GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 195, 13 September 1854, Page 3

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Wednesday, August 2. Mr. Wortlet rose and moved the suspension of the Standing Orders, to allow him to bring in a motion without notice. Agreed to. Mr. Wortley then said, —The resolution he had to bring; forward was as follows:— " That the past conduct of the Ministry entitled them to the thanks of the House, and that they still retained its confidence." He had been requested to bring this motion before the House by several members of it. He confessed he felt the inadequacy, of the advocate for the purpose, but he trusted the house would excuse his inefficiency, and allow him to state that he had had no time for a preparation of any set speech, and that what he said was simply the expression of his feelings at that moment. He stood there to ask the house to acknowledge by their vote their sense of the industry, honour, and integrity, of those gentlemen who had just left the government benches opposite. He had always been a decided supporter of their policy, and had given that support from a conscientious conviction that he was doing1 his duty, and that though he had generally been silent in his voting, lie perhaps had not been less useful on that account in the house (hear, hear.) In the first speech he had addressed to the house on Responsible Government, he had said that he knew what an obstinate government could persist in, and he could prophesy what an exasperated popular Assembly would do. He much feared that what he then alluded to was rapidly coming to pass. For his oivn part, he felt determined, and he said it deliberately and advisedly, to stop all supplies, all votes of money, and the transaction of any business through the house, till the principle he had before advocated, which the house had asserted, and which was now outraged and insulted, was completely established (cheers.) The first part of his motion simply asked for an expression of thanks which he felt sure the house would not refuse. He as well as other hon. members knew the labours of the late ministry, and their unwillingness at first to undertake the burden of office. He therefore felt confident the house would not refuse a vote of thanks for that. The real ground on which he claimed a vote was one of confidence for their late c jnduct. This he did not give on the value of the policy of their measures, though he concurred in them, but on the ground that their late act of resignation, when they found it impossible to carry out the principle they accepted office to establish, proved them to be men of honesty and integrity, and as such deserving the expression of confidence from the house. He would point out but one important fact, the principal one on which he based his remarks, he meant the late statement of accounts laid before this house. He would ask hon. members to peruse the statement to detect the many and gross unconstitutional disbursements which had taken place,

and then to declare whether a ministry who had procured and published such an expose did not by such an act deserve their confidence. He aiked, nay, he demanded, such an expression on that question (loud cheers.) Mr. Pioakd:—Sir, I rise to second the motion. I consider this as a most momentous occasion, fraught with the most important consequences, not only to this Colony, but to others in which this great contest, in which we are now engaged has yet to be fought, and when the course which this House may take, may influence the result of that contest, either for good or for evil. Sir, the motion which I have to support, of thanks to,jandjconfidence_in, the late ministry, I have yet to learn that any member of this House will refuse to concur in (hear, hear). When we consider the circumstances under which they took office, none of them, I verily believe, having the smallest desire for it, some I know, at the sacrifice of cherished plans for the future; when we remember that they had to prepare measures, to be submitted to this House, in the intervals of their arduous attendance upon it*; and when we consider the character of those measures, though of course it was not to be expected that all should concur in their policy, still less in their details, I say, sir, that those gentlemen have displayed all but superhuman energy, and superhuman talent (hear, hear). On another point, sir, I cannot speak as I would do, if my hon. friends were not present, it is of the patience, the courtesy, and the kindness they have always shown in their official intercourse [with members of this House (hear, hear). lam compelled, sir,-to advert to another point, it cannot but be in the remembrance of this House, what pledges of support, what promises, of kind and patient consideration were given, when they accepted office, and I ask, have these been carried out ? (hear, hear). If however it is said that hon. members felt it their duty to take the course they have done, in opposing their measures, then I say that they have now an opportunity by voting for the resolution before the House, of showing that their ,pledges were not mere abstract propositions, which they were not prepared to carry into practice. Sir, I now come to another view of the subject. I say, sir, if this House desires to see that great principle of Ministerial Responsibility, the first resolution affirmed by this first Parliament of New Zealand, carried into effect if they wish it to be a reality not a mockery, delusion, or sham, if they are not prepared utterly to stultify themselves, they cannot do otherwise than support those men, who in the support of this principle, have quitted their seats upon that bench (hear, hear). Finally I think that were additional reasons, in support of that principle needed, they have been given in those accounts which have been laid upon the table of this House. I say that if hon. members would not wish such a deplorable state of things as those accounts disclose to continue, if they would not wish the public monies of this colony to be squandered and misapplied (hear, hear), they will support the resolution now before the House, which gives our thanks for the past, and declares our present confidence in the members of the late ministry.

Mil. Wakefhsld rose and announced that he had been authorized by his Excellency the Governor to make a statement to the House. In consequence of the resignation of the ministry, he had received a summons from his Excellency, who requested him (Mr. Wakelield) to advise. It was stated that his counsel had been asked on account of the prominent position which he had been allowed to take in the House. He answered that under certain conditions he would undertake to do so, and to devise some means, though not with any confident hope of success, by which an accommodation of the present difficulties could be brought about. But tint he had told his Excellency, that under no circumstances would he ever accept office under the Crown in New Zealand. He had also made it a condition that his Excellency should not expect him to form a Government. The utmost he would attempt was this—to act as mediator between his Excellency and ihe House — to help to restore the old system with improved arrangements, or to try to iiucl some other mode of carrying on the Government that might prove satisfactory to the House. But he entertained but faint hopes of success. With this interest he had undertaken to bring those papers before the House. Communication by message was a common form. [Here the hon. member gave many instauces of the practice.] He hoped that

the House would not refuse so to communicate with his Excellency. Prorogation or dissolution might be the consequence. The Jhon. member (Mr. Fitz Gerald) had read his own Minute of explanation, but, most unfavourably had not read his Excellency's reply. That reply had been placed at his disposal, and he would read it to the House. [Reply read.] He considered the refusal of the House to receive from his Excellency, in writing, a full exposition of his views as an insult, and, if repeated, it would lead to an almost irreconcileable quarrel with the Head of the Government. He hoped the House would reflect. If the manner proposed to the House were carried out in the provinces, they would be in a state of quasi rebellion, and he saw in the distance a suspension of the Constitution (loud cries of" no") and|the sending out a Commissioner to set them right (no, no). They had precedent for this. They had the instance of Jamaica, where this had been done; and he hoped the House would not run the risk of such a course being adopted towards New Zealand. The Governor had satisfied him, that he considered it to be his duty to act as he was now doing, and he was convinced that he had courage to carry out what be had begun. He had often stated, and he would state it again, that under no circumstances could he sit on that tench. But he had told his Excellency that if he was treated with injustice, and therefore with cruelty by that House, or that if he saw great danger to the Colony, he would accept office, (hear, hear, oh, oh, and much laughter,) such as might render it necessary for the Governor to prorogue the Parliament, he would then accept office.

Mr. FiTZ Gerald explained, and stated, that he purposely abstained from noticing the document in question, being anxious to keep his Excellency entirely out of the discussion. He had never mentioned his Excellency in a personal manner, he only wished to consider his Excellency's advisers as responsible. Mr. Sbwklii carefully disclaimed any allusion to his Excellency in any animadversions he might be about to make. His object in mentioning this first was that they might exclude his Excellency and only allude to his Excellency's advisers. His hon. friend the member for the Hutt had advised his Excellency, and the message to be sent down to the house would be that of the hon. member for the Hutt, and he hoped the house would deal with it in that shape (hear, hear.) He could not approve of his hon. friend's principle. They would have done almost anything to avoid this collision. When he accepted office, he believed that as soon as the pensions were provided ; as soon as the Golden bridge was made for those gentlemen, who then held office, to retire over, they would have retired (hear, hear.) (Here the hon. member read an extract from the Attor-ney-General's speech in the Legislative Council.) But now those gentlemen wished to retain office till certain letters should be written, and answers received from England, which might or might not be received. But now the time had arrived when the house was about to vote money. He felt convinced that they could notjeven have brought thegWaste Lands' Bill to a third reading, without being asked who are you? how are you.carrying out responsible government ? He would ask if a government couhl be carried on in this manner. The hon. member for Lyttelton might accept office as Colonial Secretary, with a lukewarm friend as Attorney-Genera), he would not say mure, and with the present Colonial Treasurer. With the fiuance of the colony in the state it was at present, he considered it impossible to carry on the Government. Mr. Weld said, Sir, after the full and clear narrative of eveuts, and the ample explanations that have been given by my hon. friends my colleagues in the Ministry, I shall abstain from entering largely into details, simply stating my full concurrence in the statements that have been made. But yet I shall ask the House to allow me 10 say a few words on the position 111 which in common with my late colleagues I now stand before yon. (hoar). But first, sir, I must allude to what has fallen from the hon. member for the Hutt, (-Mr. E. G. Wakefield). Sir, the statement of that hon. gentleman has created in my mind such feelings of surprise and disappoiniment, that I have almost doulil«d it it were possible I could have understood him rio-htly. Sir, it is with deep regret that I have heard'that his first step after being ndimUed to his Excellency's confidence has been to ignore and evade the principle of responsibility, m-

stead of himself coming boldly down to this house to explain and defend bis Excellency's conduct. (Hear, hear). On the contrary to have thrown that responsibility, that onus, back upon his Excellency himself, by advising him to place himself in direct communication with this house by message, defending that course by reference to the power to do so given in the Constitution Act. (No, by Mr. Travels). An hon. gentleman says " no." I will not go so far, I believe that power is given by the Constitution Act. (hear). I will concede so much to the hon. member for the Hutt. But, Sir, because the Governor may communicate by message, I do not the less on that account blame the hon. gentleman who advised him to do so, for having brought his Excellency into personal communication—perhaps into personal collision —with this bouse, in order himself to escape the responsibility that devolves upon him as his Excellency's adviser. (Hear, hear). Sir, I regret, I deeply regret that such should be the case. I regret it, as a shrinking from responsibility on the part of the hon. gentleman. (Cheers). Sir, that hon. gentleman has told us also that he will not now accept office. If, sir, in this I have understood him rightly, he has entirely abandoned that principle of Responsible Government for which he but so lately fought. (Cheers). (Mr. Wakefield, I said I would take office if I considered the Governor was persecuted and oppressed.) Sir, if that is the only answer of the hon. gentleman, I have understood him rightly; he admits everything I have said. He will consider the Governor "persecuted and oppressed " when a prorogation becomes necessary.. (Cheers). Whilst we are sitting here the hon. gentleman will only act as an irresponsible go-between, he will not take office, but when this house is prorogued, when he can hold office without responsibility, without rendering an account of his actions to this house, then, and then only, will he take office. (Cheers). Sir, was there ever such a complete dereliction of every principle he has advocated; far better go back at once to the old system of avowedly irresponsible Government. (Hear, hear). Sir, I will now turn to the position of the members of the late ministry. Soon after the commencement of this session, it became my duty to stand before this house and to state to it that I had accepted a seat in the newly formed administration, and to explain my reasons for so doing. I told this house that having long taken part in the course of proceedings out of which Responsible Government has grown, that I felt when called upon to carry that principle into effect, that I could not in honour refuse. I stated, moreover, that if the public service required my acceptance of office 1 was prepared to hold it "so long as such tenure was necessary to uphold a line of policy or principle affirmed by this Assembly. Sir, I now after the lapse of a few weeks, again stand here, and state that the very same principles that then induced me to accept a seat in the Executive, have now led me to resign it. I could no longer be of service to the country, and that, in fact, in doing so I should, after recent events, be actually giving the sanction of. my name to a delusion and a deception of this house and the country. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Sir, when I accepted a seat in the Executive I did believe, most honestly believe, that should the public service require it, the holders of offices would retire. 1 did so moreover, trusting in the cordial co-operation of the holders of those offices, so long as they could retain them. I did so on the written promise of the full confidence of his Excellency the Acting Governor; my belief was strengthened by the written "opinion" of the Attorney General; by the general tenor of our communications with the holders of office ; and confirmed by the assent of His Excellency and the Executive Council to the Executive Government Bill, which in fact created new officers in lieu of the old ones. (Hear, hear.) Sir, when His Excellency, acting under the advice of his irresponsible advisers, thought it his duty to withdraw his confidence from us by rejecting our advice, could we remain any longer in the Government? (hear), had we done so we should have forfeited self respect, and the respect of the country (Hear, hear.) But, Sir, I will go beyond what has fallen from my colleagues— even had I not understood when I entered the Government, what I did understand, even had I made an error in that respect—l should still wliLMi 1 discovered that error have owned it, and have resigned. (Hear.) Sir, let us suppose that iv entering- upon the Government, v;e had itna-

gined it possible to carry on permanently with a semi-responsible administration, with a mixed Executive, events roll on, instead of cordial cooperation we find disunion, perhaps latent hostility ; we find confusion, disorder, mismanagement accumulated in the public business of the country; we find that the attempt to rectify the misgovernment of years requires a strong, a firm, a united administration. Sir, under such circumstances, I should under whatever impressions I might have entered the Government, have felt it my duty to advise His Excellency as we have done, and to retire when our advice was over-ruled by that of others. (Cheers.) Sir, the feeling has been gradually growing upon me, with the growth of events, that the time has arrived when the Government must be made wholly and purely responsible, lam satisfied that such is the feeling of this Assembly, even my hon. friend the member for the Northern division, has urged us forward ; his proposed clauses pointing to the line we have taken; we may fairly claim his support. (Laughter.) Sir, I could not in conscience have advised His Excellency otherwise than we did advise him. (Hear). I could not, Sir, come down to jthis House and ask it to grant supplies to give large powers to an Executive which I knew was not under the influence of this house. (Hear, hear). Sir, I would never lend myself to such a deception. (Cheers.) The alternative was resignation. We have resigned, and, Sir, if in my short tenure of a share iv ministerial responsibility, I have learnt nothing else, this at least I have learnt, that whatever was the wisdom of the first course taken by us and this House, never again can we consent to a compromise. (Cheers.) And, I [solemnly declare, that I for one, will never again take part in the Government except under the full, complete, and unconditional acknowledgment of ministerial responsibility. Sir, I will not allude to the high and flattering terms in which the late ministry have been spoken of by the proposer and seconder of the resolutions. If, Sir, I have done my best, given my time and my exertions feebly to support the efforts of my hon. colleagues, I shall, Sir, be most amply rewarded, should this vote of thanks and confidence receive the support of a large majority of-this House. But, Sir, while Ido not anticipate, for I feel that we have no cause for self-reproach, I feel myself that we have acted rightly. Yet if, Sir, this house should disapprove of our conduct, even then in retiring from a permanent position, I should feel that the day will come when, under the enjoyment of a responsible system of Government, it will be said of the first ministry formed in this Colony—" they accepted office under peculiar difficulties, and they resigned in support of the great principle of full and complete ministerial responsibility."

Mr. Travers said, —Sir, I rise to make a few observations on the resolution before the house. It appears to me that in the first attempt at instituting the system of responsibility in the conduct of the government of the colony, a very grave error was committed—an error which has undoubtedly led to the crisis now impending —an error, the consequences of which are calculated to do serious mischief to this country. Under whose advice that error was commuted, lam not prepared to say—nor is it very material that I should do so. In looking to the nature of the position occupied by the gentlemen who hold the office of irresponsible ministers, with a view to the solution of the difficulty tinto which the Government of the country is plunged, it is necessary to look back to the early history of Government in this country. The first date at which any Government existed in this country, independently of the neighbouring colony of Australia, was 1840 —and under an act constituting New Zealand a separate colony, and the instructions accompanying that act, the Legislative Council lately composing the legislative body of the colony, was formed. The hon. member the mover of the resolution here rose to order. Mr. Traveus said—l believe, Sir, I am in order. Other hon. members have alluded to the position of the irresponsible ministers; in their speeches. The Speaker ruled that the hon. member was fnot strictly in order, and should confine himself as much as possible to the subject of the resolution. Mr. Tbavers then said that, as he could not continue his observations without reference to the matter to which he had previously alluded,

he should decline speaking any further on the subject of the resolution. v Mr. Haet pronounced a high eulogy on the late ministers. The Southern, members had come up to a man pledged to attempt to carry Responsible Government, and no three members more fit to carry it out could be found. After some remarks with respect to the old executive, and especially the Attorney. General, the hon. gentleman said that this was not a subject to be dealt with in haste, passion, or feeling. The present motion must be carried, and the house should take the matter into calm and deliberate consideration.

Mr. Fohsaith said—He thought the present occasion was one on which it became almost the imperative duty of hon. members to express their opinion upon the question before the house; and though he rose to discharge that duty with no other preparation than the food for thought afforded by the statements of the hon. gentlemen who had resigned their office, he trusted the house would grant him its indulgence while he offered his views on this important subject. The hon. member for Wairarapa, who sat opposite, had on one occasion thought proper to allude to him as an individual whose miud was marked by a prudential bias. Whether the compliment was ironical, or really intended it mattered not; he did now earnestly desire to speak with prudence, and to urge upon the house the necessity of looking at this question in a prudential manner—and he trusted his remarks would be received in the spirit which prompted them (hear, hear.) The subject under consideration was in itself sufficiently complex, but it had been rendered still more so by the motion laid upon the table by the hon. member for Christchurch Country District. That motion had introduced a [new element into the discussion, and in consequence, himself, and perhaps other hon. members had been placed in circumstances of difficulty. He was not prepared to fvote against that motion, because he was not prepared to say that his confidence in the hon. member for Lyttelton and his colleagues had been destroyed, nor was he on the other hand prepared to vote in favour of the motion, because by doing no, he should not only be expressing his full concurrence in the propriety of the step they have recently taken, but be indirectly conveying a censure upon his Excellency the Officer administering the Government. He did not wish to appear egotistical, or to lay claim to any superior foresight, but he thought the house would readily admit that, in reference to the subject now under discussion, his position throughout had been uniform and consistent, (hear, hear.) He would unhesitatingly declare that the whole train of circumstances that had transpired since the idea of Ministerial Responsibility was first broached in the house down to the event of that evening, had proved that the view he took at the first was the true and correct one. (hear, hear, and no, no.) He asserted then, and would assert again now, that so long as the Constitution re^maiued unaltered in some of its provisions, it would be a moral impossibility to establish and carry out a system of Ministerial Responsibility in all its integrity. He could easily conceive how the hon. gentlemen who had occupied the Ministerial Bench, carried away by their own sanguine ideas, had formed a too hasty and partial opinion of their position, and the nature of the understanding they had entered into with the Officer administering the Government. He had misgivings on this point while listening to the first Ministerial Statement made' to the 'house by the hon. member for Lyttelton. Those misgivings had been sustained by a variety of incidental circumstances that subsequently transpired in the house, but when the Executive bill was introduced, those misgivings had been increased and confirmed by the honourable member's interpretation of the scope and tendency of that measure. As he listened to the hon. member's speech on that occasion, he was, to use a common and proverbial expression, fairly taken aback. He was convinced that he had totally mistaken the spirit and meaning of the Constitution, or that the hon. member was unwittingly misleading the house as to the true position of himself and colleagues. It was then that, in order to satisfy his own mind upon the subject, he had moved for and obtained copies of the correspondence that had passed between the Governor and the hon. gentleman,and by a careful examination of that correspondence which contained the exact terms of the agreement upon which they had accepted office, he

became convinced that the hon. gentleman, had unintentionally, but unwittingly, misled the jfioj.se as to the true character of his position. question which the house has now to solve is this. Will it approve of an attempt to coerce his Excellency into doing that which from the first he declared himself unable and unwilling to do? A careful examination of the terms of the original agreement would convince the house that this is the real tendency of the present movement. The hon. member for Christchurch had attempted to show that the agreement had not been fulfilled, and in support of his argument he read an extract from the AttorneyGeneral's opinion. With permission of the house, he also would read from the s;»me document a passage which the hon. member had omitted. The hon. member to prove that the Attorney-General originally contemplated a retirement from office, read this passage— ■■"In the meantime, and during the continuance of the session at least, it would probably tend to the public convenience that the present Secretary, Attorney-General and Treasurer, should continue to hold their offices and to transact the ordinary and current business of their respective departments."

But he did not read the following, to which he now called the attention of thft house :—

"In the absence of special authority from her Majesty's Government, it is not, I think, within the power of the Officer administering the Government to take any measures for carrying into effect theresolution of the Houseof Representativesfurther than to prepare the way for opening the principal offices of the Government to new men." Now if we turn to the letter in which his Excellency replies to terms propounded by the hon. member for Lyttelton, we find that his Excellency, in very guarded, though very definite terms, assured the hon. member that he would not take any steps to remove the present holders of office until he was acquainted with her Majesty's opinion of the concession he had already made. The paragraph is as follows:—

"With regard to the third and last point alluded to, I feel convinced you will agree with me in the expediency of my disturbing, in any way, as temporarily administering the Government, the position of those now in office ; at all events, till I am honoured with the views of her Majesty's Home Government on the steps I have already taken."

The house would admit that this passage was as decided a declaration as the etiquette of official language would permit, that his Excellency would not remove- the present officers until he had consulted her Majesty's wishes ; and yet, in the face of this, we are asked to coerce his Excellency to alter his determination. But he had too ttmch reliance upon the prudence and judgment of the majority of hon. members in that house to believe they would sanction such au attempt. Had his Excellency proved a defaulter? —had he failed to perform his part of the agreement ?—No such allegation Lad been made. Even the officers, whose removal was aimed at, have not been charged with having offered any positive objection. If such charge had been made, and substantially by proof, it would have altered the case; but the only complaint was, that they had not given sufficient assistance and co-operation. Was that a reason to justify their retirement from office with a majority, as if they wished by means of that majority to coerce his Excellency to further concessions? (Great sensation). The hon. member for Christchurch had spoken of the Executive Bill as intended to establish Responsible Government. The lion, member had been styled a great constitutional lawyer. His legal acumen and ability had been often referred to. Now he would ask*him how the Bill, as he introduced it, would suffice to establish Responsible Government? He (Mr. F.) was no lawyer, nor had he much legal knowledge, but he would appeal to the common sense of hon. members, and ask them how it was possible to have Responsible Government, in the full sense ofTbe term, while the Queen's Instructions, whicVthe hon. member for Oliristchurch had hims'Sf admitted to be part of the Constitution, authorized the Governor, iv some cases, to act independently of, or even in opposition to, the advice of his Executive Council. It was impossible without the sauction of the Crown to alter those instructions, and until they were-al-tered, it was impossible to establish Responsible Government. The Bill did not provide against this. The hon. member for the Hutt, the father of the idea of Responsible Government, had trusted to the hon. member and his colleagues

to provide means for giving strength and vitality to his offspring: but they brought in such a miserable Bill that the bantling would inevitably have died of inanition, had not he—the yery man who would have strangled the babe at its birth—stepped forward to its rescue, by amending the Bill that was to provide for its sustenance. One of those amendments was specially framed to alter that provision of the instructions which allowed the Governor to act without the advice of his Executive. The only safe and satisfactory way of establishing Responsible Government was to prepare a proper Bill and send it home for the sanction of the Crown, and in the meantime there was no real difficulty in the way of carrying on the public business in accordance with the provisional arrangement that had been made. The difficulties started by the hon. members in their statement to his Excellency, forcibly reminded him of the method adopted at the commencement of the session, to give a kind of prestige to the introduction of responsible government. Every little inconvenience that arose in the mode of communication between the house and the head of the Executive had then been magnified and exaggerated, and so on this occasion the difficulty of carrying on the provisional arrangement had been greatly exaggerated in order to give some colour to the present movement.— He would not wish to be 'misconstrued. He was not an enemy to Responsible Government. He wished to establish it by legitimate means. He must; however, be permitted to say, that Responsible Government had not practically wrought as much benefit as its admirers and advocates had led them to expect. What had Responsible Government really done for the country ? He would ask his colleagues, the northern members, what it had done for the Province of Auckland ? (Hear, hear, from northern members.) He need not allude to the slight put upon the Province which had been admitted to be one-half of the colony—(sensation—cries of hear, hear, and no, no—admitted by whom ?) —admitted to be half the colony by this house. (Cries of no, no, and hew, hear.) He would not rake up the bygone blunders of A, B, or C, but would ask what practical result Responsible Government had accomplished? It had accomplished the pasj sing of a law by which Mr. Henry Nichol was | empowered to sell wine, beer, brandy and soda water to hon. members. (Cries of oh, oh, and laughter.) He objected to the present movement, not because he wished to maintain either the Attorney-General or Colonial Secretary in their offices. He should like to see them removed. He would concur with all his heart in the propriety and necessity of their removal, but it must be effected in a proper manner, without any attempt at coercing his Excellency to depart from his conscientious convictions of duty. The present movement was prompted by ambition. Ambition under certain circumstances was a noble and generous emotion, but in the present instance the hon. members had resigned because they were dissatisfied with the ■modicum of power they had obtained, and which, for every purpose of practical utility, was sufficient as a provisional arrangement. They had resigned with a majority because they wanted to wrest from his Excellency's grasp that full measure of power and authority which he, from the first, told them he could not, and would not, relinquish. (Hear, hear, and counter cheers.) He had already stated that he should not vote against the motion, but he should certainly not vote for it, as it would be disrespectful to his Excellency to do so, and he hoped hon. members who coincided with him in opinion would follow his example, and leave the house before the question was pressed to division.— [To be continued in our next.]