GENERAL LEGISLATIVE

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 605, 21 May 1851, Page 2

GENERAL LEGISLATIVE

On Monday the Session of the Gen gislative Council of New Zealand w W cd by His Excellency the Governor' * The large room (formerly used a room at Barrett’s Hotel) had been

under the direction of Mr. Roberts, the Government Architect, as a Council Chamber, and the different arrangements appear to have been made with judgment and good taste. The further part of the room was separated by an elliptic arch from the Council Chamber and appropriated to the public, and access afforded to it by means of an external staircase. From the interest excited by the occasion, and the general desire entertained of hearing His Excellency’s opening address to the Council, this gallery was completely filled. A guard of Honor of the 65th regt., under the command of Captain Barry was drawn up in front of the Government Buildings. Shortly after three o’clock Sir George Grey, wearing the insignia of the Order of the Bath, and accompanied by His Excellency the Lieutenant- Governor and the other members of the Council, proceeded to the Council Chamber, the band of the 65th regt, playing the National Anthem. The following members were present. His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor, Lieut. Col. M'Cleverty, commanding troops Southern Province, the Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Colonial Treasurer, the Collector of Customs, W. Hickson, Esq. and Capt. W. M. Smith. Prayers were read by the Rev. R. Cole, M.A., Colonial Chaplain; His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief then read the following address: — Gentlemen of the Legislative Council of the New Zealand Islands, — “ In conformity with the guarantee I formerly gave to the Provincial Legislature of New Munster regarding the places at which the meetings of the General Legislative Council of these Islands should be held. I have, upon the present occasion, caused the members of the General Legislative Council to be summoned to meet me at Wellington for the despatch of business. There seems also to have been a peculiar propriety in my now assembling you in the Southern Province, as the questions to be committed to your.consideration chiefly involve matters connected with the interests of New Munster: indeed, upon the proper solution of some of these, it may be said that the whole future prosperity of this colony depends. This Province also, at the present moment, appears to have peculiar claims upon your consideration, from the fact of two large and distinct settlements having been recently formed respectively at Canterbury and Otago, by the establishment of which the importance, population, and wealth of New Munster have been greatly increased. I entertain no doubt that the enterprise which led our countrymen to abandon their country, to form new homes, and to found those settlements in these Islands, will receive a rich reward, as the localities they have respectively occupied abound with natural advantages, and with resources which, when developed by the industry of civilized man, will soon afford ample means for the creation of private wealth, and of a considerable commerce which will enrich, not only this colony, but also the parent state. You will, however, I am sure, feel that you should omit no means within your reach, or which your experience may suggest to you, to foster the interests of these young communities, and to enable their inhabitants profitably to develop the resources of the country. In approaching the consideration of the various questions which will demand your attention, it must be gratifying to all to reflect that these Islands have now, under the blessing of Divine Providence, enjoyed so long a repose from the calamities of war, and have attained such a prosperous condition ; so that Jthe task you are now about to enter upon is giot, as heretofore, that of devising the means overcoming urgent and immediate danger, ®>r of remedying passing evils, but the far more jgßrateful one of developing the resources of the Wountry, and of adopting measures which may ®old out a fair prospect of rendering permaeent the present prosperous state of New Zealand. 3 Amongst the most important of the measures to be brought under your notice is that relates to the settlement of the titles to ? w ithin the territory which was formerly Rested in the New Zealand Company. You are rf w ure that, after the lapse of so many years, not h J single settler within that territory is in possession of a legal or valid title or conveyance ° . P ro P ert y> and that the whole question ‘ » thles to land is in a most involved and con,.Used state. Until so great a difficulty is reF OV(; d, is impossible that any great ad*anc.es i n wealth or prosperity can be looked MH P art eW ea l an( i- Immedi- ; L e therefore, that the Local Government | ena hled, by the dissolution of the New g eala «d Company, to take any steps in rei l o^ nce . to this subject, I directed my atten- ® r” t 0 11 ’ * have had a measure prepared |» a /° Ur conB ’l? r ation which, in its general Hj a n reS ’ 1 well adapted to adjust and Z ® e ttle the various questions connected ggL? ' cs t 0 i n this part of New Zealand,

I must, however, necessarily depend upon your wisdom and knowledge of local affairs, for the settlement of the details of such a measure : and I confidently rely upon your affording me such advice and assistance upon this subject as may enable me to give my assent to such an ordinance as may secure to Her Majesty’s subjects a clear and satisfactory title to the lands to which they are entitled ; and as may, by putting the tenure of property upon a certain and beneficial footing, afford that security for the investment of capital in landed property which is absolutely requisite to ensure the rapid advancement of the country. Although the bill for this purpose provides, in the form in which it will be laid before you, for the complete settlement of the question of titles to land, I think, in reference to its effect upon the general prosperity of the country, it may be found possible to make some valuable additions to it.

Should the bill pass the Council nearly in its present form, its effect will be to leave in the hands of absentees and others, large quantities of land which they cannot use for many years ; this land is moreover divided into such minute subdivisions, and is scattered (even in the case of one owner of several allotments) over so great a space of country as to be of comparatively little use to the proprietor ; in many cases the position of these portions of land has hardly been ascertained, and the owner often residing in England there is frequently no person in this country empowered to dispose of such portions of land. Even in those cases in which the proprietor may have an ogent in New Zealand, it is often very difficult to find who the person possessing such power over any particular portion of land may be. Nearly all the immediately available lands in the vicinity of the older settlements are thus circumstanced ; when therefore, under the provisions of the proposed law, titles to their lands have been issued to all the proprietors, I fear that whilst they will be put into possession of that which will be of little use to them, the Colony will have to relinquish, for many years, all expectation of any fund being realized from the sale of land ; and that the difficulty of acquiring land by purchase will deter intending emigrants from resorting to settlements where land can not be immediately purchased in the vicinity of towns, at a public office where every information regarding all the lands which are open for purchase could be afforded to the immigrant. An attempt has been made, in the bill submitted for your consideration, in some degree to remedy these evils by the introduction into it of a provision under which persons would be permitted to exchange their claims to land for scrip, which would be available in the purchase of any land which the Government may at any time offer for sale in this Province. But although such a measure will perhaps remedy one evil, by inducing many persons to throw up their previous selections, and thus leave a greater quantity of land open to arriving immigrants, who would probably pay for it in the scrip issued by the Government which they would purchase from the holders of it; still the evil, in so far as relates to the total annihilation of the land fund, would for many years remain untouched.

I think, therefore, that the proposed measure might perhaps be amended by a further provision being made, which would enable the holders of scrip, if they desired to do so, to fund it by the purchase of Government debentures, payable at any time at the option of the Government after twelve months’ notice, and bearing a low rate of interest. Many persons would probably avail themselves of such a regulation, and its effect, in conjunction with the other proposed measures, would be to reproduce the land fund, and to afford ample lands for the selection, either of the present colonists, or of those who may arrive. It would indeed place the colony somewhat in the same position in which it would have stood, if its founders had, in the first instance, borrowed a sum of money for its establishment, the principal and interest of which were to have been a charge upon the future revenues of the countty. If the Council should, after mature consideration, think that an arrangement of this nature would tend to promote the prosperity and welfare of this Colony, I shall gladly avail myself of their experience and advice in considering the subject. Although the precise form in which you may wish the questions connected with titles to land to be adjusted is uncertain, I still felt so satisfied that you would agree in the general principle of attempting to secure to every bond fide proprietor an unimpeachable title to bis property, burthened with no conditions or reservations, that I have already directed that the surveys necessary to accomplish this object should be carried on as rapidly as possible; and the result of this, and of the measures now submitted to you, will, notwithstanding the present embarrassed state of the question, be to place in a few months titles to land in New Munster upon as clear and satisfactory a footing as in any part of the world.

Another law ofgreatimportancewhich I have directed to be prepared for your consideration, is an ordinance for regulating the occupation of the wastelands of the Crown in these Islands. I shall gladly cooperate with you in endeavouring to legislate upon this subject in such a manner as to promote and foster the pastoral interests of this Colony, which interests are of the highest value to this portion of New Zealand, as being the source from which you may immediately anticipate a large and valuable export, and a considerable commerce, and consequently that reaction in favour of the other interests of the country which will necessarily spring from increased wealth and augmented trade.

Actuated by the same desire of promoting the pastoral interests of this country as will, I am aware, influence you in legislating upon them, I have, in conformity with the requirements of the Royal Instructions, prepared the orders which I propose to issue for regulating the depasturing of sheep and cattle upon the Crown lands, a draft of which orders shall be laid before you.

I will also Jay before you a bill to empower the Governor to place at the disposal of any corporation which may be created in New Zealand, one third of the gross proceeds of the revenue realized from lands which may be disposed of by the Crown within the limits of such corporation.

Her Majesty’s Government were pleased, upon my recommendation, to advise the Queen to issue Instructions empowering the Governor of the Colony to authorize the application of any proportion, not exceeding one third, of the gross proceeds of the sales of Crown lands effected within the limits of any hundred, towards such purposes as shall be signified to him by the wardens of such hundred, or by such other authorities thereof as shall be designated for that purpose by any ordinance to be passed by the legislature of the said Colony, subject nevertheless to such restrictions and regulations as shall be imposed by such ordinance.

In fulfilment of these Instructions it has become my duty to propose for your consideration a bill for enabling the Governor, in those parts of New Zealand where a corporation may exist, to place one third of the revenue realized from the sale of land at the disposal of the corporation for the purposes indicated by the Royal Instructions, instead of leaving such portion of the revenue at the disposal of the wardens of the Hundred, as is at present the case. You will find that in all these measures relating to the sale and management of waste lands of the Crown, I have attempted to shew in the plainest manner that the Government only administers these lands as trustee for the public, and that its only desire is to protect the public interests in relation to them ; and I confidently hope that the large share which will now be given to the inhabitants of the Colony, and especially to the middling and humbler classes, in the management of the waste lands of the Crown, and in the employment of the funds derived from the sale of them, will teach them to how great an extent the interests of themselves and their families depend upon a judicious management of these lands by the Government.

In relation to the subject of the waste lands of the Crown, it gives me great satisfaction to be able to inform you that I have every rea-* son to hope that the Government will be able shortly to complete the purchase of two extensive tracts of land in the Hawke’s Bay district, comprising nearly 600,000 acres of land admirably adapted to agricultural and pastoral purposes; the acquisition of this tract of territory cannot fail to exercise a most beneficial influence upon the town of Wellington. In order that the fine tracts of country in the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay district should, as soon as possible, be connected with this town, the Government are making every exertion to have the Wairarapa road completed. Negotiations have also been commenced for the purchase of the Pelcrus district, the acquisition of which is regarded by the inhabitants of Nelson as essential to the prosperity of their settlement; and a sum of two thousand pounds has been appropriated for the purpose of opening a line of communication between Nelson and the Wairau, which road will pass through the fertile valley of the Pelorus.

I have directed that a bill to provide for the establishment of Provincial Legislative Councils should be prepared for your consideration. This measure has been drawn up in conformity with the powers conferred upon this Council by a recent act of the Imperial Parliament. The subject to which this bill relates is one which has engaged my thoughts and attention for a considerable period of time. Previously to preparing any measure regarding it for your consideration, I visited almost every portion of these Islands, and acquainted myself, in as far as practicable, with their wants, and requirements. I also carefully consider-

ed the relations and respective feelings of the different populations inhabiting these Islands, and weighed, in as far as I could, the diverse interests and prejudices which were to be consulted; finally, with a full sense of the deep responsibility which rested on me in attempting to introduce Representative Institutions throughout the whole of a Colony so peculiarly circumstanced as New Zealand is, with so large a native population, I caused a measure to be prepared, which was the best that my experience suggested to me; and although I have no doubt that many of its details may be beneficially amended, I have. not yet been able myself to devise, nor have I had presented to me, any plan which I can regard as so applicable to the circumstances of the Colony as that which I shall submit for your consideration.

I am glad to have it in my power to state in reference to the General Council for the whole of these Islands, that I understand that her Majesty’s Government will, in the present session of Parliament, bring forward a measure for the creation of such a Council; and there can, I think, be no doubt that if any subordinate measure for the constitution of Provincial Councils which you may pass should be found faulty, either in its general principles, or in its details, full power will be given to the General Council to amend and modify such a measure in any manner that it may think fit. I recommend to your earnest consideration the draft of a measure I have had prepared to amend the existing law which regulates marriages in the colony of New Zealand. The present law is not satisfactory to the members of a considerable number of congregations, and after frequent conferences with the leading members of such congregations, so that I might thoroughly acquaint myself with their feelings and wishes, I directed that the bill which I shall lay upon the table should be drawn for consideration. I have every reason to believe that the measure now proposed would be received as, in all respects, a most wise and satisfactory one by all classes of her Majesty’s subjects. Representations having been made to me from various parts of New Zealand, and especially from the Provincial Legislative Council of New Munster, to the effect that the substitution of a fixed system of levying Customs duties, in lieu of the ad valorem duties at present levied, would prove a great advantage at once to trade and to the revenue, I have caused a bill in relation to this subject to be prepared for your consideration. This measure is altogether based upon the Report upon Customs duties which was drawn up by a Committee of the Legislative Council of this Province, and which was found to have been so ab y and carefully prepared, that it was thought better to lay it before this Council exactly in the form in which it came from the Committee who drew it up.

By an Ordinance which was passed in the year 1848, the Legislature vested in me. as Governor-in-Chief. the sole control of the Post Office establishment in these colonies, as also the power of fixing, altering, and abolishing the rates of colonial postage. It was at that time, I believe, the intention of the Legislature that, so soon as I had established a postal system which was found in practice advantageous to the country and satisfactory to the public, a new law should be enacted providing for the continuance and maintenance of the system which I might so establish.

I will cause to be laid on the table copies of the proclamations which I have issued for the regulation of Post Offices, and for fixing the rates of colonial postage; and it will then rest with v ou to determine whether you will leave for some time longer in operation the existing Postage Ordinance, for the purpose of enabling me, in conjunction with the Right Honorable the Postmaster-General, fully to carry out a postal system by which letters may be prepaid in New Zealand to any part of Great Britain, or in that country to any part of New Zealand; or whether you will enact a new law upon this subject, confirming the present system of postal arrangements, or establishing some other system which may appear to you more likely to promote the interests of the colony. In order that in coming to a decision upon this subject you may be put in possession of the latest information regarding it, copies will be laid upon the table of a correspondence between the Postmaster-General and the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, from which you will find that the question of the amelioration of the postal arrangements between Great Britain and her colonial possessions is at the present time receiving the anxious consideration of the Home Government.

I have been directed by Her Majesty’s Government to propose for your consideration a bill for taking a census of the inhabitants of the New Zealand Islands, in the course of the present year,

it was intended in the year 1851 to take a census of the population of the whole British Empire, and I feel satisfied that you will, in so far as depends upon you, afford every assistance towards the accomplishment of an

object of such great national interest. Some difficulties will probably be experienced in ob-

taining even an approximately correct census of the native population of these Islands; but I rely upon your knowledge and experience for suggesting the best mode of accomplishing this object, in so far as it may be found practicable to do so. I have directed that the papers connected with this subject which have been addressed to me by Her Majesty’s Government should be laid before you.

The Imperial Parliament having recently agreed to certain resolutions with a view to putting an end to the troublesome and expensive practice of engrossing the Acts of the Legislature, I have directed that copies of these .resolutions should be laid before you, because the precedent thus afforded by the Imperial Legislature is one which I think you may find it expedient and desirable to adopt in reference to your own proceedings. The Imperial Parliament having also afforded the precedent of passing an Act for shortening the language used in Acts of Parliament, which may I think be most beneficially followed in New Zealand, I have directed that a measure for that purpose should be prepared for your consideration. The usual Financial papers shall be laid before you previously to my introducing a bill to provide for the appropriation of the revenues of these Colonies. Several measures in addition to those which I have alluded to in this address will be presented for your consideration, the requisite explanations regarding which shall be afforded to you, when the respective bills are introduced. In conclusion, it only remains for me to inform you that I have not upon the present occasion presented for your consideration any specific measures in relation to the large Native population of these islands, not because I am indifferent to, or unaware of the importance of this subject, but because the Laws relating to it which have already been enacted have appeared to me to suffice for the immediate wants of the Natives, and they are apparently working so beneficially for the Native population, that I have felt unwilling in any way to interfere with their operation. Should however your knowledge and experience enable you to suggest any amendments in existing laws relating to the Native race, or any new laws which may promote their greater welfare, yoa will find me, as on all other subjects relating to the interests of these Islands, prepared cheerfully and cordially to second your exertions for the public good.”

It was moved by the Attorney-General and seconded by the Colonial Treasurer, that His Excellency’s Address to the Council be printed. His Excellency then laid on the table Drafts of the following Ordinances:— An Ordinance to ascertain the Contracts and Engagements entered into by the New Zealand Company for the disposal of Lands in the Colony of New Zealand, and to provide for the completion of such Contractsand Engagements by the Colonial Government. An Ordinance to impose a Specific Duty on certain Goods in lieu of ad valorem Duty. An Ordinance to provide for the establishment of Provincial Legislative Councils, and for the Election &c., of Members to serve therein. A Bill to arrest Debtors escaping from tlic Colony. An Ordinance for the Naturalization of Certain Persons in the Colony of New Zealand. An Ordinance to amend an Ordinance for regulating Marriages in the Colony of New Zealand. The following notices of motion were then given by Hon Members, for the 29th, inst:— Ist reading of the Debtors Writ of Arrest Bill, by the Attorney General. Ist reading of Customs Ordinance by Mr. Hickson. Ist reading of Naturalization Ordinance by the Colonial Secretary: Ist reading of Marriage Amendment Ordinance by the Colonial Treasurer. The time of meeting was fixed at two o’clock, and the Council was then adjourned to Thursday the 29th inst., to afford time for the arrival of the other members from different parts of the Colony.