LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 203, 11 October 1854, Page 2

LOCAL INTELLIGENCE.

PUBLIC MEETING OP THE ELECTORS OF LYTTELTON AT THE TOWN HALL. On Monday evening a public meeting of the electors of Lyttelton, convened by requisition, was held at the Town Hall, to afford His Honor J. E. Fitz Gerald an opportunity of explaining to his constituents his conduct during the recent session of the General Assembly at Auckland, and of tendering the resignation of the trust they had confided to him. The Meeting was very fully attended. The chair was taken by Mr. James Spowers, who opened the proceedings of the evening by reading the letter from Mr. Fitz Gerald, which had occasioned the requisition. Mr. Spowers, in introducing Mr. Fitz Gerald to the meeting, claimed a fair hearing 'for 'any gentleman who might be induced to address them. He said it might happen that topics might have to be dealt with of an irritating nature, but he felt sure that upon on an occasion such as that they were assembled for, lie should not be appealing to them in vain to display their usual forbearance and manly attachment to fair play. He would not detain the meeting by any needless observations of his own, but at once introduce Mr. Fitz Gerald to their notice, who rose amidst very loud and long continued applause. Mr. Fitz Gkrald said,—Electors of Lyttel-ton,—-I have requested your attendance this evening for the purpose of tendering to you that trust you placed in my hands now nearly a

year ago. In doing this lam anxious to tell you the manner in which I have endeavoured to discharge the duty imposed upon me, and to i receive at your hands some measure*of your approval. Before doing so I must be allowed to express my thankfulness that I am once more amongst you, and I can assure you that after having visited nearly all the Settlements of tint Colony I have seen nothing in New Zealand which leads me to regret that my lot has been cast in the Settlement of Canterbury (cheers). The session of the General Assembly which hat just conclnded has produced very different results to those we had hoped for at,its commencement, and it is my duty to tell you how this has been brought about, so far as I am myself concerned in its issue. I went up to Auckland a* you well know in the hope that we should be able to obtain from the General Government certain concessions in reference to the transfer of the management of the Waste Lands to the Provincial Government. That was my main object. But when I arrived at Auckland, the first and most important question was this— whether the Government of New Zealand was to be carried on under a system of Ministerial Responsibility, or not. The subject was carefully and anxiously considered, audit was determined that upon this question of responsibility the House of Representatives should take its stand. A resolution to this effect was, as you already well know, prepared by .Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, and the result was, as you also know, that his Excellency the Officer administering the Government consented to concede that principle partially until he could do so by law. There was a strongly expressed wish that I should take a leading part in the proceedings of the House upon this question, and particularly on the part of Mr. G. Wakefield himself. In the course of the debate it became known that his Excellency had made up his mind to concede this measure to us, and the question then arose as to who was likely to be charged with the duty of conducting the business of the General Assembly. The subject was talked over by members of the Legislature. I have been charged by some persons,—by Mr. Gibbon Wakefield especially, of being greedy of office ; the fact is, that in conversations! had with. Mr. Wakefield, he urged upon me in very strong language that it was my duty to take office. I replied to him, as I have done to others, that I bad made up my mind never to take permanent office so long as I was Superintendent of this Province, since it was my opinion that the person called upon to assume office should be prepared to do so permanently. I was however assured that it would be for the public good if I consented to do so, and these reasons alone influenced me. His Excellency then sent for me and Dr. Monro, as being chosen by the house to move and second the address, and I believe from no other motive, since he must have had great difficulty in arriving at any conclusion, ignorant as he must necessarily have been of the capacity of individual members of the Assembly. I very soon found that my views were essentially different from Dr. Monro's—they were I believe of a less centralizing tendency, and as they were also in accordance with those entertained by a majority of the House, it was finally agreed that I should endeavour to form a Government. So soon as I had determined to undertake this responsibility, I went to my friends Mr. Sewell and Mr. Weld, because I knew that from them I should obtain cordial co-operation and the firmest support in allmatters essential to the welfare and stability of the Government. A condition had been attached by his Excellency, to my acceptance of office, that one of us should be a gentleman well learned in the law ; I applied therefore to Mr. Sewell; subsequent events have shewn that I was right, and I cannot abstain from at once stating that we derived the greatest assistance, from the ability and laborious attention which he devoted to every subject which came under his notice. As soon as these necessary preliminaries had been arranged, we laid before His Excellency an outline of the measures we in- > tended to propose, and which we thought we should be able to carry through the house. I do not suppose that all our measures will lie found satisfactory to £you, or that you are prepared to agree in all that we have done, but it must not be forgotten, that in the developement of our policy we were deprived of that opportunity of calm and deliberate consideration which so importautamatternecessarily required ; such consideration was under the circumstance 5 an impossibility,—there wus no time for it. Sue"

as it was however, it obtained for us the support of a large majority of the House of Representatives, and a great portion of that policy had also the assent of the Upper House. It JS? unnecessary to go fully into all the measures which we proposed; you are already in possession of them. It will be sufficient to call your attention to some of them. And first, it is necessary to do so, to shew you that I have acted in conformity with the pledges which I gave to you, and next, for the purpose of defending the Government from the calumnious and gross aspersions which have been so studiously and industriously cast upon it. You are aware'of the terms upon which we assumed office; that the principle we had to contend for was the establishment of Responsible Government. One of the conditions we had agreed upon was that as soon as the preliminary business had been disposed of* and the exigencies of the public service required it, a permanent Government was to be appointed, and the then holders of office were to resign ; that was a sine quanon. His Excellency replied to us that it was not desirable permanently to alter the arrangements until the assent of the Crown had been obtained: we did not consider His Excellency's answer satisfactory, it was contrary to the considerations upon which we had accepted office. We proposed to take our stand upon the establishment of Responsible Government by law, and believing his Excellency had no power to do more than he had done, we asked if he would sanction the introduction of a bill for this purpose, and he assented. The opinion of the Attorney-General was taken on the subject—the whole subject was laid before him, and he decided that a bill for such a purpose need not go home for the sanction of the crown. There is no room for doubt upon this point; it is to be found recorded'upon our minutes. It may be asked what do we mean by Responsible Government? It does not exist in England, nor in any of its colonies or dependencies by law ;it exists only by custom. The House of Commons possesses a check upon the Government of the country only in its power of refusing the supplies, and that is essentially the same thing. If the ministers of the Crown cannot obtain the requisite supplies, it follows that they must resign, and they are generally succeeded by those who possess the confielence of the people. What then was the obstruction to the establishment of this principle here ? It was the present holders of office, whose appointments are alleged to be held from the Crown, and whom his Excellency did not think he had the power of removing without the consent of the Government at home. We might have taken other ground : instead of calling for their removal by his Excellency, we might have called for copies of the appointments under which the}' held office, and we should doubtless then have found that they were only so much waste paper. Their appointments from the Crown bear date, I believe, about the year 1841, but in the year 1846, the Constitution was remodelled, and that act of the Government put an end to the term of their office. The present holders of office were then gazetted as the officers of New Ulster, not of New Zealand, and their old appointments were by this act virtually cancelled. These new appointments were again cancelled when the Constitution Act came into force, restoring General Government to the colony, and they should, strictly speaking, have been re-appointed. I have said bis Excellency conceded the whole question to us when he sanctioned the bill which •■ we had prepared, as by it everything would have been swept away, and the whole machinery would necessarily have to be re-ar-ranged. Under the Constitution Act, this colony stands in a position which in some important respects differs from all others. The officers are generally paid out of a Civil List, over which the Colonial Legislature has no control. By the Constitution Act £4,700 was especially placed under the control of the General Assembly,andtheypossessthepo\verofalteringthis sum as they may think fit, and in this respect their' power differs from thatof all other colonies. When •t]*en, it is asked, was Responsible Government ever asserted by a colony, or assumed without the especial leave from the Home authorities ? I answer, was there ever, before this, a colony •possessing so great a power as that which has been given to us by. our Constitution as that of' altering its Civil List ? Nor can it be forgotten that Sir J. Pakington especially alluded to this peculiarity, and laid great stress upon the fact that pawer had been transferred from the General Government to the General Assembly.

[ There were, however, two stipulations appended to this concession ; firstly, that in any alteration by the General Assembly the salaries of the chief officers of Government should T>e fixed by permanent bills, and not voted from year to year; and, 2ndly, that pensions should be provided for retiring servants. When we are told thstt the Constitution Act does not provide for Responsible Government, I am at a loss to understand what language could be used that would more clearly imply it. The very fact ot an intimation that we were to provide retiring pensions for the existing holders of office conveyed a supposition that the question of responsibility would be raised by the deliberations of the General Assembly. The first clause of this Bill provides that the funds out of which the present holders of office are paid shall no longer be raised. It goes on to specify the officers required to carry on the Government of the colony. It then provides that the Government sliall from time to time appoint such officers or make such appointments. This Bill therefore provided everything we can ever obtain in the shape of Responsible Government. Now, you will all observe, if this bill had passed, as it might have passed, the present officers would from that moment have ceased to exist. The source from which their incomes proceeded would have been abolished, the money would have gone. We did not provide for the appointment of an Executive Council, because certain instructions had been sent out by the Cvown, which bore date Sept. 1852, and which it will be remembered were only published at the opening- of the General Assembly, which appointed a. new Executive consisting of certain officers of the Government, or the persons for the time being acting in those capacities. By the terms of these instructions therefore the persons so acting would have been deemed the persons lawfully appointed. I wish to impress this upon your minds, because, it has been bruited ahout that we had made a bad bargain with His Excellency, that we broke down in consequence, and that we have ever since been trying- to depart from our original contract with* his Excellency. I have, I think, clearly and distinctly shewn you that we took our stand upon that bill; thai his Excellency fully understanding its nature agreed to its introduction, and that the Attorney-General had advised that it need not go home, for approval. You know that we had a considerable majority in the House. This was not obtained by any promise of patronage, nor was it sought for; I never consulted with, or asked any member for his vote while we were in office, and when we tendered our resignations none were more astonished than perhaps were those who lived in the same house with myself. The support we.received was occasioned by our policy alone, and we resigned with, a large majority in our favour. This is no new thing. It has happened in England I believe upon many occasions. It happened in 1801, when Mr. Pitt resigned, with three-fourths of the House of Commons supporting him in a misunderstanding with the Crown on Roman Catholic emancipation. It occured again in ISOS, when Lord Granville resigned, with a similar majority and upon a like occasion of misunderstanding. Responsible Government carries with it the understanding, that the officers of the Government should have the confidence of the Grown as well as of the people. If the Crown could at any time obtain an undue influence over the holders of its offices, inducing a sacrifice of pi-inciple. Responsible Government could then no longer exist. But the battle of Responsible Government can often be fought with a more successful issue by the resignation of a Govern men t than by its retention of office. We resigned because the old Executive officers of the Government, were not inclined to adhere to the terms of the contract they had entered into, and what is of great importance-to the consideration of the subject, because we knew there was great uneasiness in the minds of our friends, who reasonably had exepcted that a permanent Government would have "been appointed, and the principle of responsibility fully recognised. There would be a great difculty in passing the Estimates. Our responsibility was greatly increased by ihe condition of the public'offices. I do* not wish to make assertions here, which I know cannot be answered, nor would I desire to attach blame where it is not merited, but this 1 must and may say, the present holders of the Government Offices are notoriously incompetent to the efficient discharge of their duties. It would be a farce for me to use any other language ; they know it and speak of it themselves;" in the lav-

guage they use'of one another. It is a common thing to hear men ask what yon think of Old Sinclair ? I believe Mr. Sinclair to be, in all the relations of private life, a most excellent man ; but it is notorious, and I have never heard any one say otherwise, than that he is utterly incompetent to discharge the duties of bis office. They were not only ignorant of everything having reference to the financial position of the colony, but as entirely indifferent to its general condition. They had called the General Assembly together without a shadow of a policy to submit to it. There was not a bill drawn, nor had they formed any idea how legislation was to be carried on ; and this of itself justifies what I have said of them. I S forgot—one bill was, I believe, prepared in order to meet the General Assembly—a Bill to deprive Widows of Dower. (Laughter.) We knew nothing of the financial state of the Government. How, indeed, was it possible we could do so? Entering upon office as we did, we had neither time nor opportunity to investigate these matters. We went therefore to the Auditor-General, and said, —you must make us a statement of the accounts as quickly as possible. This was prepared and printed, and it shewed a statement entirely at variance with that which His Excellency had made in bis opening speech. Was this an event likely to win the confidence of the House of Representatives ? Nor was this the only thing we discovered. A Committee was appointed to enquire into the debts of the colony, and it was found that there had been a reckless expenditure of land scrip. Sir Geo. Grey had issued scrip to the extent of £9,000, which had been distributed to the native population, and, for anything I know to the conti'ary, you may not impossibly have some of the native population of the north coming down here to select their land. The native land claims in the north were in an equally unsatisfactory state. The Attorney-Gene-rul assured me they were all settled, and we had reposed unlimited confidence in his assurance. It was not long before we had a representation made to us by the Native Secretary that if something was not done, and that very speedily, towards the adjustment of these claims, it was likely that native disturbances would ensue, and the statement which I made had its origin in this communication. It became a matter of urgent necessity that further legislation should be based upon a principle of perfect confidence between the Government and the people of New Zealand. We laid these things before his Excellency, and the result was that we were requested by his Excellency to draw up and submit to him a statement of the whole case that would justify him in displacing the old officers, and in the permanent establishment of that measure of Responsible Government which we all wished for. We delivered in our Confidential Memorandum, upon which we believed his Excellency was prepared and willing to act. I am not disposed to attach much blame to his Excellency in the matter. He has been governed by a mind stronger than his owu,and that mind in this instance was that of the At-torney-General. Ido not desire to speak now, nor have I ever spoken, of his Excellency in other than the.most respectful terms ; but in my opinion it was then he threw us over and was counselled to find some one else. Having made up our minds either to the full recognition of the principle of responsibility or to resign our offices; and finding his Excellency indisposed to grant it, should we not have been practising a delusion if we had attempted to retain office? With us and the House there was an implied understanding that a permanent Government should be appointed after the next session. Our Bills were prepared with the most .positive recognition of the principle, and hadT we not intended to act consistently with that belief, those Bills would never have been so prepared. Nor did the House doubt our sincerity. Not once, in auy way, were we ever taunted "with the attempt to mislead the House. It is impossible to conceive that if we had made a mistake in our interpretation of this agreement the Attorney-General and others interested in the maintenance of the oUI policy should have refrained from intimating it to us. Our duty was distinct, the agreement was abandoned, and we could no longer hold office. And what occurred when we resigned? What occurs when ministers ordinarily resign ? The Governor sends for some one else, or else he dissolves the House. His Excellency sent for Mr. Gibbon Wakefield. Mr. Gibbon Wakefield,. who had been so prolific in his pledges of generous support, who had promised unbounded

confidence short of the sacrifice of dearly cherished opinions, to any ministry in that House who would labour to give effect to the principle of Responsible Government. Anything more distant from generosity, or more fatally distrustful never was seen. I hare called the opposition a formidable one, and his Excellency twits us with it, consisting as it did of such small numbers. Though small in number, Mr. Gibbon Wakefield assured his Excellency that it was by no means despicable in talent. The expression is happily chosen, • not despicable.' I thus far agree with his Excellency; it was not formidable in talent; but it was formidable in this—which would make any party formidable—that it was one determined, by principle or without principle, to turn out those who held office. Thus it was that his Excellency sent for Mr. Gibbon Wakefield, the champion of Kesponsible Government, who had explained it to the House in two speeches remarkable for their lucidity and their length. Mr. Wakefield went to his Excellency and he afterwards came to the House, when he stated in a £ew words, pregnant with insult to a public body, that it •was not his intention to take office," that his Excellency had reposed in him unlimited confidence, and that he proposed to act in the only ■way that was open to him in the crisis then agitating the house; he was willing to give his advice, but on the condition only, that he should do so alone, and that if any one else was admitted to the Council of his Excellency he would take up his hat and walk out: he was to be the go-between, and would try his best as a mediator. If, however, the House should treat his Excellency with cruelty, he would then take office and advise a dissolution. A greater amount of political treachery I have never witnessed. Was he not to take office—not to be responsible—not to be a sworn adviser? Sworn advisers of the Crown we know are liable for the advice they give. According to our notions of constitutional law, the minister who improperly advises the Crown, is liable to impeachment, and to be punished by fine and imprisonment, and I do not know if there have not already been even in this colony some who have laid themselves open to this. It was an insult to the House to suppose that it would sanction such a system of back-stairs influence. I don't know how he could have conceived it possible that the house would allow themselves to be ruled by the advice of a p-ivate member unsworn and irresponsible. The idea is perfectly monstrous. I know the utmost use has been made of scenes in the House of Representatives,but it is necessary to examine these things closely, if you wish to interpret them properly. How doesit happen that the Government and the House of Representatives have parted upon good terms and that the House finally voted the supplies ; —solely because they succeeded in getting rid of that one man. One who would recklessly sacrifice the whole colony to his own ambition and to his own aggrandisement. The House at once addressed his Excellency, and assured him he was in a wrong position, they placed their opinions upon record, and his Excellency replied by a message, which it is to be regretted, was not written in either a soothing or amicable tone. Its authorship was however easily guessed at, and its intention was clear, there seemed a determination to embroil the House with his Excellency, and at the end to bring about a prorogation. I may be permitted at the risk of being tedious to allude to the exciting scene which terminated our proceedings in the 'first session. Whatever there was in it of a disgraceful character it was owing to the conduct of ils concoctors. The messenger who brought down the message announcing the approaching prorogation was instructed to stand outside the door and to listen, and the moment the first message which he had delivered to the house was read, he was to come in with the second, which, it was supposed, was a prorogation. This was Mr. Gibbon Wakefield's dignified notion of the mode in which an arsembly should be prorogued. We were not asked to adjourn; but it was proposed to prorogue. Some of you may not be aware that a prorogation effectually and entirely destroys everything that has been "done. An adjournment, on the other hand, only afforris time for the due and proper consideration of questions in which there is difficulty. Here then, it was proposed hy this unconstitutional means that every thing should be rudely overturned I>y a prorogation for a fortnight. They knew that l>y that time the steamer would have arrived, and as most of the Southern members would then be obliged to take their departure, it was though* that they could liy this nieaus

get rid of us. The usual practice in, other colonies is for the Governor to send down notice of his intention to prorogue on a given day, by which time measures are prepared for the assent of the Representative of the Crown. This thrusting of a prorogation through the keyhole was, therefore, an insult as deliberate as it was scandalous. A little circumstance gave rise to our suspicion of their intentions, and we proposed that we should proceed to the consideration of the first message, before the second was allowed to be read. An objection was raised to our course of proceeding, and it was then proposed to suspend the Standing Orders. But Mr. Wakefield who knew that he had brought matters to such a pass, that he could get no further without a row, wisely abstained from making his appearance in the house. A division upon the suspension of the Standing Orders was called for, and in anticipation of the division the doors were ordered, by some one, I don't know who, to be locked ; this is, as you may be aware, only a usual practice, and the only irregularity of which I am aware, was that the bell was not rung previous to their being locked. ;The whole of the Wakefield party immediately rushed to the door; they did not go quietly out one by one, but made a regular rush at the door. There ensued undoubtedly a great deal of indignation in the house, which was loudly expressed by gentlemen who felt that they had been tricked aud dodged in a most unjustifiable manner, but no violence. We went into Committee, having suspended the Standing Orders, and while we were debating with the gallery full of strangers, Mr. Mackay walked into the house with his head covered, in a highly-excited state, and the best excuse I can offer for him is that he had, I believe, been lunching with the mess. His manner was most insolent; he crumpled up a paper which he threw at the chairman, and flourished his umbrella over the heads of honorable members. Had we been a body of parish vestrymen, or anything but a house of [Representatives, there can be no doubt of the issue. He would probably have had what he richly deserved, a good thrashing. Mr. Sewell and Mr. Rhodes both seized hold of him by the arms and pushed him towards the door. This was all the violence. As for striking him, I positively deny it. It was absurd to suppose it. This event, has, however, proved a rich store of political capital for the " New Zealander," it will serve them for a time, and doubtless they will make a profitable use of it. We proceeded to the transaction of our business, and having sat for an hour in deliberation, and discharged ourselves of that duty which was due to you, the electors whom we represented, we then proceeded to the reading of the second message, and the House broke up. In the next session, all the legal gentlemen in the house came to a decision that that prorogation was an illegal act. They ruled that such an act could not be done by a message, it could only be done by the Governor in person, or by a Commission appointed on that behalf. It is also remarkable that the Legislative Council was not sitting at the time. They had adjourned for a few days, so that that house was virtually never prorogued. During the recess, Mr. G. Wakefield had left his Excellency's Councils, and the old Executive was restored, but the day before the re-assembling of the house we heard to our astonishment that his Excellency had formed a government upon the federal principle. (Mr. Fitz Gerald here read an extract from the opening address of his Excellency descriptive of Mr.Wakefield's theory of federal government.) One of its features, then, is this—that it shall be constituted by a member from each province! But Wellington and Taranaki were not represented in it. The Government was formed, then, by four gentlemen out of a miserable minority, and without a chance of carrying out any measure of benefit or advantage to the colony. Had it been a mere dodge upon which to hang a policy with the intention of dissolving the house, and going to the country with an election cry, it would have been easily understood ; it was only another specimen of Mr. G.Wakefield's purity of government. Mr. G. Wakefield was not a member of this Government, he preferred being behind the curtain, and pulling the strings, and leaving others to bear the responsibility. There was but one course left for us to pursue. The House determined it would not have a Wakefield ministry. It was resolved, therefore, to withhold the supplies if they were forced upon us. We stated that we would vote them to the old Executive to prevent Government coming to a dead lock, but that we would not give them to be spent on elections by the Wakefield party. I will detain

you only a few minutes longer with a few brief observations on the subject of the Waste lands You will remember I was what may be called a high price man. I considered myself pledged to you to endeavour to get the management of1 these lands transferred to the Provincial Governments. The, Attorney-General was of opil nion this could only be done by the sanction of the Home Government. I asked if the Governor could do so in concurrence with the Superintendents and Provincial Councils. The plan we had suggested had been talked over with many gentlemen, and with the highest legal authorities, and they all agreed it could be done : in this opinion the Attorney-General agreed~ it was necessarily an imperfect plan I admit but still it could be done. In adopting this plan it was therefore the best possible under existing circumstances, and I put it to you whether, in the course I have pursued, I have not endeavoured to act up to the pledge I gave. (Cries of " Hear, hear, hear," and cheers.) What then was its reception? The opposers were both the "Wakefields. The elder Mr. Wakefield had pledged himself in support of the same principle. Now his chief objection was that the Provincial Councils would be found jobbing away the lands—while he has the audacity to say that it was a bill by which we intended to hand over the power to ourselves alone. The whole charge comes with a good grace from Mr. Wakefield especially, but it is utterly untrue. Before Igo further I may add that we have passed a bill, by§ which the power will be transferred entirely to the Provincial Councils; and that bill has gone home to England for approval. I voted for it, and shall be very glad if we get it: but I am, however, well assured that it will not receive the sanction of the Home Government, and for this reason, because we could then evade paying the New Zealand Company's debt. The New Zealand Company will be great geese if they allow it to pass. Mr. Wakefield opposed the second reading of our bill upon the ground solely of its giving too much power to the Councils. In Committee on the bill, and not on the occasion of its second reading, Mr. Wakefield introduced long amendments, which we could have overruled at once had we been so disposed; but I was anxious that the whole question in all its bearings should be carefully discussed, and with this view nothing could be more courteous than the treatment which he received from us. First he proposed an amendment reserving certain lands for working men, [Mr. E. J. Wakefield ; It was not working men, it was working settlers.] (Loud laughter.) I objected to it as introducing a system of class legislation: the working men don't want charity: all they re* quire is to be placed in a position to make their way in the same manner as others have done, But Mr. Wakefield then shifted his ground and told us he meant by working men, those who would go on the land and become bond fide settlers. I answered—why, we all agree with you, that is just what we want, and just what we are striving to obtain. My opinion always has been that it is bad policy to allow a single acre of the lands to go into the hands of men who will not or cannot occupy them. He asked, in that case, for only part —we said we wanted all the land for bond fide occupiers. But possibly it was not, after all, (at my friend Mr. Sewell facetiously observed,) working settlers he meant, it was working voters he intended. The policy he would have us concede was, that s, board of Commissioners should be appointed, in whom large powers were to be vested, and that onerthird of the lands should be made over to them with the Governor at their head, an<l this was a power which could have been most successfully used for electioneering purposes. Why a more atrocious system of jobbing was never conceived in the mind of man. Men need land, but they do not want such abominable schemes as these. They need a scheme such as those which Mr. Gibbon Wakefield once propounded, whether of high or low price is perhaps immaterial ; but dealing on a fixed principle with all classes, schemes like these are absurd. The whole colony—this settlemenurhas been deluged with letters and papers ujjon this subject, and we well know the object has been to get up a cry among the working men. I haye, however, some knowledge of the character of working men, and I believe they know very well now what cheap land regulations mean. We took our stand upen this question, and nothing but the determined front we assumed prevented Mr. Wakefield and his party from jobbing away the waste lands. I subsequently gave notice of a bill for the man

agemenjb of these lands; that bill has passed through the house; it is similar in its effect to that which we before brought under the notice of the House. It enacted c that the regulations should be before the people for two months—the Legislative Council altered this time to one month, and added that they should be for that time in the hands of the Electors prior to their being considered by the Provincial Government. This was an alteration, I think, for the better. The bill was met by Mr.Wakefield by a vigorous opposition in all its stages, but we were enabled to carry the bill thro',, by unceasing labour, although not then in office, and if we had done nothing else, for this, at least, I should have no fear of meeting you here this evening. Before I conclude my remarks I wish to bear testimony in the strongest language I can use to the great debt which thi6 Colony owes to my friend Mr. Sewell. lam quite sure the inhabitants of this Province, and I trust you will draw a distinction between the Minister —the Representative for Chiiatchurch —and the Agent of the Canterbury Association ; his constituents sent Mr. Sewell up to Auckland pledged only not to interfere in any manner with the affairs of the Association and he has scrupulously adhered to that pledge. He helped me most assiduously to pass a Bill which enables the Government to hand over to the Superintendent and the Council all the reserves in trust. It "does not interfere with the quarrel between the Association and ourselves, but it will assist us in our arrangements whichever way they may be determined. I wisli however to say in regard to the Association that T have obtained from his Excellency an assurance that whatever agreement be arrived at between the colonists and the Association he will at once concur in. I will now offer but a few remarks upon the subject of the Appropriation Bill. A question arose as to the expenditure of the land fund." . I was of opinion that the land fund of each Province should be appropriated by such Province. But the Government of the North Island has begun to look with longing eyes* v upon the reported large balances in the Canterbury chest. We fought hard in favour of keeping a separate .account, but in vain.— In our Waste Lands Regulations we cannot now go for a jhigh price in the same shape as we before mentioned ; it is proposed that onehalf the proceeds shall go into the general fund ■*—it follows therefore that if in Canterbury a man pays £2 per acre for his ]and,£i will pass to the general Government, while in Wellington where the price may be only 10s. per acre, the contribution is only ss. In any land Regulations we must then keep this in view. So soon as these Regulations can be framed by the Provincial Council, they shall be submitted to the people, and I hope they will be talked over, and that we shall hear opinions thereon before they come before the Council. What you finally determine upon, I will endeavour to carry into effect. I will use any persuasive powers I can to get such a measure as I think conducive to the good of the Province; but if after mature deliberation the Colony holds a different view, as I before said, I will not stand in the way.— I ask you not to despair at the comparative failure of the General Assembly, although •we have done but little work, we have shewu Responsible Government is practicable, and. we have shewn that a Wakefield Government is toJajly impracticable. We have shewn that we are not too young for Responsible Government, and above all I ask you to believe that the House of Representatives has not been unmindful of your interest. The introduction of a new Con.slitution must necessarily be attended with the throes of a new birth. For the present we must look to our Provincial Councils. We are only beginning to see their value and feel their importance. In a crisis such as the present, I would ask what would have become of .us but for our Provincial Governments? We must at once apply ourselves to the task of enlarging the Provincial Councils, a measure I hope soon to see effected. In nearly all of them the principle of responsibility is acknowledged, and a .-a judicious course of action in these councils may ~~> result in much permanent benefit to the highest interests of the Colony. The hon. gentlemen sat down amidst a rcrand of applause. The whole of his speech, of which we regret to be unable to give more than an imperfect report," was listened to with the deepest interest and attention. It was frequently iutorrnptod'by loud cheering. Mr. Hamilton in a few words expressive of his sense of the value of the services of Mr. Fitz Gerald, proposed the following resolution. "That, considering the great delay and difficulties attending upon the re-election of Members of

the House of Representativ 38 when the house is out of Session, it is the opinion of this meeting that | Mr, Fitz Gerald should be requested not to lender his resignation to the Speaker." Mr. Alport briefly seconded the resolution. Mr. E. J. Wakefield said, —I come here as an Elector of Lyttelton, and [simply to state whether or not I approve the conduct of our representative, as such I claim a right to be heard at your hands. But I do so also upon other grounds, I claim a right to be heard in vindication of the conduct of my father, whose name has been so freely used by Mr. Fitz Gerald in the speech you have listened to. For myself I shall probably at some future but early day, have an opportunity of meeting my own constituents, when I shall be prepared to answer to them for the course I have felt it my duty to pursue in opposition to the gentlemen who now appear before you. Mr. Fitz Gerald began by relating a circumstance hitherto unknown to me 4 he has told you offa conversation which he had with my father previous to the events which resulted in the formation of the Fitz Gerald administration ; now of these I was altogether ignorant, but we have heard it so distinctly stated that I suppose there can be no doubt of the fact. I was however cognisant of active and determined intrigues, the object of which was to prevent my father having anything to do in the formation of the Government. These intrigues were concocted on the road to Auckland, they had their origin in the steamer which took them up. It was well known that Dr. Featherston's party at Wellington had a bitter hatred towards my father, and they thought therefore they could not do better than pitt Mr. Fitz Gerald against him. This was the secret cause of the whole, and they had not the manliness to come forward and boldly oppose themselves to him. I have no objection to make to those who hold views and opinions hostile to my own. lam not afraid of the result, I have^ confidence that the opinions of my father willultimately prevail; and if they will challenge us to investigate them, I shall not shrink from the task. There were conversations at private meetings, at boarding houses, and secret conferences all tending to destroy any influence my father hail, to displace him from the position he was entitled to have filled. It was a mere accident that Mr. Fitz Gerald and Dr. Monro, were sent for. Mr. Fitz Gerald was asked to nioye the address solely because he was the only superintendent in the bouse; and had Mr. Bartley been in Auckland at the time he would have been the seconder instead of Dr. Monro. The same meeting of Representatives which invited these gentlemen to move the address, also invited my father to bring on the subject of Responsible Government, and they did so because they felt that he had, throughout a long career, paid great attention to the subject, and because they knew that he was its perfect master. But|l was not surprised that my father, who might fairly be said to have originated the subject, was not sent for. I knew of the intrigues which had been practised to thwart him, and knowing how perseveringly these had been used, I heard with great surprise Mr. Fitz Gerald's history of these events preceding the opening, of the Assembly. My impression therefore is that no such conversation was had with my father upon the subject. It has been said that he was invited to attend a previous deliberation, and that he declined to do so; —I am aware of it, he disapproved of the practice of taking advice from gentlerren who were in no degree connected with either House, and at the meeting in question, a Mr. Campbell, who was not a member of the house, was invited to attend. My father knew this, and for this reason, refused to be present. I will now proceed to the investigation of the conditions attached to Mr. Fitz Gerald's acceptance of office. [Mr. Wakefield then read extracts from the published correspondence, but was repeatedly interrupted by cries of • read the whole' and 'dates' &c] This correspondence then furnishes us with the nature of the agreement entered into, and this was not laid upon the table of the house until 15 days after its date. The ministry were repeatedly pressed to explain their intentions more fully while the debate was proceeding upon the Executive Government Bill. There was a feeling of dissatisfaction in the house at the position they occupied and they carefully avoided any explanation. I gave them my support until this feeling of distrust arose. I voted for the 2nd reading of the Executive Bill, but said I should reserve to myself the right of opposing the measure if necessaiy when in Committee. My reason for supporting them j

was, the hope that the House would be furnished with full information upon the subject. I needed further information and pressed them for it. It has been said, that the tenure of office of the old Executive was invalid, but it is not so except in the case of Mr. Sinclair, whom we found had never been appointed by the Crown, but the other two gentlemen had been, and they could not resign their offices, nor was it just to thrust them out, as the house sought to do. The Colonial Treasurer had not deviated from his statement, he said he would resign to the Crown by whose authority he held office, and to the crown only. But why was it that the house was only made acquainted with these difficulties, 15 days or so after their occurrence ? Well then, I come to the message of His Excellency who fairly and candidly expressed his opinion that he had no power to compel the resignation; he had done as much as he could, and all he had agreed to do ;—this message of which they bad heard so much, and which had occasioned so many attacks upon my father.—(Loud cries of " who wrote that message ?") Yes, Sir, who wrote that message? that is the old story again—who wrote that message! Why who was to know who wrote that message? Suppose my father did write it, what then ? He betrayed no confidence reposed in him. It was composed of facts, and as to facts who wrote them, and where could he have procured them ? Why, of course his Excellency wrote that message—for the facts could alone be supplied by him, and therefore the language which has been used in reference to it was an insult to his Excellency and to the bouse. It was not a quarrel between my father and the ministers, but it was a battle between his Excellency and them. It was an attempt to coerce on their part, and it failed. I have never seen or heard anything to the contrary, and lam convinced of the fact. While I had the honor to be in his Excellency's confidence, (much .laughter, and cries of " How ;long?") I found him frank and willing to afford every information I stood in need of. I prefer that this subject should be met by the documents before us. Mr. Fitz Gerald tells us here that this bill he has spoken so much of* was a. bill to give us Responsible Government by law, and its failure is* to be attributed to all sorts of opposition. I know only of authorised documents which came under the notice of the house: we hear of oral statenien ts, of broken agreements, and other accounts which they choose to make ; but I never, until now, heard it said that the Attor-ney-General ever declared it was not necessary that this bill should be sent home for approval.

Mr. Sewell : Why I distinctly said so over and over again. Mr. E. J. Wakefield : My opinion is, and I know that it was the Attorney-General's also, that he could not resign his office without the sanction of the authority by which he held it. It has been said these gentlemen are unfit for the offices they hold : Ido not think so. They have discharged their duties with zeal, and for the promotion of our interests in this colony. I do believe, however, they are unfit to cope with Representative Institutions, and therefore -they proposed to resign ; they never desired to be an impediment, nor did they desire to remain in office merely for the sake of the emoluments. We have been told that the construction of the Constitution Act concedes the principle of Responsible Government by a side wind. If it had been intended by the Home Government to concede the whole principle,it would have been distinctly affirmed. All the Australian Constitutions are clear iv reference to these points. I was of opinion at first that we ought to get the whole measure if possible, but wheu I came to investigate it closely, I soon found it was impossible. Mr- Fitz Gerald has attempted to make a great deal of the fact that members living in the same house with, himself were ignorant of the intended crisis. It may be so— but if it is so, it is very strange that men who lived in other houses, and men who did not belong to the Government, who were not members of either house, it was strange, I say, that they should have known all about it. Dr. Monro was not ignorant of it. It was well known that the crisis was chiefly brought about by some Superintendents and others who laboured haul for it. Well, then there is the fact that ihey resigned with a l;irge majority at their back ; it is true, but then we sometimes hear of a ministry resigning with a bad cause ami not always successfully. " I remember an instance in Canada when Lord Metcalfe was in office, my fa!her stood "in the same position to Lord Metcalfe that Le did to Colouel Wvnyard. He wss alone

against a majority of 69—the members were 69 to 1, and they went out; but when the people had time to consider the matter for themselves, he prevailed. There were no bad names made use of there. My father was not insulted by being called 'a go-between ;' he was called a ' mediator,' and lam surprised to hear such words bandied about here. A charge is made against the old Executire that they had drafted no bills—thai they bad only prepared one bill, and that for Dower—and much ridicule is cast upon it. Why I believe the bill is one of great importance, and it seems to have had the attention of all the lawyers, and much care was given to its consideration. The Attorney-Ge-neral too, had, I know, prepared a bill for the transfer of the waste lands ; this bill had been prepared some weeks before the first session of the General Assembly, and it was offered to these gentlemen, but refused with scorn. Mr. Fitz Gerald then complains of the great coufusiou of accounts; but he must have known that the Auditor-General was absent from Auckland upon business of the colony, and that he returned only the day before the opening of the Assembly. Did that furnish him time enough to supply a succinct and complete account? If there were the errors in his Excellency's opening address which had been stated, they might not unreasonably be attributed to this cause, & the unavoidable pressure of business consequent upon the opening of the Assembly. As to the gross misgovernment and the heavy liabilities, of which it was now said they knew nothing until their arrival at Auckland, 1 will ask you only for how many years have we been crying out against these abuses? If this was the fact, was it fair to bring this forwa.-d now as new matter ? The debt to the New Zealand Company was no new thing. The large amount of the Pensioner debt was public enough. I myself drew attention to this subject three years ago. The unsettled land claims of the North were well known to me and to many others. I admit they might not be to Mr. Fitz Gerald, who came here later, and who has been actively engaged in other ways; but all the older colonists knew of these things. A great deal has been said about my father's position ; he was sent for by his Excelency, and although not a sworn adviser, was nevertheless responsible for the advice he gave. He consented to act in the capacity of mediator, but declined to take office. He said he was too old for it: he felt he was not equal to the hard work, and no longer possessed the vigour necessary to the discharge of its duties. But if he, found there was an unjust attempt to coerce the Government, he would not allow even these personal considerations to stand in the way—he would then take office, in order to dissolve the house, he would have held it until the new house assembled, and theu have resigned it to some younger person. We have heard a great deal said about the disgraceful scenes which characterised the close of the proceedings of the Assembly, and some talk about the locking of doors. I want to know how they knew that this second message was to follow on the reading of the first—how they knew that the messenger was outside the door listening. Did Mr. Sewell look through the key hole ? or was Mr. Fitz Gerald there himself? (Mr.Sewell: The cierk told us himself).—(much laughter). Oh! its all very well to say the clerk told the story, but he is not here to speak for himself. [Mr. WakerMd was here reminded of the lateness of the hour and requested to be as brief as possible.] I am sorry to occupy so much of the time of the meeting but my father and myself have been attacked, and I 'ask you to allow me to defend myself from these assertions ; he will be ready to defend himself in his place and hefore bis own constituents (go on, go oil). Mr. Fitz Gerald then went on to say that the prorogation was unlawful, and attempted to make light of the whole scene. I think, Sir, it was a very grave offence, and that there may be no misunderstanding upou the subject, I will read a protest which we agreed to, and which we addressed to the Governor ; it is a protest against the act of the Speaker and the majority. (Mr. Wakeh'eld then read the pro-U-st, a very long- document, to which was attached the signatures of 9 members.) Mr. W.ikcfiel;! proceeded. The whole scene was in the highest degree disgraceful, it was said to be pi-eat fun, and it -..as here turned into ridicule, but. if tlif^e are the measures to be taken to get rid of obnoxious people I think the amusement gives way to slunneand-disgrace ;,and I fear, it may not unlikely he the means by which we shall have an end nut to free in-

stitutions altogether. As to the federal form of government, it is a matter which cannot be judged of until the papers shall have been read, and I shall reserve any explanation of it until you have had an opportunity of investigating the documents for yourselves. I will not occupy your time any longer. I hare not perhaps confined myself to the resolution before the meetting, I felt that you would allow me to digress, but as regards the resolution I cannot of course support it. Ido not think, I shall vote for or against it. Mr. Seweix said—Sir, "At this late period of the evening I ought to apologise for occupying further the attention of the meeting; bat some things have fallen from the gentleman who last addressed you, which, uttered in my presence, ought not, I think, to pass altogether unnoticed. I shall venture therefore to notice a few of the points to which he has referred, and to supply one or two omissions in the speech of my friend Mr. Fitz Gerald. And first with reference to that scene which has been dwelt on by Mr. Wakefield, and which he has so graphically described—let me say that I readily admit and confess thai it does not, ft my opinion, reflect credit on the Assembly. I, for my part, candidly say that I regret its occurrence, and I regret that I was myself moved under the excitement of the moment to take a part in it which with cooler judgment I should not have done. But, having said this, let me add, that the responsibility and the discredit of that scene attaches really to those who provoked it. No Legislative body was ever, in my opinion, subject to greater provocation. A miserable trick was being played . upon us, to stifle our deliberations ; and the excitement which took place is attributable to that circumstance originating with Mr. Wakefield and his own party. With respect to the ejection of Mr. Mackay from the House- -let me say that the statements contained in the NewZealander are so coloured and exaggerated as in effect to be wholly untrue. The facts were these. Whilst the House was sitting in Committee—considering and passing Resolutions upon the Governor's first Message, a detachment of the Wakefield party made their appearance. Three of them—Mr. Mackay, Mr. Me Andrew, and Mr. Cargill—entered the House, one remained below. Their object evidently was to disturb and insult the House. Mr. Mackay, with his hat on, walked up to the Chairman of Committees, flung a paper down, which struck the Chairman on the breast, saying, " You are no House ; you are prorogued ; I have as much right here as you;" or words to that effect. There were the usual cries of " order, order, Turn him out," to whic-h Mr. Mackay paid no attention, but he marched in an insolent manner several times up and down the room, flourishing his umbrella over his head, and crying ont loudly " I should like to see the man who would turn me out." This he repeated several times. The whole House and every man in it was growing into a state of great excitement at the insult. Mr. Mackay happened to pass close to myself and Capt. Rhodes, Tittering words of defiance. I took him round the waist, and Capt. Rhodes by the shoulders for the purpose of ejecting him, which we should have done but that the door was shut. As to a blow being struck I pledge jay honor that it is utterly untrue. Sir, I admit, on calm reflection, that this was not a dignified proceeding. And I feel in a certain degree ashamed of it, as I should feel ashamed of getting into a street row with a chimney sweeper. I think it would have been more suitable to the dignity of the House to have called in the aid of the Police, or to have referred it to the Sergeant-at-Arms, though it would have been rather an absurdity to call upon asingle man to surround three men, a number sufficient to constitute in law a riot. If these proceedings do not reflect credit upon the House, you will bear in mind the facts which at the time had produced a highly excited state of feeling. There was a palpable attempt to dodge us. After sending down a Governor's Message containing statements insulting to the House, and which the House was bound and was about to take notice of, we wer« rushed in upon by a Message conveying what we suspected to be a prorogation, with the plain intent of putting an end to our existence. We were threatened with instant prorogation, without a measure passed, or supplies being asked for. It was necessary for the sake of the Colony that we should not part without some record of our sentiments. With this view we moved the immediate consideration of the Governor's first Message, and to meet an objection taken on the ground of our Standing Rules,we moved and ultimately carried their suspension. The object of the Wakefleld party was to prevent our deliberations. For that purpose when the suspension of Standing Orders was moved, they all endeavoured to bolt from the House. And here let me confirm what has been said by Mr. Fitz Gerald as to this part of the case. The truth is,the only irregnl ari ty was,that the division bell was not rung. Upon the motion of suspending the Standing Orders, the preliminary question was put whether the House should divide. According to the Standing Orders, when a division has been called for, and after the division bell has been rung, the doors are locked, and no member is allowed to leave the House. Contrary to this rule, the Wakefleld party were about to escape from the House to avoid voting, and intending; to reduce tho members below the requisite quorum. This intention being perceived, there was a call for locking the doors; and the member's door was locked accordingly. I think that was irregular, because the division bell was not rung. Thereupon, the whole of the Wakefield party bolted over the bar of the Strangers' gallery, intending to make their exit at the|jStranger's door. I and soms other members followed for the purpose of locking that door, and preventing their exit. It is possible that my,feats of agility may have bs-en as described by Mr. Wakefleld. All I can say is, that it was much such a case as, when on horseback— a, number of fast riders gallop past, and your own ho/so in stimulated to follow their example. Mr. Waketeid'n friends were tho first to clear the bar likn a flock of sheep, and I and others followed. That in my opinion wuh not a dignified or orderly proceeding; but you will observe here, as in the other case, Mr. Wakefiold and his party were the real aggreasora. And now, Sir, I have to complain that these facts have been grossly misstated and exaggerated, and that puch misstatements andexaggerutions have beon industriously circuited through the colony. I marked what just now fell from Mr. Wakefield as to the possible effect which might bo produced by the narration of these scones on the Home Government, and the risk of the Constitution Act

itself being inconsequence suspended. I cannot but think that the wish has been father to the thought, and that the object in disseminating these garbled stories max have been to produce that result.—Mr. Sewell proceeded to comment upon the document last referred to by Mr. Wakefield, the protest of the minority to tbo Qoveruor against the proceedings of thfl House. That was a highly improper and unconstitutional document. What would be said if a minority of the House of Common* were to complain to Her Majesty of the votes and proceedings of Lord John Russell, and a majority of Parliament? He was surprised that Mr. Wakefleld should have ventured to refer to it. It deserved and would, he believed, have received the strongest censure of the House if time had allowed the subject to be discussed. He proceeded to refer to some omissions in Mr. Fitz Gerald's speech, which was, in general, a remarkably clear and accurate account of what took place As to the allegation of intrigues between Dr. Featherston and Mr. Fitz Gerald at Wellington to set np* Mr. Fitz Gerald as a leader against i\lr. Wakefleld, it was all moonshine. So far from that being the case, Mr. Wakefleld himself had' agreed that Mr. Fitz Gerald would be the fit person to lead the House, he (Mr. Wakefleld) himself disclaiming all intention of taking office. It was a mere hallucination. He' would notice those charges brought against himself (Mr. Sewell) by Mr. Wakefield of having deserted him. He' _ regretted to see those charges published in the " New Zea-' lander" by Mr. Wakefield on the day of their departure from Auckland. They were utterly without foundation. Mr. Wakefield had been consulted from the first—had expressly approved of the constitution of the Government,and had promised to give it his generous support. Within a week or so afterwards he seized the earliest opportunity of endeavouring to turn them out. As to the charge of desertion he retorted it on Mr. Wakefleld. As to the alleged bargain said to have been made with the Governor, Mr. Fitz Gerald had disposed of all questions as to its nature by shewiug the Governor's adoption of the proposed Executive Government Bill: but he (Mr. Sewell) would maintain that the previous correspondence itself established the same conclusion, viz., that the old officers were pledged to retire upon pensions, go soon as the public service required it. It was true that the Colonial Treasurer's letter was: somewhat ambiguously worded,and was so regarded bythemselves when first received; but he pledged himself to thefact, that at the meeting of the Executive Council next following the receipt of those letters, such explanations were given by the different members of the Government as left no' doubt on their minds as to the sincere intention of the old officials to resign when the public service required it. Even if there bad been misunderstanding on that poiut, was that a ground for Mr. Wakefield bringing a charge against Mr. Fitz Gerald, himself, and Mr. Weld, of a breach of contract? As if a minister, differing from the head of th* Government were not at liberty to resign his office. Mr. Wakefield had brought that charge as a preliminary step to a dissolution, and in order that he might goto the country with it as an electioneering cry. Mr. Sewell then no- . ticed some points in the Wakefield policy, as disclosed in the Governor's opening speech of the second session which' had been overlooked by Mr. Fitz Gerald, There were other questions, scarcely less important than that of the Waste Lands,' namely, the relative proportions of the different Provinces in the Representation of the colony, and the question of the seat of Government. Before Mr. Wakefield and he (Mr. Sewell) went to Auckland they had agreed as to the right policy on these subjects. In Mr, Wakefield'sopinion at that time, Auckland even now bad an undue share of the representation. The Pensioner villages were then in his estimation rotten boroughs, and military and official influence overshadowed the real interet-ts of the colony. "Nous avons changk tout celu." All that was changed. The Pensioner villages ware become the bright spots of the Colony, and all public virtue was centered in Auckland. Now, according to Mr. Wakefield's altered policy the representation 'of the Colony was to be changed so as to give Auckland 21 members in the House of Representatives against 27 members for the whole of the other Provinces. A Bill for that purpose had been introduced by one of the Wakefield party which had been supported by Mr. Wakefleld. He called that High Treason to th» South. If such a measure had passed, the whole political power of the Southern Provinces wouldf have, passed away. Again the Wakefield government had declared it to be an article of their policy not to change the seat of government except upon condition of separating Auckland from the rest of the Colony. Such a plan of separation was absurd and impracticable—or if otherwise it was ruinous and destructive. When the question was moved as to addresing the Governor to call the next General Assembly at some central place Mr. Wakefield and his party left the House, in consequence of which that motion was lost by a majority of 2. These changes of political opinions on fundamental points had for ever separated him (Mr. Sewell) from Mr. Wakefleld. The mode in which Mr. Wakefield sought to obtain political influence was by setting Province against Province— North against South—class against class. It would be impossible again to act with him on political questions. Even if Mr. Wakefield should renounce his new doctrines, he (Mr. Sewetl) wag compelled to say that a gentleman bo uncertain in his views was an unsafe political companion. He concluded by saying with reference to the Resolution before the meeting, that in his opinion the interests of Lytteltonwould not be promoted by any change in its present representation. (Prolonged cheering.) Dr. Donald proposed, and Mr. Davis seconded, the following resolution, expressing their sense of the debt of gratitude which the colony owed to the exertions of their represcututivo. "That this meeting hereby expresses its entire confidence in the member for Lyttelton, Mr. Fitz Gerald, and its approval of the course pursued by that gentleman, his colleagues, and supporters in the effort to obtain Constitutional and Responsible Government for the Colony of New Zealand." ,4? The first resolution was carried unanimously. The second, with ono dissentient voice, (Mr. Wakefield's). Mr. Fitz Gerald briefly expressed his sense of the honor done to him, and said that he looked on the resolution passed qs an additional r.sponisibility which he would not shrink from. If however even a few of his const:tnunlH requested him to retire, he would do so He again thanked tho meeting for the kindness with which they bud received him. Dr. Donald then proposed, and Mr. Wakkkield seconded, a vote of thanks to the chairman for his impartiality. [We are sorry to have been obliged to omit the ajieecbes of Messrs. Hamilton, Donald, and Davis, from want of space.]