MOi S3.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 1856. 1. The House met pursuant to adjournment; Mr. Speaker and twenty-three members being present ; Mr. Speaker read prayers and took the chair. 2. Resignation of a Member:—Mr. Speaker read a letter addressed to him by Mr. Ludlam, member for the Hutt District, resigning his seat in the House. Mr. D. Bell moved, That a respectful address be presented to his Excellency the Governor requesting that he will be pleased to cause a writ to be issued for the election of a member to serve in this House, for the Hutt District, in the room of A. Ludlam, Esquire, resigned. Question put and passed. 3. Land Claims Settlement Bill.—On motion of the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Williamson and Mr. Daldy were ordered to signify to the Legislative Council, that the House had adopted the amendments agreed to in Committee of conference on the Land Claims Settlement Bill. 4. Messages :—The following Messages from his Excellency the Governor received and read :— (I.) Meeting of General Assembly. THOMAS GORE BROWNE, " Message No. 49. Governor. In reference to the place where the next meeting of the Assembly should be held, the Governor observes that the Resolution of the House dated 26th May expresses an opinion " That the next meeting of the General Assembly should be held in such more central place as His Excellency may deem most convenient." In reply to this Resolution the Governor, in a Message, No. 26, alluded to certain difficulties, and requested a more definite opinion. This Message was answered in a Resolution of the House dated 3rd July, slating, "That this House concurs in His Excellency's opinion that in adopting the Resolution of this House that the next Session should be held in a more central place, Wellington is the preferable place for the purpose, and it recommends His Excellency to summon it to meet at that place. And this House pledges itself to make the necessary arrangements in the interval to enable the Session to be held there without detriment to the public service." The question would then have been settled, but that on the next day the Governor received a Resolution fiom the Legislative Council declaring " That, in the opinion of this Council, great inconvenience and mischief to the public service will result from any change being made in the place of meeting of the General Assembly." It thus became the Governor's duty to enquire what was the state of opinion in the two Houses, and he is informed that in the House of Representatives the Resolution of the 3rd July was carried by a majority of two, thiry five members being present; and that in the Legislative Council, the vote was unanimous, seven members being present. Feeling, however, great anxiety that his decision should meet with general approval, and hoping that some compromise might bemade with the Legislative Council, the Governor brought the subject more distinctly under the consideration of the House of Representatives in his Message No. 46, but having failed in his object, he appealed to his Executive Council, in which the members were equally divided in opinion, it remains for him therefore again to consider the subject, and he will not shrink from expressing his own opinion as it has now become a matter of duty. He sees difficulties and advantages on both sides of the question, and he is aware that it will be impossible to reconcile conflicting interests. Earnestly desiring the welfare of the Colony, and entirely free from prejudice in favor of any particular part of it, he considers that in the absence of any provision for a Lieutenant-Governor at Auckland, the balance rests in favor of Auckland being the place at which the Assembly should hold its next Session. In coming to this conclusion, the Governor desires to add, that concurring with his advisers and the House of Representatives in its opinion relative to the Seat of Government, he will solicit Her Majesty's Government to enable him to appoint a Lieutenant Governor during his absence at a future time, should the House consider it advisable to provide for the necessary expenditure. The Governor has no hesitation in saying, that unless otherwise advised, he will, if then honoured with the

VOTES AND PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.