New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, April 12, 1848.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 282, 12 April 1848, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Wednesday, April 12, 1848.

The Despatches, which we have republished from the last Blue Book on New Zealand affairs, are among the most important public documents relating to this colony. From them we learn the suspension of the Constitution lately conferred upon the colony by the British Government, and obtain an outline of the modification of it which it is proposed to substitute in its place. The reasons which have led to the adoption of this measure are stated at length in the despatches of his Excellency the Governor- in- Chief ; and their force and weight are admitted by the Colonial Minister, and, moved as much by their confidence in the tried ability and experience of his Excellency as by the arguments advanced by him, the Ministry propose to introduce a bill into Parliament to reconstitute the Legislative Council, with additional powers to enable his Excellency to make the necessary changes and arrangements pointed out in the despatch. Lord Grey admits that this unusual delegation of authority is to be justified only by the great distance and peculiar circumstances of New Zealand, which render any attempt at legislation, except on the spot, neither safe nor practicable, and with general directions as to the wishes of the Ministry, commits the issue to his Excellency's judgment and personal experience. It is important to observe, that the reasons urged by his Excellency for the suspension of the New Constitution apply exclusively to the peculiar circumstances of the Northern Province, to the great preponderance of the native population, and the unsettled state of the questions connected with the land* claims under the penny an acre proclamation. His Excellency expressly states that he " can have no hesitation in recording it as his opinion, that there never was a body of settlers to whom the power of local self-government could be more wisely and judiciously entrusted that the inhabitants of the settlements of the Southern Province." This being admitted, there are no existing circumstances which need prevent the immediate introduction of Representative institutions into this province, there is certainly no valid reason why it should be deprived of rights to which its inhabitants are entitled and which they are fully qualified to enjoy, because the Northern Province is not yet fitted to receive them. Still less reason is there that the enactments which are to confer these important benefits should be submitted to the Council of a Province not yet in a position to receive the minor privilege of a Provincial Assembly. It would be so palpable an absurdity, so manifest a contradiction, that we hope it will not even be attempted. And we are not aware that the former attempts at Legislation by this body have been of such a character as to entitle them to the consideration or confidence of the community at large. The trust delegated to his Excellency is of no ordinary kind ; upon him devolves the responsibility of gratifying the expectations which have been justly excited : by wise and judicious arrangements he has the opportunity of establishing a form of government which by its simplicity and adaptation to the wants and wishes of the colonists may supersede the complicated machinery proposed to be introduced by the Charter, and become an enduring monument of his ability and a

model for the imitation of the surrounding colonies. The New Constitution as contained in the Charter and Instructions cannot be said to have , excited any verygreat sensation in the colony. By many it was viewed either with indifference or dislike, and those who were desirous of seeing it in operation were influenced less from admiration of the proposed plan than by the important and valuable principle of representative institutions which it conferred. His Excellency has now, in the exercise of his delegated authority, the opportunity of securing the gratitude -of the colonists, by conferring on them institutions which shall place the prosperity of the colony on a permanent basis. Such an opportunity has rarely before occurred to the Governor of any colony ; it remains to be seen what use he will make of it.

The Racehorse arrived on Monday, bringing* Nelson papers to the Bth instant, but they contain no news of any importance. The reselection of town acres at Nelson under the arrangement recently made between the New Zealand Company and their purchasers, commenced on the 31st ult.; but some mistake which occurred in the choices by the Company's Resident Agent has occasioned the selection to be for the present suspended, A passing allusion is made in the Nelson Examiner to an offer lately received by the Proprietor of that Journal, from some persons in this settlement, to establish himself in Wellington, and advocate their opinions. He confesses "to have but little inclination for it," and thus slightingly dismisses the subject.

New Magistrates. — The following gentlemen have been appointed to the commission of the peace for the Southern Province of New Zealand. Wellington — Capt. E. M. O'Connell, 99th regt., Major of Brigade ; Dr. Fitzgerald, Colonial Surgeon ; and J. Kelham, Esq. Nelson — J. Saxton, and H. F. Gouland, Esqs. Otakou— W. Cargill, C. H. Kettle, D. Garrod, and E. Lee, Esqs.