THE CONSTITUTION ACT

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 539, 2 January 1858, Page 5

THE CONSTITUTION ACT

AMENDMENT ACT. : (Passed Imperial Parliament, Aug. 17th, 1857.) (Proclaimed in New Zealand Dec. loth, 1857.) AN ACT TO AMEND THE ACT FOR GRANTING A REPRESENTATIVE CONSTITTJIION TO THE , COLONY .OF NEW ZEALANI). Whereas it is expedient that an Act passed in the Session holden in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Years of Her > Majesty, Chapter Seventy-two,' to grant a. Representative Constitution to the Colony of New Zealand, should be amended by repealing certain Clauses thereof, whereby, certain .Charges, were imposed on the Territorial Revenue of the said Colony, for which 'Charges other Provision has been or is intended to be made, and making; further and other Provision for enabling the General Assembly, of New , Zealand to alter the Enactments thereof: Be it" enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by ?aiid . with the Advice and Consent of the Lords and Temporal/and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, as follows : ■ ; : *

I. Sections 67, 68, 69; and 74 of the said Act of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Years of Her Majesty, and so much' of Section 62 of the said Act as authorises and requires the Governor to pay out of the Revenue arising from the Disposal of Waste Lands of the Crown,, Sums on account of the tf Land from Aboriginal''NativesI,or 'the Release or Extinguishment of their Riglits^ and Sums payable' Lto/the New Zealand Company, are hereby repealed. > .'-['./■ . : -■ .- -11. It shall'be lawful for. the said General Assembly of New Zealand by an Act of A^ts from Time to Time to alter suspen&ror repeal all or any of "the Provisions of the said Act, except such as are hereinafter specified j najmely,

So much of the said Act as repeals former Acts, Letters Patent, Instructions and Oi-ders in Council:

The Provisions contained in"Sections 3, 18 (save the Exception therein contained), 25, 28, 29, 32, 44, 46, 47, 53; 54, 58, 57, 58, 59, 61, 64,' (save so much as charges tlie Civil List on thes Revenues arising from the Disposal of. Waste Lands of the Crown), 65, 71, 73, and SO of the said Act: . . But no such Act of the General Assembly as aforesaid which shall alter, suspend, or repeal any of the Provisions contained in Section 19 of the said Act shall have any Force or Effect unless, the same shall have beeu reserved for the Signification of Her Majesty's Pleasure thereon, and "until the Governor' of New/Zealand shall have signified, as provided byihe said Act, that Her Majesty has been pleased to assent to the same. . .

111. This Act shall be proclaimed in New Zealand by 'the Governor, or Person administering the Government; within Six Weeks after a Copy of such Act shall have been received by such Governor, and shall take effect in New Zealand from the Day.of such Proclamation ; except that the Kepeal of Section 74 of the said recited Act, and of so much of Section 62 as relates to Sums payable to the New Zealand^ Company,1 shall only take effect if on or before the Fifth Day of April, One thousand eight; hundred and fifty-eighty Payment be made to the New Zealand Company of the Sums and in the Manner specified in the New Zealand Company's Claims Act passed during the present Session of Parliament.

' For convenience of reference, we ; subjoin'the analysis of the Sections referred to above:— -

, 3. Each Province to.have.a, Superintendent *! " ai>d Provincial Council. ! - ■ - . 18. Superintendent and Provincial Conncil ■'<r ■-■ hnaymake Laws, save exceptions, j ". 25. Appropriation and issue of- money. 7; 28. -Superintendent to send Copies of- Bills' assents to to i I. 29. ; Disallowance of Bills assented to.^^- * ! <t p.,Es^Tjli'slimejit6f a Gerieral'Assembly. r] f I |a:^ime and placa' ; of*holdirig;the^ Gerreral "\ ; ?:»!.' :Assembly,^Prorogation, '• andstJissblu- 1] f46*. No Member^,tp»sit br'yote hntiUhVhais j ; , taKe^tijWOathorAUe^ia^p.^- i'-^ U\ '4tfr Affirmation "or Instead off! general-*AssemblyM6;smal|e ; .Laws. , „^ . •t-'iiic^sqj !?^n^'s''f6'?^o:i£i^VoprrJjftl6n' v'%l^&l^ue of " ■ Money. ,■ , ,/■- ,"' %;* #t 3-^ j ; 56. Governor may assent t^,- refuse assent; or ; reserve Bills;. „ ' , !

57. Governor to conform to Instructions transmitted by her Majesty. " - 58. Aa to disallowance by her" Majesty of Bills assented to by the Governor. 59. No reserved Bill to have any force until assented to by her Majesty. 61. .Duties not to be levied on supplies for Troops, nor any Duep, &c., inconsistent with Treaties. 64. Grants for Civil and Judicial Services. 65. How the appropriation of sums granted may be varied. 71- Her Majesty may cause Laws of Aboriginal Inhabitants to be maintained; ■ 73. Lands'of Native Tribes not under the control of the General Assembly. 80. Interpretation of ' Governor'and fNew Zealand.'^

Colonial Secretary's• Office, Auckland, Dec. 12th, 1857. - The following despatch frqrn Her" Majesty's Principal Secretary of, State for the Colonies, with its enclosures, is published foT general in-: formation. *

E.W. Stafford,

Downing street, loth September. 1857= Sis, —In : pursuance of the announcement; contained in my despatch of the 14th ultimo, I transmit you copies of the "Act to guarantee a Loan for the service of New Zealand," the* " Act for discharging claims of the New Zealand Company, on the proceeds of the Sales of Waste lands in New Zealand;" and the "Act to amend the Act for granting a Representative- Constitution to the colony of New Zealand," which have now received respectively the Eoyal assent. ■.•;

The subjects of these three Acts are so closely conhectedj that I shall comprise my observations on them in one despatch.- ■ ' In acceding to-tbe wishes and representations of the General Assembly of New Zealand by giving the Imperial guarantee to a Loan for the full" amount (if needed) of five hundred thousand pounds, instead of confining that guarantee^ to the ppitipn required for discharging the claim of the New Zealand Company/ Parliament, has been actuated by the feeling that the positiori:*of the colony as regards the lands in the hands'of native ttribe3, and as affected by past transactions; in which her Majesty's Government had a share, are so exceptional and peculiar as to warrant a departure from the principle which; has been usually adhered to pf declining to afford such a guarantee for loans contracted by colonies for their own domestic purposes. ...

Parliament has also been satisfied, after the examination of the subject by a Committee, and the evidence given, by M.r. Sewell, before that Committee, of the sufficiency of the, security which the colony had to offer for the.discharge of the principal and interest of the loan to be contracted: nor was any doubt entertained by them of the readiness of the Colony to redeem Its engagements" at- the earliest practicable period j which the rapid increase of population and wealth may justly lead us to anticipate as not remote.

After the first object of the loan is effected, namely, the discharge of the Company's claim, (in order to effect which it is necessary, as before explained, that I should receive your formal request for raising the money m time-to make the payment before the 6th April next) it will be for yourself -with the advice of; your Council to propose at .what times and ia what proportion further sums shall be raised, and to transmit to me your formal request for raising such, sums : on receiving which the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury will be enabled to proceed in conformity with the Act. : '

The provisions of the Act of Parliament for the purpose of securing payment of principal and interest, have been adopted 'from ihose enacted ori former occasions of the same kind.

■ But although the security offered "by the local Act, and-adopted by Parliament^ "extending over the entire available revenue of the Colony, is on the face of it amply sufficient, it is obvious that it might in reality be very considerably impaired, if the several Provincial Governments: were to continue to contract large liabilities of. their own. Although it is not in their power to pledge for any such loans t-he^ revenues to which this Act applies, 'yet it is possible to cou-4 ceive .circumstances under which the generaleffect of these engagements might'be materially to impair the solvency of the, Colony -,} i

On the subject of these Provincial loans Her! Majesty's Government is but ill informed, havi ing only^before ifc the several Ordinances of thg Provincial legislatures, from which Ai£is not "easy to collegt accurate information. :C; Bat it-would appear that their aniouut must already be considerable : and X am" anxious to receive ~a distinct statement of that amount. : -

JT/I have therefore!to instruct r y<o»,-in exercise of th^e powers vested in ■you by the".Constitution Act,to require that all Bills of Provincial:legis- - ratvires: for; the purpose of raising monies by loan, slialV be reserved for your assent: not-.to give «uch assent in any case the amount? is inconsiderable arid the purpose tein'■poVary? or tl\e"exigency appears" to you so great ''as,-to render -departure frOni "this" rnle jessential hfpr'tKe-pußlic convenience; -suct-if e^er'loans'to tiifiy f-"SnH6vin^Kshcßildfi'apptraP'*ife) *be*Wi quired by a Province, to reqitire that th€t lejris-['Tatst^ldfoVld^pVelei^tb-ybjU^^r'esblutiows to that th' qrder'-thai whh Her Mrt|esiy%.Go^fermnen"tfprerioasly"to' tlie intro- <-. duction of any Bill for the "pttrpoie.- i ''• • ' - • enable the Dire&toi^nbt^th'e New Zealand Company tjo-~, receive payment,'foe d#s not* appear to reqXf^>aiiyi^cpliuiiti<iji. " j , The Act amkidiiig; the Constitutional Ac! his

been passed in pursuance of the resolutions of the Assembly ¥eeking'foira~rslaxationaifjt^ut Act in certain paiticulars, and but. slightly departs from the tenor of these resolutions/ The additional freedom of dealing with ;the'"Consfitutional Act "thus acquired Will as "it seems. suffice^ for the various purposes, financial £nd administrative, which were in contemplation by the legislature and by your Government. It has been judged best absolutely to repeal! the-sections of the Constitutional Act. (67, 68, and 69) which gave certain limited powers-of amendment, lest if continued in operation they should appear to clash with the more' general authority now.granted.. -> ■„■■ It has been thought, also necessary that.th.tr power given to amend the,provisions of Section 19 .of the Constitutional,£ct (which restricts the jurisdiction of. the "Provincial Comieils). should he rendered exercisable only by" Acts re-; served for Her Majesty> pleasure. The reason - for this limitation is, not; thai it is wished tointerfere with the views which the General"Legislature may entertain on, the. subject, so far as' these may concern New' Zealand alone'- but ri is obvious_ that laws altering the powers of" those Councils might have directly or indirectly' - the effect of altering the security which is" nowgiven for the repayment of the loan, andtbaV they ought not therefore to be passed without Her Majesty's Government having an opportunity of examining them prior to their coming^ into.operation. " - ■ ; : > 1 ' - ■ , . ', I shall probably have shortly to communrcatd 7 again with you as to ;the arrangements which may be-made" with the concurrence of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury respecting I-h'e» loau, but I thought "it iigffessary not to allow fhe opporthnity-of the present mail to* pass without conveying to you general instruction!* on tl)e entire subject.' - ; - - l;have, &e.y -; ■ - «-* . H.-Labouche«e. Governor Gore Browne, C.B. • <fee., &c, ■ &c.' ■•■■■■■■'■■