Copy of a Despatch from Earl Grey to Governor Grey. Downing-street, Nov. 30, 1847.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 280, 5 April 1848, Page 3

Copy of a Despatch from Earl Grey to Governor Grey. Downing-street, Nov. 30, 1847.

Sir, — I have to acknowledge your iwo confidential despatches of the 3rd and 13th of May, 1847. In these you express the apprehension you entertained respecting the proposed introduction into the colony of New Zealand of the charter established under the Act 9th and 10' th Viet., c. 103, by her Majesty's letters patent of the 23rd December, 1846, and the instructions accompanying them. And you state at length your objections to the immediate adoption of various provisions of that charter, esptcial'.y those by which a representative legislature is constituted. After the most attentive consideration which I have been able to give to your arguments, I have come to the same conclusion with yourself, that in New Ulster, at all events, it is inexpedient to bring into operation the provisions of the charter relating to representative government, until some time has been given for the gradual removal of difficulties which I trust are only temporary. The grounds on which you rest your objection to the immediate introduction of the contemplated change in the government of the colony, are in themselves sufficiently powerful to make the subject one of anxious deliberation. But, in addition to this, I have felt it my duty to give to your opinion all that personal weight lo which, it is entitled, from your tried ability and intimate acquaintance with the colony of New Zealand, and with the character and habits of its population, both European and natives. And the result is, that however reluctant I may feel to adjourn the execution of measures from which I anticipate great ultimate advantages, and possibly in doing so to disappoint expectations justly excited, I am, nevertheless, compelled to recognize the propriety of suspending for a time the operation of this important part of the charter. This will, 1 trust, be comparatively easy to effect, inasmuch as your despajtch of 3rd May, 1847, assures me that your intention then was to refrain from giving effect, at all events in the Northern portion of New Zealand, to so much of your instructions .as related to the creation of representative institutions, until you should receive my reply. The situation of New Munster is in some important circumstances different from that of the Northern Province. Those circumstances are referred to by yourself in the des.patrhes already mentioned, and also in your former despatch of the 7ih October, 1846. They are such if I rightly understand you, as, notwithstanding the risks which inevitably attach to all new measures of policy, to render

it upon the whole not inexpedient to introduce at once into its constitution the principle ol popular representation, although you do not seem to recommend that ihis should be done in the manner and to the extent contemplated by the Charter. The language and date of your last despatches, those of May, 1847, leave me also in some uncertainty whether you may not by the time this despatch reaches you, have already constituted the House of Representatives for the Southern Province. More probably, however, this will not be the case. And assuming that no steps will have been taken beyond the performance of the neressaty preliminaries, I have thought that upon the whole, greater inconvenience would arise from granting to one part of the colony institutions which are withheld for a season from the other, t!>an from extending to both a delay which may be imperatively called for by the circumstances of one only. Her Majesty's Government, therefore, propose applying to Parliament for power to suspend the operation of this part of the charter in the whole colony. 1 shall presently slate the course which should be pursued if the paits of the charter in question should be already in operation in New Munster. You state, in your despatch of the 3rd May, that, although you intended to proclaim the new charter immediately, the preliminaries necessary ior introducing the proposed representative institutions could not occupy less than a twelvemonth. If so, when this despatch arrives, there will be no legislative authority in existence, since the council which formerly exercised that function will have been dissolved, and the new legislature not yet constituted. In order, therefore, to secure to the colony the indispensable functions of a legislative body during the period for which it may be necessary to postpone the' introduction of representative institutions, the aid of Parliament will be necessary. A bill will accordingly be introduced into Parliament for this purpose, which will empower her Majesty to suspend, for the period of five years, the execution of so much of the letters patent of the 23rd December, 1846, as relates to the establishment of a separate assembly in each of the two provinces into which the colony is now divided, and to the establishment of a General Assembly of New Zealand ; and so much of the instructions issued therewith as relates to the constitution of a separate legislature for each province, and of a general legislature for the whole colony. In lieu thereof, the bill will empower her Majesty to reconstitute, for the same limited time, the legislative council established by the letters patent of the 9th December, 1840, i with the same powers which it possessed be- ! fore its abolition by the new charter, and with I certain additional powers hereinafter specified. The new, or reconstituted Legislative j Council, will therefore, in the first instance, consist of the persons to whom seats in it were assigned by the charter of 1840 ; but as a Council thus composed may not satisfy the requirements of the temporary order of things, it is intended that power should be given to yourself to add to its number. I have, however, already remarked, that I am uncertain whether at the time when this despatch reaches you, you may not already have authorized the election of the house of representatives for New Munster, and perhaps called the provincial assembly together. I feel also that, in addition to the precautions which this contingency renders necessary, it may be very important for the welfare of the colony, that during the period of the suspension of the new constitution, each of the provinces should enjoy the benefit of a separate legislature. On this subject I need not repeat the reasons which I adduced in favour of the measure in my despatch of the 23rd of December, 1846, accompanying the charter, more especially as I gather from your present despatches thac you concur in the views I have there stated. It is therefore proposed, that the legislative council should be empowered to constitute two subordinate provincial legislative councils during the period for which the operation of the existing charter is to be suspended. As this measure is avowedly temporary only, it is not intended to suggest the imposition of any restrictions on the legislative council in this respect, but rather to leave that body itself to determine the number of the members of such councils, and from time to time to make additions to it as may seem expedient. It will also be left in their power to determine whether or not members of their own body shall be also, and at the same time, capable of being members of the provincial legislative councils. It will also be in the power of the Legislative Council, should it so deem advisable, to introduce representative members into either Provincial Council, and to determine their constituency and the manner of their election. If two provincial Legislatures should be found to be necessary, when constituted in this manner, it is proposed that they should perform all tbe functions, and exercise all the

powers which by the acts, letters patent, and instructions are vested in the intended provincial legislative assemblies ; leaving it to the reconstituted Legislative Council of 1840, to perform the functions, and to exercise the powers confided by those instruments to the intended general assembly. I am sensible that such a delegation of authority to constitute legislative bodies is a very unusual measure. But the great interval of time which passes between the sending a despatch from New Zealand, and the receipt of a reply, rendering it impossible to feel confident that directions given here in consequence of your account of the state of affairs, will be applicable to that state of affairs which may exist when those directions reach you ; and the peculiar circumstances of the colony, with which only those on the spot can become thoroughly acquainted, make this appear to me the only safe course for our present purpose. *-With the insight which former despatches have given you into the views of her Majesty's Government, and with your own knowledge of the requirements of the community under your charge, you will be able to carry into effect these general directions, so iar as their execution depends on yourself. For instance, if when you receive this despatch, you should have already const. tuted the Provincial Assembly of New Munster, the powers of that body will be inevitably arrested for the present, by the operation ot the suspending act. In that case you may consider it advisable that the Legislative Council should exercise the powers conferred upon it, by keeping on foot the already constituted Provincial Assembly, and conferring on it those powers of legislation which would belong, according to the plan explained above, to the Provincial Legislative Council. If, on the other hand, the Provincial Assembly of New Munster should not have been already constnuted, you may consider it advisable that the Legislative Council for that province should contain, nevertheless, some admixture of representative members which you may detm it best to withhold *rom New Ulster. Lastly, should you, for any special reasons, esteem the establishment of provincial councils premature, and that the legislative functions of the General Council are suft ; cient for the wants of the colony during the interval which is to elapse be'ore the charter comes into effect, you can exercise your discretion on this subject also; remembering that the functions of Government may be lightened by the establishment of the town councils; and that if the Legislative Council feels itself able to place af the disposition of those bodies whatever portion of the general S revenue may not be requireJ for general purposes, they may effectually manage all matters of a purely local concern. On these points, I shall rely with confidence on your judgment in proposing such measures us you shall deem expedient, and on the zealous co-operation of the Legislative Council in considering them, and passing the necessary ordinances. I have also carefully considered the objections which you suggest to the immediate execution of that portion of the charter which relates to the establishment of municipal corporations, and the result is, that these objections have appeared to me rather to apply to the exclusive enjoyment by British settlers of municipal privileges to which the natives were not admitted, than to the creation of municipalities. It certainly would be a grievance calculated to excite just discontent, if natives resident in the boroughs, possessing property in them which would be liable to rates, and so much advanced in intelligence as you describe some of them to be, should be subjected to the burthens of a municipal system while excluded from the municipal franchise. It has, however, appeared to me that tbis objection would be better met by admitting the natives to the franchise, subject to the precautions which will presently be detailed, than by deferring the creation of these municipal bodies, together with that of the representative assemblies. For the delay which it is found necessary to interpose before the people of New Zealand can be admitted to exercise the higher functions of self-guvernmeut, seems rather to furnish an additional reason for establishing at once those [ subordinate institutions which have been justly regarded as affording the best preparation for the enjoyment of political rights. The following is the substance of the fresh instructions which I have thought it advisable to cause to be issued to you regarding the municipal franchise. That franchise is vested by the charter in every male person occupying a tenement within a borough. It is now' proposed to confine it to tenements of such value as the Legislative Council may fix as qualifying to vote. The franchise is also by the charter made subject to the following restrictions: — that it is not to be enjoyed "by any person not able to read and write in the English language." I have, upon the whole, thought it be6t to ad-

vise, not that this charter should be altered by removing this restriction, but that you should have a discretionary power to dispense with it. You will therefore be empowered to grant to such persons as you mny consider to deserve that privilege certificates that, although they may not be able to read and write the English language, they are good and faithful subjects of her Majesty, possessing the intelligence necessary for qualifying them to take a part in the administration of local affairs; and the possession of such a certificate will entitle the occupier of a tenement of adequate value, though he may not be able to fulfil the condition of reading and writing the English language, to be placed on the register: of the borough and to exercise his franchise. This measure will apply (as you will not fail to observe) in the first place to foreigners cf European origin (naturalized according to the colonial laws). These settlers are said to be in general intelligent, as well as industrious and orderly, although they may not be able to read and write the English language ; and as a general rule, you will naturally grant certificates to all of this class who apply for them, unless for special reasons, which appear to your mind sufficient to justify their being withheld. It will apply, in the next place, to the natives occupying tenements within the limits of boroughs ; and it was with a view to these that the restriction was originally conceived. With respect to them, you have recommended in your despatch of the 3rd of May, that the Governor should be empowered from time to time to name certain natives who should have the privilege. It is the object, of the additional instructions which you will receive, to carry into effect this recommendation, and accordingly the granting or withholding certificates to the natives will be a matter on which you must exercise your own discretion, both as to any general rules to be established and as to their application to particular instances. You will easily understand that it is the very earnest wish of her Majesty's Government to accelerate the coming of that time, which I hope it is not unreasonable to anticipate, when her Majesty's subjects, of all races, in New Zealand may be brought together under the bond of common free institutions. There are, doubtless, many impediments In the way of the early realization of such a prospect, which must strike the most ordinary observer, particularly those arising out of the peculiar character and circumstances of the native race, which you have stated for my consideration ; still I hope lam not too sanguine in adding, that, on the other hand, the aptitude of the New Zealanders for the acquisition both of knowledge and of wealth, the comparative ease with which a large part of the nation has liberated itself fiom the worst trammels of its former servitude, in a word, the superiority of their faculties to those of most other savages, justify the belief that the experiment may be tried, in their case, with encouraging prospects of final success. In the meantime, you will be able to observe the numbers and the dispositions of those who reside within the municipal districts. Of course I have, as yet, no information as to the extent of the different boroughs which you have probably, by this time, formed; but, assuming that their limits are such as I contemplated in framing the instiuctions, I am inclined to suppose such resident natives will not be so numerous, or so unmanageable, that they would be likely to obtain a preponderating or a mischievous influence in municipal elections were they freely admitted u> the register of burgesses. If I am right in this conjecture, your task of selection will be easier; if otherwise, you will be able to preserve the proper balance, by a more sparing and discriminating admission. It would be inconsistent with that free exercise of the elective franchise, without which it would have no value, if it were capable of being withdrawn at pleasure ; such certificates, therefore, when once granted, will remain permanently in force, unless the bolder should be convicted on any criminal charge which, in the opinion of the Court before which he is tried, may justify his being deprived of the municipal franchise, in which case this certificate will be cancelled. Such is the tutline of the powers and trusts which will be vested in you by the measures now in preparation. The confidence which her Majesty's Government reposes in you, justified by experience of your conduct under many trying and difficult circumstances, renders it, in my opinion, unnecessary to enter into minuter details. It is not without much regret, that her Majesty's advisers have felt themselves compelled to recommend the temporary suspension of a measure which had received the sanction of Parliament, with their own full persuasion of its utility. They are not insensible to the evil of even delaying the adoption of those institutions which have extended themselves along with the extension of the British race, wherever' established. A sense of what ii

due to the public safety, could alone have induced them to sanction this departure from the plan originally chalked out for the domestic policy of the colony; and they lely on your assistance to render the period, for which it is proposed that the charter should be suspended, an opportunity for preparing both settlers and natives to fill duly the positions which will be respectively assigned to them by the constitution under which they are to live. — I tiave, &c. (Signed) Grey. Governor Grey, &c, &c.