NELSON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. Wednesday, November 9.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 870, 3 December 1853, Page 3

NELSON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL. Wednesday, November 9.

Dr. Monro said he rose to move, " That the Council returns its thanks to his Honour the Superintendent for his address to them, to" which it will not fail in the conduct of its business to give its most attentive consideration. And with regard to the only point raised which appears to demand an immediate reply — the preparaiiqn of the Estiraates~the Council desires to express its opinion that these should be, prepared and submitted to it with the least possible delay/ But before asking the Council to assent to the motion, toe would make a few remarks upon the Superintendent's address, and upon the position and duties of the Council. In commenting upon the address, it was with much regtet that he felt himself compelled to allude to a circumstance, trivial perhaps in itself, but of some importance when looked at in connection with other adts of greater significance and demanding more serious attention — he alluded to the fact of his' Honour having delivered his address to the Council in a sitting posture. He , believed that it was customary for her Majesty to sit in addressing the Houses of Parliament, but that in this colony it had been the custom of Governors and Lieutenant Governors always to rise when they addressed the Legislative Councils, however composed. To him, it appeared only decent and respectful that such should be done, and he would venture to express a hope that when next his Honourhad occasion to address this Council, he might have discovered that it would not be derogatory to the- dignity of his office to do so standing. He presumed that his Honor would justify his conduct in this respect by asserting that he was the Repiesentative of the Crown in the Province, but passing over the conduct of indubitable representatives of the' Crown in this colony, to whose behaviour in this respect he had already alluded, he (Dr. M.) begged entirely to deny the position, if indeed it were assumed by his Honour. He could not for his part admit that there was. anything but the most distant and incomplete analogy between the office of Superintendent and that of a Lieu- , tenant Governor. Mr. Elliott had alluded to the Superintendent as a high executive officer, but he (Dr. M.) begged to remind the Council, that under the Constitutional Act the Superintendent bad no .higher executive functions cen- j fided to him than were commonly given to the Treasurer of a municipal corporation, viz., that of distributing thepublic money by bis warrant, and that any executive functions which he was to have or exercise were such as this Council might , coufer, npon him^ At the .present moment, the Superintendent did not possess the power of appointing a single officer of the government, not even a constable. He believed that the same mistaken view of the nature of his office and of his. position was to be recognised in. the style of the Superintendent's address, upon which also he felt himself reluctantly compelledto "make" a few'animadversions. Its tone-was much too courtly for him. It might be.meant perhaps to be encouraging, and might be considered so by some gentlemen, but for bis part he, thought that it, was in a bad taste, and altogether a mistake.' ' He could recognise nothing in the position or office of/ Superintendent, which should warrant 'him in addressing- such language as this ' t6 r ,th'e Council : — " I ' willingly declare my belief that these powers wifl be exercised by you witK wisdom and justice, and that your acts will be directed to secure, upon a firm basis, the liberties of the people, while calculated tor increase their attachment to .the person and throne of their sovereign." He, considered that this was rather too patronizing, and'while it assumed on the part of his Honour, some-

thing of a kingly infallibility, it might be taken to convey an insinuation that it was just possible that the Council might' act otherwise ; at all events, that it ' was necessary "to encourage them,' and to .point out the proper path. He would only further say before dismissing this subject," that there w'eire gentlemen in this Council, whose political antecedents rendered them (to say the least) quite as little liable to Imputation of any want of respect for the institutions of their forefathers, or any" want of attach&ent , to the person and throne of ' their Sovereign, as his Honour the Superintendent himself. But he willingly dismissed this, part of the subject, and proceeded to the consideration of some of, the questions raised in the address. He was, however, in common with .other members of the Council, in this position of disadvantage that they had not before them the various documents referred to, which it was necessary that they should see before coming to any satisfactory conclusion. In particular he referred to ■the absence of the documents referred to in the address, bearing upon the all-important question of the appropriation of the revenue. But even in the absence of these documents, he thought that the Council, 'upon a general view of the' question, migtit^pranotuice its decision." For his part/he thought that the course which his Honor had adopted in this matter was the correct one, viz., to obtain the sanction of this Council before proceeding to prepare an Appropriation Bill. It was his opinion that, in taking upon himself to appropriate the existing revenue as he was doing, the Governor was acting, if not in a manner directly opposed to law, at all events, not in accordance with the spirit of the law. He then referred to the 66th clause of the Constitution Act, remarking upon it, that while it empowered the General Assembly to deal with any revenue arising in virtue of laws made by itself, and to hand over the balance to the Provincial Councils, that it ' did ' not authorise the General Assembly to touch any revenue which might be in existence when it met. No legal provision in fact appeared to be male for tbis, but then it was evident that it was the duty of the Governor to render the financial interregnum as short as possible by summoning the General Assembly to meet without delay. He should oe very sorry to advise this Council to do anything that might sanction a manifest illegality, but then it was to be borne in mind that the greatest possible amount of inconvenience would arise from a suspension of the appropriation of the public money, and further, that this Council was not perhaps the proper tribunal bywhich such questions were to be tried. It was therefore bis opinion that this Council should recommend his Honor to prepare the estimates with the least possible delay, and that the vindication of-the iaw, if it should prove to have been infringed, might with propriety be left to the General Assembly, which undoubtedly would not allow this question to pass over without enquiry. Having now spoken to the only point in the Superintendent's address which appeared to him to caH for an immediate answer, he would 'crave indulgence while he proceeded to make a few remarks upon the position of this Council, and the litre of -conduct which, with the greatest amount of advantage to the public it ought to take. And first be would consider ftt relative positlpnyi. ev> its posit on in relation to the other iegislative v aathorilies of the colony. It was hardly necessary for him to say, that it was essentially ajooal and subordinate legislative body, called into existence for the purp ise of managing the affairs of the Province, and for making such laws and regulations as coull be best made by persons of local experience, and acquainted with the peculiar events and circu nstancea of the district. He thought that a better enumeration of the objects- upon which this Council would have to legislate could not be met with than in the stb chapter of the Royal Instructions appended to the Act of 1846. This be then proceeded to read to the Council, and added, tha: he wished particularly to direct attention to this circumstance, thai all tha objects enumerated were such as Lord Grey contemplated as coming within the scope of the duties of a municipality. By confining themselves to local objects strictly, the Council would be pursuing a wise course, and would avoid the mortification and more serious mischiefs which might arise out of their coming into conflict with a body authorised by law to supersede or annul any of their decisions. There were some subjects, however, which occupied a neutral ground, with regard to wbiclrit was difficult tosay whether they were Provincial or General. Most prominent among these was the question of Education, which he regretted not to see referred to in the Superintendent's address. It was his opinion that Education was essentially a question for the Local Councils to deal with. There was another question; which though upon' the list of proscribed subjects, he observed that the Provincial Councils elsewhere were desirous of claiming tb tbemselves^he alluded to the power of disposal of the Waste Lands of the Crown. It was not his intention to eater upon tbe 'discussion of that subject at the present time. He would content himself by remarking, tbat be should very much deplore to see the management of the -waste lands in the hands of the Provincial Councils, and he trusted tbat this Council would not imitate what had been done elsewhere, and petition , the General Assembly to that effect. He would now proceed to consider the actual position of the Council. Their actual position was defined by the Constitutional Act, and also by the provisions of any former acts or charters, in so far as they were not repugnant to it* Bat the Constitutional Act does little more than prescribe the machinery by which they were called together! and lay down a few fundamental and organic relations* The rest is left to be filled up by the Councils themselves, to whom has been confided the task of giving' form and life to their Institutions, of impressing upon them their distinctive characteristics, and of prescribing the-amount of executive duties to be confided to tbe chief officer of the Province— the Superintendent. N ' The ' Council would therefore perceive that a very grave responsibility rested upon It ; it was not in the position of a Legislative Assembly called upoo to act according to existing forms, and in compliance with prescribed roles, and in a manner and character already determined by experience and precedent. On tbe other band, it was to consider itself in a great measure as a constituent body, that is, as a body charged with the duty of constructing and putting in ■ motion a new Legislative and and Executive machinery. Such really

was their position, and sensible of the'respt>n~si* bility resting upon theft, it behoved them t(/proceed with the greatest care and deliberation; bearing in mind, that false steps made at the outset would be followed by consequences of more than usrial importance, and' that errors committed Oo vr might entail 'results which afterwards it might' prove extremely difficult to rectify. It appeared to him that they had two great models of administration before them : the one was the municipal model, the other the Provincial Government model. The former was characterised by simplicity, economy, and he believed also efficiency! The latter 'was the reproduction a pun a minute scale of tne- machinery required to govern a large colony', or 'even an independent state. tJnder their Act; it was ? ©f .course impossible for them to aliopt the municipal model literally : but still he trusted to see if copied in spirit, and above all,- in its Absence of ostentation, and in its economy of expendiare. A reference to the debates in 'Parliament, and to the despatches of the Secretary of State, would convince any one that in conferring upon us a Government by means of Superintendents and Provincial Councils, the framers of the law conceived that they were virtually giving us mayors and corporate officers, raod'fied, however, in some important 'particulars, so as better to suit the peculiarities of ; our position. He would not occupy the time of the Council by reading more than one or two extracts from Sir J. Pakington's despatch, covering the Constitutional Act, from which that Minister's idea of the action of our local Governments under the law that he was transmittiDflL may be very distinctly inferred. In clause ' 7, air J. Pakington compares the Superintendent to the " chief Magistrate of an English Municipality," pointing out at the same time the difference in their functions, arising out of the mode of election of the former, and the greater legislative power intrusted to him ; and in clause 6, he says, that the functions of these Councils will be "limited to local objects, such as would be considered here to be of a municipal character, rather than partaking of the higher attributes of legislation." Extracts such as these, might be multiplied indefinitely, tending to prove that in bestowing upon us our charter of Government, British legislators conceived that they were bestowing upon the Province Municipal Government, in a new form, it is true, but nevertheless not altered in' its spirit. But what have been the expressed views of the Nelson colonists upon this subject; have they expressed any preference for Provincial Governments ? He did not suppose that the political discussions which took place in the beginning of the year 1851, had yet been forgotten: but lest the exact sentiments of the leaders of public opinion upon that occasion should have escaped the memory of any member of Council, he would take the liberty oi reading an extract from the Memorial of the majority at the Great Meeting: — " Your lordship wilt perceive that the Eighth Resolution contains a most important request, which it is the belief of the colonists is essential for the purpose of producing that Unity of action, accompanied by economy, which alone can confer a uniform national character upon the different portions of the colony, which it should be the desire of all to establish, and which the maintenance of the present system of Provincial Councils, (which we understand are likely to be still further increased i»i number), is caltulated utterly-to-de-stroy. One centrally situated Executive, with the aid of steam vessels to keep up a rapid and regular communication between the- Settlements, would be infinitely more direct mid efficient in its action, and far less costly in its maintenance than any number of Provincial Councils could hope to be. While to meet the wants of each separate district, Municipalities with extensive powers of legisla*ion on qu^stious merely relating to such district, would amply suffice for all their local wants. By this means, the inhabitants of each district would have their local laws enacted by those residing in it, and completely conversant with its circumstances, aiid they would be enabled to carry out the required measures without the risk of their clashing with the wishes of any other settlement probably Very dissimilarly circumstanced ; and this simple mode, which is eminently suited to the genius of the colonists of New Zealand, would be free from the expense of the more pretending Provincial Councils, which, while requiring the presence of Representatives frohi many settlements holding views on many subjects opposed to tbose of any one community, would in reality possess no power superior to that which might be at once vested in each local municipality." The views of those who dissented from the majority were equally strong upon the same subject ; it was a question, in fact, upon which the colonists were unauimous, and upon which he did uot believe that, as a body, they had even now changed their minds. But some persons who then swayed public opinion did appear to have changed their minds : »nd with regard to certain gentlemen wha at that time advocated ultra-democratic views, the virtues of which have always been assumed to.be a certain antique and Spartan-like simplicity, he could not refrain from pointing out to this Council bow surprising it was ;to see the perfect facility (he might almost say the unstudied elegance) with which they contrived to glide into the old conventional and prescribed tracks of courtly ceremonial. Connected with tbe general position of the Council, there was another subject upon which he would comment, a subject also referred to in his Honor's address, that it was in contemplation to create an Executive Council, who (he supposed) were lo Conduct the business of the Government in this Assembly. Something of the same sort, he saw, was proposed in the other Provinces, and plans were suggested by which the responsibility of the Executive to the Legislative body was lo be secured. But from what he had seen of these plans* he thought they exhibited an ignorance of the principles of Constitutional Government, either real or assumed. It was a maxim of the British Constitution, that tlie King can do no wrong. The Sovereign is held irresponsible, but all acts of his must be done by responsible servants. But is (here any analogy in this respect between the Crown and Superintendent? The Superintendents, indeed, seemed anxious to establish it, but the fact was, that wliile the former was directly irresponsible, the latter was as directly and decidedly responsible. There was therefore no necessity for beating about the bush to discover indirect modes of responsible government. Tbe Act makes the Superintendent responsible to the Council much more closely and directly than any servants of the Crown are responsible to Parliament in EngHe is virtually, in fact, liable to be re*

moved at any time from his office by a majority of the members of the Council.- Responsible Government in the Provinceswotihl accordingly seem to mean, the responsibility of the Superintendents; aud in that manner to be ns fully established as in the circumstauces of the case it can be. "For to suppose that a Province with a population such as ours- could supply Tarious sets of executive officers to execute the ta%k of the preponderating p'«rty m the Council, appeared to him simply absurdl He would now conclude, -by expressing his hope that the "Council would concur with him in thinking that the affairs of this Province ought to be conducted in an unostentatious 'and "economical manner — as farts possible, in short, in the spirit of a municipality. It might seem >to some persons, provided the work were done, to "be of very- little consequence in what form it was done*' But for his part, he dreaded fine names and lofty forms, as calculated to lead to expense; When people conoid ere.d .themselves the Representative* of monarcbs, and 'others as corresponding to the great officers of imperial states, they were very apt to consider an expenditure in some degree correspouding to all this state as necessary. 'For his part-, be deprecated - all this for various, rea* sons. ■He thought that nothing ought to be more aimed at than economy, and while he was prepared to .vote a liberal remuneration' to those, who did work, and served the public, he should protest against the expenditure of a single shilling upon anything that was not useful. He did not for his part see the necessity of any Government Gazette. He thought that notices to the public in - the newspaper would answer every purpose, and probably be more serviceable from its wider circulation. In other respects, he thought several proceedings might be .simplified, and ostentation avoided. He would request the Council not to forget the old fable of the ox and the frog, which, trying to equal its more powerful neighbour, blew itself up till k burst. Pie had made these few imperfect remarks in the hopes of contributing his mite towards enabling the Council to perceive its true position. By arriving at a proper knowledge of this, they frouid be able to adopt a distinct and intelligible line of action, which was calculated to be of service to the Province. Without it, they would be groping in the dark without principles or land- marks to guide them, and nothing but 'confusion or collision could result. He should now be most happy to listen to any remarks from any other speaker in furtherance of the same object. Mr. Hough secouded the motion. After some further discussion the resolution was put and carried, and the Council adjourned.