PUBLIC MEETING AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 33, 23 August 1851, Page 3

PUBLIC MEETING AT CHRISTCHURCH.

ERECTION OF CANTERBURY INTO A SEPARATE

PROVINCE,

On Thursday Aug. 14, pursuant to notice given by the Magistrates of the district, a Public Meeting was held at the Golden Fleece Hotel, Christchurch, for the purpose of taking into consideration the communication lately received by Mr. Godley from the Governor Sir George Grey, in which his Excellency declared " that he will raise no objection to the erection of Canterbury into a separate province if the power be left in his hands, and if the settlers in Canterbury desire it." Although the weather in the early part of the morning was very inclement and unfavourable, the snow lying several inches on the ground, we were happy to see that the great interest felt in the important object for which the meeting was called, induced a large and respectable attendance of persons. Some time before the hour of meeting, the large room of the Golden Fleece was filled, and among those present, we were pleased to see a considerable number of the labouring classes, who during the meeting appeared to take a lively interest in the proceeding. At one o'clock precisely, H. I. Tancred, Esq., on the motion of J. C. Watts Russell, Esq., seconded by Dr. Barker, was called to the Chair. In opening the proceedings of the meeting, the Chairman said, Gentlemen, —I need not detain you many minutes, it will be sufficient if I endeavour to state the general bearing of the question before us; you are aware that this meeting has been called in consequence of a correspondence between His Excellency the Governor-in-Chief and Mr. Godley, as Agent of the Canterbury Association, upon the subject of the arrangement of the provinces of New Zealand. Mr. Godley having made an application to have this settlement proclaimed a separate province, His Excellency replies, " That it will in this case, as in all others in which he can properly do so, afford him great pleasure to conform to the well ascertained wishes of the settlers in the Canterbury district, and therefore His Excellency will, i*f they desire such a course to be pursued, raise no. objection to the block of land at present vested in the Canterbury Association by Act of Parliament, being created into a separate province." Thus, gentlemen, as far as His Excellency is concerned, the decision of this-matter rests with yourselves, and, now that the question has been already so long before you, whatever decision you may come to, that decision will carry with it all the might of a deliberate and well-considered expression of your feelings and wishes. If we consider for a moment the end originally proposed-in dividing New Zealand into provinces, we shall, I think, admit that this discussion is at least not altogether uncalled for. The system of separate provinces, I need hardly remind you, was adopted for the purpose of meeting the inconvenience arising from the scattered state of the different settlements, and to .make some provision for the difficulties of communication by means of legislative bodies possessed of large powers of "local legislation. At the time of the introduction of

the present arrangement, Canterbury and Otago were not in existence, so that for all practical purposes this province of New Munster consisted exclusively of the settlements about Cook's Straits, These two important settlements having since been formed, the limits of the province have been extended to such an unmanageable degree, as to put all idea of local legislation,—the very purpose for which provinces were created, —wholly out of the question. But this anomaly does not seem to have escaped either the Colonial Government or Lord Grey himself, and I find by a despatch to Sir George Grey, dated so long ago as Dec. 22, 1849, that his lordship alludes to it in the following terms. —"The separation from New Munster of the two other projected provinces, of which Otago and New Canterbury are to form the nuclei respectively, must for the present be postponed until the settlement of the latter is somewhat more advanced, and the general convenience can be consulted with more certainty as to its limits." His Lordship then goes on to say that the criterion by which he will be guided in judging of our fitness for a local legislature, will be our ability to pay our own expences. This dispatch, you will recollect, was written more than a year and a half ago, and since then I believe, all the conditions laid down by his lordship have been fulfilled, indeed there is every reason to suppose that our revenue has from the very first greatly exceeded our expenditure, and I believe I am correct in stating that our settlement has never cost a farthing either to the home or colonial government. Such being the case, there is no reason to doubt that the Home Government will be less willing to accede to our wishes than Sir George Grey has shewn himself to be, and the only question now is, are you yourselves in favour of the proposal? as your opposition alone would be the only bar to its taking effect. On becoming a separate province you would acquire some share at least in the management of your own affairs, of which you are at present wholly deprived. You would have the election of two-thirds of the members to serve in your provincial council. As to the appropriation of revenue, after defraying the cost of collection, and contributing our share towards the general expences of the colony, the surplus would remain in the provincial treasury to be disposed of as yourselves might think fit for promoting the prosperity of the settlement. On the other hand, some additional offices would have to be created, entailing some increase of expenditure, but from the expressions lately used by Sir George Grey, of his intention to reduce the cost of provincial legislatures to the lowest practicable limits, I should not apprehend that this increase would be considerable, and any objections on this score, would, I think, be amply compensated by the power we should acquire to deal with our own surplus revenue, while, at the same time, the feeling that our welfare as a community is so greatly dependent upon our own foresight and economy, would give us a strong inducement to watch, with the most jealous vigilance, the mode in which our revenue was appropriated. But if these reasons are of any weight on general grounds, I think that they are much more so when applied to this particular settlement, with principles and organisation so different from every other settlement, with ends in view either misunderstood or suspected by all but ourselves ; it appears to me a matter oi' almost vital importance to our success, that we should have an opportunity of working out our scheme, unimpeded, as far as may be, by the interference of others, and that we should have the right to dispose of some part at least of that revenue wholly contributed by ourselves. It is true that even if we do become a separate province, many limitations and restrictions on our perfect liberty of action will still remain, but I would consider any approach to the institutions of our native country preferable to remaining as we are. In conclusion, Gentlemen, I would recommend the proposal now before you, not indeed for its intrinsic value, not as all we could desire, but as a step towards a more complete system of self-government, us an instalment of those rights and privileges which have descended to us as an heir-loom from our forefathers, and which have proved of such inestimable value to our native country (loud cheers). Mr. Bowen rose and said, Sir, —We have been clearly informed, and are all pretty well acquainted with the reasons for our present meeting, and truly, few subjects could so strongly rouse a community to put (For Continuation see 6th page.)