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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5409, 29 July 1878, Page 2

In the Parliamentary paper A 4, distributed on Saturday last, on the “Title of ‘honorable’ for life within the colony,” is a memorandum from the Hon. the Premier to his Excellency the Governor, bearing dute 20th April, 1878. The gist of Sir George Grey’s views on the subject will best be gathered by quoting his own phraseology. He says : —“ A representative Constitution has been bestowed by the British Parliament on New Zealand, under which the General Assembly is authorised to make all provisions necessary for the peace, order, and good government of the islands of New Zealand. This question, therefore, naturally arises: Can the Crown, after the grant of such a Constitution to this country, create and establish in New Zealand, without the consent of the General Assembly, an order of rank and dignity which does not exist in "Great Britain, which is to be confined within the limits of the islands of New Zealand, and the probable direct tendency of which (in the belief of many of the people of the colony) may be to bring about ultimately a separation of New Zealand from tlxe Empire, because it establishes here a quasi aristocracy, which will have no recognised rank or position in any part of the Empire outside this dependency of the Crown ?" Sir George Grey also thinks that a “ local rank like that proposed can only be established with the concurrence and assent of the New Zealand, Parliament that it would be advisable for the Secretary of State for the Colonies to obtain the opinions of the Attorney and Solicitor-General on the matter ; and further, that it would bo a wise and far-sighted policy to allow the General Assembly to be heard on this question before the establishment of a general rule in New Zealand. He disapproves of the practice hitherto in vogue of notifying only in colonial Gazettes “ such creations of rank and dignity” as have heretofore taken place, and urges publication in the London Gazette, as by so doing “ the public servant who is so rewarded” becomes better and more widely known, and inquiries will be instituted “ as to the nature and value- of his services.” The Premier also states that in this manner the whole of her Majesty’s vast possessions would be bound together in ope common bond of honor; while if the notification appears in the colonial Gaseete alone, the Secretary of State will possess the power of making unknown important changes in the Constitution of colonies. “On the whole,” the Premier says, “ it appears that the most fitting rule to adopt in this colony will be : That whenever any honors conferred upon any inhabitant of New Zealand by the Sovereign are notified in the London Gazette, such notification shall, upon its receipt in this colony, be forthwith published in the New Zealand Gazette ; but that in the case of any honor conferred upon any inhabitant of Now Zealand not being notified in the London Gazette, or in the event of any general rules being laid down by the Secretary of State regarding the conferring of honors upon inhabitants of New Zealand, then the despatches relating to such cases shall be laid before the General Assembly during its next session, and may be published in the New Zealand Gazette in compliance with a resolution of each House of Parliament to that effect, but not otherwise.

The passing of a Bill through all its stages was not the only unusual characteristic of the opening of the present session of Parliament. It is no ordinary occurrence on the first day of a session to see two members of a Cabinet disagreeing with reference to the provisions of an important Government measure, and the difference of opinion that was expressed by Messrs. Sheehan and Stout must have taken the House not a little by surprise. The Native Minister accepted Mr. Whitaker's amendment to insert the words “or agents” with perhaps too much alacrity to be altogether pleasing to his colleague the Attorney-General, who asked the Native Minister to be logical, and allow agents to practise in the Supreme Court if that privilege wore to be accorded to them in •the Native Land Courts of the colony. This appeal to his colleague was urged, by the Attorney-General after his first fruitless attempt to induce the Native Minister not to accept the amendment of the bon, member for Waikato. Judging from their manner of speaking, both Ministers were gradually losing their temper, and what might have resulted in a little scene was opportunely prevented by Mr. Barton making his maiden speech, in which, by the way, the new member for Wellington left himself open to bo corrected by Mr. Whitaker, with regard to the provisions of the Native Lands Act of 1873. By this time it might have been supposed that the two Ministers of the Crown would have become more amiable in temper, but after the rising of the House they were sulky with each other, and talked about the matter in a style that would have led a stranger to infer that both were afflicted with deafness. The Ministry is not quite so happy a family ns some of their friends endeavor to make out, and if one is to believe the numerous rumors he hears, the lives of Ministers are not their own when the Premier is amongst them.