GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NEW ZEALAND. [From the New-Zealander, June 24.) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Tuesday, June 20. Order of the Day., Address to Governor-Responsible Government.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 939, 2 August 1854, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NEW ZEALAND. [From the New-Zealander, June 24.) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Tuesday, June 20. Order of the Day., Address to Governor- Responsible Government.

Mr. VVakefield said, — I rise to move the address to his Excellency of which notice has been given ; and in doing so I will confine rayself to one general observation on the exhausted subject to which the address relates. It is that, come what may, whatever may be the results of the step taken by his Excellency, he has completely done his part in this matter. Whatever may come of it, lie could do no more. Not only is the principle admitted without reserve, but as a principle of government, it has been carried into real and :ull effect. (Hear, hear.) For my own part, I confess that more has been done than I expected or hoped for at this time. The feeling, Sir, with which I regard this event, is one of high — if I may say so without appearing to exaggerate—of supreme satisfaction — satisfaction without a drawback. (Cheers.) Ido not intend to qualify this confession by adding, that the greatuess and suddenness of the change — the fullness oi the success — almost makes me share in the consternation of those to whom this revolution comes as a stunniug blow. (Hear.) I feel like one who has just escaped a fearful danger, for I am intimately persuaded that if this siep had not been taken, the country woald have been thrown into a state of convulsion. Not physical convulsion — of that there was never any danger, buc after having carefully watched the growth of opinion, and the temper of the colony on this subject, I am convinced that if we had got into collision with the Executive, and this bouse had been prorogued without doing any business, a most lamentable and dangerous state • oCyhings would have ensued, more especially in the provinces, of the South. There is a provision in the Constitution Act, with which my hon. "and learned ffiend (Mr. Sewell) is well acquainted, relating to the appropriation of the general revenues of the colony, whereby if this house hadk" Stopped the supplies," by refusiog to appropriate, the whole of.* the revenues would have become surplus under the Act, and would have belonged to the provinces. Or, at any rate, the

five Southern Provinces would have so interpreted the Act, and would hive taken possession of all general revenups, lam^nnd as well as customs duties, nisediu eich ol them. What would hive I)9hii the effect ? (H>»r, hear.) The General Government would huve disappeared (hfdr, hear), at least from too South. Was not that a dangerous prospect ? (Cheers.) I know that the word " danger " has been objected to, but not by anyone acquainted with the South, and the temper of its Provincial Councils. Having that knowledge myself, I say with confidence that there was imminent danger of events which, to say the least, would have proved very injurious to the colony for a long while, and must have been fat 1 to the pursuit of those much desired objects which we have now so fair a prospect of attaining (cheers). But at this moment, Sir, another fear has come upon me. I am now somewhat afraid of something else — something: of a very different character and tendency. I look with some apprehension to the possibility, that we, betrayed in o over-confidence by the greatuess of our unexpected success, may be disposed to go too fast in the exercise of the powers which that success has bestowed upon us. (Hear, hear.) Prosperity is harder to t ear than adversity, I trust that we may not be [led away by this great event, to think ourselves immaculate ; to believe that whatever we do must be right ; to resemble the army or navy captain, who receives af his club the astonishing information that her Majesty's Government consider him to possess the high qualities which fit him to represent the Crown in one of her Majesty's colonies, and who, after a night of sleepless enjoyment, looks at himself in the glass, find asks his image how it happened that their great capacity for governing remained so long undiscovered. (Laughter and cheers.) Sir, 1 venture to pray of th« bouse to recollect that, in present circutnstances, the state of mind that will best become us, is one of thcughtfulness and caution in all our proceedings. (Hear, hear.) I will now proceed to notice the ministerial arrangements which have resulted from oui successful pursuit of responsible government, and will afterwards touch, upon, the policy of the new ministers as that was developed to us by the able and interesting speech of my lion, friend the member for Lyttelton (Mr. Fitzgerald). Bui, first, let me say that this appears a most filling occasion for such remarks. We have been here nearly a month, and have hitherto discussed only the single topic of responsible government. None of us has had any opportunity of expressing his views as to legislation for the general advantage of the colony and the particular Provinces. We have not had before us any legislative policy that we could examine. Such a policy has now been framed lor us by three of our body, or, rather, is submitted to us by them for our consideration. Our first duty is to examine it ; and, indeed, my hon. friend (Mr. Fitzgerald) at the close of his speech, expressly invited us to examine it in a spirit cf friendly hut searching criticism ; an invitation which, I am sure the house thinks with me, came from him with peculiar grace and propriety. (Cheers.) Considering the ministerial arrangements in a general point of view, it is manifest to all of us that they are incomplete, not intended to be permanent, essentially provisional, and therefore designed to be improved as soon as possible, (bear.) lam not finding fault with jthat ; p,n the contrary, I well know that the provisional character of the new government was inevitable. There was no possibility of forming what would deserve to he called a permanent government. la former debites, it was often brought to the notice of the hou c,, that the absence of two rival parties amongst us forbade the immediate formation of a complete and permanent administration ; but on all these occasions I expressed the hope and belief, that this circumstance had a tendency to facilitate a complete adoption of the responsible principle, though it would necessitate a merely provisional arrangement. So it has turned out ; and th«? latter fact must be fully acknowledged as, indeed, it is by my honourable friends themselves. (Hear, hear, hear,) As to the manner in which we have obtained in this house responsible members of the Executive Council, 1 cannot refrain from expressing my own satisfaction with the compromise, wheieby the views of the great majority have been reconciled with those of the minority of two. As I understood the honouiable member (Mi. Forsaith) and the hon. member (Mr. O'Bneu) they had but one objection to the immediate establishment of ministerial responsibility ; namely, that it could not be done 'legally without permission from the imperial authorities ; that the law stood in our way ; that without a reference home, there would be an infraction of constitutional law. That objection, that difficulty, I am pleased to find has been evaded or obviated, by the willingness of the old members of the Executive to retire whenever they may be called upon to do t>o ; a compromise of conflicting legal opinions under which neither party has to give way, and of which the happy effect is, that this house instead of being divided with regard to giving immediate effect to the new priuciple of government, is now, 1 apprehend, unanimous upon that point. (Cheers.) And here*, Sir, let me say that I owe an acknowledgment, in the form or amends, to the hon. and learned gentlemau who has long held the office of Attorney-General in this part of the colony. (Hear.) When, like others, I was in a state of profound ignorance with respect to his views on the subject of responsible government, and believed, as I sti'l do, that those of His Excellency were personally in agreement with the desire of the majority in this house, I drew a marked distinction between His Excellency and his advisers. I now withdraw that assumption, (hear, hear,) for several reasons. In the first place, in common with other members, 1 have read with much iuterest an opinion by the Attorney-General on the subject in question ; and a careful perusal of that document, inclines me lo believe tbat, for some considerable time before it was completed, the mind of the honourable and learned gentleman had been preparing itself to adopt tbeir present views, (Hear, hear.) I see tint his mind must have been affected by recent information from the Southern Provinces ; and I take for granted that, besides published reports of proceedings which exhibited the state of opinion and feeling there with regard to ministerial responsibility, he availed himself of a still better means of learning what the Southern Provinces thought and felt on this subject, in the arrival here, just first before one meeting, of a high officer ot the government, a keen and thoughtful observer, who then returned fiom a visit of some months to the Southern Pro-

vinces, and whose presence here at that critical moment, was, I doubt not, highly us«ful as a means of enabling his Excellency's more immediate advisers to give with confidence the counsel set forth in the Attorney-General's writien opinion. (Hear, hear.) lam glad at having to make this apology to the Attorney-General, because it enables me' to inform the house that ? on another public occasiou, months ago, I ventured to express a hope, and almost to predict, that the success, the inevitable success sooner or later, of the Southern agitition for responsible government, would not, when it came, be a victory or a triumph over any body. That expectation has been realized ; for we have now the satisfactory ass.urance, that the great measure has been conceded to reason and sound policy, not to threats or mere pressure from tl is house or the colony, j (Hear, hear.) That result will always be to me an agreeable subject of reflection. I will now just allude to some differences between the ministerial arrangements and certain rumours — I will -call them only rumours, for it would be improper to designate them otherwise here — which came to the ears of many honourable members some time ago. According to these, it was hoped that the Attorney General would go beyond his favourable opinion, and would, after resigning his present office, reaccept it under the obligations of responsibility to this house. (Hear, hear.) That has not been done. I regret it, because the step would have mads our position better than it is. The difference between our actual position and what it might have been, will be made clear by my reading to the house certain expressions which recently fell from the Attorney-Genera). Their accuracy is indisputable ; for 1 heard them myself in a public place — never mind where. " I call on this Council to give the new Government, as now constituted, a generous confidence and cordial support." And subsequently, " I shall continue to be her Majesty's Attorney-General for New Zealand, responsible to her Majesty, and bound to give advice, when called upon, to the head of the Government in the colony ; but it will not be ray duty to take charge of Government measures in this Council, though I shall be happy so far as I may be able, to afford information and explanations concerning them, which I may do w.ithout taking part in the debates." It is plain, then, that the -Attorney-General does not beloog'to the new order of things. He has done his part fairly ; but he stops short of embracing th,e new system. I regret it for his sake, and still more because it lands us in a position of seriona difficulty. Instead of one homogeneous Government, we have two Governments in one ; the old and new systems bound together in an unnatural alliance. (Hear, hear.) I am unwilling to say much on this subject, but could not let such important facts pass unnoticed. There is another difference between the rumours and the actual state of things which must also be noted. The tumours spoke of a certain mysterious A.8., who was to represent the North in the Executive Council. Certainly, in the new arrangement, the North, as such, was to be satisfied. Nothing of the kind has been doDC. My hon. friend (M r. Fitzgerald) disposed of this matter briefly, and to my mind finally, by informing ns that his Excellency objected to the additiou of more than three members to the Executive Council. Of course my bon, friend had his Excellency's permission, express permission, to make that statement to the house ; and there we must rest. But I canuot help regretting that the permission was acted on, and that bis Excellency's advisers did not take that decision on themselves, instead of making his Excellency responsible for it. I think that the former course would have beeu more in accordance with the usages of responsible government. The mistake of totally omitting the North from the ministerial arrangements appears to have grown out of another, to which indeed, I think, may be traced everything objectionable in those arrangements. Every one will recollect how we made a sort of choice of two members to move and second the address. The members from the South, to a man I believe, desired that the address should be seconded by the hon. and learned member (Mr. Bartley), who was only preveuted from complying with their wish by a paramount obligation to take care of the interests of his clients in a- court of law. If the original scheme had been carried out, the hon. and learned gentleman would' have been sent for by his Excellency to assist my honourable friend (Mr. Fitzgerald), in attempting to form a government ; and the North would have been fully represented in that endeavour. (Hear, hear.} What happened appears to have been an oversight, which might easily happen without blame to any body. But from, that oversight there arose another. When the honourable and learned member became incapable of seconding the address, another honourable member was selected, not as a representative of either Noith or South, but because he is an old and much respected colonist, and was sure to perform the task with dignity and grace. (Hear, bear.) Neither the honourable member for the Waimea (Dr* Monro), nor my honourable friend (Mr. Fiizgerald), who was selected to move the addiess because he is the only Superintendent iv -the- house, were , put forward by us as members ' enjoying .our confidence in any peculiar degree. But, though the address was deliberately unmeaning, and only complimentary, those two gentlemen were assumed to enjoy especially the confidence of the bouse, and were accordingly sent for by his Excellency ; the result being that two gentlemen who, so far as they represented us, represented two sets of different or antagonistic opinions, as they have themselves fully explained since,, were required to concur indevisiug a whole policy of iLeasur.es lor a new Government. Of course they differed. Many of us — all of us who knew their opinions — knew beforehand that they wopld differ. This original mistake is, I think, deeply to be regretted on many accounts, and not the less because it exposed the honourable member (Dr. Monro) to the disagreeable consequences of Leing placed m a false position, though he behaved in it, and got out of it, in a way to command the respect of us all. (Hear, hear). To the mistake of supposing that the mover and secouder of a complimentary address specially represented our political views, I attribute not on ; ly the, provisional, but' the indistinct and uncertain .character of the ministerial an angements. From the explanations which have been given, I could not understand at all clearly the intentions of ray honourable iriend (Mr. titzgerald) as to the future. He seemed to intimate to us that he should not continue long in office, but that, pte'ferriug his duties as a Superintendent, he should soon return to his Province, for the purpose of

carrying out the important Provincial measures which he is known to have originated. On the other hand, my honourable friend (Mr. Sewell) told us distinctly that the point was quite unsettled, that — I recollect the very words, having taken them down at the time — his colleague " might or might not" continue in office; that whether he would or not was " matter for future consideration." So that we are in a position of great doubt, of absolute doubt and uncertainty, as to whether or not the leader -of the Government will retain his office, or will retire from it, however much we may wish him to retain it. (Hear, hear.) Then as to my honourable friend, there is no uncertainty. He is going away, and to England. From my intimacy wilh him, I knew that long ago. His own statement to that effect did not surprise roe. I was fully prepared for it. But what is the consequence ? For him there is really no responsibility, not even individually to his constituents. Instead of having to go to them, and give them an account of his stawardship after every session, be is under no responsibility except to his own sense of honour and his own conscience. These are in him, I know, very strong; but in the Parliamentary sense, in the sense of that which we have recently thought and talked so much about, he is not responsible. Truly ray personal knowledge of him, of the highly honourable and conscientious motives which ever guide him, relieve me individually from all apprehension as 10 the right performance of his duties ; but that cousideratim leaves untouched the fact, that, as a matter relating to the (government of the colony, and to the legal adviser of the Government under the responsible system, there is no responsibility for my hou. friend. Ido not find fault with it. It was absolutely necessary that the half of tbe Government which consists of my hon. friends should I have the assistance of an able lawyer ; and they ha7e selected one, whose intimate acquaintance with the constitution which he helped to frame and procure for us, and tbe long application of whose mind to questions cf constitutional law, make his acceptance of office a subject of congratulaiion to the house. (Hear, bear.) My object therefore i 3 not to complain, but to fix attention upon the real facts of the case, ao that we mey take timely precautions against the establishment of a wrong principle, and against the long continuance of a state of things which we could not justify to our constituents except on the ground of absolute and temporary necessity. Whilst alluding to my honourable friend in particular, I must mention an opinion expressed by h : m the other day, from which I cannot help dissenting altogether. As this is our first, so I hope it may be our last difference of opinion in relation to New Zealand po- | litics. He said that be thought that, as a rule, the office of Law Adviser of the Crown in tbia colony ought not to be filled by a member of the inferior branch of his profession. I totally dissented from that opinion when it was nttered, and will now state the grounds of my objection to it. In this colony tbe profession is not divided into two branches ; but all its members are practically on a footing of equality, the English distinction between superior and inferior not being recognized. (Hear, hear.) In a far more advanced and important colony, where the population amounts to between two and three millions, where there are ; three chief justices, I think eight or more puisne judges, where two different, not to say conflicting I codes or systems of law are well and beneficially administered- — those which we commonly trace to Justinian and Alfred — there is practically no distinction between barristeis and solicitors, but all the advantages and all the honours of the profession are equally open to all its members. (Hear, hear.) On the other side of the great river which separates Canada from the United States, whera the law is superior to the constitution itself by reason of its function as interpreter of tbe Constitution, — where, in ray opinion, government is more according to law than iv any other country, — which produced Chief Justice Marshall and such illustrious jurists as Livingston, Kent, and Story, all the members of tbe profession practice in its different branches (bear, hear.) I trust that my bon. friend may recall his application of English custom to this colony. Hereafter, perhaps, when our increased population and wealth shall admit of more division of employments, the English custom, which in the abstract I also prefer, may be adopted by us ; but whenever that change may come, it will be made by Jaw, and every member of the profession at the time will, I trust, be left perfectly free to choose which branch of it he will embrace (cheers.) I turn to a totally different subject, on which, unfortunately, I must express unqualified disseut from the policy of the ministerial arrangements. I think that, in those arrangements, the Legislative Council has been unwisely neglected. That body is a co-ordinate third branch of the Legislature of New Zealand. How much soever we all, perhaps, object to the composition of that bodj — to the principle of uoraineeism — i none of us, I believe, object to an instiftition for "second thoughts" in legislation, or to the generally conservative uses of Legislative Council when rightly constituted (hear, hear, hear.) Now, I am afraid, that by treating the Legislative Council with disregard, and even disrespect, because we dislike its composition, we may bring the institution itself into discredit (hear, hear.) No man has taken more trouble than myself in active hostility to nomineeism for New Zealand ; but I believe lhat some of the members of tbe Legislative Council themselves object to the nominee principle, and that others, probably a majority, will adopl the same view if they are not provoked by disrespectful treatment. Many of them eujoy the respect, confidence, and attachment of the communities in which they live and are best known(hear.) Let us not torgei, sir, that a nominee is also a man and may be a gentleman, with the proper self respect which resents affront (hear, hear.) I thiuk therefore, that on grounds of present convenience, as well as sound policy with regard to the institution, the Legislative Council ought lo have been considered in these j ministerial arrangements. For let us not forget that they can, if they please, slop all our Bills. We have no control over them, such as we have over the Government through my hon. friends. Some step must soon be taken to iccognise the existence of the Legislative Council (hear, hear, from Mr. Fitzgerald); and no one could be better pleased than I am at that cheer by ray hon. friend, which puts an end to lemark oii this subject. I trust what I have said on the last and several other topics, will not be misinterpreted by my hon. fjiemls. I feel those remarks lo be indispensable ; and 1 know them lo have been not unfrieudly. If it were only for the object wilh which

they have been made, my hoa. friends might rely on my cordial support. Besides, on a former occasion, I said that if only one person, whoever he might be, were made responsible in this bouse for the policy aud conduct of the Government, he bhould have my best support, short of any sacrifice of important principles or opinions : and a fortiori my bon. friends are entitled to any support that it may be in my power to give them, for whatever it may be worth. This, sir, is Dot merely an expression of general confidence. lam alluding to my personal knowledge of the character and views of my bon. friend*. I cannot remember any subject of importance relating to the politics of New Zealand, as to which I have not cordially agreed with them. With my hon. friends (Mr. Weld and Mr. Sewell) I bad the pleasure of working in England at, helping to frame our Constitution and getting it passed into a law. With rayhon. friend (Mr. Fitzgerald) I took an assiduous part in the proceedings in virtue of which the Province of Canterbury now exists. With my hon. friend (Mr. Sewell) 1 have an especial sympathy. Our views of general policy for New Zealand have, 1 believe, been identical. If I may say so without presumption I regard him as my alter ego in the Government, (laughter and hear, hear) but of course with the distinction between us, that I have no share in his responsibility auch as it is. One word »3 to my position towards the Government :n consequence of my intimacy with its members. I know it has been supposed that through that intimacy, I might «njoy more influence with the Government than any member of this house. That is a great mistake, as I shall prove by saying that, from motives of delicacy towards my hoa. friends, asv/ellas from regard for my own independence, I have carefully abstained from private communication with any uf them on public matters since they were sworn in as the advisers of his Excellency, (hear, hear.) lam the iaore desirous of preserving an entire independence of thought and speech, because I assume that every measure of importance will be brought before the house in consultation by a Government confessedly imperfect aud provisional, rather than decided on by them amongst themselves and only submitted to vi for our yea or nay ; that there will be, on our part, a constant desire to agree with them — a constant recollection of the difficulties of their provisional position, with forbearance and icdulgenc« when we happen to differ from them j — on theirs, a disinclination to interpret our wishing to participate with them in counsel and judgment, ss any expression of want of confidence, or anything but au earnest desire to maintain and strengthen their position as a responsible government. . I trust that they snd we shall equally bear in mind, that parties are not so formed as to admit of ministerial crises without results fatal to the public weal, ( If we were unreasonable or they too susceptible, his Excellency would again be called on, and most inconveniently, to form a Government j and that therefore it ie equally the duty of both parties to cultivate harmony and confidence by all the means in our power, (cheers.) I will now briefly advert to some matters of policy in the statement of my hou. friends. In a general point of view,, considered iv a general light, ih« policy, as a whole, appears to me aftor reflection to be somewhat too complete for a gestation of 48 hours y perhaps too much in quantity, and certainly appeariog in a form too cot and dried. I fancy that in the framing of it, there baa Bot been enough of consultation with the house. In framing that policy, my hon. friends cma only have been guided by their private knowledge of the opinions of members ; for not any ona sobjeet of those which are laid before us as parts oi a settled policy, has been submitted to discussion by the house. Tbe declaration of a policy as being that of the Government, before discussion of its several parts by this house, appears to me peculiarly inconsistent with tbe very provisional state of the Government. (Hear, hear.) It generally happens, no doubt, that a responsible government does at the opening of the legislature lay before them a complete policy for tbe session, as being that by which the Government intend to adhere ; but this only happens when there is a permanent state of things in the government. Under provisional governments the rule is to attempt only the minimum of legislation, and as far ss may be possible, to consult the representative body before asking them to decide. (Hear, bear.) There are some very important matters of such urgency with regards© time that we must legislate upon them during this session ; and tbe minimum to which I have alluded, must be a large quantity absolutely ; but tbe principle which appears to me to be in the mind of the Government, is that of doing as much as possible instead of as little as possible — the maximum rather than the minimum. Their i statement to us was, no doubt, hasty and imperfect ; but the impression which it left upon me, i is that they disregard the principle of the mini- | mum under a provisional state of government, and rather adopt that of attempting to do as much as they think can be well done, without regaid to their provisional position. (Hear, hear.) , I was more especially led to this impression by a main part oi their statement, which was an indication of their view with regard to another session of this -Parluiroent. According to the principle of a minimum, this would be a short session ; aud we should meet agaio ere long under the guidance of a settled and permanent government; whereas I understand the intention to be that we shall get through as much as possible now, whatever time it may occupy, and look forward to a second session about a year hence. That appeared to me-jo be indicated by the pro-, penal of my hon. friend (Mr.. Fitzgerald) that we should let go our hold of the public purse for *bou( a year, (Hear* hear, hear.) I cannot k'lapt that "; view as one of sound policy, and am under the necessity of expressing my dissent from it. 'In the House of Commons the rule is "grievances first, money last." (Hear, h ar.) Even in the Provincial Council of Wellington, we kept, our hold on the money till the very close of the session ; and by means of that precauciou we were enabled to compel the Government to give up an intention which they entertained of postponing longer than we desired a second ses, sion of the Council, (hear, hear.) This hold on money is our only security for good government, (hear, bear.) Representation, with the addition of ..ministerial responsibility, would not be worth a snap of the finger without constant control over the public money. Under tbe actual state of the Government, — I mean the Provisional state— l should he truly sorry to see this house part with its greatest privilege for any but a very short time j and I cannot doubt that if the provisional

arrangement shoald not, before the end of this session, be superseded by a Government intended to be permanent, the house will object to the proposal of supply for a whole year, (hear, hear.) My honourable friend (Mr.Fitzgerald) mentioned I the intention of the Government to provide! against a Superintendent becoming Administrator j of the Government, and thereby, reminded me of a suggestion, which, ts a, newspaper had reported, was made in the Provincial Council of Auckland, to the effect that the Province of Auckland' would be able, through, its Superintendent, he being also the;virtnal Governor of the Colony, to control all the other Provinces. (No, no, no.) I allude only to one gentleman by whom the idea was unquestionably suggested, (Hear, bear ; no, no) but will not mention his name. Well, the suggestion was made, and it caused much irritation in stme of the Southern Provinces. It did so because it threatened us with a temporary Governor with a Superintendent's, heart. My honourable friend may put the office of Superintendent into commission when the Superintendent becomes Administrator of the Government, but he cannot put the Superintendent* heart into commission. (Laughter and cheers.) That will be in the Governor's body, and must, if the Governor be' Human, influence his conduct as Governor towards the Province where are all his interests, his friends, and his affections. (Hear, hear.) It appears to me, Sir, that patting the Superintendent* office into commission, would only be making a screen 1 for. enabling- him, unseen, to bring his Provincial jdeas into the General Government of the Colony., (Hear.) The ,evil would not be prevented, though the appearance of it might. ' (Hear.) I also think, Sir, that for peculiar reasons of delicacy, we should do w.ejl to abstain from legislating on this subject during the present session ; but if we are to pass a law, then assuredly, we' shall not forget that the objection to a Superintendent Governor is not stronger under Responsible Government, than tojetting a Superintendent sit in the Executive Council of the Colony. (Hear, hear.) Under arbitrary rule, the Governor's double office would not be more objectionable than under the responsible system, that of the Superintendent advising t,he Governor on all general matters. Indeed, the obiection seem* scarcely to hold at all with regard to the Governor who only reigns and does not govern ; but it therefore applies with full force to what would make the Superintendent of a Province the real head' of the government, not feigning but ruling. (Hew, hear.) Therefore to me it appears clear, that if we are to bar the Governor from being a Superintendent,jwe must bar every Superintendent from being a Governor's adviser. i , j Mr. Fitzgerald: no, no. j Mr. Wakki-ibid j ray honorable friend says "no." I think the advising minister is more important as respects personal influence than the high personage advised, and therefor* It is th«t 1 think that a provision with regard to Superintendents is the more important of the two. (Hqar.) Sir, except with regard to the mysterious A.8., to disregard of the Legislative Council, and to the proposal as to money, I am objecting rather to principles th»n particulars. It is so especially In this case. lam not malting the slightest reference to my hon. friend personally. (Hear, hear.) I have such a reliance on his honour as to have no fear that he will bring his" Canterbury heart into the General Government. (Hear, from Mr. Fitzgerald, and cheers.) Bat, Sir, it it our duty to legislate on principle, not for particular instances (hear) ; and if we do so in this matter, we shall, I hope and think, give more attention to the position of ministers than to that of the Governor. (Hear, hear.) With regard to pensions for retiring officers, I entirely and heartily agree with the new Government* Only the other day, in a sort of public manner, I was the first to utter that unpopular word, "pensions." But whilst wholly approving of the principle, I trust that we shall make some general rule instead 6f legislating specially for only three cases (hear, hear) ; for the after course would look too much like a corrupt bargain. (Hear, hear.) Among the rutaours to which allusion has been made, it was expressI 7 stated that the Government would take care to avoid the appearance of bargaining with the three gentlemen who are to retire from office. I should not myself object to a bargain if it were essential to the establishment of Responsible Government ; and for the sake of justice to the old holders 0/ office, when it was uncertain whether we should have a Government disposed to do them justice on principle, . I even availed myself 'of an opportunity that presented itself of advising them |to remember, that they were in possession, and that it i jwould be unwise in them to surrender at discretion. ;But the case it now altered ; and it is now plain that all appearance even of bargaining may be avoided by the adoption of a general rule' founded upon the principle |of justice. (Hear, hear.) Having regard to that prinjciple, I cannot refrain from alluding to the case of a gentleman at Wellington ; a case of extreme cruelly, which came before the Provincial Council at Wellington, when I cordially supported an address from that j body to the General Assembly, praying that the case might be favorably considered. As there is another case which may come before us, and in which I have indirectly a personal interest, I wish to mention it. A near relative of mine, who filled the same office in New Munster as Mr. Swainson did in New Ulster, lost his office by endeavouring to persuade the Governor to do the very thing for which we are about to express our obligations to the Administrator of the Government ; and except it should be supposed that affection for him now influences me — in order to clear away all . doubts with regard to my motives now— l wish to inform the house, that often before now, and in other colonies than New Zealand, I have strenuously and successfully maintained what I regard as a principle of i justice towards old public servants who are turned out of office by the introduction of a new system of go- ! vernment. (Cheers.) With regard to the plan for obi taining iand from the natives, I Was struck by a seeming discrepancy in the explanation of my hon. friend (Mr. Fitzgerald). I understood him to say that amain object with the Government is to open the land for use by actual settlers, and to discourage speculation ; yet, in almost the same breath, he told us, when explaining how everybody would profit by a great outlay on native purchases, that the natives would prpfit by being able to buy land cheap and sell it dear. If that were so as a general rule, it means that the white man would have to pay through the nose to the brown man ;, and that the natives would be turned into land speculators. (Hear.) That surely is not desirable for them ; and the effect for colonists would be the same as if the Australians came here and made large purchases on speculation, making the industrious settlers pay through the nose for land. (Hear.) So impressed am I with the necessity ef extinguishing the native title in this island that 1 would adopt any means, short of wickedness, that should prove indispensable to the object ; but I must I express a hope that the Government will discover some means of guarding the natives against the corruption and wickedness that would ensue if they were turned into land speculators. (Hear, hear.) The disposal of public lands is a subject on which, as it appears to me, we must legislate without delay. Without attempting to go into that great subject now. I must note that the proposed minimum of five shillings appears to me like a sham. Without good precautions to the contrary, it will not save us from being eateu up by an invasion of Australian speculators. (Hear, hear.) I should prefer looking that danger in the face, by handing over the land to the Provinces to do what they may please with it as to a minimum price. If any Province chooses to kill the goose for the sake of its golden eggo, let it do so, and with its eyes open ; not blinded by an umeal restriction. (Hear, hear.) It is not for the sake of a high price that I make these remarks;

for when I was about to leave Wellington for this place, I spontaneously pledged myself in public to Tote with the member of this house who should propose the lowest minimum price. (Hear, hear.) My reasons for that offer were not stated ; nor shall I state them now because a better opportunity will soon arise. But I must now just notice a very important difference, or rather opposition, between the plan of the Government and what I have understood to be the general desire of the colony. At a public meeting at Wellington which sent hither the members from that Province, pledged to insist on Responsible Government, we also promised to seek a " transfer of the administration of the waste lands to the Provincial Governments, subject to general rules to be made by the General Assembly." Now, as I understand my hon. friend, laws or general rules, except only the sham of five shillings, are to be made by the Provincial Legislatures, and measures of administration are to be in form confided to the General Executive, but really transferred by delegation to the 1 Provincial Executives. The whole power, in short, both legislative and administrative, is to be in the Provincial Governments. That may answer very well for Canterbury (hear, hear), where my hon. friend's known opinions on the subject would be at once agreed to by his Council ; but in Wellington, the Superintend dent and a majority of his Council would, I believe, make the land a prey to mere speculation (hear, hear) j to speculators who are resident, and some of them members of the Council. ' Under the proclamation of Sir George Grey, the whole disposal of waste lands in that Province has' -virtually passed into the hands of the Provincial Executive. How it is managed, there would be much difficulty in telling. The public has no information about it. But I will mention one illustrative fact. Just when the'lands were laid open' to purch'a-' sera, twelve persons came from Australia to buy ; not speculators, but intending "settlers, each of them worth about .£3OOO. They brought to me aletter,; of introduction. ' I could only advise them to go to the Land Office. They did so, and returned to me, ' saying that they had seen a sketch map, a great iheet of paper, not a survey either topographical or trigonometrical, but a fancy map, showing only the inpposed course of rivers and mountains ; and that when they put their fingers on any particular spot and asked if it was open for selection, they were told that it might or might not be; the matter was not yet settled. (Hear and laughter). So they all returned to Australia in' disgust. Sure I am, Sir," that in the Province of Wellington, the present system is very bad for the working class of settlers; .they have no chance in competition with the speculators. (Hear, hear). Absolute' provincial authority might be bad for that class in other Provinces. I should like to know whether in this Province it is thought desirable that land should be appropriated by speculators, without payment, on a system of unlimited trusts Sir, I do not pretend 'to consider the whole subject ; and I will nowturn from it with one more-re-mark. The proposal of the Government that the lands, when transferred to the Provinces, shall be clear of all cross-titles, disputes, and claims whatsoever, appears to me to be excellent. (Cheers). Sir it was with unmixed ,and very great satisfaction that I heard of the intentions of the Government with regard to tenure of office by the Auditor-General. Of that part of their plan I can only speak with applause. (Hear, hear). I have long been of opinion that an auditor of public accounts should, as every judge ought to be, be placed out of the reach of influence by the Government of the day (cheers) j and I now rejoice in the hope that this good .example will be followed by the Provincial Council of Wellington, upon which an hon. friend of mine, (Mr. , Andrew Brown, of Kapiti,) urged most perseveringly, but in vain, that this course should be adopted with regard to the audit of Provincial accounts. (Hear, hear.) In that Province, the present arrangement for audit is miserable ; and all experience as well as reason teaches us, that public accounts can never be, properly examined and checked, unless the officers charged with that important duty be made quite independent of bribery and intimidation by the Executive (Hear, hear.) My hon. friend did not, I think, allude to the tenure of office by the judges. (Hear, hear.) I will not go into the matter now ; but I will hereafter when it shall be fully before the house, and when I shall prove that a judge of the Supreme Court of the colony was recently insulted and trampled upon for differing with the Governor on a point of law. (Hear, hear, hear.) In nothing, sir, is there a greater difference between bureaucracy and the people's self-govern-ment, than in the position of the judges. We may not be able this session to make a thorough reform of the judiciary of the colony ; but we will do so in another session ; and I yet hope that something may be done without delay to improve the tenure of office by the administrators of the law. (Hear, hear.) I cannot admire the plan of a peripatetic Postmaster General. It certainly tends to remove the present holder of the office, who happens to be the most stay-at-home man in New Zealand ; but that would not be a right means of attaining such an object ; and I dislike the principle, believing that the Postmaster General ought to have charge of steam communications and reside at the centre of operations, commanding them by all means of local delegation ; not an inspector of roads frequently absent from his office. (Hear, hear.) Having mentioned steam, I must give expression to an opinion, that it is a matter of the most pressing urgency as to time ; and that we ought not to separate without providing against the continuance of that monstrous state of things in which the members from Otago were nine weeks (ten from Mr. McAndrew) ten weeks on their passage to the seat of government. (Cheers.) The composition of select committees seems to me to require immediate attention. Ministerial responsibility ought to go into them from this house, (hear), in every committee of importance there ought to be a representative of the Government to give it information and guide its proceedings (aery of *' there are"). Not yet ; members of the Government have been named on committees, but they do not attend. I know that it cannot be helped just now ; there has not been time for proper arrangements. The composition of the committees appears to me defective in other respects. On the Steam Navigation Committee, for example, I have been put myself, though I know nothing about the subject beyond having often crossed the Atlantic in a, steam boat. That reminds me of the young lady, who being asked if she understood German, confessed that she did not, but added that her cousin could play on the German flute (laughter). Seriously, I trust that means will be taken to give real efficiency' to the proceedings of select committees, and that the Government may take a constant part in them (hear). Sir, lam well aware that this expression of opinion on the composition and policy of the new Government is very imperfect and deficient ; but let me assure the housethat their patience is not more exhausted than my strength. I will not sit down without again tendering to the Government the utmost possible support that it may be in my power to afford them. I thank my hon. friends and the house for the patient attention with which they have been so kind as to listen to me ; and I will now conclude by declaring my sincere belief that if a thousand exceptions to the position and policy of my hon. friends were added to those to which I have given utterance, in an independent, but not an unfriendly spirit — if we had gained nothing more than their accession to office — we might still congratulate ourselves and the colony in the assurance that so long as those three men shall be in power, we shall have a Government of publicity rather than concealment, of truth and justice, rather than of cajolery and intimidation, and, before and above all, a Government^ not of corruption but of purity, whether in the framing and execution of laws, or in the administration of patronage (cheers). Mr. Wakefield concluded by moving the adoption of "An humble Address to the Officer administering the Government, praying that his Excellency will be pleased to accept an expression of the high satisfaction, nod deep sense of obligation towards him with which this house has regarded his Excellency's prompt snd uureserved compliance with their desire, that ministerial responsibility in the conduct of Legislative and Executive proceedings by the Governor should be established without delay." Mr. Cabxeton seconded the motion without remark. (To be Continued.)