WELLINGTO. SPLIT IN THE MINISTRY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 233, 18 September 1862, Page 5

WELLINGTO. SPLIT IN THE MINISTRY.

RESIGNATION OF MR. RUSSELL.

RESIGNATION OF MR. SEWELL.

(FSOM OVH OWN COBUEBJPOSOEKX.)

Wellington, 13th' SeDtember, 1862

I was very ranch ffrieved yesterday to bear Mr. Speaker read the resignation by Major Ilichardsofl of his seat In the Assembly- I trust be will be willing to stand again, &a the Houbc contains perhaps, no one raemoer mow thoroughly lik d than be is, and one whoa* exertion* in-the fait session on Otajo's behalf entitles him to that renewal instance of confidence on the fart, of the electors of Dunedin, . It i*, all thiog»consid<Tftd, a pity that elections should take place now, as, if it is to be two year* befure the Assembly m't-ts, it may be that men cho=cn now may. from a variety of cause*, be unable to attend, or unfitted to reprativnt the optafr-ns of t^eday when it arrives. If you are as well roprewntul next session i ns you wfre this by Messrs'. Ilfchardson. Dick, and , (iili'n*>, you will have little cause of complaint: and i I »lrtcerely . truHt, therefore, that your ".young' hopeful," as he \va3 facetiously called, will be returned appin. I have omitted Mr. CargilTs name only bectuse b>s citne up late—to jhe end of the feast* rather tlian the heginnin? of the affray, and had ittl- opportunity oi distinguishing himself. . Last Thur&Jay wo were all a!ive by the mipreceilenUHl circumstance of four steamers bting signaled. Assembly business had to get oa how it could j at one.-Urne'all the member?, out conic two or tbrse, having quitted the Lower House: and twice on a div Non the greatest muster could only make a bare quwum—Jlr/Speaker included. The ftangatii a wa» tfa>? first boat in We were «'ad to see her lor two reasons—flrjfc, b-eatiee she was bm)t for the contract at one rime existfn" betwtea the Melbourne and Wellington Government*.! and therefore reganfed with considerable favor; and scjowd. bicause we trust it U the first step towards competition with the I. 0. It il Company, who, having F hitherto had matters all their own way, have carried them with rntUer a high haud. When CapUin Vine Hall was appointed to the managership of ths abava Company Mr. Clarke, the former uiaimsfer, was of course open to an engagsroenr, which was eomi offiirel to lam by th« A. 8. N Company, their manager. Cipt, Patterson having died. The running of a boat between Sydney and New Zealand is the result, and leads to the inference tint Capt. Uall's statements of infiniteumal profits resulting from the Cook's Straits trade are not shared in by hfa pre-teeesior. The moment for commencing a trade is nwt opportune the paswieer traffic owing to Oiago gold, being very brisk. The Airedale made her appearance soon after tba llan?atira. The excitement to learn news from Otago w«s iatewe. A few days before vn Jtad word ! of mouth commnnicati"n from Lyttelton, that in consequence of thare Wing no food at the Dunstan, the rtuh thither waa produc'iOa' ill consequences; and such now proved to be the ca-»e. The exodus from here is consequently checked until badness hai ptaas-1 it* way to the Donston, nnd enables those who work, to eat. The Storm Bird from Tar&mki and Nelson, and the Queen from Auckland, via the west coast, completed the exciting arrivals, and enabled members from every Province to give their atten'Son to a debate that reached into the next inorniag, the whole of them present bavin* received letters during the afternoon —one of the advantages of having the Assembly in a central xpoi. You will have published the accounts of the Lord Worsiey's wreck as appearing in the Ne'son and Taranaki paper*. I wa* anxious to have supplemented by the Ransjatira those accounts, by adTinj? particulars gleaned from aorne of those who were at the wreck, and had come on here by the Storm Bird • but the statements were bo conliwlictory that I tiki not feel myself justified in CMnmitting anything to paper, lest I should do harm by exaggv rating, or appear to attempt a concealment. Some insured me that they had had nothing to comp'nJn of whila in durance vUe t so far as the conduct of the Natives to themselves tieroonaily were concerned—they were a little exorbitant in thfir charges, bat not more ho than under the eb> cuimiance* might reasonably be expeetedl Others again had dreadful stories of narrow escapes from b ing tomahawked, cooked aad eaten. Tlje real state of th(j case \% nowr made pohl'c in a letter of Captain Vine llall to the Advertiser, and published ia an Sstra yesterday. 1 send you a copy herewith from which you will learn th*t propositions were at ttiis time entertained of making them prisoners. The recovery of the whole of the sold (3,003 ozs ) will be (satisfactory • intelligence. This is the most ; wondsribl part of the busines*, and while ft speaks volumes in favor of th<j intrepidUv of Sir. Grnhsm it is a creditable featttr« so far as tha Natives tbemselvesare concerned; I think it is questionable wbetbw in some parts of Jibe Kneliah eosot it would hav«be«o restored untouched, and still more bo whether the I spoliation of the Saxon would not have b->en more likely than otherwise on hods parts of Ireland. I Captain Butler and Mr. Itobert Graham were wrecked | in the White Swan, and did good service on that occasion aa on thif. I think the banks—if no one else— ; ought not to let Mr. Graham* intrepidity go unreI warded.

A despatch from Colonel Warre to f the Governor wanreadfto the House on Friday night la con«equence of information recqlml of the passengers being on their way to-Taranak!, be had not thought ft necessary to take steps for proceeding with a force to the neotio of disaster. I was not allowed to opy ifc, i or I should have liked to hnve sent it to you. 'Cap-! taia Rhodes cave notice last night of his intention i to ask Uie_ Government to &*y what steps they intend taking to recover property left in the ship. With every desire to prevent the disastrous eff-.cts of was, scarcely any one can contemplate nnnv. ved tie possibility of the liord Worsley and her contents being abandoned to the plunder of the Npifiruaaaii}; not that it wouM causa n$ to sink any lower ia their estimation, for in th ir eyes there can be no lower depth to that which occurred at the Taranaki war. I trust to send you the Government reply in p postcript. \v Ufle on tho " Native Question," I may mention a trial before the Magistrate's Court at the Hutt last i Wednesday. A month since, a native sltet a dog, which had been eating a lot of e^s belonging to him. whereupon the owner of the dog (a native) pitched ! into tho other, and severely maltreated him. He was i unable to appear as complainant in eoasoquenca of | injuries received, until Wednesday last The case was | heard, and defendant fined £50 by the two assessors. | Mr. St. Hill, the Magistrate, objected to the I amount as out oj all character, when the assessors replied "Then strike ont tho .nought." Mr. St. Hill still objected, thinking forty shillings and costs as roach a* was Just for a common assault, however, the assessors earned the day, and Mr. St. Hill fined defendant accordingly, who was very much surprised at tho smalloess of the amount, and from a handful of gold and a roll of notes, with which he had provided himself to pay the very much greater fine he had anticipated, settled the amount and walked out of court, evidently under the impression that he was a lucky follow to get off so easily. The Native, runanfra} are very severe in their fines, 1 know one case In this province where a King's magistrate was fined by a King's ronanj?a, L2OO for getting drunk ! When the ranama Bill was on for a second reading before the Legislative Council on Monday, Mr. Hafi and Mr. Seweil stated some details of thoir enquiries in England, from which it appears that the time for action in the matter must be next year, as if not it may be delayed for a long period. The West India contract of theß.lt. Company.it's said, expires next year, when there will probably he competition for that service, and the chance of continuing it from Panama to New Zealand and Australia, either as one line or in harmony with the West India line under a separate company, would be more likely to occur than it has any time heretofore. Mr. Seweil said that on his leaving England (about 18G0) he was deputed by a company of English shipowners to bring the subject before the Australian Governments. The whole subsidy of a line from Southampton to Australia was then reckoned at 1.200,000. The relations now existing with British' Columbia would improve the prospect } and, if we were satisfied with aSB or 60 days* transit to New Zealand, he believed the subsidy could be reduced one half. The cost of working large boats to gain a feyv days extra speed was out of all proportion, requiring a large expenditure of money for a small increase of speed. With moderate sized boats, say 1000 tons, he believed it was practicable for New Zealand to establish an alternate monthly service to Panama for £80,000. Thji is a. seed by the way side, which in these days, of enterprise may possibly germinate; at any. rate I have only done mj duty'tp you^ to mention itTully. Mr. Cargill has been calling attention to the necessity for establishing the electric telegraph between the Seat of Government and the Southern Provinces. Well, this could be set about at once if the Beat ol Government had been changed to Wellington; bui the "Native difficulty"; intercepts it firom beinj laid down from Auckland, besides which, the want ol funds* will prevent anything from; being- done thfc year./ How thia "Native difficulty",' febea ua ai ewiyturiil:-.-■:■•;■• ■.-/"' V' v.;:,*:.\.,* -■■':■*' * " :■■*

~" | mebHotjei la my n6te o&thmfoj; th«* the- Government Lad obtsdncd leave to" continue the expenditure until March 18&. on ihe bask of the 'Appro* pnaUon Act now passed for 1882^. Tiiia shuts no toe Assembly for two years^tbe object being- to give .SirQeorgeGrey's plans full time to work. Itia a<?reat mistake to have assented to this proposaal; the ■ Wellington members and some of the Southern members opposed it strongly, but to no purpose, - In, the present House Ministers can do as they please.' It is a sad error to leave before the Session is over, under the pledge of no business of Importance being brought forward. At this moment you can pas 3 any Bill you please to introduce, and if tie Otagq and Southland Boundary Bill had not been kept back until'now, it would have stood an excellent chance of. passing,' despite of its injustice and viciousness of principle. The standing orders in both Houses being suspended, a Bill 13 introduced, garbled over, and passed, before the pipe, over which three or four members most'opposed to it are privately discussing some important order of the! day about to come on, is half smoked out. A two yean' recess will take the present edge otT your separation movement, but what w far worse to my tbidking, possibly put such a keen one on in tfee future, as to render it more likely to succeed than the tamely concession of the removal of the seat of Government next year -would have rendered probable. The bill for providing an internal defence force has passed. It limits the force to 500, and is to be composed of a mixture of both races, and not to cost more than £3 VKtO. Mr. Moorhpuse was very vehement about this bill, declaring that lie foresaw that if -war arose, and the force was popular, the COO would* extend to 1000. and, perhaps, 2000, and the expense saddled to the extent of half or three-fourths on the Southern Island—the relation between ihv two islands tending to soch a proportion before two years hence, fie asked Mr. Bell to pledge the Ministry that in the event of any such threatenad burden appearing likely he would alarm the country.: by calling the Aweinbjy together. To this Mr. Bell replied that as a Southern Island member he had a duty to perform to his constituency, and he saould take care to do it. - > fThe «eafc of Government question to wit.] It might be very good policy of Mr. Moorhouse to ask eucii & question, but it was not one that Ministers could make any reply ; to.; Whereat Sir. Moorbouse was only the more wrath,- declaring that tlje answer was only just whit he expected. / V The Loan Bill ha? also passed. . The idea of establishing -frontier settlements liavini? been abandoued, the million was not required, but still it was desirable i* to have a fund lor the construction of'roads in this I Istand, S3 the amount required to compensate the Taraaaki settlers, (a cum not exceeding L'iOO.000) to settle tbe demand of 1191,000 (or such lesssnm as may be agreed upon), made by the Duke of Newcastle, have been added together and put into a halfnriliion loan, the balnnre being for road making and such like purpose*, expended under the sanction of the Provinces - < Tlie compensation to tbe Taranaki settlers has assumed a shape which they, at least, will probably not like. FaciKties for removal are not to be offered •' but compensation is to be afforded with a rkvr to the "reinstatement" ofthefetUement. Tbe settleraare t<> remain there for their country's good, if not for their own. It i* felt that it would be a disgrace to abambu the place, and co sure as. the settlers have | the chanca of getting away with compensation in their packets, so sure they will leave, and the place be merely a camp. All must Rympathwe with them under this " great political necessity," 33 it is called, anl w*ah that tueir trial hai come "to an end. It is \ritb the hope that thsse trials will be brought to an I end "finally and completely" all the sooner by tbe i course adopted, that the Setect Committee unaaimoiwly adopted tho report belovr :— "kbpokt. * *' The Commitfee appointed to consider the petition of the settlers of Taranaki, have the honor to report that they have afopted tbe following, viz.:— '"That whereas it is expedient to restore theProvincs of Taranaki, and to reinstate the inhabitants; and whereas the loss suffered by the settlers of Taranaki amounts to the sum of £191,000, estimated on the basis of the award male by the Commissioner, Mr.* Sewell, it is resolved by ttas Committee:—That the sum of £200,000 ought to be raised by loan, repayable with interest, and by a sinking* fond to enable the Governor, acting with tbe adnce of his responsible Ministers, to reinstate the said Province of Taranaki. and the inhabitants thereof In such a manner as may ensure a final and complete reinstatement of the same. 'i Tb* above loan to be raised on the security of the General Government of the colony, but to be a special charge as between the colony and Taranaki on the revenues (bwvl and ordinary) of the&ud Province of Taranaki as at present bounded. .--■•,' "WIUUUK FOX, " Chairman." If Sir G«irge Grey wanted a pretext for coming down on the Natives In that quarter, the Lord Woraley's affair aftVdg it to him. but if be does not, as I believe he does not this summer, at any rate, 1 suppose tbe Taranaki settlers will really be very little the better off for their compensation eventually, without ere permitted to remain or go, whichever they please: for as to cultivating, &c., in that neighbourhood, nnder present circumstances, is preposterous, or, to use an expression which Mr. Sewell is peroetoally using when he wishes to impress on the Council the very acme of absurdity—like the play of n&mlet with ihe i art of Hamlet left out. Tbe Native Land Bill finally passed yesterday, after producing h pretty kettle of nsb. It was sent up to the Council from the Representatives on Sfonlav, and read a first time. I told you it would have a squeaky there. With the intention of altering it in committee it was read a second time on Tnesdav by 8 t3 4. and the same day an alteration was made in committee to this effect.—that instead of half-a--crowa an acre being charged when the European pnrcbaser exchanges the certificate granted by the Governor to the Native, for a certificate under the public seal, tbe half-crown should bs paid on the first transfer, ie., irom the Native to the European. It was found that the (i 1% ative Court Certificates" bore the same value in practice as the Land Orders issue 1 by tbe New Zealand Company; that they formed a perfectly valid holding and selling title, and could change hands as often as was desired without the necessity o converting ttem into •* Pnblic Seal Certificates." The half-crown. an acre was a sham- -I mast not say an " evasion," for, when one of the members said co the other evening*, Mr. Bell was highly Miguaut. The Legislative Council therefore declared that if a Native wanted to sell or lease for more than aeven years, he must cbnnge bis Native Court Certificate^ for a " Public Sale Certificate," which of course necessitated the purchaser or lessor paying to the Government ths half-crown fee, Tbe j amendment was worded as follows:—

" But no certificate shall entitle any tribe, community, or person named therein to sell, exchange, or lease for a longer period than seven years,or dispose, of any land or interest thereby "affected, unless such certificate shall have been endorsed by the Governor and sailed by the public seal of the Colony as aforesaU, and the amount payable on such an endorse, ment and sealing be duly paid." On Thursday, when the amendment came before the Representatives, Mr. Bell said that he would move the concurrence'of the House, leaving it to the Governor to send down an amendment by messageHe adopted this course to prevent the •' derision and insult" from outside, which would arise if the Ministry in one House .opposed an amendment which -had the rote and " 4 -• speech ot a a Mioister in the other. The concurrence was agreed to at once, when Mr. C&rleton came forward, and declaring that he had been taken by surprise, denounced the amendment of the Council just concurred in, as a breach of privilege. Mr, Bell said Ministers had consulted on the matter beforehand, and did not consider it a breach. Nevertheless, when the decision took place be voted with the ayes, as did also Mr. Russell, and carried i*. This double mode of speaking and acting is so often occurring as to render Mr. Bell's personal opinion of little or no weight In the Council Mr. Sewell obtained leave to refer the question to the law officers of the Crown, as one materially affecting the Council's privileges. . The Governor sent down a message to the House of Representatives, proposing instead of the half crown clause, a payment on the first purchase of 10 per cent, and on all subsequent sales from European to European, 4 per ceat, additional. Thia was so preposterous -^-involving a tax upon the value acquired by labor and capital, that it required the strongest use of the Governor's name to get it carried. Mr. Bell had first asked the concurrence of the House to the CoundTa amendment for Ministers* sake, and now fas pleaded for a reversal of it for the Governor* sake. A long debate ensued, which did not terminate until past midnight, the Council Bitting specially to receive the message from the other House until midnight, when, it adjourned. The > Governor bad sent, the Council a similar message,/and they bad had it printed, and had agreed to meet At 8, to consider if the same evening as the other House were considering it, but after they had met to. do so, a, second messace irora his^^ Excellency cam,Vto saytlyit it was sent in mistake, itwas gnly injen^ed jor a copy of that sent ; to.the House of Representatives. -Yesterday the Council met tQ consider the Governor's amendment as received from the Representatives. It was met on a division by ayes 6, noes 6, the Speaker giving his casting vote 'with the ayes. This result was only arrived at byMr,Tancred; threatening';to withdraw the Bill, ifthe amendment was not agreed to, -