HAWKE'S BAY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XI, Issue 679, 7 May 1859, Page 3

HAWKE'S BAY.

The White Swan bring us Into nowT.. One wrapper covers two parl.-i of :iu i-'Mie of the 'Hawke's Jliiy Herald,'one dated Saturday, April 2;] rd, the other Monday, April 2oth ; the former trents by anticipation of the great event to happen on th.it Saturday—the election of a Superintendent; the latter recounts the I'.ict of the election, and gives what may be called its secret history. The particulars are interesting enough for publication in full :—• THE T'.LECTrON'. In our issue of Saturday (published, by Ihe way, on Thursday cveniii") we mentioned that two gentlemen were Virtually in the field for the office of superintendent—the one representing the opinion that tl'it! chief executive olfieor of the province should be out of: the council; the other that he should bo chosen from amongst the. members of that body. For some days it had been known that the two parlies which this division of opinion had originated were pretty equally balanced, but it was not till Friday that the fact transpired of both being exactly alike in the number of their supporters. The full effect of this position of affairs will at once appear when it is remembered that ■■■the Council numbered just ten. members,—-that it was split.into..two parties of. five, each; presenting an, unyielding front, and that, therefore, without some .compromise-or concession, the council could not proceed to action, the business. of-i,: the. province would be brought to a dead lock, and tha people, quite possibly, be denuded of their newly-{mmd1 political privileges by the operation of clause three of the New Provinces Aft, under which the .order in Council must take effect within six months of its date. .....' . . .',-',."•■" A nice state of things truly !. Adead-lock.at the very outset of our career! Fortunately, however, the good sense.of tlie council interposed. A preliminary meeting of the members took place, at • which, the knotty point was discussed in air its bearings. An arrangement was ultimately arrived at—not certainly without difficulty, Tor, .long after the hour named for the council to meet, the^matter was still pending.1 Under this arrangement, Capt. Newman and Capt. Carter retired; Mr. Ormond agreed to'accept the Spe.ikcrshipJ -and Mr. FitzGeraklthe Superinfendency. Tl.ese gentlemen were accordingly elected without, a.dissentient''voice— much,, we may add, to the astonishment of the ' strangers,' few of whom had the'slightest idea of what had arisen out, of the previous ; proceediugs. This, result must be . pleasing to this electors generally, for although" many .may regret that one or other of the -two gentlemen to whom we have so often referred should not how be superintendent of the province, they camiofc be otherwise than gratified at the good sense and sound/judgment, displayed by their''members-upon so startling an emergency, . . _ .....; ' .

r ; EOVINCIAL. COTJ> T,CIL, Saturday, April 23.

The Council met at eleven o'cloeV, pursuant to notice' by tlie Eeturnihg7 Officer. Present, —all the members. ..■■-■■■

Captain Curling said, that, the elections.being concluded, he had called the council together,under the provisions of the New Provinces. Act, section 10, which section he would read'to the council. (Section'read;). He had now fulfilled ,his duty as Eeturning Officer. It only remained for him to ex pi ess his pleasure and satisfaction at seeing, in the first meeting of, the new council, the object of all their struggles and hopes in so fair a way of b^inj: ledi/ I He hop°d tint the tiust which di\ol\(dupon the mci beis of the nc\/ council would be (.\euisrd to the ippiobition of then own umiucnc md to an honoui ible iPtognitionon the p it of t'l n const tu nnt He wi bed them heuh biKLP^s, md ho] f-1 tl (^ would A\oik toget'ic soefLctndj - to ni«ke li t \t - Bij 1 11 nnc of leputalion thioughout the colony (CleeiO

Mi TucAei ("\Temb°i foi W lpukuiau) sud tint, befoie they coul 1 pioceed to the election of spei1 ci, it \ould be neu<!Nuj foi them to appoint ichuiman He would theufoie mo\e that J\li Oirnond do act as chairman of the council.

Mr. E. S. Curling (Member for Te Ante) seconded the motion, which "was carried., and Mr. Ormond took the chair accordingly.

Mr. Tucker said that, to till the office of speaker, it was desirable .to have some one acquainted with the routine of office. On that ground he was sure that thep gentleman he was about to name would receive their support, for he had most satisfactorily held a responsible appointment under Sir George Grey. He would say nothing.more, but at once propose Mr. Ormond, one of the members for Waipukurau, as the speaker of the council. The motion was seconded by Mr. E, S. Curling, and carried unanimously. . ,

The Speaker intimated that their next duty was to elect a Superintendent.

Mr. Rhodes, (member for Olive) said that the duty devolved upon him of proposing some one, a member of the council or otherwise, as a fit and proper person to fill the office of superintendent. The name of the gentleman he was about- to propose would, he was sure, be received with satisfaction. It was the name of one who had long and preseveringlj fought for separation ; and who, from ability and general acquirements, was well fitted to the office. He would move that Mr. Thomas Henry FitzGerald, one of the members for the town of Napier be elected Superintendent of the province. Captain Carter (member for Napier Country District), seconded the motion, which was earned unanimously. .

Mr.■ FitzGevald said that; in-rising to accept the office which had Been conferred upon him, and;'to thank the members of council for the honor they had done him,'.he felt that, at the, same time, .-a public explanation on his part was due, not only to the members but to the electors present,, of the reasons,, or rather the accidents, which had.placed him. .in" ; his'present position. These, certainly, might be, known to the greater number of persona in,the,room, but it would notibe out of place to recapitulate; tli em. Two gentlemen had hitherto been known' to the public as wi ling to accept the office of superintendent—both eminently, qualified tp "fill' it.! .A. difference5 of opinion, however, had arisen among members, as to whether the superintendent shouldr lie" in or oat.of 'he council. On this question, r tho members of council were equally divided in opinion--7one. half; their number being desirous of electing a superintendent who had no.seat in the council, and the other half one who had. Neither party would give way He (Mr. FitzG-erald) held- the opinion that the superintendent should be in the council, and he believod that hnd the gentleman who represented the contrary opinion been elected; a, very brief experience would convince him of his mistake. For unless the superintendent hold a seat at.the council table —unless herei'i'saeuti'd some, pcrtion of public opinion, -he would be a mere servant of the council, if not the tool of a majority. In the one case, lie would live by the breath' of the ..Council; in the other, lie would have an existence of his own. Instead of being a mere servant who, upon the semblance of opposition to the will of the ■■council, might be turner! out, and .who would bo. afraid to act. indcpsn.rloritly, —he wou'cl, as representing a shave of public-opinion, bo placed in equal position to'that of the other members, and would be a-lilo, in the event of differences arising, to oiler expkuiiitions, mid, "generally, to fight his own battle. Ho'would mention another reason why the ' superintendent should not bo out of the council. llis being so would be the means of official obstruction and difficulty. In place of debating a question in full at the council table, reference would

constantly havo to be made to the Superintendent,' between whom and the council co'iuimuiications /would assume the form of messages and formality, us well as loss of time and misconception he the consequence. And how desirable was it that theii Superintendent should not be a man with hi-, bands tied, helplessly exposed to the shafts of every one, but that lye should be whore he would have a public opportunity of (Wending himself from atlack, <uotherwise setting himself right with the public. Wluil had led him (Mr. FilzUerahl) to accept oilier, was to save the council from dead lock. A diilii-ully was before them, which, unless solved, would, infallibly lead to that result,. To solve it a proposition was made by those with whom he(Mr.F.) coincided in opinion, that a member who held the opposite view should take Ihe office in lieu of either of the two who wore previously known as candidates. That member would not consent to act; and the proposition was then made to him (Mr. F.) He; was not, at first inclined to accede to it, but seeing no other means of averting a dead lock ho had consented to hold office without salary, and that only for such a length of time as would enable the public to judge for themselves of the working of the system. He would then afford them the opportunity of deciding by their votes the great question of whether the Superintendent should or should not have a seat in the council. With that explanation, he would further intimate that, in compliance with the law, lie intended appealing to theOciinstihiehoy that had already honoured him with his. confidence; if not returned by whom he wonldtvacatehis-new, position. (Cheers.)

Mr. Colenso (member for Napier) wished to make a few remarks. He-hud. pledged himself to I^o jinto the council utiiettt-red, and-he had adhered to that pledge/ He .'deplored tlie fact "that all the members .had not likewise taken their spats unlettered. He regretted the necessity that had arisen for a compromise, although he h;id so far consented to it as to say 'aye' to the election of Ms col-1 league. He remembered that, at the separation meeting, one of the speakers had said that, in doing away with the elective sitperintendencies they were doing away with one of the main elements of theconstitution. He had pondered over these words. He had since seen members determined to carry as superintendent a man who had not been elected by the people, and wlio, had he tried, would not have been elected; and he had since been led to reflect further. Many of them had witnessed the early political struggles of the settlers of Hawke's Bay. Many of them had been members-of the Settlers' Association, —the chairman of which, now one of their number, had evinced the moral courage to act in that capacity at a time when the movement was far from a generally popular one. And was that gentleman, when a Superinie dent for the new province came to be elected, to he thrown aside for one who had done literally nothing in the work, — one who.politically speaking:, was not even known? Would the electors of Waipukurau have come forward in support of "the one candidate for the superintendency as the electors for Napier Country District had rallied around the standard "of the. late chairman of the Settlers' Association, although he did not come forward till the last moment? He (Mr. C'olenso)'did not believe they would. . .The-.Speaker-here called Mr. Colenso to order. His remarks were quite irrelevant to anything that was before the council. Mr. Colenso would bow to the .Speaker. He would add that h s efforts in the council would be dn<.cted only at the good of the piource He noul 1 oflei no factious opposition to v nei-.m.t>v b\ \\homsoe\ei thpy might be biou r ' t hi\ 1 Di Hitching (Aleinbti foi Kip n) noud ' 'i it i committee le npiomfed to piepue iid 1 pit upon the idopMon ot s>uch inles md st nU 1 „ o < ei*i* in 13 appe 1 ncce^ 11 y f n tliepiopci un hi to bi "v lo^ in the coined PJi eon mn +»c to con "Ist of IW"e--.Ms Ti"* 1 Cob i^o Jiholei lid ie mo\ei ' —Suoided b<> ri 0 11 0, 1 f1 U'i elfi Mi Rhodes moved t it 1c n nH (f 1 ■* council be ipp nited 1o tve m t a !ji 01 1 - 1114 a convenient pi ice i)i inline nuum s u)i committee to cons st o( J r< is '11 II eh u_ Rhodes, and the mover.'—Seconded by Mr. Tucker and agreed to. . On the motion of Mr. Tucker, the council then adjourned till Monday, the 16th May. A proclamation by Thomas Henry FitzGerald, Esquire, . Superintendent, announces that that gentleman has.taken upon himself the duties of the office, on the 23rd of April: and a notice by the returning officer notifies that a fresh election will be held to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. FitzGerald's promotion, a vacancy which the same gentleman (being permitted by the Act) expresses his desire to fill again, in the following address: — TO THE ELECTORS OF THE TOWN OP NAPIEE. — Gentlemen,—The events of to-day having terminated in my election to +he offire of superintendent of this province, and as I consider it absolutely necessary that the holder of that office should also have a seat in the Oou.nc.il, I avail myself of the provisions of the New Provinces Act, again to seek the honour of being one of your representatives. Having explained before many of you to-day the combination of circumstances that led to a result so unlooked for, it is not now necessary co repeat the statement I then made. I will merely call on you to remember that my acceptance of office was an absolute necessity—no other mode presenting itself of averting a dead-lock and the stoppage of all provincial business. It was not of my own seeking; the proposition emanated from members holding different views to those entertained by me and the-parly with whom I had been acting; and was accepted on the grounds I have already stated. The office being purely an -honorary one, entered upon solely to prevent the New Provinces Act from proving a failure as regards the people of Hawke's Bay, its acceptance can in no way involve a compromise of the declaration. I have repeatedly made to accept of no salaried office under Government. I trust you will decide that, in acting as I havedone, I have not deserved to forfeit your confidence or. approbation. I remain, Gentlemen, . Your'b faithfully, T. H. FitzGebald. Napier, April 23. 1859. The following paragraphs are taken from eavlier , numbers of the' Herald:— DisTiiiQT Cotjets. —The following letter has been received in reply to a memorial forwarded Roir.o time since to Auckland, praying that the District' Courts Act might be put in force here: — Colonial Secretary's Office, Auckland, 26th March, 1859.-—Gentlemen, —I am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your memorial praying his Excellency the Governor to bring the New District Courts Act into operation within the Hawke's Bay District, and to inform you that the Government are making the necessary arrangements for that j pui'oose, and that no unavoidable delay in doing, bo will' tiiko place.—l have, &c, (signed) W. Gis- j home, Under Secretary.—To Messrs. E. S.Curling, j H. 11. Eussell, and the other memorialists.. In ' connection with this subject we learn from a private letter that .-in arrangement has been concluded between the General Government and Mr. Hart, of Wellington, under which that gentleman is appointed chilirnian of the District Court—to hold a sitting onCR a month at Wellington, twice a-yenr at Napier, tliQ same at Wangaiuii ; but, from the circumstance it is said of Mr. Hart being an indifferent horseman, none cither at Wairarapa- or at, Waipukurau. Now,'whatever opinion may bo entertained of the relative merits of Mr. Wr.rcl ana Mr. Hart—the former of whom, by the way,

seemed to give general satisfaction when officiating here as chairman of the wssinjis of peace court—there cannot he doubt that the inland settlers,-in being required lo allend at Nfipiur upon having any court business on hand, have buen treated ver'v cavalierly, and will not be slow in expressing lheir stm&e of such treatment. We.learn-tliiit Mr, Hart also receives the appointment of 'Revising Officer, and that his (.'n.iolutneuts will amount to £500 per annum.—April 23.

Melancholy Event.—On Friday last, some children belonging to the garrison, while out strolling in the neighbourhood of the barracks, partook of the poisonous berry known as Tutu. To one of these children, we regret to say, the poison proved fatal— vomiting having saved the others. The victim was a boy named John Greenaway, aged two years and nine months, the son of a private. Dr. MacShane attended at once, but his efforts proved unavailing. The child was .seized with convulsive fits, which continued with little intermission' till Saturday morning, between 3 or 4 o'clock, when death put a period to the child's suffering.—lbid.