FROM THE NORTH.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 210, 11 August 1862, Page 5

FROM THE NORTH.

ARRI vA L O F TH E

WONGA WONGA

NEW MINISTRY FORMED,

WAR IMMINENT IN TARANAKI.

IMPORTANT DESPATCH

FHOM

THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE

By the Wonga Wonsja, which arrived last nMit from tlie Northern Provinces, we aie in possession of news from Wellington of a most important nature. Uie I-ox Ministry has resigned, ami a new, Ministry had been formed by Mr. Domett. We are not in recript of our complete files, nor of our correspondence, but the following extracts from reports in ' the Wellington Independent will explain themselves :— THK MINISTRY FORMED Mr. DOMETT, by leave of the House, would now i l£» ,?? tVTi it thei ne"otmtions whwli on Friday ha had told the Houso lie w:is engaged in. A« he hid then stated, when His Kxccllelicv sent for\i,a ij! expressed a strong desire f,, r biulto underUkp «h» task, he consented,, an.l with the view of form in ' a strong Ministry, wont aY once to tlie hon. member tnen at the head of the Government and a^ke! him to accept a seat in tho new Ministry Tint, hon gentleman, after some discussion. replied, that h* coudnnt take a lower position than t'mt which he held before a* premier, as well ;w Native minister, the post which was offered him. He (Mr Dorwtn coull not possibly accede to that proposal because it wouh! put himself in a secondary position, and would he believed, defeat the desired object ot forming a i Ministry smm«,' euoudi to carry on the Government. I lie determined, therefore, to try and form •> Ministry out of the ablest men of modentM oi.isiions oil both sides of the House. He tber*- ; fore next offered seats to several other member* of tho previous Government— Mr. Sewell, Mr. Wood, and Mr.Ward v.-no after variom negotiation* and discussions, ultimately doclined to take spats in tho ' Mim-try, which lie much regretted, as he th^'it they would have formed a Ministry acceptable to the House ami to the country. In makin" these oii\rs lie thought he was not actuated by any adverse feeling to the Ministry or to the party >o which they bftlonaw.l. (Hear, hear.) Tlie Ministry at present formed was as G mows:— Native Minister, Mr. Bell (hear, hear) ; Postmaster-general and Seere-taiy for Grown- Lauds, Mr. Mantell; Attorney-General »w> tern., Mr. Gillies j Colonial Secretary, liim«Mf (Mr. Domett); Members of the Executive Council without office, Mr. T. Russell ar.d Mr. Tancred.' The Colonial Treasureiship he- was keeping ooen in the hope that he might get some Auckland member to tako that office, as it was due to that I rovince to prive them more weight than they would otherwise havo in the Ministry proposed He had not sought the position he now held and was not anxious to keep it longer thau tho necessities of tne country appeared to require it. The Ministrywas still short-handed in some respects, and he could only hope the House would give them credit for having assumed the Government so'ely from the conviction" that it was their paramount duty to the Governor, the [louse, and the country, to endeavor to afford to the House, a* far as was in their power one change of avoiding a result of its difficulties, which by all would be considered most deplorable (Hear, hoar.)

Mr. bOX expressed his great satisfaction at he-ir-msthe statement-of the hon. member that on receiving his Excellency's commands to form a Ministry he at once considered it his duty to open communication with him (Mr. Fox); because, probably in consequence of the hon. member not commu'iieatinK with him for more than 24 hours.n general imnression had sprung up that that lion, member had first put himself into the hands of the extreme men of hi« own party with the view of forming a ministry excluding him (Mr. Fox). It was therefore with the greatest satisfaction that he heard that the application to him was the first thing the honorable member did.. (Mr. Domett sail ho did not mean that he went straight from the Governor to Mr. Fox, but that it was always his intention to offer the hon. member a seat.) He (.Mr Fox) was extremely glad then to hear that Hie lion' member did not attempt any other combinations before he made htm tbe offer, and that though he was 21 hours before hf communicated with him (Mr X) it was not owing to any negociations of a character with the extreme men of liig'own party and to exclude him.

"Mr. FITZGERALD.-Sir, I hope I may be allowed to claim the simc indulgence which the House has extended to the two hoii. members who have just spoken. I wish to explain what took place lietweeu Ins Excellency and myself, in onl*r that it may not be supposed that I made any attonpt to form a Ministry and foiled to do so. The only communication between His Excellency and myself was one in Which I informed His Excellency 'definitely -that lor reasons with which the House has nothing- to do, and which therefore I need not mention, it was not in my power io accept any office. The Governor was pleased to ask me to advise him m to what course he should adopt. H<> stated that lie had seen Mr. Stafford, who had declined to from a ministry. Sip, I thought-it' mv duty to advise his Excellency that there were no differences ; of opinion, so far as I could see, existing in the House ' of so substantial a nature as to preclude the formation of a ministry consisting of the ablest men on both sides of the House; but the leader of the party who opposed the late Government hav m«- formally I refused to undertake the task of forming a Ministry, i I was of opinion that such a coalition could only be ! formed between members of the late Government and those who had held subordinate positions on the op. positeside. His Excellency-was pleased to request ] me to take twenty-four hours to consider what could ! he ottected, and what advice I should" be prepared finally to give on the subject. I did so: and the result at which I arrived was, that the strong ministry which could be formed would be one in which my hon. friend (Mr. Domett) should take a principal part in conjunction with tbe hon. gentleman who had been at the head ot the late Ministry. It did not occur to me Sir, that any difference was likely to arise mto who should take the precedence in such a ministry; but had such p. point occurred to me I should have advised that that was a point t« be decided by the Governor; I should have supposed that l.iotli these hon. gentlemen would have readily abided such a decision ; and in doing so they would have merely been following a precedent when events of a similar nature occurred in our old country Sir, I advised his Excellency to send for Mr. Domett, tinder the impression that a ministry comprising both that gentleman and Mr. Fox would have been formed without difficulty: I thought that those hon. gentlemen could have formed a Government in which a very large portion of the colony would have had great confidence. I still regret that any circumstances should have occurred to prevent a more perfect coalition of opposite parties in this House—a coalition which I think would be of permanent advantage both to this house and to the colony at large.

GOVERNMENT RESOLUTIONS, RE MINISTERIAL RESPONSIBILITY ON NATIVE MATTERS. The hon. Mr. Domett to move That in the opinion t J? **ouse > tne gelations between his Excellency the Governor and his Responsible Advisers should rest upon the following basis:— 1. That Ministers should in conformity with the Royal instructions advise the Governor in Native affairs (as well as in colonial affairs) whenever his Excellency desires to obtain such advice, and should also tender advice on all occasions of importance when they deem it their duty in the interests of the colony to do so. 2 That Ministers should undertake the Administration of Native affairs, reserving to his Exce!'fney the decision in all matters of Native Policy, i? i at ' a* t!'e decisioa Jn all matters of Native lohcy is with his Excellency, the advice of Ministers shall not be held to bind tbe colony to any liability past or future in connection with Native affairs beyond the amount authorised or to be authorised by the House of Representatives,

The following are the Despatch and Resolutions above referred to:— DCKE OF NEWCASTLE'S DESPATCH. i Downinir-street, Q 26th May, 1862. MR,—l have had under my consideration your despatches, noted oa she margin, informing me of the language which you hive held to your Ministry, of tiie pians which you propose tn yourself and them, and of the course which you desire the Home Government to pursue in regard to the management ot Wative afiairs, and the cost of the war in NewZealand. 1. In the first plaec, you inform me that you propose hereafter to conduct Native affairs, like all other matters, with advice of your Executive Council, and you deprecate any attempt to set up either the Governor, or any special body between the natives and the General Assembly as a protective power. 2. You propore lo establish a machinery for the government and improvement of the natives, which you suppose will eventually cost about fifty thousand pound* a year. Half of this sum you state is already provided by the Colonial Legislature, and you have led the local Government to expect that the other half will be virtually supplied by the Imperial Government m the shape of a reduction from the Colonial contribution of five pounds a head to the expense cf the Imperial force stationed in New Zealand. '" 3. You propose the maintenance for some years of a large military force, partly as a btanding exhibition of strength and determination, partly in order to allbrd to the oat-settlers thut protection and sense of security which is essential to enable them profitably to occupy their farms. 4. You suggest that roads should be made by the trcops (still supported, I presume, at the expense of the Imperial Treasury), in jonjuuetion with natives, and o. You propose that military men should be empioyorl a.s Commissioners ia the Native districts, contmunig white so employed to receive Imperial pay and allowances. With regard lo tha increasing debt due from the Colony to the British Treasury, you state that to cSiict payment wouM be ruin tv the Coloay, and you transmit a memorandum drawu up by the Colonial Tiv-as.urer. proposing the following cjurse, " Not to attempt to liicet th■_•.•«; demands, or" to provide fur this excessive expenditure at proieut, but tv wait till the existing diliiculty is- removal; to as-jerUin with accuracy what proportion of the expense the Imperal Government would after Uh.j deliberation, a fall knowj ledge of the facts of the c«e, charge the Colony with I an I ihe;i tv apply for iiguartuteud ban of the requisite | aniot'ut.'' Now f must in the fi^t place observe, that I see in the paper* before :n3 no adequate apprehension, on the part of the New Zealand Government, of the obligation under which tlie colonists themselves lie to exert theiu.-;<.-lve-> ii. their own'defence, and to submit t-> those fcr.eriiices which are necessary from persons wh;se lives' and property are ia danger. Mr. Reader Wood states that the annual revenue To-o f>i£Z l' y ("»i?i«'-»'J«-'»tJy of the land revenue) is L 2 ,2,01*3; h-, mentions that L'JO,QW of that sum are pai-.l to i lv.vuici.t! Governments, and he observes that the land iund is Provincial revenue, and rxj>en.lpd in colonisation and public work« • but it do?s not appear to occur to him that the reveim- itself mi^ut bo increased by tie imposition of fresh taxation—tint a portion of that revenue which is so applied as t-» relieve municipalities from the necessity oi imposing local taxes might hi applied in wliolp, or in pirt, to the more pressiu* needs of the colony, and tlmt thu portion of that revenue which is il^vo-.edit'» public works and colonisation may, in times of disaster, and particularly in time of civil war which is niaasf-r, tordiverted to the permanent object oi averting absolute ruin. J

3So doubt in steps ;iike these, the Colony would be »«*»'? sacrifices. Hut this is exactly what the bna.ih <jri>vewmu:it iris aright to expect from them lhose who are exptn<im- h ß jf a million a year in the de.ence oi fie t-oioriisU an<l their property, a very appreciate item among those which fix on the British tax-payer the bunteu of an income tax, are entitled to expect from those coloni.st*, that instead of havin" recourse to the momentary relief of a lean, exhausted v wi°i u v seem :ilmost bsfore il waa raiso^l. they shoiUd by some immediate, general, and lasting sacrifice of the hb.vl which I have indicated give ixiine ple-lge of their reaJiness to take their share, as far as their means will allow, in tiis defence of their country • undm connexion with this subject 1 cinnot pass witbout remaiktliatpas.sa-ein the Colonial Treasurer^ hnan-ud statement of 23rd July, 18G1, in which he chariicterisesas •« unfairly charged a-ainst theColoay" demands j.ropsrly ma.le asqiiust the Colonial Govcrameut by the Commissariat, nor the very stronz animadversions made in the Colonial Legislature on the conduct of the Commissariat officer in Lrin«ing forward these claims in tlie simi>le discharge of" his

Little however, as I am satisfied with the contents of your despatch in these respects, I am earnestly desiroua to aiibrd the Colony in a time of undoubted trial, the ntmfct assistance which can be given with any justice to this country. I therefore proceed to omiuunicate to you as explicitly as is now poKsib'e the deci/ions^of her Majesty's (Jovernmeat upon the questions which you hsive raised. I am ready to sanction the important step yon have alreidy taken in plat-ins the management" of tne natives under the control of the Assembly. I do so partly in reliance on your own capiwity to perceive and your desire to do what is b?st for thoscj in whose welfare I know you are so much interested. But I <lo it also beeansc I cannot disguise from myself that the endeavor to keep the management of the natives under the control of the Home Government has failed. It can only be mischievous to retain a shadow 01 responsibility when the beneficial exercise of power ha* become impossible. 1 cannot hold out to you any hope that a. lar^e military force will for any length of time be kept in New /eahnd. It is far the colonists themselves to provide such a tnilit iry police force as will protect their out-settlers. If it is not worth while to the colony to furnish such protection, it would seem to follow that it is not worth while to retain those out settlements. You must therefore expect thouirh not an immediate, yet a speedy and considerable diminution ol the force now employed. I doubt whether, under present military regulations, an officer can be detachc-d from his regiment to serve as Commissioner in a nath; district: but in case tins should prove practicable, Her Majesty's Government can only assent to such an arran-eme'nt on the understanding that the whole pay of the officer shall be defrayed by the colony. I can hold out no prospect that this country will consent to bear any part of the expense of the local mihtw and volunteers ; all existing and future liabilities ou this score must be defrayed by the colony. This sum appears to have amounted, oh the 29th of October last, to one hundred and ninety-three thousand one hundred and eighty pouads. TJ !e agreement "° lately entered into by the Colonial Grovernment for the contribution of five pounds per man to the cost of the troops stationed in the Colony, must also be fulfilled up to the close of the year lSbl. But in consideration of the present difficulties of the Colony, and in compliance with your advice Her Majesty's Government will be prepared, under the following conditions, to reckon as military contribution all suras shown to be expended in a manner approved Iby you on Native Government, or rather purely native objects, m excess of twenty-six thousand pounds | which I understand to be the amount now paid from I the Colonial revenue towards those objects. The conditions subject to which I am able to authorise thi3 concession are the following :— 1. The amount furnished by the"Colonial Government shall not be less than Twenty-six thousand pounds, and that furnished by the Imperial Government must not exceed the amount of Military contributions due from the Colonial to the Imperial Government, calculated at the rate of Five pounds a head tor every soldier employed. 2. No other Imperial funds are to be employed nor any advances procured from the Treasury chest towards paying the expenses of the scheme. 3. An account of these expenses must be furnished to the Controller of the Treasury Chest for the information of her Majesty's Government and of Parliament, shewing the amount and application of this Imperial contribution. 4. The present arrangement is to last for three years, that is to say-, from the Ist January, 1862 to the 3lst December, 1854, when it fa to be hoped that the (olonymay be in a position to provide for the well-being and government of the natives so far a3 the institutions which you propose to introduce shall not have become self-sup-porting by means of local taxation, the result which you will keep steadily in view, and the importance of which I cannot too earnestly impress upon you 5. In giving np for a limited period the claim of this country to a portion of the present military contribution, no pledge is to be implied as to the continuance of that contribution as a permanent arrangement ; but it is clearly to be understood, tint the aid to be required from New Zealand for military pro- I techoa shall remain subject to any general measure which Parliament, or Her Majesty's Government, may adopt with regard to the maintenance of Imperial troops m the Colonies. You will not fail. I trust, to recognise, in these concessions, the desire of her Majesty's Government to co-operate, in a spirit of liberality and confidence, with yourself and the Colony, in the important and hopeful attempt which you and your Ministers are now making to introduce such civilizing institutions amon ff the native tribes as may, nnder the

S3, «f Providence, save both races of Her Majesty a subjects in New Zealand fiom the miseries m%£r nr'!i? A ub * and Colonial Governments from the heavy burdens which it entails. , c . , v • I have, &c, (Signed) Kkwcastle. „_ ,„ STEAM. *v «fr,follo^ iu» "solutions have been arrived at by the 'Committee on Communications,"and will be considered by the House in Committee on Supply on * rr J' Your Committee beg to report the following resolutions:--- - Resolved,—That the requirements of the Colony will not be fully satisfied with lea than three lines of Intercolonial Steam Service, viz.—between Melbourne and the South, between Auckland and Sydney, and between Cook's Strait and Sydney respectively. That the Steam Service referred to in the foregoing fiesolution of the Committee be undertaken by tlie General Government, and be borne on the General Estimates. 1 That communications should be maintained between the principal Provinces of the Colony, four times a month, and between the Provinces twice a mouth, provided tliat the whole expense of such Interprovincial Service do not exceed £20,000 per annum. r