TEA MEETING AT ONEHUNGA.

New Zealander, Volume 10, Issue 885, 7 October 1854, Page 3

TEA MEETING AT ONEHUNGA.

On Monday evening last a Tea Meeting was given by a number of the Electors of Onehunga to Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Esq . and the other Members of the House of Representatives who concurred with and suppotted the policy which that gentleman biought before the Legislature in relation to the setting apart of land f >r working settlers. The meeting was I.eld in the Native Hostelry, which was fitted up with taste for the occasion, under the direction of Mrs. Ninnis and other ladies in the neighbourhood, together with a Committee appointed by the Pensioners to carry out the arrangements. The attendance was sufficiently numerous to fill the spacious building from end to end, the Pensioners with their wives and families congregating in strong force. At the principal table were seated the following members of the General Assembly, Messrs. Wakefield, Foraaitfc, Cargill, (of Otago), Lee, and Major Greenwood ; a'so, the following members ot the Provincial Council, —-Messts. Powditch, Lewis, Donovan, Hill, and Williamson. A letter was read from Mr. Joseph Brennan, M.P C, apologizing for his absence, and expressing sympathy with the objects of the meeting. Captain Ninnis and Mr. Cargill (brother of the member for Ol'go, who has lately arrived heiefiom Sydney) occupied seats at the table. The Rev. A G. Purchas, Minister of St. Peter's Church, Onehunga, was present. A letter expressing regret at his inability to attend, with his full concurrence in the object, was read from the Rev. E.J. Clery, R. C. clergyman of the district. There were ten tables, well piovided with tea. cakes, &c, and attended by the wives and daughters of the Pensioners. After tea. W lH.un Powditch, Esq., \i.P C. was called to preside. On taking the chair, he spoke as follows :

My friends.' Electors of the Pensioners Settlements.— Before proceeding to the business <»f the evening, 1 beg to thank you for the honour done to myself in placing me in the chair, because by so doing you distinctly identify me with your sentiments and opinions expressed by this movement. Some few years back, Ortehungn was a desert, and when Governor Grey visiteditafter takingasurvcy of itscaj.abilities.headdressed himself to the reputed owner, ob-ervhw it was a uMUt.ful place,—the reply was ves, it is a heavenly place; it only wants cultivating This picture is now realized, it has been cultivated. ant that by a civilized community,—this last fact is evidenced this day by the large ateudance of the female population. When a young country has obtained the privileges of a franchise, It becomes them to show a proper sense of the advantage, obiained. The operatives of Auckland have done so on a former occasion, and \ou are now about to do so also; you will show to the world that you rightly appreciate the privileges by using thein in a lawful and proper manner, livery one has a right to express and support his own opinions. Bit your representatives having a right to express their own opinions, are also bound to express the opinions of the people whosent them to represent their interests. But it is also the right of the peop cto express their opinion of their conduct, of their assent or dissent from any vote they may have given, and if they approve, to do so ; if they disapproved, to call upon them to retire. As your Chairman, it is not my place to make any remarks on the various and particular votes which were given in the past session; [others will probably do so in the course of the evening. But 1 may be allowed generally to observe that, we are indebted to the exertions of the honourable member for one of the Southern Settlements for practically advocating that course which we believe not only advantagous to our interests but also to similar parties in all the Southern Provinces. That gentleman's advocacy on the Waste Lands Bill deserve* our thanks arid approbation and more especially as not being one of our local representatives he could not be supposed to understand our position or the wishes of the people. |And although they did not at first succeed, as was rightly observed by one of our representatives on a former occasion, that although they could not hope on questions jelatmg to the interests of one province to carry a majority, yet they hoped by the firm adhesion and unity of the Auckland repre ser.tatives they would be able to present such a moral front that would in the end obtain the concession of some moderate decree of justice, and this was to a certainexte.it obtained, for although they failed to carry their views in the first U asie Lands Bill, subsequently by the force of their moral position they in another place and another way obtained such an alteration as gained for us a very considerable improvement ofmi' position. And we must not forget to notice that gentleman who, atone time in the difficult and disheartening position of a minority of one who. nevertheless, by the soundness of his principles, the firmness of his adherence lo his position, and the steadiness with which he met all opponents, gathered round hm, at length that increase to the minority of ten which presented the moral aspect which led to these beneficial results. But that minority was not, unfortunately, made up out of the Auckland Proiince.—i large number of them were.Souihern members, and to them more especially our thanks are due. At the same time while we were assisted, and ought to thank those members who aided lIS, we cannot but draw a comparison between them and tho.»e repre.entalivc* who forgot the interests of their constituents in the Province of Auckland; those gentlemen appear to me very much like the images in the tea dea er's shop, wh-ch when the golden ball is touched by the showman, nod their heads without knowledge. (Cheers.)

Mr. It- 15. Loss then came fot ward and, ad- j dressing Mr. Wakefield, said Sm,—-Having been deputed to present to you an Address, signed by nearly all the male inhabitants of Onehunga, I have been requeued by the Committee upon which devolved the duty of obtaining signatures to it, to slate in a few words the reasons which have induced us to present such an Address. And first,—obedience to that righteous law which requires us to give honour to whom honour is due, obliges us to honour those who have zealously fought our battles—who have, in a great measure, frustrated the schemes of rash or evil designing men, and who have done what they could, to confer important benefits upon us, and the whole colony,—and all this, Sir, we believe has been done by you, and the other honourable members of the House of Representatives, who stood by you; some of whom, we are most happy to see among us this evening, (cheers.) And secondly,we feei the more bound to"thank you in particular, for your good services, because we see that for what you have done in our cause, and in the cause of order, you have been visited with the greatest abuse. For we have no hesitation in saying, that it is for this you have been so visited;—that this is your only crime in the eyes of your revilers. (Hear, hear). Their own conduct is a sufficient proof of this. II they really believed your character to be such as they now try to persuade us to think it, what must we think of their conduct in associating with you as a gentleman, in putting you forward, and in professing to look up to you as their leader, teacher, and master? For the sake of their own characters we must believe that they only say such things under the influence of disappointment and passion, not knowing or caring what they say. That well-known luminary (which shines and hums not) the Great Hear of our Southern hemisphere, has, in your case been labouring in its usual vocation of attempting to destroy the character of every one who frustrates any of the schemes, or even who refuses to follow in the train, of the dark spirit which presides over it. (Hear, hear, and cheers). But weiknow its ways of old, and have learned by experience to'look upon its vituperations as somewhat of the nature of good conduct certificates. (Loud cheers). Your conduct in the House of Representatives, however, has been all before us. Of it we are competent to judge, and wc desire, by our address to give our testimony that it has been such as to deserve the gratitude of every honest settler in New Zealand. To Edward Gibbon Wakefield, Esq., Member of the House of Representative of New Zealand. Mr. Lusk then read the following Address, which he presented to Mr. Wakefield. S, R) —\Vc, the undersigned inhabitants of: Unehunga, beg to* express our gratitude to you, for the exertions you have made in the House of Representatives to promote the prosperity of this to! >•>) • We especially feel hound to offer our best thanks for your able, zealous, and persevering efforts to ielieve this Province from the liability so unjustly imposed upon it, to pay a large portion of the New Zealand Company's debt, and to have ft Portion 01 the Waste Lands of tha Crown S3t apart for Working Settler . Wc, at the same time, desire to express our gratitude to those Honourable Members who supporteuyouin your attempt to protect the interests ol the

industrious classes from Land Jobbing and Monopoly; and in so doing, to promote the best interests oi the colony,; and wo doubt not that the Electors of tins Province will show when the Opportunity arrives, the very different feelings with which they regard those who have truly represented, and those who have only misrepresented their views and feelings in the first Parliament of New Zealand. Onchunga, 2nd October, L 854.

Mr.WAKEI'I ED on rising was greeted with loud unit continued cheers, lie proceeded to return his wannest thank* for the honour (lime to him by the presentation of that Address, which, liowever, he regarded less as a personal compliment, than as a most giatifying compensation for the abase which had been heaped on him and his colleagues of the minority in consequence of their opposition to the majority. It was as members of the minority that they attended there that; evening, and reaped, in the expression of thanks ottered to them, Uhe right reward of public men for exertions in the public service. His Excellency in his speech by which he opened the second session of the General Assembly, with the support of the minority, proposed that no member of the House of Representative* —except members of the Executive Council, for the purpose of carrying on Responsible Government—should be permitted to hold any office under the Governor. The object of that proposal was to maintain the independence and purity of the people's houseto guard against its being corrupted and bribed by the Executive to forget the interests of its constituents. That proposal, along with many others of a popular tendency made by His Excellency, was rejected by the majority. If it had btcome law (and he believed that at no distant period it would become law), the only reward that representatives of the people could obtain for the performance of their duty, would be the approbation of the electors j and he, as he was sure that his col-ic-ages of the minority then present would agree with him in saying, felt that reward to be sullicient, and believed it to be the only right reward of exertion in similar cases. (Cheers.) '1 he Address presented to them pointed to three topics especially, on each of which he would say a few words. Willi regard to the relief of Auckland from all part in the New Zealand Company's debt, he felt bound to confess that it was rather the justice of the case which prevailed, than any special exertional anybody. Truly, the minority did their best; but they would have been beaten by the majority if the latter had not been ashamed to oppose them. The majority, or at any rate its leaders, disliked the proposal for the relief of Auckland; and they opposed itas far as they could dojso without exposure of their injustice ; but when the question came openly before the house they gave way, however reluctantly, to a claim so just and righteous that none could publicly object to it without incurring discredit. (Cheers.) The second topic suggested by the Address was the different—he might say the opposite—policies of the majority and the minority with regard to the Waste Lands. (Cheers.) On that point, however, he would only say at present, that the minority had fought a bard tight. It was uphill work all the way : but at last they bad effected their principal objects. (Cheers.) With the consent ofihe meeting, he would recur to the subject of the Waste Lands later in the evening, for the purpose of explaining his own view of what would be the practical effect in this Province of the measure which the General Assembly had passed. And at present he would notice the third topic on which the Address invited discussion, namely, the contrast between the policies of the majority and the minority in a general point of view; but he Should only do so for the purpose of suggestion that the most fitting person to address them on that subject was his lion. friend Mr. Porsaith. who had more especially represented the minority in his Excellency s counsels, when the policy of which they approved was presented to the Colony by the Representative of the Crown. (Cheers.) Perhaps the meeting would allow him to say a few words about some other members of the minority who'were or would be present, and who, he hoped, would address them. He rejoiced in the opportunity of pub licly acknowledging what he believe.! to be the obligations of tlu-people towards two of those gentlemen —Dr. Lee and Mr. O'Neill. (Cheers.) Their position had been one of considerable embarrassment and difficulty. They were sent to the House of Representatives as men of the most decided popular views; and the leaders of the majority weie very loud in their professions of the most popjlar objects. He (Mr. Wakefield/ was not imposed upon by these professions, but that was only because he had enjoyed peculiar opportunities of learning what their real objects were. He knew also that they reckoned with absolute confidence on the support of the two gentlemen whom he had named ; and he himself thought it probable that those lion, gentlemen might be led to sympathise with a party who at first skilfully concealed their pursuit of power for themselves under the guise of the most liberal and even democratic professions. He therefore watched those two hon. membeis attentively, and saw how the grasping domineering tendencies of the Kiugerald ministry gradually led them to sympathise with the very few who at first constituted the minority. They were not led by any persuasion, or even by any representations, from that very small majority, but solely by their own constant and vigilant observation of what passed in the house, and more especially with respect to the utter disregard by the ministry of the peculiar wants and interests of the North, and their policy as to the Waste Lands, which utterly disregarded the interestsof the working settler class. (Cheers.) And when at last the ministerial crisis came, and the design of the majority to have the whole Government placed at the disposal of their party was frustrated by his Excellency's firmness, the two hon. gentlemen joined in all the consultations of the minority, and afforded to it until the end their disinterested and valuable support. (Cheers.) lie (Mr. W.) wished to add. speaking from his own observation and knowledge, that the leaders of the majority were as much>nnoyed (as the minority were pleased and assisted) by the course which Mr. O'Neill and I)r Lee saw fit to take when it became necessary for everyj member of the house to rhuse between the two parties. (Cheers.) There was present another member of the minority—he meant Mr. Cargill, one of the representatives of Otigo, and a son of the excellent and trusted Superintendent of that Province—who in concert with Mr. Macimirev, had done good service on the popular side; and before this audience it was will worthy of remark, that all along, from the time when the Southern members arrived. Auckland and Otago, the two extreme Provinces, seemed to be drawn together (on the part of Auckland by the good sense and wise policy of Major Greenwood) (cheers), as if conscious that they had a common interest in watching the proceediugs of certain membersfrom the Provinces of the Centre, to whom in the end their union gave a squeeze which has saved both Ancwland and Otago fill* very serious evils ' Loud cheering ) He would now sit down, ill order to take part with the meeting in lls'emng to Mr. Porsaith and the other membeis [of the minoruy who were present ; and if, by and by, the meeting should wish him to enlarge on the subject of the Waste Lands, he should have the honour of addressing them again. His object, in that case.would be to lay before them, as Working Settlers, his own view of the probable operation of the Waste Lands Act which the Assembly had passed by means of the Legislative Council, and which the party of the minority in the House of Representative* claimed as their own. (A cry of " thice cheers for Mr. Wakefeld," which were given with a hearty good will by the whole meeting so far as we could judge.)

Mr. FORSYITH was received with three cheers. Me said Such a cheer as that would have done him good when lie stood alone—the minority of one—against twenty-nine men of more talent than himself. Not that he was afraid or had any doubts about his position ; he felt sure he was right, and knew that time would prove it. but still it was a position enough to make a man feel rattier shaky, and a cheer like that would have done him good. Mr, Wakefield had called upon him to talk about the minority as contrasted with the majority. To do this he must briefly review the whole Session. First came ihe question of Responsible Government. They kiew what tint metnt, at least it might be illustrated by borrowing the explanation of a gentleman now in Auckland. The king was nominally the head of the nation, [but under responsible government his authority was a mild fiction,—the real head was the prime minister. The husband was nominally the head of the house: but you all know that the real power is vested generally in the good wife. The husband's authority was a mild fiction, but when it came to the question of responsibility for his wife's debts, then it was a hard fact. (Laughter). They knew that he was the minority on this question, not because he disliketl Responsible Government, but because he feared that it would, if introduced without preparation, only tend to depress Auckland and elevate the Southern Provinces unduly ; he was afraid of this, he was afraid of Mr. Wakefield. He knew his power, he first met him in London, they went together to view a Panorama of the Bay of Islands, and a complete view it was, true as nature. He little thought then that he should be a member with him of the first Parliament of New Zealand, lie had his doubts of Mr. Wakefield because he saw himon his first arrival at Auckland under the wing of a gentleman who writes long learned letters in a cettain newspaper, signed Metoikos, and he thought if Mr. Wakefield had joined himself to that party the people of Auckland must keep their eye upon him. He did keep his eye upon him, and at first they had several skirmishes together, and although he knew that Mr. Wakefield was a giant, andlie but a pigmy, he did not hesitate once or twice to measure swords with. him. He could not tell whether he got the worst of such encounter, but at all events he was not killed. Hut his doubts and fears gradually vanished like mists before the sun, for Mr. Wakefield soon found out that he was in the wrong box, and shifted his quarters, and since then he has In his public conduct evinced a sincere desire to promote the interests of New Zealand in general and of Auckland in particular, and therefore he deserved the confidence and support of every wellwisher and real friend of the Province. The majority were marked by an aristocratic pride and assumption which he (Mr. I''.) regarded not only with indifference but with something like contempt. Colonists have nothing to do with aristocratic pride, they are or should be all working men. He was a working man. and was not ashamed to say so, and any one who would he a good colonist, must be a working man. The pride and arrogance of the majority peeped out in the famous declaration of their leader, who pretended to sneer at the worldwide reputation of Mr, Wakefield, as a statesman of no ordinary standard, in connection withone branch of politics. lle(Mr. Fitssgeraldjwould not allow Mr. Wakefield to be a great man, but said of himself thathe could make Colonel Wyuyard the greatest Governor in the British empire. The policy of the majority, as might be expected was, as a whole-, calculated only to foster selfish interests, to aggrandize a clxss, and increase the power of ministers who hoped and expected to he the permanent Executive. Take, for instance, their Waste Lands Hill ; it vested all power in the Ministry, it had not n single feature of a good law; it had no definite fixed meaning l nobody could tell what its provisions were, because they depended upon the will of a changeable Executive. Ho had "only been restrained from voting against the second reading because he, with others of the minority, did not wish at that time to endanger the prestige of ministerial responsibility by bringing on a crisis, and because the Bill contained asort of saving clause, which prevented it from doing much harm to Auckland. But he had been nearly let in for it by the Solicitor General who was to be. After they had got his vote on the second reading a clause was smuggled in, in Committee, which destroyed the effect of what he had regarded as the saving clause. But fortunately the Hill n-vi r became law, indeed It was not fit to be called law, because ~ law should alwajs have afixed meaning, and thil had noi e. A the Sessio.i advanced, the contemptible minority, swelled r.ovs into ten, beenme troublesome to the majority. They had been accustomed to scowl, sneer, and laugh at us, but now th?y began to fear us, and so acting up to the advice of some of the noli-

ticiuns, who, like moles, work under ground, they determined to I clap Oil the screw and try to force Colonel Wynyard to grant further concessions. They had been told that Colonel Wynyard was an easy going man, that he disliked difficult positions, and that it" they only came out strung he would be sure to yield. But they were mistaken, —Colonel Wynyard is a soldier. Did you ever know a British soldier shew the white feather in the face of his foe? (No, no, and great cheering.) They may wear white facings, but never while fe.i thcrsin this sense. When their foes become too daring they generally harden their hearts and go at them. (Cheers) so did Col Wynyard ; they fired their shots point blank —one, two, three, one after the other, expecting that before the third resignation he would knock under, But he waited quietly until their ammunition was expended, and then he settled then) by a single shot—the Gazette (cheers) was to this efleet—The. Officer Administering the Government informs the public that the ministers have resigned,and that their resignations have been accepted (cheers) Then they came down to the House boiling over with rage and vexation. They could not wait for the Governor's Message, so thai there might be fair-play on both sides, but determined to tell their tale first. The minority tried how to prevent them, and kept up a good fight by moving adjournments, ami although the majority managed to get in their arguments edge ways, and piecemeal, yet the minority damaged the face of them agood deal. Then Mr. Wakefield was sent for to be a cabinet-maker, and he was getting his materials all prepared and fitted ready for putting together,—and no doubt a first-rate hand like him would have turned out a fine piece of work—but ho got a notion somehow or other that, somebody—some journeyman or other—was meddling with his fittings, and so he threw up the trade lest there should be found a screw loose, or a bad joint in his piece of work, and the blame laid on him. He would not say whether Mr. Wakefield had done right or wrong in this matter, he did what he though right, though for his part, he should have waited to see what this supposed interference really meant. However, the upshot was that he (Mr. F.) was then Called to be a cabinet-maker; he did not care for the trade, but could not in honour refuse to lend a hand when called upon. But he did not do as the leader of the majority had done who jumped into office like a boy jumping over a ditch without looking what was on the other side. He (Mr, V.) took council with the whole minority ; and they, after much consideration agreed to support the Governor in the policy which his Excellency announced by his Speech when opening the Second Session Hut the policy was rejected by the majority who turned out the new ministers but could not turn out the Governor's policy. They could not do that, because it had fastened itse.f closely upon the public mind, (cheers ) That policy needstobestudied.it will well repay the labour. He woojd advise them all to study it well, women as well as men. The women cannot make speeches but they can deliver lectures. Letevery oneofthera get a copy of this speech, and put it under her pillow, and lecture upon it every night until she is quite sure that her husband understands it. ami is determined to support it. (Eftughter and cheers.) But he would not take up their time any longer, as they had yet to listen to Mr. Wakefield. He would only say in conclusion, that the best reward that any man who occupied the honourable yet onerous post of representing a constituency could receive, was that which they were bestowing upon him an I his colleagues that night by thus publicly assuring them of their approbation and confidence. (Mr. Forsailh concluded amid much cheering,) Mr. C ARGILL said that he had not expected to appear so soon before a constituency. Although the particular body of Electors who returned him tothe House of.llepresentativei were located at the oilier extre.ne [of tile Island*, yet inasmuch as bis votes in the Assembly affected the interests of every inhabitant of New Zealand, he held himself responsible, and would render an account of his stewardship to any constituency in any part of the colony. (Cheers) Otago and Auckland, though widely separated in distance were more intimately c lectod in se.itimentth.'iii any other two Provinces in' New Zealou'.'Eachdeprecated a general government meddling ill local aliairs j and each were convinced that wasteland should not be occupied by sheep and cattle when it is wanted for the occupation of men ; that, in all cases in which land is wanted for the settlement of human beings, the stock must immediately retiie. (Chceis.) He (Mr. Cargill) was a firm advocate of Responsible Government, but not that embodiment of i: presented by the Fitzgerald Ministry,who were infinitely more impracticable and domineering than even the old arbitrary Government was. It was a matter of deep regret to him that the measure introduced by his hon. friend, Major Greenwood, for equalizing the representation, had been thrown out by the majotity. New Zealand should take serious warning from the stale of the Legislative Council of New south Wales, where one-third of the House represented a dens'j population, and the other two-thirds represented, n very small am sunt of population, but many mill'o is of sheep and cattle. lie would not detain the meeting from the pleasure of hearing Mr. Wakefield < n the u Lands, but would only remark that he (Mr. Cargill) vas led to support the " Working Settlers" clauses, from having seen the plan practically ami most beneficially worked in the district in which he lived in Otago (Cheers.) It gave him great pleasure to call the attention of the Meeting to the very gratifying assurances conveyed to the country in the speech of His Excellency on opening the Second Session of the General Assembly. The General policy of His Excellency's declarations me; with his (Mr. Cargili's) unqualified admiration : and he felt sure that the colonists at large would cordially approve of it. Hesinceraly thanked the Meeting for their kind entertainment, and was glad that his conduct in the General Assembly had rnet their sanction. The meeting then gave three cheers for Mr. Cragill.

Major GIIEENWOODssid —Mr Chairman and friends—lt is with rnucil pleasure that i rise to reuirn thanks for the address which you have presented to tho.;e whooi you have inviteil to be your guests this evening. My satisfaction 13 even more complete, because I have an opportunity of explaining to you the line of conduct which I felt i: my duty to follow in the house to which you did me the honor to send me as your representative. Had you not afforded ine this opportunity I should have called a public meeting pf my.constituency to explain to them everything connected with the part which I took in the latt- Sessions of Parliament- —and had you not been sati*. ficd that I had acted rightly in the course Ahich I adopted, I would hue re;ig.ied at once my seat in the 11'nne of Representatives, to enable any member having your confidence to represent you with more honesty or zealousnessof purpose than myself, 10 fi:i my place. This 1 believe it to be the duty of every representative of the people to do, and when such a course is not spontaneously pursued by a member, then his constituency should call upon him. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) My hon. friend who has just sat down (Mr. Forsaith) has made one remark about Responsible Government, to which I cannot quite assent. I must remind him that the minority of ten, whose labours you have applauded, did not vote against Responsible Government. In doing that my hon. friend stood alone, for, though I e was favourable to the principle itself, he liked to look at it at a dista ;cc. lie thought that, like the scenes in a theatre, representing the hall- of dazzling light in some fairy da na, the substance was ueven ln-less as deceptive as those scenes themselves when viewed by daylight on the stag;-, and when all their beautiful effects appear to have been produced by an artist wielding a birch broom, with a pail of whitewash, red ochre, and blacking for his pigments—(laughter). Wcare all of us liable to mistakes, and in voting against responsible Government on that occasion, my hon. friend made one of those mistakes which happily so seldom occur to him. We can have no real good Government unless it be on the principle of Responsibility, and that we must obtain, as we now shall, in a proper and legitimate manner. Well, then, I will tell you that when first we were elected in the North, and our 'prentice hands were still untried, we heard rumblings and grumblings about Responsible Government from the South, until we thought that another earthquake had occurred—and then suddenly, one fine morning, a long slender gentleman was seen curving a stout elderly gentleman upon his shoulders, up to the knees in water, landing the great "big bug," as the VanUees say, upon our strand—(loud laughter). It was Metoikos himself, who, like ,-K.eas, was bearing the old Anchiscs on his shoulders—(laughter and cheers). Uy-and-bye, all the members assemb'ed, and we met and looked at each other ami nobody knew who was going to begin. We asked about Responsible Government, and wanted to know what it was, what it was made of, and all about it. Well, they told us it was so nice, we should be sure to like it when we knew what it was—and then we thought the sooner we had it out the better. You will remember that in ancient times, when people wanted to get up a crusade against the infidels, they employed a man named Peter the Hermit, a person of great sanctity and eloquence, to arouse and induce everybody to join, and he was eminently successful in the attempt. The Southern people, who wished to convert us, the heathen, to the piin.iple of Ministerial Responsibility, had their l'eler the Hermit tuo—nobody less than the renowned Gibbon himself—who talked to us for three days with such effect that all, s:ive one, my hon, friend on my right (Mr. Forsaith), embraced the true faith—(laughter). Well, the thing passed, and those who were made Ministers told us that we were all right—we had got Responsible Government, which would cure all political diseases as completely as Holloway's pills would every bodily ailment. If anything went wrong, they said that Responsible Government would set it right. When we objected to placing great legislative powers in the hands of the Executive, they said—" Oh yes, but it's all right, you know, because we have got Responsible Government." Hut we had not got Responsible Government —it was a more sham —and the Ministers were in the same position as the cookmaid, who looks out of the kitchen door, and cries, " Ducky, ducky, ducky, come and be killed"'—but ducky didn't like it, and wouldn't come. (Cheers ami much laughter.) Then began our opposition. First came the Waste Lands Hill, for which my honourable friend (Mr. Forsaith) says he voted on the second reading in order to save the Ministry. Hut 1 voted against it because I saw the danger of placing such power in the hands of a Canterbury Ministry,—and as to their going out, I thought if they were bringing in Hills prejudicial to the interests of the people of this Province, the sooner they were out the better, ami that I would do ray best to get them out (loud cheers). My friend (Mr. l-'orsoith) was, I am sure, also opposed to this Pill, although he voted for the second reading for the reasons he has stated. Well, this first Waste Lands Hill passed the second reading, and when the house went into Committee, after warmly supporting Mr. Wakefield's amendments for the setting aside of certain portions of land for woi king settlers, which were rejected by the majority, 1 attempted to carry through an amendment for the purpose of obtaining a remission of purchase money for land, on a certain scale, and under the same conditions as officers, for non commissioned officers, petty officers, private soldiers, and seamen and marines of Her Majesty, and the East India Company's land and sea forces. (Cheers.) This, however, met with the same fate. Then came Electoral adjustment. Hy the 47th clause of the Constitution Act it is provided that the number of members in the House of Representatives should bear a certain proportion in all the Provinces to the number of electors registered In each. By the Electoral Rolls—for which I applied at the commencement of the session, and which, after great delay, I obtained from the Government —it appeared that while all the Southern Provinces had their full share of representation, Auckland should, under the provisions of the •l/th clause, have sent 20 members to the General Assembly. I appealed to their justice to have a strict scrutiny of the Polls established, and on the result of that to carry out the principles Of the Act, ill their integrity : but what knew they of justice, in this instance—it was like talking to the idle wind. They wanted members representing places consisting of a dozen or a

score of human electors and so many thousand sheep to outvote our representatives of L-.rge constituencies : and, strange tossy, that even among the me.nosrs of iha North twowero found

I willing to betray their Province, anil vote against Justice beinsdone. (Groan*.) And in a local print with which it is believed that tho.se gen.lemen are connected, we find Mr. Sewell belauded up to the skies as the friend of Auckland—the disinterested friend whose motives have been so much mistaken. And a precious friend he was—he alone, 1 believe, of the Ministers, would have riveted the chain of the New Zealand Company's Debt upon us If he could, but he was foiled by the untiring effort* of Mi. Wakefield, and the sense of honour and justice which actuated the Southern men b*rs generally (cheers). Mr. sewell distinctly staled in the bouse, on the occasion of the debate upon granting a Select Committee to examine and report upon the Company's claim upon the Province of Auckland that the payment of £868,000 was compensation to the Company for an estate belonging to them, which they rendered up to the Crown, and that the Company had a right to select this estate in any part of New Zealand—in Auckland as well as elsewhere. Now this was positively contrary to fact—the Company never received, or had the shadow of right to select, any land in the Province of Auckland in virtue of the compensation given ihem by Parliament. This you can any of you read in the report of that debate in the columns of the journal to which I have alluded—read for yourselves, and judge whether the "contemptible minority'' did wrong in distrusting the Canterbury Ministers. (Cheers) It will be for the Auckland constituencies now to decide whether the minority did right or wrong, and I, for one, am perfectly ready to abidu by your verdict. [ Three hearty cheers for Major Greenwood were then given.] Or. LEE expressed his grateful sense of the compliment paid him, in connexion with his lion, friends, by the electors of Onehunga. Nothing he thought could be more gratifying to those who had been honoured by being chosen to represent their fellow colonists, than to have their conduct approved by those whose interests had been confided to them. It would have afforded'him sinceredelight had he been able to assure himself that theconduct of every one of his colleagues for the Province of Auckland, in their first Parliament, had been such as to deserve that a\>proval. Uut he was sorry to say that he felt fully convinced that the interests of this Province were lost sight of by several of its representatives, and that strangers had been more friendly to it than some of its own had been, it gave him much pleasure indeed to be present on this occasion, to observe a respectable body of electors, in the honesty of their hearts, acknowledging the good services of some of those stranger fiiends. (Loud cheering.) Mr. WAKEFIELD—After having listened with you to what has been so well said by others on general politics, 1 am the more disposed to confine myself now to the one subject on which the previous speakers have not dwelt—that of the Waste Lands. Let us begin at the root of the matter. I wish to do this by asking a question. Speaking of the great bulk of those who emigrate from Great Britain and Ireland to settle in a new country, what is in their thoughts when they take that step > Why—that is, with what object—do they resolve to quit for ever the country of their birth and their affections ? In answer I say that as to the most of them —aye, perhaps as many as !)9 in 100—the ruling motive is a desire to obtain, and the hope of obtaining, property in land—land which shall be their own—a piece of the earth's surface upon which they can look and say, "litis is mine own, for me and my children after me." (cheers ) It is this desire to obtain land—land of one's own,—which has peopled the earth. Look at America, a great wilderness of fertile land, to which from overcrowded Europe, about 400,000 people now emigrate every year. What moves them ? As to the great bulk of them, the object of each is to plant his family in independence and comfort on a piece of the fertile wilderness which shall be bis own. The same object brought you out here. There was land for you in the prospect; and ii w.is that which attracted you, as ii is the waste land of every Colony which alonea'tracts people to its shores from «■< u ur'us where the pe >p!e aie too many for the land. What then ought to be the condition of a new Colony in which there is abundance of land and but few people ? It ought to be a state of things in which all wh >; r; desirous and capable of owning land and u.-ing it for p'O'uclion, should be able to obtain it with the utmost f cili:y. (Caters.) But is that the case in New Zealand ? (Cries of 'no.') Let us first look to neighbouring colonies, which funi hj a striking example, not of fjcilities, but of difficulties with regard to the acquisition of land bv the bulk of the people. Mr. Cirgilitnld us just now that in New South Wales, matters lave been so managed that one-third of the people have more influence in the legislature than the other two-thirds. It is nearly the tame in Victoria. This unjust distribution of the electoral franchise was brought about by means of an arrangement of electoral districts, which gives a large preponderance of votes to the parts of the country which are rather occupied by sheep than by people. In those colouies, the Government, some years ago, allowed the (piasters to obtain virtual possession, by means of long leases, of abmt a hundred and fifty million acres of land, or three times the amount of all the available land in New Zealand ; ami then, when representative constitutions were given to those colonies, two-third* of the members werp awarded to those districts which contain only onethird of the people; so that the tow.i and agricultural populations, being two-thirds Of the whole, are constantly representod by a minority in the legislature. By means of this vast monopoly of land, and of the preponderating political influei.ee given to the monopolists, by far the larger portion of the w.tste laud of these colonies is locketl up against settlement by agriculturists and real workers ; and hence the cry which these classes have raised, "Unlock the land!*' In this colony a like system of monopoly by the few is beginning to take effect, though not exactly by the same means. In the Province with which lam best acquainted—Wellington—which was chiefly peopled by a very superior class of labouring emigrants brought direct from England, the number of freeholders is very small. Though most of these emigrants have been from ten to fourteen years in the settlement, anil have been retnaikablefor industry and good conduct, the greater part of them are still without land of their own. For the most part, they are only tenants of the land which, a few have moro lolized. Is that right ? (Cries of -no," and cheers.) Let tis no* lurii to your own Province, wl.e e, recently, a considerable extent of laud lias bee:-, offered for »ale by Govern uen . What has become of it ? ("A. I) has a good lot," a id laughter.) Yes, and others have obtained good lots, bill tlo they live upon them and wink them ? The greater part of .hi-, land has gone to monopolists and speculators —that is, to persons who never intended to use the land themselves, but only bought with the inte iliun of selling again at enhanced prices to working settiers. (" That's true," and cheers.) And it is not only natural, 1 tit inevitable, that this should happen, unless careful prccau! ons be taken against it bv the Oovernment. 1 have no wish to speak disrespectfully of the Government, or to east blame upon any one. It is the system which has been in faults but I would, ask whether that system gave fair play to the poor man who wont to the land office in oidor to obtain some land for use by himself ? (Cries of •• No") In nine cases out of ten, such a man would go to the land office over ami over again, would ask for a particular lot of land, would b ■ told one day that there was some difficulty about it, another day, that some question about it was st.ll unsetled. — on a third day, that he must call another time,—and at last, weeks or months after his patience was exhausted and he had given up the pursuit, he would hear that the lot on whict he had set his heart, was obtained by some some speculator, who might or might not be willing to sell it for three times the original price. (Lmid cries of hear.)' Will, such will ever be the case —speculation and monopoly will .alwaysprevail over industry, unless the law take a precaution against it, which I believed to be the o-ly effectual one in the

present circumstances of this colony. That precaution! believe to be the setting apart by law of a considerable proortion of all the waste lands for the class of real working settlers, and the administration of the law by open Courts, in which entire publicity would be given to every transaction. (Cheers.) In the House of Representatives, therefore, I proposed certain amendmenes of a Waste Lands Bill introduced by the Fitzgerald ministry, the object of which was to devote onethird at least of the waste lands to appropriation by the working seitlerclasses only, and on the easiest terms as to price and time of payment, together with the establishment of open land offices, in which every application ami decision would be as public as the proceedings in a Court of Justice. My pioposal was scouted by the ministry and the majority who upheld them, and was only supported by what had been called "a contemptible minority." (Laughter and cheers.) At any rate, the ministers and their supporters treated it with contempt and scorn. It was "all humbug." '•throwingdust in the eyes of the working classes,'' "popularity hunting,'and so forth. But some said angrily that it was "very mischievous,"—that it would " spoil thsir runs.anddepnve them of their sheep-herds" These were Southern members who have got po*»ession of immense ftracts of country, where they dread that their sheep should be disturbed by the introduction of people and agriculture. A Northern member, however, who voted against my proposal, said to me, " You want to take away my servants." (Cries of "name.") No, I will not name, because the remark was not made in public. (Repeated cries of "name," and "no, no.") No, I will not name that member I but I shall presently have to name another, who voted with the majority, and also spoke what it is right you should hear repeated. By the aid of his vote, and those of other Auckland members, the squattocracy of the South prevailed against us, and tier Waste Lands Bill passed on to the-Legislative Council. 1 am no admi e of Nominee Councils, but the contrary ; and no one is tnoie conscious than myself of' the unpopularity in New Zeala id of the very principle of Nominee legislarion. But I feel bound to declare, and shall do so whenever justice shall requite the confes sion, that in my opinion the Legislative Council was more liberal, and showed more regard for the interests of the pe*ple, than the majority in the I louse of Representative*. -V any rate, I am persuaded that they intended to adopt the Waste Lands Amendments which a majority of the pei pie's house had rejected ; and I am equally convinced that it wra this their intention which broke up the Fitzgerald ministry, and ultimately enabled the minority in the Representative House to obtain a Waste Lands Law which will, sooner or later in every Province, give effect to the principle of those Amendments. It happened thus. The ministry learned that those Amendmdnts which they had so scornfully rejected, would come hack to our House as adopted by the Legislative Council, and that they must either be accepted or again opposed by them as ministers. If accepted, the minism would be put to shame, and would lose all influence—if again opposed by them, they might probably be supported by a majority; and in that case the ministers must resign. This dilemma struck the ministers with fear; and it was then, in a fit of desperation, that they res -lived upon an attempt to bully his Excellency Into placing the whole government of the country at their disposal. They wers urged on to this course by the squat, ting interest of the South, which they really represented, and by some in the North who wished to partake with them in the enjoyment of all live powers of government, l'hey put the »crew on to the Governor, having been led by certain Northern members to believe that lie would be so weak as to be frightened by their threats. Happily the attempt failed (cheers), and I shall always reflect with satisfaction on my own part in its defeat, which was that of advising his Excellency, when he did me the honour to consult me on the subject, that if he should not give way to the pressure, that if he should manfully resist it, and patiently abide the result, hcwouldhavc the support of the people throughout the colony. And so it will turn out (loudand continued cheering). But it is not merely for having withstood those grasping, and would-be doinineeiing Ministers of the majority, that the colony will be grateful to his Excellency. When they resigned, and he would not take them hack, it became necessary to choose others. These were the Ministers of the minority; and the policy with regard to the Waste Lands which the majority had rejected, was now adopted by the head of the Government, and by him recommended to the Assembly in tit Speech with which

he opened the Second Session. He thereby proposed that Land Regulations should be issued as soon as possible, " for the purpose of setting apart, in every district of each Province, a considerable proportion, but not less than one-third of the Waste Lands, in such manner as to afford the greatest eiicouragcuneut and utmost facilities to tnnaJU* Occupying Settlers, wtiether. now resident in the colony, or who may come to it from any o-her place;" secondly, that " the cost of passage incurred by anv such persons. whether possessing some capital or settling in New Zealand :« I ibmirer* for hire, shall count a* purchase money of land at the can lent rate of steerage passage from the Mother Country to the colony :" thirdlv, that all tx» t u fide Occupying Settlers shall "obtain credit for a term of years for . the payment of the purchase money;" and, fourthly, '"in order to prevent mere land speculation by settlers of this class, that they sh-II not obtain a full or transferable title until after actual occupation of the land for a reasonable time." Lastlv, hi.-. Excellency recommended that such Regulations should "D 9 administered, in each Province, by a Hoard of Commissioners who should be bound by stringent restrictions for securing iiripartiality, and an entire openness and publicity, in all their proceedings." (Cheer*.) Again the majority, led by the exMii.Uters, would not hear of such a plan. They rejected it in the same angry and scornful manner as before, and brought in anotlur Waste Lands Hill of their own concoction. When tl ii Hill got into Committee, I again proposed the oldanerd nems, which were again (now for the third time) rejected by the Ministers and their majority. Majrr Greenwood also once more proposed, but in vain, his plan for allowing to non-commissici:ed and petty officer*, and to soldiers and seamen, the same aivantages with regard to the acquisition of land as to officers of the higher rank*. So, a* to the subject of the Waste Lane's, the minority appeared to be thoroughly beaten. But that was far from being the case. The ex-Ministers and their Southern sui.porters, being now without power in the Government, had become extremely anxious to reiurn home; and there were soms measures, including the Estimates and appropriation of revenue to the Provinces, which they were equally anxious to seo passed by the Assembly. But no measure could pass into law without the assent of the Legislative Council; and thus the majority in the Representative House was compelled to come to terms wish those whom theretofore they had treated with contempt. By an "arrangement," as it has been called, between the House and the Council, both parties agreed to a Waste Lands Bill which has become law. This is the ex-Minis-ters' Waste Lands Bill of the Second Session, as "amended" by the Legislative Council; but the "amendments"' have so greatly altered the character of the Rill as to make it in reality a new measure; as sometimes happen* when the mover of a J amendment on a Resolution proposes that "all the wordc after the word * That' be left out," and others of a totally different tenor be inserted in their place (laughter and cheers ) Tho Legislative Council and the minority in the Houseof Representatives, by acting in concert, also forced the majority in onr House to consent to another Waste Lands mea.ure—that which was introduced by Dr. Lee—the object of which is to obtain from the imperial Government permission for the Ceneral Assembly te tr; nsfer to he Provincial Legislatures the whole of its own power* with regard to the Waste Lands. That measure ha* been sent home for Her Majesty's drsent. In the meanwhile, the Waste Lands Act, for which we are mainly indebted to the Legislative Council, will le in operation. By that law, the Provincial Legislatures are authorised to frame Hsgu!ations for the disposal of Waste Land; and the approval of the Governor will give to such Regulations all the effec. of a law pr.ssel by the General Assembly. The Act also contains a provision whereby any Regulations iiiteinlel to be propo-ed to the Proviiici.il Council, shall, 1* fire such propasal of rhein, be submitted to the public for a month ; ami the officer .\u:ni..Utering the Government has pledged his word—by hi* speech on opening the .Second Session —that the voije of the people shall prevail i 1 this matter,' for that if a Provinc al Superintendent and pouncil do not iii. e satisfaction to the people in fi anting Regulations on the disposal of Waste Land, thete shall be a fresh Provincirl election, -o that the people may choo.se another Superintendant and other membeis of Council, with an e-pecial view to the Waste Land, questiou (Cheers ) For this P.ovincc. 1 balieve. that precaution in favour of the interests of the people wa* not necessary, becau-e the people have confidence in their Superintendant and Provincial C un i ; but it nay be of great ser vein other Provinces, where a majority in the Councils represent the Landsmonopolist interest. As to the Province of Auckland, you may expect that the Superintendent and Council will set to work without delay in framing Land Regulations embodying the policy of those Waste Land Amendments which were so distasteful to the Fitzgerald Ministry and its supporters. (Cheers.) Having, as a member of the Assembly during both Session., and also as a cabinet-maker for a short time, got to know the opinions of those who will have to frame ami legalize the Regulation* for this Province, I have some inkling of what those Regulations are likely to be. I believe then, that in about six weeks from the present time, the Waste Land law of the Provinceof Auckland will have established the settingapatt i f not k-is than a third of the lands in every new district laid open for private acquisition, as the exclusive patrimony of the class of real working settlers, where persons of that class shall be able to choose for themselves without competition from the specul iting classes (Cheers.) and shall obtain with perfect facility as much land as they can use, with every reasonable facility as to the time of payment. (Much cheering.) 'that will do: will it not? (Cries of " yes" and renewed cheering.) But of what use will be the best possible Regulations upon paper, without effectual precautions for their being honestly administered according to their spirit as well as their letter ? Without such precaution-!, the (peculating [and jobber wi!l creep in, a/iddefeat the*kaw. For example, he would make use of Dick, Tom, and Harry, as men of straw, to obtain land, ostensibly for themselves, but in rea it> for him. There wuuid bo devices and tricks without end for depriving the Working Settler classes of the beneSts which such Regulations were intended to confer on them. What security then should be taken against such evasions of the law t J will answer the question by another. Wlim is the preciotioo whereby security I* given to the people, that the laws of the land sli'a.l be holiest y and rightly administered » There is but one. and it is effectual, It is Courts of Justice with open d Hir-. (Cheer';.) I take for granted that the new Waste Land Law of this Province will be administered by Commissioners sitting in open Court, to which the public wii| have free access, in which reporters for the newspaper; will be present, and in which every part of every transaction will be carried on without any attempt at secrecy or mystery. (Cheers.) What a contrast that will be with the system of the past! The known opinion', of t!u leading members of your Provincial Council and your Superintendent, and the public pledges of his Excellency as Governor, Live no doubt that Mich publicity will form part of lie net law. Let us suppose the new law declared in about five or six weeks, what will be its eff.ct : One of them may indeed b« t , deprive my nameless friend in the Houseof Representatives o:* his servants, by enabling those ind i trious men to obtain land of their own without further delay and disappointment: bu effect will assuredly be to attract plenty of servants, as well as others, to this Piovince. (Loud cheer--) This Province has never had the benefit oi any thing like atysteuiatic emigration from the mother country; with the single exception, however, of the pensioner emigration, which, though it has proved of no small service, might have been incalculably more valuable if every emigrant had easily obtained more land for his use—five acres instead of one, at first—and fifty br a hundred acres marked out as his own from the riir.t, so that he might have been sur.-of them at last, and thus nave had the strongest possible inducement to industry and saving (Cheers.) Even with its defects, the experiment ha* been successful, by helping to people the wilderness Why not pursue it on a larger and much improved tale f This country wants nothing but people tocultivate the laud—«wh an emigration from home as thesquattocracy of the centre cannot bear to think of, lest it should.distutb their pastoral solitude.. How to bring it about, notwithstanding the rival, and just now paramount attraction of the sold fiehts, t< a question of the deepest interest for New Zealand. If there is a subject which I can profess to understand better than any other, it is that of the ideas and feelings of the working classes at home with regard to etuigration. The gold fields of Australia have had the effect of increasing beyond measure the disposition to emigrate. In the feelings of the bulk of the people, a fixed attachment to the soil of their birth no longer exists, but, on tht other hand, the gold fields,with their lottery of high prizes, and their very high wage* of labour, are the grand colonial attraction. If this colony should as it easily might—raise money for emigration, and bring out thousan U and teas of thousands of poor labourers, ninety-nine in every hundred of them would lea»ehomc with the intention, and would avail themselves of the free passage for the purpose, of fimlin" their way to the gold colonies as soon as possible. Such an emigration at the public expense would beamere waste of'theresoutiesof thUColony. But there is in the humanrniiud, and especially in themindof the working cl isses at home, to whom property in land is absolutely denied by it* dearness and their jov'My, a passion stronger and deeper than that which the gold (eld- have excited—it is the desire to enjoy property in |., l|( ) am | | >a y with confidence, that by means of a systematic disposal of waste land for the purpose, abundance of emigrants might be brought to this Colony, and lixed in it as their permanent home (Cheers ) Only hold out the certain prospect of a sufficiency of fertile laud as the property of every emigrant—do that as to this Province, where the land is so remarkably fertile, the climate «J productive, ami the means of intercourse with market* so abundantly supplied by nature, in your unrivalled extent of smooth states communication —do this with real painstaking to do it effectually, ami you might see a large emigr. a; ship from England arrive in. the hurbour of Auckl rod every fortnight. (Cheers.) The opportunity for try tog. at least, is exrelleut. The Waste Lauds Act gives the requisite authority 10 the Provincial Legislature and the Governor, tctii R in concert; and both are well disposed. If they should establish good laud regulations here, and a really capable emigration agency at home, the fare of the country will be changed by a rapid increase of populati >u and progress of settlement, (t teen.) There ii one more topic on which 1 cannot help asking you to listen to me for »few minutes, Ithasa close connection with the subjects of waste tend and emigration. The authority which the Viaiie Land Act has given to the Provincial L-gMiture. sni.j ct to the Governor's assent, may be withdrawn by the power which'accotded it. The House of Representative* must meetagsin ere very long, and it is of the first importance that they should be prevented from substituting the waste land policy ofthe recent majority, which was defeated, for that of the minority, winch has hecomelaw for the present. I (behoves you then, as electors, to look to this matter. The Province of Auckland sends twelve members to the House of tlenteseuUtiveS : and if eigh' of thein could have had their own way. the fitzgerald-Sewell ministry would still have been in power, and would hive been cttnb'e.l, by placing partisans of theirs in the Legislative Council, to overcome the Governor, and to give effect to a Waste Lauds policy which assigned legislative power to themselves as members of the Executive Council. Only four Auckland members went With the minority ; all the rest steadily supported the majority. If this were a Provincial question, I should, a« a mere visitor in the Province, do wrong to notice it; but it ia one which relates to the General Assembly ami concerns the whole colony ; and I have a right to speak as I think or the votes of the eight members from this Province, who, in my opinion betrayed the best interests of the people when they actually gave a majority l" U>e Seweli-Kitrperald inii.istiy. (Cheers.) t promised to name one of them, and will now do so. I alluded to your own member, Dr. Bacot. who declared tu the hou*, when he was about to join in reject i:;T my Waste Lands Amendments, that he knew hi* vote would co,t h.tn his

seat. (Cries of •• Hear," and groans.) He was conscious, then, that his vote would be against thejWishes of his constituents, the electors of the Pensioner Settlements. Are the electors of this content that their own views and objects should be thwarted by their own Members ? Responsible Government—that is, government according to the Views of the majority in the House of Representative*—is nenitable, and. as I think, most desirable. (Cheers.) If the old majority should return to power, they will surely overturn the liberal and truly popular Waste Lands policy, which His Excellency, with the support of the minority, so earnestly recommended. In the government of the late majority, Auckland had no influential voice; for the professed representation of Auckland in the Executive-Council by Mr. Hartley was altogether unreal. For my own part, I am going presently to the South, where I shall miss no opportunity of urging upon tho.-ie electors who may please to listen to me, the expediency, for all popular objects of turning out partizans of the late majority. (Cheers.) In the South, the people are more political than those of Auckland have been ; but you are now getting on fast in the knowledge of the rights and duties of electors under our constitutional system. There is before us the prospect of an early general election ; but why wait for that event? (Cheers). It is reported that a new Governor is coming soon to replace Colonel Wynyard. I hope not, and should be glad if one so brave, straightforward, and openhearted, with such popular sympathies, as the Colonel, were to become full governor, and remain with us for years. (Loud cheering). We know him, and can trust him, (Cheers). The appointment of new Governors is an ugly lottery for colonies. J f we have one soon, he must come here to be sworn into office. Of course he will enquire all about recent evems. We must not expect that he will be a devoted colonist in spirit; he will, like Mr. Sewell, be a stranger to the colony, not intending to live and die in New Zealand ! and, naturally his main object will be to get on with comfort and credit by working a representative constitution in harmony with the majority of the people. We may presume therefore, that he will ask, which is the party of the majority ? As to the Auckland Province, were the majority of the people truly represented by the eight who supported the Fitzgerald ministry ? He will be assiduously told that they were. Is it true, (cries of "No.") Well, that is my own opinion, so far as I am able to form one; but the governor will form one for himself according to the facts which may appear ; and, after all the question will be—What'have the electors said and done ? This "kneeling will be a fact of some importance; ' but it is only saying, not doing. What will the electors of the other districts say or dor I cannot pretend to answer that question, because, though I am perfectly entitled to scan the doings of your members in the General Assembly, 1 am too little acquainted with the Northern constituencies, to utter any confident opinion as to whether or not they approve of the conduct of the majority of their members ; and still less woud I venture to say whether they are yet sufficiently awake to their position as electors to act upon their opinions, if these are really unfavourable to the majority, by calling on those members to resign their seats who, in that case, would have misrepresented them. But I am confident from the South, electors will not only express their dissent from the majority, but will act upon it. (Cheers). I thank you once more for the very gratifying expression of your opinions is to the conduct of the minority, and trust that the example of attention to the public interests which has thos been set by one of the Pensioner Settlements, will not be lost upon thecoiouy. [Loud and long continued cheering succeeded Mr. Wakefield's speech]. Mr. J. C. HILL rose to proposea resolution which he believed ought to be adopted bythe constituencies of every electoral district of the Province. It was a tsjell-known fact that on some of the most important questions which were considered in the House of Representatives —questions deeply affecting the interests of this the greatest province of New Zealand—the views and wishes of the people were shamefully misrepresented by the majority of those very members who had been elected and sent there for the purpose of faithfully expressing the opinions of the inhabitants of this Province, He could hardly believe that there could be found as many men among the electors of the Province as were found among their rcpresentati ves in the )4 juse who would oppose as they opposed the just and politic arrangements which were proposed for securing land for the working colonists. And was such misreprsentation to be tolerated in the outset of the free political career of this colony ? Again, when Major Greenwood's Bill for the adjustment of the Electoral Rolls was moved for a second reading, only two of these misrepresentatives (Messrs Carleton and Brown) thought proper to remain in the house, and that too to vote against the bill the others kept away altogether but strange to say when the time came round a few days after, when their own votes were required to secure a grant of the public money to pay their own expenses, every man of them was to be found in bis place. Look again at the support given by tkose members to a ministry from which Auckland could expect nothing but injustice, whose leader if he had been able would have broken the faith of the Crown with this settlement and removed the seat of the General Government to a position more convenient to the seat of his own government, and then contrast the support given to that ministry with their opposition to a ministry intended to be composed of members representing every Province, and then say--are we willing that these men should continue to hold seats in which they may continue to set at nought the opinions of the people with impunity. Mr. Hill, after expressing his belief that the Electors of the Pensioners Settlements would set the other constituencies a good example, concluded by moving the following :

*• That this meeting deiircs to express iu disapprobation of conduct of the majority of the members of this Province, in the Hoo.se of Hepresemative*, on several questions vitally affecting the interests of the Province, and trusts that an opportunity wul be afforded them of publicly accounting to their respective constituencies for the course they [have pursued."

Captain XIN'NIS expressed his full concurrence in the resolution and had much pleasure in seconding it. The resolution was then put and carried unanimously. Mr. J. MURDOCH then moved the following, which was seconded by Mr. Bates, o-iri carried. " That the thanks of the Electors of the Pensioners Settlements are due to their Representatives in the Provincial Council, -and that this Meeting on behalf of the Electors of this Settlement does hereby acknowledge their grateful sense of the manoner in which lh«y fulfilled the trust reposed in them daring the Qrst Session of that Council." The Chairman, and Messrs. Lewis and Williamson, replied on Ixhsif of themselves and their absent colleague, Mr. Brennan, The whole presented a most gratifying exhibition of the intelligence and good feeling of the Pensioners. Considering that it was ihe first meeting of the kind held in Onehunga, there was a very creditable manifestation of those elements of political information, and of-appreciation of the best and most becoming mode of giving expression to political views, which, in older places, have made such occasions, not merely pleasant at the time, but influential then and afterwards.

At the close of the proceedings, a vote of thanks to the Ladies who had superintended the anangements, wa« carried amidst loud cheering. With reference to this motion, it was remarked by the mover that Mr. Wakefield, in telling of this meeting in other places, might add to the statement previously mad.e by himself) that the community had, since the meeting of. the General Assembly, greatly advanced in political knowledge) the further exemplary fact that here the ladies are not excluded from being present at such Meetings as that which had then been held.

Major Greenwood was then moved into the cliair, and a vote of thanks to Mr. Powditch for the manner in which he had presided over the proceedings of the evening having been cordially passed, the meeting broke up about ll o'clock.