppressive burthen on its resources and appears to have been created by i arliament in ignorance of the real facts ; and to have been obtained by that Company, by means ot the suppression of material circumstances, i need hardly add, that 1 believe a full and fair enquiry into the subject by the Imperial Government is due to the Colonists of New Zealand. 'Hie determination evinced by both Houses oi the Legislalure—to take effectual means to repress the spread of intemperance m this country, will, I believe, he hailed by the whole community with unqualified approval. Cordially concurring in the views embodied in the Address presented to me on the subject of Education, that “ the Establishment of a sound system of Education for the youth of New Zealand, Is a matter of public concern ; and that in order to determine whether the education ot youth in New Zealand, would be extended or improved by the interposition of the state, it is desirable to ascertain the present state nf education in New Zealand. I will use my best endeavoms to furnish the Assembly on the occasion of its next meeting with the information living effect to the wishes of th e> Legislative Council embodied in the Resolution in question. It only now remains fur me to thank you, gentlemen, on the part of the country, or the tlino and attention yml have given to the discharge ot you. politic duties, and to express my can cat hoi , that the measures you have passed may, bj t Divine blessing, bo found to promote the progatbs of tiie Country, ami the happiness and content mciiJfc-ot the people. 11 1L 11. WvNVAiio, Officer Administering the Government. After which His Excellency declared the General Assembly prorogued until the .Otb of duly, I 800.

Resolutions adopted on the motion of ])r Monro. 1 That the debt of £208,370 B r >s. to the New Zealand Company imposed upon the colony by Act of Parliament ought to be considered as an equivalent in money at os an acre for 1,073 000 acres alleged to be surrendered to die Crown for the service ol That at the time the arrangcine I was entered into by which this debt was saddled upon the colony, the Crown was in the tf>vms of the 13th chapter of the Royal In structions of 1846 a Trustee of the land am iand-fuml of of KKTi SKA* «•“ after settle in New Zealand.

3. That the arrangement of 1847 between the New Zealand Company and Lord Grey, subsequently given effect to by the Act *X and XI Victoria, Chapter CXII, was obtained by inisrepresenta'ion and suppression of the truth, and appears to have been entered into in a state of comparative ignorance on the part of the Crown of the position and transactions of the Company both in England and the Colony, and in particular that the existence and extent of the claims of the settlers of Wellington and Nelson were not made known to Parliament.

4. 1 hat the Company w. s not justified in applying any portion of the land which it professed to surrender to the Colony to the liquidation ot its outstanding and undisclosed liabilities excepting engagements on the condition that the value of any land so applied by the Company or by the* Government in fulfilment of the Company’s contracts should be deducted from the amount of the debt. 5. That the minimum amount of loss of land fund sustained by the Colony is including the expense of surveying the compensation land £120,000. 6. That inasmuch as the money advanced by Parliament was said to be aid afforded to the Company to restore the property of the existing settlements and to promote the establishment of new settlements in the Colony, the inhabitants of New Zealand have a right to enquire whether the public money given to the New Zealand Company, was applied fully and fairly to the objects for which the Crown constituted it its Trustee.

7. That the compromise of the claims of the Nelson land purchasers, carried into effect in July, 1347, was essentially modified in favour of the Company by the following means;— A legal opinion favourable to the claims of the settlers, which the Company had promised to obtain, and to make public among them for the adjustment of their mutual differences was suppressed; and a second opinion, unfavourable to the claims of the settlers was substituted and made use of by the Company’s agent, and as appears by his own letters to the seen tary of the Company, not without effect. 8. That vigorous efforts ought to be made in the ensuing Session of Parliament, to obtain enquiry- into, and relief from the matters complained of in the foregoing Resolutions.

1). That should any amount be fixed on as ultimately due to the Company, the same ought to be distributed amongst the PlO- - upon principles to be settled by the General Assembly.

10. That it is expedient, that an Act should be obtained in the next Session of the Imperial Parliament, for obtaining such relief, and for enabling the General Assembly to effectuate such distribution; and that it will be desirable in any such Act to obtain power to commute the Company’s claim for Colonial or Provincial securities.

That a humble Address be presented to her Majesty and both Houses of Parliament, embodying the foregoing Resolutions. That hj respectful Address be presented to bis Excellency the Officer administering the Government, praying him to take immediate and active steps for givingeffect to the foregoing Resolutions. o o

Resolutions moved by Mr. Sewell and adopted on Friday night: That the charges of the Surveying Department ought not to be included in the Cost of collection and management of the land revenue but that the same ought to be borne by each Province out of its distribution share of the territorial revenue. That Land Scrip ought not to be issued without sanction ot law and nuclei an effectual system ol check and control. That the Income and Expenditure on account of all Public Lands and Buildings appropriated to the service of the General Government ought to be brought into the public accounts.

That it is highly desirable that a siatement of all property of whatever kind of the General Government should be laid before the legislature. That the public accounts ought to be audited and closed without delay. That in voting supplies for the current year, this House does not sanction the ex penditure of the public revenue since the expiration of the last Appropnation Act, but that an account of such expenditure ought to be laid before the Legislature without deThat the provisions of the Education Oi dinance, Sess. H, No. X, so far as the same authorized the Governor to expend a sum not exceeding l-20th of the revenue ot the Colony, have, in the opinion of this House, been superseded by the Constitution Act. That it is highly desirable that an office should be kept open, during the recess, lor the Clerk of the House, in order chat members may consult the records and papi rs.

Mr. Fitzgerald’s resolutions which were negatived. That the costs of collection ami management of the ordinary revenue in each Province should be paid out of the revenue of such Province. That the current expenses of the General Government ought to be borne solely upon ordinary revenues of the Colony. That every Province ought to conUibule from its net ordinary revenue a sum proportionate to its net revenues to defray such curre t expenses. . 'That such proportional sum might conveniently he changed into a fixed quota, to be charged from time to time as the proportion That a separate account ought to be kept of all laud revenues in the Colony. That all the expenses of collection, management and surveys in respect to the Land lutnd “übVn eacl. Priiought to b. bon,. «o funds arising within rhat Province. The costs of extinguishing the native title to land within each Province ought lobe borne upon the Land Fund of such Provinc The mode in which the debt o Zealand Company is charge upon the Lan« Fund of the colony is considering all the cn - cuinstances of the case the fairest mode which could have been adopted and one which ought {0 be maintained, with one exception—t. at Auckland ought to be altogether relieved from the debt due to the Company. The charge of the New Zealand Company ou .hi to be subordinate to, and subsequent to

the charge for the purchase of land from the natives.

That the ousts of maintaining the General Government, in accordance with the foregoing Resolutions, ought not to exceed the sum provided by way of Civil List. With the exception of the charges borne on the Civil List, all the departments of Government in each Province shall he borne on the revenues of such Province.

Expenses of Members op Assembly. The following Resolutions, which were embodied in the report of the Select Committee of the House of Representatives appointed to report cn the Estimates relating to the expenses of members, and adopted by the l louse, will show the principles by which the House was guided in its decisions on the subject: “That it is inexpedient to fill up the blank left for the Expenses of the Members of the Legislative Council, because the distinction ot performing their duties at their own expense is one which rightly belongs to the members of a legislative body, not elected by the people for their service, but intended to occupy a position, and to perform functions it the legislature, which require that its members should be independent both of executive influence, and of pecuniary obligation to the people,—a double independence, —whereof an essential condition is, that the persons in question should have sufficient private property to render the payment of their expenses, as members of the Legislature, a matter of no importance to them ; whilst at the same time, it is desirable, with a view to the people’s estimation of them, that the important duties which the constitution assigns to them, as one of the co-ordinate branches of the legislature, should be performed gratuitously.” “ Tha; in all cases of Members of the Legislative Council being summoned to attend the General Assembly, it is the duty of the Government to provide them with a sea passage to and from the port nearest to their homes.”

“ That in order to afford the people the utmost freedom in the choice of their Representatives, and especial y to he tend that they may not be limited in their selection to persons of independent private propeny, it is expedient that the expenses of the members of this House, as incurred by them in the performance of their legislative duties, should be reasonably provided for, on a liberal rather on a parsimonious scale.”

THE RISE AND FALL OF “ RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT” IN THE FIRST SESSION OF THE NEW ZEALAND PARLIAMENT. Third and Con ■tam ing Article, In two recent numbers (2Glh and 50ili nit.) wo laid before our readers a historical view of (lie Uiscof“ ResponsibleGoyernment’’ in New Zealand, showing how it atlained a point at which there existed, in holli Houses of the Legislature, a Ministry, the members o! which held scats in the Executive Council i dependent on the retention by their holders of llioconlinued confidence of the Assembly ; together with a distinct underiakmg on the part of the Hoad ol the Government, and of the Colonial Secrelaiy, the Attorney-Gene* ral, and (lie (Colonial treasurer, that all the | principal offices should be filled on the principle of Ministerial Responsibility at the earliest period—a Her Her Majesty s sanction should have been obtained— that the kt public service” might be deemed to require. Tim pressure upon our columns occasioned by the arrival of the English mail, together with urgent local demands on our space, has necessitated a short interruption in these articles ; and similar necessities will now oblige us to condense what remains into a comparatively small compass. Rut the most important portion of the case that exhibit- . ing the real terms of agreement between the Odicer Administering the Government and the gentlemen who formed the first Ministry having been fully set forth in our previous articles, and established by quotations from official documents, we may, without injustice to any parly, coniine the narrative to a recapitulation of the leading facts, interweaving only a few indispensable comments. binder the plan of “ mixed Government,” which the arrangements of June had established as a temporary expedient, (pending the signification ofller Majesty’s pleasure), the business of the session seemed for some time likelv to be conducted smoothly and satisfactorily. The disposition of both branches of the Legislature evidently was to afford a fair trial to the experiment in Government, and to give the Ministry an effective and kindly support. In the Legislative Council, indeed. Major Lloyd more than once brought under notice objections to the plan itself, as well as to the policy of the Ministry, suppoiled by arguments and illustrations, the pencil alion and sagacity of which have been signally confirmed by subsequent occurrences, although, at the time, some were ready to smile at their almost quaint homeliness. _ In the House of Representatives, m which alone the ministers thought fit to initiate their own measures-they were never left in a minority on any division that could at all be regarded as a question of confidence. It is true that an Opposition to various parts of their policy maniiested itself at an early period, and gathered strength as the session advanced; but still they were able to command large majorities. If difficulties of any formidable character were seen by themselves as “ looming in the distance, we believe they might justly be attributed either to the dissatisfaction with which a portion ol Hie Honseof Representatives, and possibly several members of the Legislative Council (we say possibly, for hitherto there had been unvotes to prove the fact) viewed certain o( their measures, especially, perhaps, their N\aste Lands Pill;—and next, and we think chiefly, to the anomalous and mystified position in which they had placed themselves by brmgi„rr forward measures, (such as the Waste Lands Bill and the Executive Government Rill), the acceplablencss ol which to the bulk

of their own adherents was essentially dt’ pendent upon tlie expectation that the Government was to be forthwith vested in the hands of a wholly responsible Executive. We have seen that the Officer Administering the Government had from the outset distinctly told them that he could not and would not establish such a form of Government until Her Majesty’s approval had been obtained; and it would have been well for the Ministers themselves and, indeed, well for the country, if they had been equally candid and distinct in telling this to the Legislature. Such was the stale of affairs, when, on the 2nd of August, Mr. Fitzgerald anticipated the proceedings of a sitting at which public business of more than ordinary importance was to come on, by moving an adjournment on the ground that he and his colleagues had resigned their seals in the Executive. They had adopted this course, he said, because they thought that “the time had arrived when further steps should be taken to gi\e effect to the principle of Ministerial Responsibility.” Mr. Bartley made a similar statement in the Legislative Council. Next day, (Thursday, the 3rd), His Excellency sent down a message apprising the Legislature of the resignation of the Ministry, and slating that, on the ensuing Saturday, he would forward a Message “which would fully explain his view's and wishes with regard to the relations of the Executive towards the two houses of the Legislature during his temporary administration of the Government.”

The Legislative Council, —judging that such would be the course dictated not only by courtesy but by fairness, immediately adjourned till Saturday. Not so the House of Representatives. On the evening of the same day (Thursday), a silling was held, at which the ex-Mblisters and their more vehement partisans delivered speeches, the matter and manner of which were so offensive and violent as hardly to admit of extenuation Ijustification was, we think, out of the question), by even the most liberal allowance for the obvious excitement under which they were deliuaed.

On the Saturday, His Excellency's Message was duly fo. warded. It embodied aj long and earefnlly digested statement ol the facts of the ease, particularly with respect to the compact into which be had entered with the cx-Ministcrs on their acceptance of seals in the Executive. An appendix contained a number of confirmatory documents, to which we have before j alluded. The Message and appendix also j furnished information relating to the resig- j nation, at which we shall now glance. it appeared that it was not until the pro- j vious Saturday (the 29i.1i ol July) that ILs j Excellency bad' “ any precise intimation of j the new do ire of Mr. Fitzgerald and biscolleagnes.” The first intimation was followed, however, by vigorous action on their part. On the Ist of August Messrs. Fitzgerald, Weld, Hartley, and Sewell sent in a Memo- i random, couched in “alarming, not to say j threatening,” language, in which they i ailed upon His Excellency to u establish Re ponstble Government in the most, complex' form, and instantly, or to expect that the four gentlemen by I whom the Memorandum was signed would | immediately resign their seals in the Execu- 1 live Council.” His Excellency on the same j day replied referring to “the original j agreement,” and the full exlem to which he j had already carried it out, at the same j linn; expressing himself so far willing j to meet the demand as to be ready to accept | ihe resignation of the Colonial Secretaryship 1 which Dr. Sinclair bad tendered, and to a - , point a member of the House ol Represenla- j lives to that office. He added, however, that , “beyond this’lio could not think of going.’’ A meeting of the Executive Council for the final consideration of the difference was appointed for three o’clock on Wednesday, the 2nd of August; but before that hour, three of the . Ministers, one by one, sent in their resigna- ( lion (many thought they adopted this cour-e in the hope of alarming 11 is Excellency into compliance); and at the meeting, Mr. | Fitzgerald, who alone of the Ministry at-! tended, also tendered his resignation 1 hat gentleman shortly after went down, as we , have seen, to the House, and there announced the fad that the Ministry of which he had been the bead no longer existed. It does not come within the scope of these Articles to speculate on the bidden causes in which this lino of procedure originated. The reader who desires to investigate what was written and spoken on both sides, may refer to the Documents and Speeches on the subject which will be found in our columns during the continuance of the “crisis.” The New Zealander of the 9ih nil. contains in exlcnso His Excellency’s Message, with the “ Confidential Memorandum” of August 1, which may he regarded as the principal Manifesto of the Ex-Minis-ters; and succeeding numbers give a scries of Speeches, Resolutions, and Addresses on the subject. We shall only repeal briefly here, what in our current observations we tin'll enlarged upon, —that the ostensible reasons were, in our judgment, insufficient and even futile, and that the whole movement was an attempt to coerce His Excellency into a step which would place the Government of the country, including “the sweets as well as the toils of office,” in the hands of the ex-Ministers and their party. !l is proper to mention that a prominent feature in the warfare waged against the Officer Administering the Government was exhibited in personal opposition to Mr. Edward Gibbon Wak Held, who, for a short lime after the Ministerial break-up, occupied the position of an adviser of His Excellency. We may say for a short lime, as that gentleman, after a brief period, voluntarily retired from the position, his occupation of which excited so much angry comment from the majority in the House; receiving on his retirement a warmly expressed letter of thanks from His Excellency. In sending f or Mr. Wakefield, His Excellency was understood to have been influenced by two obvious and forcible considerations; first, that Mr. W akefield’s almost unrivalled experience and knowledge in colonial matters rendered bis counsel at

such a juncture especially desirable ; and, next, that as the chosen leader and cham-

pion of the cause of Responsible Government, lie was pre-eminently the most suitable person to give advice on the occasion of the downfal of that fabric in the erection of which the House had selected him to he the principal architect. It seems very natural that a Governor who was himself sincerely anxious to establish Ministerial Responsibility as speedily and as completely as his powers and his sense of duly to his Sovereign would permit, should have sought the temporary counsel and aid of a gentleman so peculiarly qualified and pointed out as a fitting adviser in the embarrassments which had arisen.

While the majority in the House of Representatives were follow ing out their course of impetuous effort to back-up the ex-Minis-lers, the Legislative Council pursued the comparatively even tenor of its way, in a tone of forbearance towards the late Ministry which did not render any the less—but rather the more—effective, the support they offered to the Officer Administering the Government. On the 10th of August, after a second adjournment to afford time for a deliberate consideration of the Message of the oth, the Council adopted an Address in which, while declaring a full adherence to the principle of Responsible Government, they declared their conviction that His Excellency had, in his Note of the 10th of June, conferred upon lie (, olony ihe greatest measure of responsibility winch his limited authority enabled him to bestow.

A minority in the House of Representatives (numbering about ten) bravely ami steadily resisted the proceedings ol the majority; but their endeavours were unavailing to stem the tide. At length, after the Ollie r Administering the Government had unsuccessfully tried all that could be done bv friendly conciliation carried to the utmost point that his sense of duty and honour permitted, and by scarcely less friendly remonstrances, he decided on the step of proroguing the Assembly, for a short lime. On the I Till of August, he sent down a Message to the House of Representatives (the Legislative (iomicil’s having no business before it, had adjourned for a few days,) in which, after succinctly reviewing bis own previous proceedings, and repealing as ‘ 1 the settled conviction ol bis mind, that, by yielding on the point of duly, he should deserve tin* censure of Her Majesty, and incur the disapprobation of the colonists of New Zealand,” be declared bis belief that the deiffrence between him and the House was 44 at that moment irreconcilablethat the last Address from the House bad “left him without a hope of being able to restore for the present that kind of Ministerial Rcssponsibility wh’cb recently gave so much satisfaction to himself and apparently to the House and l e public”; and, that be was “ p iii.fally convinced that, as respected legislation for the beneiit of the Colony, the Session had come to an end.” He intimated, li iwever, that the Prorogation on which he had resolved would be but a short one, and that, during the recess, be would endeavour to add to the Executive Comic 1 members of the Legislature representing as far as possible, the interests of all the Provinces, and that he would, moreover, forthwith forward a Despatch requesting Her Majesty’s Government to adopt effectual means for fully establishing Responsible Government in the Colony. This Message was immediately followed by ai other enclosing a copy of the Government Gazette containing a Proclamation proroguing the Assembly till ilie 51st of the same month. This second Message it was the duty of the Speaker, according to the Standing Rules and Orders, to read at once; but the exMinislers and tbeii party resisted the adoption of this course, avowedly because they believed the Message to be, what it really was, a communication of the Prorogation. A scene ensued which will be found described in detail, —-not only by our own reporter but by the concurrent statements of several members of the House and occupants of Hie Strangers’ Galleryin the New Zealander of the 19th and the 23rd ult ; and we willingly refrain from repealing Gere accounts which we felt it most painful to be obliged ever to record. Suffice it to say, that after the imprisonment of members in order to keep within the House a sufficient number to give the shew of legality fo a suspension ol the Standing Orders,and after altercations in which literally personal vio'ence was used by llieex-nrnisierial parly, a series of inflammatory Resolutions was carried, and then the Speaker read the Proclamation proroguing the Assembly, and the members dispersed. Such was the lamentable dose of the First Session of the New Zealand Parliament, and such the downfall of “ Responsible Government” by which it was marked. Thus did the sun of the Session, which had risen so brightly and with such auspicious promise, set in storm and gloom.

Tin* heading of these Articles only refers lo the First Session, hut it is expedient to ad;l some notice of the Second, which ended on Saturday last, although, legally and formally, that was an entirely new Session, yet inasmuch as it necessarily had a close practical connection with the previous one, from which it was separated only by the interval of a fortnight. During the recess, the Officer administering ih'e (iovernmenl was known lo be in constant intercourse with members of all parties in the Legislature, in relation to the best mode of meeting the existing difficulties, and especially of forming a new Ministry,—an object which ilis Excellency’s promise pledged him lo endeavour to accomplish, and which ho fell hound to strive for, notwithstanding the altered state of affairs produced by the unconstitutional and violent proceedings of the majority on the day of prorogation. At the Opening of the Second Session, on the 31 si of August, liis Excellency had added lo li 's Executive, on the same condition of responsibility as in the case of the first Ministry, Mr. T. S. Vorsaiih, (of

the Auckland Province), Mr. E. Jerningham j Wakefield (of Canterbury). Mr. W. I. L. Travers, (of Nelson),and Mr. J. .McAndrew, ( of Otago), it being his expressed intention | to add, as soon as he found it practicable j members connerled with the remaining Provinces. With the advice of these gentlemen, in concert with the Old Executive,Uis Excellency delivered an Opening Address, "in which a large and comprehensive policy was - sketched,—a policy calculated, as we believe, to be highly acceptable to the bulk of tbe colonists, as we are convinced that it is, in many of its •principal features, well adapted to advance The welfare of New Zealand. This important document was published in full in our number of the 2nd inst. The majority of the House of Representatives, however, would not enter into the new arrangements. The Address in Reply to his Excellency’s Speech, moved by Mr. i‘orsaitil, was rejected, and an Opposition Address, declaring “absolute want of confidence” in the “mixed Executive,” was proposed bv Dr. Monro, and carried by 22 against 11. The condition of responsibility on which Messrs. horsaith, J. Wakefield, Travers, and McAndrew bad taken their scats in the Executive Council,required that, after ibis vote, they should tender their resignations, which were accepted by His Excellency. Thus the second attempt to establish Ministerial Responsibility was at an end. after the new members of the Executive had held their seats only about 48 hours; but, short as the period was, it sufficed to enable those gentlemen to become connected with the enunciation of a system of policy, the soundness of which, in its most important parts, will we have little doubt, be seen and acted on by a large proportion of the seniors,—at all events in the North of New Zealand. The Address of the majority expressed a willingness to “ grant supplies to a Govern - incut conducted by tbe old Executive officers,” and to devote the short space ol lime during which the members could now remain together, to the work of forwarding such measures as were of most urgent impo ’lance, and as could 1 be passed ilufHigli the requisite stages within the allotted lime. This engagement, generally speaking, they have shown a disposition to fulfil; and it is gratifying to ns to record that, with comparatively few exceptions, the proceedings have been conducted f r the last fortnight with much less of contention, and much more of effort to advance real business, than in the previous session. On the particular merits of the several measures which have made progress, we cannot now enter; but we trust that, taken as a whole, they will lend to the good of the Colony, however open some of them—particularly the Appropriation Rill, referred to in His Excellency’s closing Address on Saturday may be to criticism. Ibe main evil has been the unavoidable baste with which ihov have been passed. In the Legislative Council this has been especially complained of by the members, as they have been called upon to pass, almost at sight, Hills which bad been for a considerable lime before the other House. Notwithstanding this, the Council has done most valuable service in improving Rills sent to them from the House of Representatives, as one notable instance of which we may mention lheA\as.te Lands Rill, which they totally re-modelled, so as to transform it into a very different, and a far belter, measure. Still, several members of that body have explicitly declared that they will never again consent to pass measures with so little time for deliberation,as, under the peculiar circumstances of the session, they made up their minds to submit to.

As respects the avowed Uieme of those articles reader, though previously little acquainted with the recent movements here, may now understand its position. It was attempted, with every prospect of success : .Ministerial Responsibility, to a certain extent, was established, not as a sham but as a reality, and everything was in train for its complete establishment under the Koval sanction within a few months. Km the experiment, practically viewed, has totally failed as to the present; and, for the future, it remains to be seen how far tin; strange score* enacted by the majority in the House of Representatives may cause delay and hesitation on the part of the Homo Government in conceding a boon, which otherwise there can be little doubt would have been freely and readily granted. Meanwhile the fact is, that, the wheel having completed its revolution, we find ourselves brought back toprecisely the point at which we were at the outset, —confessedly destitute of anything bearing the remotest semblance to what is usually understood as “Ministerial Responsibility” in the Executive.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZ18540918.2.3

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

New Zealander, 18 September 1854, Page 1

Word count
Tapeke kupu
6,782

The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND MONDAY, SEPT. 18, 1854. STEAMER EDITION FOR THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. PROROGATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. New Zealander, 18 September 1854, Page 1

The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND MONDAY, SEPT. 18, 1854. STEAMER EDITION FOR THE SOUTHERN PROVINCES. PROROGATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. New Zealander, 18 September 1854, Page 1

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