LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Friday, December 12.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 67, 17 January 1846, Page 3

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. Friday, December 12.

Present —The Lieutenant Governor, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Colonial Treasurer, Frederick Whitaker, Esq., William Donnelly, Esq. The Rev. J. F. Churton, colonial chaplain, read |

_ having prayers, The Governor addressed the Council as follows t — Gentlemen —l have assembled you at this early period 'after my arrival in the colony, for the purpose of introducing into the Council a hill for placing restrictions upon the importation of arms, gunpowder, and other warlike stores. It is not my intention to submit at present any other legislative measures for your consideration ; indeed, nothing but the extreme urgency and necessity of the case could have induced me so shortly after my arrival in the colony to have proposed any law for your adoption. I should have preferred, before I had assembled the Legislative Council for the despatch of business, to have visited each portion of the colony, and to have made myself acquainted with- the state and requirements of each settlement. With the experience which I - should thus have gained of the wants and resources of New Zealand and of the present condition and necessities of that portion of the , Queen's subjects whose happiness and welfare the Queen has confided to my care, I should have felt greater confidence in recommending for your adoption laws which I might have considered applicable to the present circumstances of the colony. I hope yet to be able to pursue this course before submitting to you any other measure than the bill which I am about to lay on the table. I feel it to be due alike to the interests of both races of her Majesty's subjects within this colony to take this, the first public opportunity that has been afforded me, of stating in the most explicit terms that I have been instructed most honourably and scrupulously to fulfil the conditions of the Treaty of Waitangi; by which the full, exclusive, and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates, forests, fisheries, and other properties which the chief 3 and tribes pf New Zealand and the respective families and individuals thereof may collectively or individually possess, was confirmed and guaranteed to them, so long as it may be their wish and desire to retain the same. I have further been instructed to omit no measure within the reach of prudent legislation, of of a wise administration of the law, for securing to the aborigines the present freedom and safety to which they are entitled, and the most unrestrained access to all the means of knowledge and of civilization provided for them by the pious zeal which has established and which principally maintains an Episcopal see and Christian missionaries for their instruction. ... In reference to the opinions, feelings, and prejudices of the natives of this country, which are not in themselves opposed, to the fundamental laws.of .morality, nor inconsistent with the peace and welfare of the colonists of European descent, and from which it would be impossible rudely and abruptly to" divorce them, I am instructed, both in the structure and administration of the law, to respect as far as possible these opinions and feelings. Subject, however, to these general rules, it will be my duty to require from this people an implicit subjection to the laws, and to enforce that submission by the use of all powers, civil and military, which have been placed at my command. The financial condition of the colony has necessarily already engaged my anxious attention, and I have felt it to be proper to lose no time in affording yon the most complete information in my power upon a subject of such' great importance to yourselves and to all who have an interest in New Zealand.

You will perceive from the returns which I have directed to be presented to you, that a debt of considerable amount is already due by the Local Government, and that the expenditure at present very largely exceeds the total income which is derived from the colony, the' parliamentary grant, and every other source ; ; tftat a large addition is constantly being mtdeto that debt, and must continue to be so until I can determine upon the measures which it will be absolutely requisite should be taken to equalize in some degree the income and txpenditure of the colony. It will be my earnest desire at all times to co-operate with you most cordially in any measures which may tend to promote the prosperity and happiness of her Majesty's subjects in this colony. I feel most deeply impressed with the magnitude and difficulty of the task which has devolved upon me, and I must in the present crisis look not only to yourselves, but to the inhabitants of New Zealand generally, for confidence and active assistance. - You may rely that, my sole aim and object shall be to settle upon a sure and lasting basis the interests of yourselves and of your children, and to give effect to her , Majesty's wise and benevolent desires for the peace and happiness of all her Majesty's subjects in this interesting portion of her empire, and Upon Which the regards of so large a portion of the civilized world are now anxiously fixed. Mr. Whitaksr moved that the Governor's speech be printed. Seconded by Mr. Donnelly.

The Governor then laid on the table a bill to empower the Governor of New Zealand to regulate the importation and sale of arms, gunpowder, and other warlike stores. Mr. Whitaker said that previous to the first reading of the bill he would take the opportunity of mentioning a matter to which his Excellency had not referred in his speech, but on which much excitement naturally prevailed; it was respecting the debentures. He would take the liberty at that moment, or if it was considered irregular he would give notice of putting the question next day. An impression had gone abroad that some new measures were in contemplation respecting the Government debentures; he would merely ask if such was the fact ?

The Governor observed that neither now nor at any other time did he contemplate any deviation from the terms published. He had gone to the limit which bis instructions allowed, and until he heard from England nothing further could be done.

The Attorney-General moved that the standing rules and orders of the Council be suspended, and that on the first reading of the bill the preamble only be read, and oo the second reading the amendments should be made. The motion was agreed to. -

TheATTORNEY-GENERALmov«d the second reading of the bill. He thought the measure unobjectionable in principle, and called for by the circumstances of the colony. Now that we have the support of five ships of war, and nearly one thousand troops, the time was come when such a measure might be passed without endangering the safety of the European population. Persons at a distance, unacquainted with the actual condition of the colony for the last four years, may probably be surprised that a measure so desirable should not long since have become law; but in this case, as in many others, those who have been entrusted with the affairs of the colony must be content, for a little while longer, to bear the obloquy and abuse which had been so unsparingly heaped upon them. When it was considered how inadequate was the force hitherto stationed in the colony, inadequate even to preserve a single settlement from destruction, much that has been blamed as culpable negligence on the part of the Government, was only the result of prudent forbearance. He apologised for trespassing somewhat irrelevantly on the time of the Council, but hoped the bill would pass into a law, and that every well disposed member of the community would lend his active aid in carrying its provisions into effect. The Council then went into committee on the bill. The blanks were filled up with the sum of £500 as penalty in the several clauses, and the bill was ordered to be read a third time on the following day, to which the Council adjourned.

We are sorry to state that jn consequence of unfavourable advices from England, the kauri gum has fallen in Sydney from £18 to £11 per ton, and no purchasers at that price. Large quantities are on hand. — Nelion Exr.

H. M. Ships Castor, Dtdalus, and the war steamer Driver, will proceed to New Zealand immediately. The gentlemen of the Colonial Office are at length aroused ; but we" fear that their folly will cause more bloodshed, and be a more tedious affair than they are aware of. — Friend of China September 17. » - On Wednesday, December 10, H. M. S. Castor, 36 guns, arrived here from Hong Kong, which she left on the 28th September. We are much indebted to Captain Graham,

.and his officers, for their politeness in conveyiiig to us from the English colony of Hong Kong, the official Government organ — the China Mail, up to the 25 th September ; by which we learn that now a regular line of steamers' communication is established between London and Hong Kong, in fifty days ; and that H. M. steamer Driver was to leave Hong Kong at the same time as the Castor, and her arrival, with that of a forty-two gun frigate, the name of which we have not been able correctly to ascertain, may be hourly expected. The Castor sailed to the Bay of Islands yesterday morning. The first Legislative Council under the Governorship of Captain Grey, assembled yesterday, the proceedings of which will be found in our columns. The- papers relative to the financial state of the colony, laid before the Council by the Governor, will have our earliest attention. We only have space enough on the present occasion to state, that the balance, against the colony, on the 15th November, of its assets and liabilities was £53,440 : 4s. : Id. ! ! !— Neto , Zealand*-, December 13.

Native War. — We have been favoured with a translation of a letter from a native, to the Rev. T. Buddie, giving an account of a recent collision between the tribes of Ngatiteata (Katepa), and Ngatitemaoho (Wetere), on the southern shores of Manukao harbour, about twenty-five miles from Auckland, — which, with other particulars since ascertained, enables us to lay before our readers an account of the conflict which may be relied upon as correct. This quarrel, which we noticed some numbers back, has been fomenting for months psisc, and originated in disputes respecting several blocks of land on the Manukao. On Tuesday last, Dec. 9, Wetere (or Wesley) sent a party of his men to cut a boundary that should divide the land now in dispute, at a place called Taurangaruru, which having done, were returning to their pah, when Katepa's men pursued and fired upon them — wounding three of their party. The fire was instantly returned — three chiefs were shot dead on the spot, and several wounded — and then Wesley's messengers returned to their pah. Of the latter party, there weie three slightly, and one dangerously wounded; and of the others, the slain are Te Kuri (a son of Kaihau), Poike (a nephew of Abraham of Waiuku), Reihana (a young chief of the Ngatipou of Waikato). — Toahaere, another chief, lies dangerously wounded, and several others received slight wounds. It seems that Wesley does not intend any aggressive movements, but to sit quiet at his pah and defend himself against any attack that may be made by the other party. At the commencement of this quarrel, the contending parties being very nearly related to each other, it was only considered in the light of a family squabble — and little doubt was entertained of its ami-able termination j but it is no longer a dispute between relatives -7-the adherents of each party have been drawn into the contest, bringing with them feelings of a very different character to those which actuated the original disputants ; and as some of those who have fallen in the conflict, are men of rank and extensive connexions, we fear the matter will grow very serious. It is said that Te Wherowhero is likely to be involved in the contest. If so, the principal part of Waikato will follow him — and a breach will be the consequence which may require years to restore. — Ibid.