NEW ZEALAND'S FIRST PARLIAMENT.

North Otago Times, Volume CVI, Issue 13984, 21 November 1917, Page 8

NEW ZEALAND'S FIRST PARLIAMENT.

f _a , ~. REMOVAL OF AN HISTORIC BUILDING. 1 Owing to the constiuction of a now sheet in oidetv, to aftoul an adequate eastern traffic outlet from Queen sheet, it has become necessaiy to domoluh the old gioup of buildings now occu pied bj the Auckland Uniursit) Col ,i legi Council (telcgnphs tho Auckland o conespondent of the Wellington rost). e lheic have considerable lnstom mi 1 poitnnce, from the fact that thc\ wue c elected o\ei si\h jenis ago as the Hist i P irliamcnt Buildings foi Now Zeal ind c It was in these buildings that the flis. I «cssioii of the hist Pailiamcnt wni ( opened in 1834 Tho lcmamul the ( House of Pirliinicnt until 1563, whin the Seit of Go\ernmciit wis icmo\ed i to Wellington Ihi buildings weic 1 then tiken o\ei b\ the Piounuil Go\ i eminent, and'a few \eiis aftn the < abolition ot the pi ounces the\ benme i the House of Uni\ciMh College, whiih i now is about to be removed to the old Giimmii Sihool Building pending the i erection-of new University Buildings. ■ A great deal of the best eloquence lit- ' tered in New Zealand was heard in the .: old Chamber of the House of Representatives, now'soon to be numbered with the things of the past. The British Act giving New Zealand a representative constitution was passed in 1532, This provided that there should,be a General . Government conducted by a General Assembly composed of a Governor, a ' Legislative Council of ten meinbcrs-r----inerpaseil by Royal insiriii'tions in 1857 to twenty—who 'were appointed for life, [ ami a House of Representatives eo'nsHting of from fourteen to forty members elected for live years by the people, The lirst elections under the new Constitution took place in 185,'!. Colonel AVynward, of the 58th Regiment, ami the newly-elected Superintendent .of [ Auckland province, was the ActingGovernor at the time. He it was who on January 18th. 185-1; summoned the General Assembly to meet for the first ■ time, on May 24rh of that year. It is I of interest :'o recall that the Otago members of the House who nltended ' that first sitting came north by the cut- - tcr Victoria, taking a fortnight on the voyage. Mr (afterwards Sir) Charles Clifford was made Speaker of the House ■ of Representatives. Colonel Wynyard " opened the firs! Parliament with an . address in which he urged the necessity 1 of forming a strong General Govern- ! ment. Thirty members attended the r opening session. Among them were | several experienced, energetic, and able ' men.. Conspicuous was Edward Gibbon ,\ Wakefield, who after the adoption of \ the Address-iu-Reply moved the formation of Parliamentary Government or " Responsible Ministry. There was a • three days' debate, during which I twenty-four members spoke, .and the resolution was carried with one dis» sentient. The last session of Parliament held in Auckland was in 1865. t - - ' =