The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 76, 19 June 1852, Page 5

The Lyttelton Times.

June 19, 1852,

A high sounding proposal is made to us. It is the duty of the people to examine and consider it. The meaning of the letter and proclamation which we publish in anot^^cplumn appears to be as follows. When the Provincial Councils Ordinance of the last session was passed, Sir George Grey expected that he would shortly receive the royal mandate empowering him t^create new Provinces. Not having yet ''received 'the necessary powers, he is anxious to get the lists of electors ready, so that'the moment the royal instructions arrive and the boundaries of the Provinces are proclaimed, the Provincial Council in each, may set to work without further delay. His Excellency has, therefore, elaborated^the machinery by which the Provincial Councils are to be set i^ operation. The first practical step is to be, that in about six weeks time all persons who have a claim to vote for the representative members of the Council, may, by sending in their claim in writing, to the Resident Magistrate, have their names put on the electoral roll, andwill thereby become entitled to vote as soon as an election shall take place. This is the step which the people are called upon to take. Let us now consider how upon the whole, it will be best-to meet this proposal. We are reluctant to assume even the ap- / jpearance of dictation by pronouncing authoritatively on a matter which every man must judge, for himself; keeping this in view,'however, .it_, is our duty to say, we think that the. best course will be to abstain altogether from any participation in the proposed movement. We think it would be advisable that the people should decline registering their names, and that for the r present no electoral roll whatsoever should be formed.:in the Canterbury district. ■■■'' '■'■''""' Our reason for offering this suggestion are as follows: 1. At the public meetings which were held at Christ-church and at Lyttelton last July, the people of this settlement solemnly, deliberately, and unanimously recorded their' condemnation of ■■. a local government such as that sought to be established . by the Provincial Councils' Ordinance; and of so great importance were those meetings esteemed to be in reference to the struggle going on between the colonies and ;the mother country for free representative institutions, that the Colonial Re-

formers have published the principal speeches then delivered, and have circulated them in a pamphlet throughout Englaftd. We are, therefore, pledged to our friends here and at home never to accept the miserable sham which the proposed {Provincial Council offers us in the place of a bond fide representative government.

2. We published an extract of a letter a short time ago from which it appears that many of the best constitutional lawyers in England are of opinion that the Provincial Councils Ordinance of last session, was an illegal enactment, and is absolutely null and void ; so that the inhabitants of the province could not be bound in law by the Acts of the Provincial Council, and would be borne

out in resisting its Ordinances upon an appeal to the superior courts of law in England. If, therefore, we render any assistance in the formation of such a council, it is at all events probable that we should be but struggling for a vain shadow, and disquieting ourselves in vain.

3. If we participate in forming a Provincial Council such as proposed, we are making ourselves responsible for its acts. Now it has been repeatedly shewn that such a council will not give us one particle of real control over our local affairs. It will not take from the Governor one particle of the arbitrary power which he at present exercises; it will not place at our disposal one sixpence of our local revenues.. We shall be able to exercise, by its means, just as much control as the Governor-in-Chief may choose to allow, and .to spend as much of our money as his Excellency shall be pleased to permit. All this we can do at present without any Council, and it is a mere delusion to suppose it will give us more. All, therefore, that we could possibly gain by a Provincial Council of the proposed construction, will be to relieve his Excellency of a large share of responsibility without acquiring the power of controlling the acts of government. If Government will not resign arbitrary power, it is at all events but fair that they should be solely responsible for its exercise, and it would be most unwise in the people to accept any -responsibility for the acts of a government over which they are unable to exercise any legitimate and constitutional control.

4. It must be remembered that at the very time when Sir George Grey is endeavouring to force this obnoxious ordinance into action, the Imperial Parliament is actually legislating upon the same subject;, so that it is almost certain that even before the electoral rolls are complete, we shall receive news from England that an entire and fundamental change has taken place in the constitutional law of the colony, that an act has been passed by the Imperial Parliament, sweeping away all local legislation upon the subject, and settling the government both of New Zealand and its provinces, upon a satisfactory and permanent basis. . In such an event it is not unlikely that the franchise givenl will be different from that under which we are now called upon to enrol ourselves ; so that even if the electoral rolls are now made up, they will probably be useless as soon as completed. This is no idle speculation. We cannot forget the laboured legislation of the General Council last session, upon the land and pasturage questions. We cannot forget that the darling scheme of the Governor and the darling scheme of the Minister, crossed each other upon the broad seas, —that while the legislation of the Governor was speeding to England to gain credit for nothing but precipitancy, the legislation of the Minister was speeding to NeAV Zealand to gain credit for nothing but making confusion worse confounded. We cannot forget the lesson which this conflict of undefined jnrisdictions taught us. What occurred with respect to our lands, may occur with respect to our constitution, and we ought to take no part in this battledore and shuttlecock game,—we ought to take no part in bandying about our hereditary political rights.

5. Lastly, if we now abstain from inscribing our names on the electoral roll, we shall in no way impair our political condition ; at worst we should but postpone for a few weeks the exercise of our privileges ; and when it is recollected that the law under which we are called upon to act, is of doubtful legality, that if it be valid, it is a sham, and that it is almost certain to be, at this very moment, repealed ; the people will, we doubt not, conclude that the abstinence will not cost them much.

As soon as we shall obtain a good constitutional law, giving us real power, and giving us a share in the spending of our money, and in the framing of our laws, then we may set to work heart and soul; But, until then, let us beware lest by any act which may be interpreted into an acceptance of a sham, we should unwittingly throw an impediment in the way of our obtaining the reality.