WELLINGTON.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 209, 1 November 1854, Page 6

WELLINGTON.

By the Mountain Maid we have received files of the Wellington papers up to the 21st of October. A meeting took place on the 16th, at which the representatives of the Province of Wellington explained the line of conduct pur■ued by them during the Session of the General Assembly. The meeting was very fully attended. We will, if possible, publish on Saturday a full report of the speeches delivered on that occasion. TARANAKI. From the Taranaki Herald, October 4, we learu that the Council of that Province commenced its sittings on the 2nd instant, when the following address was delivered by his Honor the Superintendent;— Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen— ' I have called the Council thus early after the close of the period over which the Appropriation Ordinance extends, that you may appoint a Committee to audit the accounts for last quarter, confirm or disallow the steps I have taken the responsibility of initiating, in furtherance of the public convenience, with reference to the Town Pasturage, and determine the period when you will again meet to take into consideration drafts of Ordinances on the following subjects ;—Appropriation, Provincial Revenues, Census, Interpretation, Ferries, Public Works,—and some other Ordinances that depend on the recent legislation of the General Assembly. I legret to state that I am unable to give a financial estimate of the Eevenue and Expenditure of the Province for the financial year we Lave entered upon. The quarterly accounts that his Excellency Sir G. Grey stated the Treasurer of New Zealand would make, and which were to determine whether any, and what further sum was due to each Province, I have not vet heard anything of, it is therefore impossible for me to state whether the Treasury of the Province is in debt to the Treasury of the Colony, or is entitled to any further funds. The only principle that seems to rule in the division of the Revenues of the Colony is, that each Province shall retain and spend "all it can lay hold of, and that the General Government may take Provincial Funds in Iransitu and spend'them, the Province losing the amount though holding the vouchers of the Collectors of Customs that such are Provincial funds, this, as the Council is aware, is the case in this Province to the amount of nearly a quarter's revenue, and as a settlement of the accounts of the colony seems as remote as ever, there is little hope of'present redress.

Supposing existing: arrangements to continue and that tiie Province obtains, the two-thirds of the net Customs revenue shewn by the vouchers of the Collector of Customs', I am of opinion that there will be a much larger sum to devote to mads and public works than has as yet been spent in the Province for that purpose; still as I consider that the amount applicable to the repairs of mails will be insufficient for the purpose, a bill will be submitted for your consideration to suuli.,rize the division of the settled portions of the province into districts with power to the inhabitants lo impose rates on land tor the purju.se of makin-r and repairing roadsthis measure, wnli such assistance as can be afJorued from tin, Revenues of the Province, will 1 anticipate, be the means of placing the means ot commiiHioutioii in Mich a state of repair that a small v,,ar!y mm will soon be sufficient to maintain mem in jjood order. The recent luiuvtj^fy continues to unsettle' the native popui.i|ioiKj-*as j t is a question ex-clusivi.-iy umlei lite'authorised control of the Gi.-»»?rai Govcrirncnt, I ha.-c not considered it advisable U) appear at any discussion of the

question by the natives ; such a course might have devolved on the Province a portion of the responsibility which best rests where it lies— with the General Government. Mr. Commissioner M'Lean, the best qualified officer in the colony to investigate the internal quarrel of a tribe, has been deputed by his Excellency, and I have no doubt but that everything that can be done, will be done by ihat gentleman, at whose disposal in carrying out the intentions of the General Government, I have placed the co-ope-ration and assistance of the Provincial Government. I have every reliance on the good feeling that has always subsisted between the two races continuing to prevent the European population from interfering in this native quarrel; as some evidence of the good feeling of the Native tace to the European, I may mention that while one party applied for military aid, the chief of the other stated that if afforded by the Government he should not consider the settlers as involved in it.

The recent legislation by the General Assembly has not'reached me; how far the suggestions of His Honor the Superintendent of the Province of Auckland as the Officer administering the Government of New Zealand have been carried out, as stated in his Excellency's last opening address to the General Assembly, I am unable to inform you ; but I can state, that if his Excellency's views are carried out by alterations in the Constitution Act, and by the legislation of the General Assembly, the General Government will be stripped of almost every power and anthority, and the Provincial Governments, not constituted for the exercise of such t powerSj will become six jarring and despotic democracies ; already have the unity and General Government of the colony suffered sufficiently from the Provincial Governments having been called into existence before the summoning of the General Assembly, without being totally destroyed by the policy proposed.

I shall have better hopes of the future and prosperity of New Zealand when superintentendents are precluded from exercising executive functions over the whole colony, and when the General Government has been strengthened and placed in the position it ought to occupy— a position that I trust the Assembly will immediately place it in, on the introduction of complete Ministerial Responsibility ; the proper limitation and control of the Provincial Governments by the General Assembly will follow, we must anticipate that Provincial Legislatures will in time be absorbed in the Representative Institutions of the whole colony, and Superintendents and Provincial Councils pass away with the development of larger general interests and improved means of communication in the colony. With reference to the Waste Lands his Excellency observes that "In the meanwhile regulations wi.U be issued, as soon as possible, for the purpose of setting apart, in every district of each Province, a considerable proportion, but. not less than one-third, of the Waste Lands, in such manner as to afford the greatest encouragement and facilities to bona fide occupying settlers." I would remark that a vote of a large majority of the House of Representatives had previously been recorded adverse to such an arrangement; it may appear necessary in the Province of Auckland, where breaches of the Land Regulations proclaimed by Sir G. Grey have occurred since his departure from the colony, and the most valuable portions of the Waste Lands have fallen into the hands of speculators (including high Military and Civil Officers of the colony) to the exclusion of " occupying settlers"—as a scanty measure of protection of little avail now that the mischief is done, it may be advisable to define that the speculators, after taking the best of the land, shall not have more than two-thirds of what is left, and that the remaining third shall be offered on such terms as maybe an inducement to working settlers to occupy it, the necessity, however, for such lines of demarcation and class legislation has not arisen here; a very slight mollification of Sir G. Grey's Land Regulations will place the best land in any district that may be thrown open, equally within the reach of all classes, and I can truly say that in this Province all classes include the occupying working settlers.

I shall be happy to receive any suggestion from Members of Council, individually or collectively, for the introduction of Bills on any subject within our legislation, and for the alteration of existing laws of the colony to meet the requirements and interests of the Province ; the in form a. lion in my office, and my views on

the subject, will be at their disposal,—such a course will, I think, tend to diminish minor points of difference between us : general principles, I think, we nearly agree npon.

As some farther security to the Council and the Province of the principle of Responsibility under which I consider I hold office, I beg to state that when I cease to retail ;^ie confidence of a majority of the Council, I shall be prepared to resign, on the Speaker informing me of the grounds on which my resignation is required, the names of the members forming- the majority, and that they will be prepared to resign in the event of my re-election. Chael&s Brown, r -* Superintendent, New Plymouth, Oct. 2, 1854. A Town Pasturage Bill was read a first time., and other business of a local nature was under the consideration of the Council, which afterwards adjourned to the 10th inst.