FIRST PARLIAMENT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 54, Issue 192, 28 May 1934, Page 8

FIRST PARLIAMENT

THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY.

MEETING IN AUCKLAND, Thursday was the 80th anniversary of a momentous event in Zealand history—the opening of the colony's first Parliament. Auckland was then the seat of government and Parliaenint assembled in a building which is still well remembered, having been the home of Auckland University College until its demolition only 16 years ago. From being for a few months a dependency of New South Wales, New Zealand attained in 1840 the full status of a Crown colony, with a Governor, an Executive Council of salaried officials and a Legislative Council. In 1846, Earl Grey, as Secretary of State, put through the British Parliament an Act providing the colony with an elaborate federal constitution, embodying a Governor-in-Chief, a general assembly, provincial governors, and by-cameral provincial parliaments. Tlie Governor, Sir George Grey, considered this unsuitable and much ahead of its time. He therefore took the bold course of putting the document in his pocket and conveying his opinion of it to Earl Grey so convincingly that the latter had the scheme suspended for five years. A modified federal constitution', framed largely under Sir George Grey's advice, was passed by the British Parliament in 1852 and promulgated in New Zealand in 1853. This provided for a General Assembly of two Houses and six provinces, governed by elected superintendents and councils. This constitution: was destined to remain in force for 23 years. An Unequal Start. The Constitution Act was promulgated in New Zealand on January 17, 1853. For reasons of his own Sir George Grey put the provincial portion of it into operation first, but delayed the creation of the General Assembly. As a result, the provincial elections were held in advance of the others and the local councils were functioning before the end of 1853. The elections for the House of Representatives took place in the latter part of that year and early in 1854. On the last day of 1853 however, Sir George Grey sailed for England, leaving the administration in the .hands of Colonel 11. H- Wynward, who commanded the troops in the colony and held also various civil offices, including that of Superintendent of Auckland. Owing to difficulties of travel, the General Assembly did. not meet until the Queen's Birthday, May 24, 1851, some time after the last of its members had been elected. It is on record that the Otago members spent no less than eight weeks on the sea journey from Dunedin to Auckland. One of the Wellington representatives was Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Strife andi Disorder. What happened in the first session has been forcibly described by the late Hon. W. Pember Beeves in his book, Long White Cloud." "At last," he wrote, "those who had been agitating so long for self-government had the boon opportunity ivithin their grasp. In their eyes it was ,a great occasion—the true commencement of national life in jthe colony. The irony of fate or the perversity of man turned it into a curious anti-climax. The Parliament, indeed, duly assembled but it dispersed after- weeks of ineffectual wrangling and intrigue amid scenes which were discreditable and are still ridiculous. Those who had drawn up the constitution had forgotten that government through responsible Ministers forming a Cabinet and possessing the confidence of the elective chamber must be a necessary part of their system. Not only was no provision made for it in the written constitution but the Colonial Office had sent the Governor no instructions on the subject. "The Viceroy was surrounded by patent officers, some of whom had been administering'since the first days of the colony. No place or refuge had been prepared for them, and naturally they were not going to surrender their posts without a struggle. When the Parliament met, Colonel Wynward asked three members to join his old advisers in forming a Cabinet. They agreed to do so, and one of them, James Edward Fitzgerald, a Canterbury settler ot brilliant abilities, figured as the leader of the colony's first Ministry. Responsible Government had not been provided for and in a few weeks Mr Fitzgerald and his Parliamentary colleagues came to loggerheads with the old officers in the Cabinet and threw up the game. The "Clean-Shirt" Ministry. "Then came prorogation; for a fortnight and another'hybrid Ministry, known to New Zealand as the 'CleanShirt Ministry,' because its leader ingenuously informed Parliament that when asked by the Governor to form an Administration, he had gone upstairs to put on a clean shirt before presenting' himself at Government House. The 'Clean-Shirt' Ministry lasted for just two days. It was born and died amid open recrimination and secret wire-pulling ... On one occasion the door of the House had to be locked to prevent the. minority running away to force on a count-out and one°honourablo member assaulted another with his fists. Australia laughed at the scene, which, it may here be said, has never been repeated in the 'New Zealand Legislature." In September, 1854 after much negotiation with the Governor, Parliament was prorogued until the following winter, when it met for formal business only. As a result of correspondence in the' meantime with the British Government, which held that no amendment of the constitution was needed to introduce responsible, instead of merely representative, government, a general election was held at the end of 1855, and on April 15, 1856', the second Parliament assembled. ' It voted pensions to tire members of the retiring Execu-

tive and on May 7, the first responsible Ministry was formed with Mr Henry Sewell as the first Premier.

The old Parliament House in Eden Street, erected early in 1854, remained in use until 1865, when the seat of Government was removed' to Wellingtons In later years and until 1876, it was the home of the Auckland Provincial Council. After it was demolished.in 1918 to make way for the construction of Anzao Avenue, the unwanted part of the site was left vacant and so remains. Some months ago the City Council which now owns it, had the ground cleared of building material and put to some extent in order. The actual ground on which the first General Assembly met has not been encroached upon and is not threatened ,by the scheme for extending the Supreme Court law library. The suggestion has been made that this very historic spot, with its native trees, should not be built upon, but should be set apart for all time and marked so that passers by may know what took place there.