39

A.—7a

fortunate in adopting the Ministerial advice ; it was the least of the evils that stood for choice, and, though hazardous and thorny enough, it was the only path that led to safety. The Legislative Assembly and the public were reassured and contented, the honour of the Ministry vindicated, and themselves left free to act with forbearance to the opposite party and that wise moderation in the nominations for life to the Legislative Council which they have since evinced. At page 27 Sir W. Burton complains he was not offered a seat in the reconstructed Council. The Ministers were not inclined to give the necessary sanction of their advice to his reappointment, but wish me to add that, whatever their inclination, room was not left for any consideration on their part, so great was the haste with which Sir W. Burton advertised his house and property for sale, and announced his intention of leaving the colony. Page 28, as to the favourable report Sir W. Burton bespeaks from your Grace. Although Ministers have not advised my availing myself of his services in the Legislative Council, and although I may not think the alternatives he proposed at an anxious crisis other than unsafe, and inapplicable to the requirements of the time and the colony, yet I should be very sorry indeed if, on these occounts, there were withheld any portion of the recognition and respect which are due to his age, his unblemished private character, and his long services as a Judge. I have, &c, John Young. Governor Sir John Young to the Secbetaky of State for the Colonies. My Loed Duke, — Government House, Sydney, 20th July, 1861. I have the inform your Grace that the Legislative Council of this colony has been duly reconstructed, as required by the terms of the 3rd clause of the Constitution Act. 2. I enclose copies of the Gazette containing a list of the names of the gentlemen appointed. Seats were in the first instance offered to twenty-seven gentlemen—that being the number fixed upon as suitable and convenient. Five declined the offer on grounds of a personal and private nature, and one was objected to by Ministers as announcing in his answer his intention of opposing the Land Bills and generally the policy of the Government. Seats were then offered to three others, of whom two accepted, and one declined on private grounds. This leaves the number at twenty-three for the present; but it is understood that, as occasion may arise, four more names may be added, so as to complete the number up to twentyseven, which is taken as the complement, not to be exceeded except under very special and exceptional circumstances. 3. Of this list of twenty-three, twelve were in the late Legislative Council; some others held seats in past times, and three filled the office of Attorney-General in former Administrations. All are gentlemen of high standing and character, and the names of the ablest and most distinguished persons in the colony are to be found in the list. 4. The selection has created a very favourable impression on the public mind, and forms a body to which the important functions to be discharged by an Upper House may be safely assigned. 5. There is sent herewith a copy of the minutes of the Executive Council, which will put your Grace in possession of all particulars, and of the result of the Ministerial deliberations. 6. I have already had occasion, in former despatches, and in my answer to Sir W. Burton's statement, to speak at length of the perplexities of the situation and the political excitement I had to face on my arrival. I shall not, .therefore, allude to them further than to say that I feel happy in thinking that the reconstruction, though complicated by so many causes of doubt and anxiety, has thus been happily accomplished in accordance with the wise suggestions of your Grace's despatch of the 4th February last. I have, &c, John Young. The Seceetaby of State for the Colonies to Governor Sir John Young. (Separate.) Sib,— Downing Street, 26th July, 1861. I have to acknowledge your despatch, No. 37, of 21st May, enclosing a copy of the Proclamation by which you had prorogued the Parliament of New South Wales on the 11th of that month, in consequence of the approaching expiration, on the 13th, of the period to which the first nominations to the Legislative Council were limited. With regard to the reconstruction of that body, I have nothing to add to my despatch of the 4th February last, the recommendations of which, I am glad to hear from you, will not have been overlooked by yourself and your Ministers in taking the measures necessary for the purpose; but I cannot pass by without notice your report of the means which you took, by the advice of your Responsible Advisers, to insure the passing of the Land Bills through the Legislative Council —the creation, namely, upon a sudden, and for a single night, of a number of Legislative Councillors, which you do not specify, but which must have been sufficient to convert a large majority against the Bills into a majority in their favour. I am fully sensible of the very difficult position in which you found yourself when pressed to take such a course, under a threat of resignation, by Ministers, who, you say, you could not have replaced. I regret, however, that they should have offered you that advice, and that you, even under the circumstances which you describe, should have accepted it. A measure so violent, and in its nature so unconstitutional, could only be justified by circumstances of the gravest danger and the greatest urgency, which did not, as it appears to me, exist on the present occasion. Your resistance to it could only have led to the same state of things (after, perhaps, a Ministerial crisis) which has actually resulted from the defeat of the attempt to force the Bills through the Council by the counter-stratagem to which the Opposition resorted, and would, I can harlly doubt, have received a large amount of approval and support from the public opinion of the colony, irrespectively of the merits of the measures which happened to be in question.