NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, November 9, 1853.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 863, 9 November 1853, Page 2

NEW ZEALAND SPECTATOR AND Cook's Strait Guardian. Wednesday, November 9, 1853.

In the Executive Bill as printed in our last number by a mistake which we hasten to correct, it was stated" the entire administration of the Provincial Executive Government shall be vested in the Superintendent alone, acting by and with the consent of an Executive Council, &c.,* instead of " by and with the advice, &c." In making this correction we may take the opportunity of drawing attention to the operation of this clause, and compare it with that for which it was substituted. In the draft of this Bill the first clause stands thus : — "The Superintendent of the Province shall, in his own person, conduct in all necessary details the administration of. the Gsovern.i ment of the Province."

The effect of such a clause would be to establish Irresponsible Government, and to render the Superintendent wholly independent of, and not in any Way accountable to the Provincial Council. But by vesting the administration of the Provincial Executive Government in the Superintendent, " acting hy and with the advice of an Executive Council, 1 as enacted by the amended clause, the whole becomes •entirely changed, and ResponsibleGd vernment is effectually established on a broad and stable foundation. Now, the Council can require an explanation of every act, and demand the fullest information as to every proceeding of the Executive Government from its responsible advisers. The Superintendent can make no appointment, can take no step without acquainting the Council with his reasons for it. This, with the resignation of their seats in Council by members on accepting office, affords the best guarantees to the Province that Responsible Government shall not be a sham, but that the principle shall be fairly established and acted upon. The electors should bear in mind that they owe the establishment of this principle, not to the present holders of office, not to those who profess ever to have been the enthusiastic advocates of Responsible Government. The proceedings of the Council show plainly they would have shirked the principle of Responsible Government if they could. It is not to be found in the Draft of the Executive Bill as introduced by them into the Council. It is also very clear the present holders of office tried hard to evade it, by not resigning their seats on accepting office, a point which they have contested with the utmost pertinacity, and which, when they found their position no longer tenable, they have yielded with the worst possi- . ble grace. The proceedings of the Council so far have jbeen very instru*c* live ; before the close of the Session they will no doubt furnish other proofs of the capacity of the present holders of office for the conduct of public business, and of their sincerity in carrying out Responsible Government.

A Prospectus has been issued in London of a new Banking Company, to be called " The New Zealand Bank," projected with the design of conducting the general business of banking in New Zealand, -\\ ith branches in the various Australian Colonies, the Cape of Good Hope, and Port Natal. The Bank to be incorporated by Royal Charter, or empowered by Actof the Colonial Legislature, limiting liability. Capital, £500.000, in 25,000 shares of £20 each, with power to ire "ease to the sum of £1 ,000,000. The directors advertised are B. L. Baynham, D. Bridges, Leonard P. Cox, C. H Edmonds, B. Golding, W. Goodwin, and H. Mottram, Esquires.