Parliament of New Zealand.

Marlborough Express, Volume IV, Issue 184, 17 July 1869, Page 4

Parliament of New Zealand.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THE FATE OiTmARLBOROXJGH. In the House of Representatives, on June 6th, Mr. Eyes asked the honorable member at the head of the Government, If it is the intention of the Government to propose any means for maintaining the several necessary departments of the Public Service in the Province of Marlborough, or any Bill for carrying into effect the prayer of the petition of the Provincial Council of that Province ? The petition referred to stated, amongst other things, that the revenues of the Province of Marlborough were inadequate to defray the expenses of several of the necessary departments of the public service, and that the share accruing to the Province from the consolidated revenue of the Colony was not only insufficient to defray those expenses, but left nothing whatever for expenses within the Province for departments which were necessary to be kept up. The petition prayed that the Provincial system in the Province might be abolished, and some other system introduced in certain departments maintained by the Colony. He would not be in order in entering into the question as to the reason why the Province of Marlborough was not in a position to defray these expenses, nor in expressing any opinion as to the remedy which the House might think proper to apply. He would simply read the report of the "Waste Lands Committee, which was very short It simply stated that the subject-matter of the petition involves a great principle of policy, and that it rests with the Ministry to originate, and with the Legislature to determine what course should be adopted in the case of Provinces similarly circumstanced as that of Marlborough. It was in compliance with the report that he had put the question. i ; Mr. Fox had listened with sorrow to the • lamentable tale of the honorable member, 'and could assure him that it was the sincere desire of the Government, if possible, to relieve the Province of Marlborough from

the painful position in which it at present stood at as early a date as practicable, but matters of pressing emergency rendered it impossible for the Government to give such attention to the subject as it otherwise would have done. They would, however, give the subject their early consideration. — Hansard. Self-Reliance. In the Legislative Council, on July 7, the Hon. Mr. Gisborne made a splendid speech, which we are unable to give in full. The following is the concluding portion ; I say, if we pay for the use of Imperial troops we are self-reliant ; we must be selfreliant ; we shall have to cope with the foe when he attacks us, probably with a sort of flying column of our own. We should have to pay for that body, and we should also have to pay a capitation rate for the services of our great reserve, the Imperial forces. We should, in fact, be reinsuring protection to life and property in Hew Zealand. Will hon. members say that an insurance company which reinsures in another company is not self reliant, and sometimes more prudent than one which should insist on undertaking the whole risk. Sir, I will now only refer to what may be the aspect of this case in England. The important question underlying this great subject, touching as they do the sovereignty of the Crown, striking at the root of the constitutional relations of the Colony towards the Empire, affecting the welfare and the lives of Her Majesty’s subjects of both races, and involving even the existence of that Maori race which only accepted the sovereignity of the English Crown upon the solemn promise of their receiving its protection ; these momentous questions have never been fairly considered, much less determined by the British public or Imperial Parliament. They have scarcely penetrated beyond the bureaucratic purlieus of Down-ing-street, and are there merely treated as matters of official routine. I do not believe, when all the facts are truly represented, that the British public—that noble-minded generous public, who almost lavished their treasure in the emancipation of the slaves, who recently exerted the whole power of their might in the suppression of the mutiny of India, and who, the other day, vindicated the honor of their country by the rescue, though at the cost of eight millions, of a few captives in Abyssinia—l do not believe that that public will ever consent to turn Hew Zealand into a vast amphitheatre in which two races—one their own countrymen, and the other to whom the honor of the Crown has been solemnly pledged—shall be pitted against each other in mutual slaughter, while England, Christian, philanthropic England, is to sit with folded hands and watch this bloody scene of internecine strife. I hope this motion will not be carried. I hope it will be withdrawn, and I do so because I believe it to be most importune ; and more especially because I believe to give full effect to it in its literal meaning, would be to aggravate the evils which we suffer; would be to increase the pecuniary burdens of the Colony ; to prolong and intensify existing disturbances; and at last to create a war of races. The Fox Policy. In the House of Representatives, on Friday evening, July 9th, Mr. Fox rose to move the following resolution :—“ 1. That in the opinion of this House, the existing expenditure on the Colonial Forces is altogether beyond the financial resources of the Colony, and that if is impossible to continue the same consistently with the public credit.—2. That it is therefore necessary that steps be forthwith taken to bring that expenditure -within the appropriations of the current year, which blight not to exceed £150,000.” He began by expressing regret that since he had placed them on- the Order Paper, circumstances had a good deal changed. He had hoped that his resolutions would have raised a fair and intelligible issue as between the policy of the late and that of the present Government, and that the House would have been able fairly to consider and decide between the two. The previous night, however, had witnessed a perfect shower of policies, all emanating from one little section of the House, and from the members of one province. He would not anticipate the discussion on these policies further than to say that they prevented a fair consideration of the issue he had wished raised, and distracted the mind of the House. Mr. Stevens wished to cure all our ills, native and social, by) the indiscriminate distribution of everything provincial. Mr. Tancred proposed a policy of absolute retreat and abandonment which could, if carried out, only lead to the settlers of the Hofth being all driven to Wellington, and then across the Straits to the Middle Island; while Mr. Rolleston, like another Mrs. Partington, wanted to stop the ocean with a broom. The policy

of the late Government, as far as could be gathered from their acts, the Premier’s speech, and the speeches of the Government supporters, was an impossible one, or, if possible, a ruinous one. Day by day it was committing the Colony to large aggressive measures, and to an expenditure which could only end in ruin. Month by month the expenditure had risen from £9,000 to £40,000, and it seemed that whatever the military officers considered desirable in a military point of view, the Government undertook, leaving it to chance to determine how the cost was to be paid. In fact, instead of cutting their coat according fo their cloth, they simply considered it desirable to have a certain number of coats, and trusted to chance for the means of paying the bill. The policy of the present Government was exactly the reverse of this. The thing they considered was how much money could the colony afford to spend, and having determined this, they would reduce their military operations to that amount, or cut their coat according to their cloth. They did not see how a larger sum than £150,000 could be safely expended during the year, and hereafter the Treasurer would say how that sum was to be raised. The Treasurer, however, was of opinion that it could bo raised, and the Defence Minister was of opinion that such a sum would be sufficient, and that he could reduce the expenditure within that limit. If, however, the Colony should unhappily become involved in more extensive operations, the £150,000 might expended in S or 6 months. In such a case, all he could promise was that, before incurring any further unathorised expenditure, as the late Government had done, they would call the House to-e-ether at once. The £150,000 did not, of course, include any of the £438,000 of arrears due, which would have to be provided for hereafter. If it was asked how they could reduce a military expenditure of £363,000 a year to £150,000, he might say that within the last week the force had been reduced by 549 men, thus effecting an annual saving of about £BO,OOO a year. The Defence Minister saw no difficulty in pursuing the same course, and reducing the cost of operations to within the required limit. The House knew it was proposed to get Imperial troops, but their presence, even if obtained within the year, would not interfere with his financial propositions, as the £150,000 was simply for the twelve months, and no payment to the home Government could fall due in that time, or perhaps for a much longer time. He and others well able to judge were sanguine of being able to obtain those troops, for now all circumstances of the Colony were changed. The House, he hoped, was in favor of the troops, the Government would work cordially with the Governor to obtain them, and would be willing to meet the home Government on fair terms. A more friendly feeling between the Home and Colonial Governments would also spring up, now that there would be no more of those stinging memorandums from the Colonial Ministers to home officials. He was perfectly certain that by the scheme laid down in the resolutions to be proposed by the Defence Minister the troops required could be obtained, and then the number of the proposed Colonial forces could be safely reduced by one-half, so that the cost of defence would not after all exceed his estimate. When the news of the Poverty Bay affair reached England we should have had troops sent immediately had it not been for the speeches and letters of some professed friends, but real enemies, of the Colony, who interfered to prevent this being done, prating for self-reliance. Times and circumstances were now changed, and the public mind of England would compel the official mind to yield to our request if properly urged. Mr. Eox concluded by moving the resolutions. Ho one standing up to speak, the resolutions were at once agreed to, on a division of 51 to 11. ' The minority were Messrs. Ball, Bunny, Clark, Edwards, Eyes, Gallagher, W. H. Harrison, Kenny, Travers, Main, and Stafford. Consequently progress was reported, the Committee to sit again on Thursday, 15th July.

The following is from the Post Many persons were at a loss to understand the merits of the division... The Government, we understand, expected a two day’s debate and a great trial of strength with the Opposition. It was equally to their astonishment and that of the strangers in the gallery, when Mr. Fox having finished his speech, and the question put by Mr. O’Eorke, no member of the Opposition rose to reply. Mr. Stafford and Mr. Hall had both been observed to be taking notes. The latter turned round to his Opposition leader, and apparently asked him if he was not going to rise, and on receiving an answer in the negative, pushed his hat over his eyes and left the House. The resolution was thus carried on the voices, and without

a division. The next motion on the paper was Mr. Cracroft Wilson’s on the Ghoorka question, and on it being called Mi-. Eox intimated that Mr. Wilson had agreed to postpone it. Mr. Stafford leant over his desk and tried to induce Mr. Wilson to go on ; but the Nabob does noc generally back out of his pledges, and he stood firm. The question was then put from the chair, that he be allowed to postpone his motion. Mr. Stafford and his “ claquers”—Messrs. Bunny and Haughton—shouted “No, and when the Speaker declared the “Ayes” had it, Mr. Stafford called for a_ division. Perceiving however that he was in a minority, he withdrew the demand for a division, when Mr, Main, .a supporter of the Government, insisted upon having it. Mr. Stafford now ran from seat to scat, calling on his followers to vote with the “ Ayes” —the old Parliamentary dodge for avoiding a defeat on the division. And so it went, and nearly all the Opposition members voted with the Government.