SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1846.

New Zealander, Volume 2, Issue 72, 17 October 1846, Page 2

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1846.

Be just and fear not : • Let all the ends thou aims'f at, be thy Country's, Thy Gop's, and I'nitli's.' *

ACTS OF COUNCIL.

We havp some vague recollection, of . having heard, or read of a principle involved in the praptice of modern physic, called pounter-irritation; aptjnguppn,wbich, gentlemen of the faculty, instead of attempting tq remove a disorder by the exhibition of direct remedies, seek to mitigate or disperse the symptoms by (if we in.ay venture to use the term) antipodean applications j for instance when the malady is in the head, the mocje of treatment according to this enligthened theory would we suppose, be cataplasms to the feet, or' a blister to the seat. His Excellency the Governor seems inclined to act upon something like an apalagous principle in the practice of legislation, for while some of the vital interests of the community are paralysed and disarranged in consequence of hijs ambiguous and disparaging announcement respecting the tenure by which the majority of the agriculturists hold their lands, he is enacting with no little parade cf solemn trifling, a measure for adjusting the length of a mercer's yard, the weight of a mer-

chant^pound,,an^ttHe f capacity ,of -a-pub-lican's pint' l ' "We do not mean to insinuate that this, and the other bills before the Council, are entirely useless-; -on thecontrary,-we think, that many legislative improvements of the kjnd, might Be very .properly introduced at a proper time. 'But, when the agricultural interests have received a shock that will vibrate-to. -the -very extremities of the body politic— when the measured tread of the industrious jploughmau .has been arrested .midway in his furrow, apd. the stalwart arm of the woodsman—uplifted to transform the wooded wilderness into-open,lields--;has,beenjendered nerveless and weafc by the of opimon_sj3al_culatedlo throw a doubt over the yaljdiiy p,fthe v ir { titles-r^t^ch, a juncture, to convene a Council, aridHrifle away a Session for the purpose -of passing ordinances, for the most -part, of comparatively second rate importance, and totally > irrelevant to the most pressing necessities of the Colonists, is a sheer profanation of the -legislative power, a positive burlesque upon legislation. His Excellency, having predetermined to introduce certain measures, -prooeeds to lay them before the : members, who may oppose if they Uke,tbut who cannot prevent the enactment of them ; >and, as a matter of course, ithese vo'itions of His; Excellency^ mind, whether good or evil, i wise or unwise, pass into Laws; and the people/whose wishes, feelings and consent! have neither been sought ,npr consulted,! are expected to yield an unqualified obe-j dience. j How strange a discrepancy we discover.; between supji a system of making laws, and the principles laijcLdown.byjthe celebrated, Locke. " This, .legislative,*' says, this great philo,s ; opher 0 '>'is jppt ( only. the Supreme power of the C.o.ram.onweaith, but sacred and nnalterable in the hands where the community have once placed it; nor can any edict of any body else, in what form soever conceived, or by what power soever backed, have the force and obligation of a law which has not its sanction from that legislature which the people hope chosen and appointed; for, without this, the law could' not "have that whjcjb is absolutely necessary; ip its being a law — the consent of the society, over .whom noboby can hav ( e ,a power to make Jaws but by .their ,own consent, and by authority received from them/ Try the enactments of a Council, such as we possess, where the will of the President is omnipotent, by the standard furnished in the quotation just cited, and into what do they become transformed ?—? — arbitrary fetters, that have no moral power to bind. Nevertheless, we must extend our patience a little longer, and submit to laws which are made, doubtless with a view to our benefit, though in direct defiance of the principle that makes our co-operation and consent essential to their obligation. His Excellency, in his opening speech, declared his intention of submitting mear sures of a general character only, to the Council,, and v those, with whicfi the attenrlion of the Council has been occupied, are mostly of tiiis description. It is this strict adherence to the principle laid down,, that we so much regret, because we firmly believe th^ £he interests of the Colony would have been more beneficially prompted hail 'some' specific enactment been introduced for settling the oft- debated question of the Land Claims } and we are moreover persuaded^ that there is sufficient ground work in the published opinions of Lord Stanley, upon which to frame a measure of this nature. The ordinances that have been enacted, and the bills now under deliberation, require, a passing notice. The Constabulary Force" Bill, having been passed, we leave in the hands of the great revealer of all things— time— whos|e influence will dearly demonstrate, either the unsoundness of our- known and recorded pbjjectiorjs, and the wisdom and utility of the measure— or the correctness of our views, and the failure of the scheme, id as far as it relates to the general efficiency of the Native members of tfye corps. The Supreme Court amendment, and Court of Appeals Bill, is objectionable because, it implies a desire on, the part pf the Governor to interfere with the patronage, which should belong, under certain restrictions, to the Judge, and to arrogate ■ the power of removing any pf the, subordinate officers of the Court, whenever he pleases. ' We do not suppose that His Excellency would exert this prerogative merejy'fij"om the impulse of pique

or^apricje,; ibuMtill, yrhy should^ Registrar >or any-other officer of the Court, hold his appointment only so long as it may suit the pleasure or convenience of the Governor, instead _of holding it for life, subject only to competent ability, integrity, and good beha- ' viour. And then the idea of making the sExequti-ve wisdom *,of \ths-Colony*a Court uf< Appeal, is absurd. if'Ju'dgeMaitin, or Judge' Chapman, men who are supposed to have 8 pent "the greatest-portion of their livesin thestudy of the Law, cannot do justice between )litig#nts, it is ha.rdly.to be that the .Co^qnial Secretary, do.u'.btfess [a skilful medi-' cal man —the Colonial Treasurer, a roost re-J spectabie civilian— and His Excellency, a gallant soldier, can accomplish' that winch better qualified iudividuajs failed in doing.The Colonial-Secretary $aw. the absurdity of this mode of appeal, and yery-properly raised liis voice against it. '3?hV bill, tion in tet?tnd :- if'it&adiaboUshsdtthejitle of " Supreme," attached to -the Court in which the Chief Justice .presides, ajid conteired it upon the Executive-conclave, consistency, at least, would hav.e been preserved : how can a (Jourt be designated Supreme, that is subject, in certain ca^es, to another. Bepend upon it, there will be very few appellants from His Honoi the Chief,J[ustice ( to the Members of the Executive Council. The Native Trust Amendmeut Bill is, certainly, a measure important jn principle, but like its piedecessor, we fe,arthdt,,it .will be found totally ineffective in ,of^rquoq., The fact is, the whole, system >of Native reserves is mere humbug : they are pot of sufficient value, taken iv the aggregate,,^raise«r-:how-1 soever wisely tney may be farmed, or.clisposed of— a fund adequate to the ,profess.eu purposes of the bill; and while we concur, with llis Excellency in thinking that the Governor, as tne Representative ,©f the Crown, whose prio/essiqus of >solicitude for the adyancement and improvement o,t jthe Natives hay.c been so \ lavish, should have the pow.er of selling, if necessary, the reserve .property, we still main- • tain it will be found imp.r^tica.blejto carry out the proposed intentions oil thfe-firitfsh .Government, orjnakeany adequate provision lor the general improvement of the Native race, unless .the Imperial Government apppjy funds far this specific purpose, quite independent of the limited revenue that may accrue from the Native reserves. , ,As it is evidently the laudable purpose of His Excellency to use every means of raising a sufficient revenueto cover the ordinary expenditure, we see nothing objectionable in the "Customs' Amendment' Bill ;" provided, however, that the singular interpretation put upon the 2Bth clause of the existing Ordinance by His Excellency, is not, adopted. We will .not attempt, at present,, to enter upon a formal exposure of the fallacy! of His Excellency's views upon this point, and the injustice that would be inflicted on the Colonists if the interpretation he puts upon the Ordinance>were to be carried into practice, as the discussion will be resumed on Monday, when we shall have' an opp >rtunity of ascertaining His Excellency's opinion on this subject more fully — for we can' hardly forbear the conclusion, that we have misapprehended his meaning. However, we are pretty confident that Mr. Kennedy was perfectly .coirect in stating that the Governor was in error, respecting the system adopted in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. Mr. DArch, who has had practical .experience in the sister colony of Van J)iemen's Land, could, (joubtless, set His Excellency right on this point, and we believe that the .testimony oi that Gentleman would corroborate the opinions we hold. Some persons have entertained tlje notion, that it was intended to i,mpose a duty upon the importation of cattle, 'put we have gooa* reason to believe there is no just cause for apprehension on this account. The regur lation respecting cattle is to obviate $he danger which frequently, opcurs when ca^le are landed promiscuously. '' We must npt omit to, record our satis facr tion at the motion of Mr. jDjunelly, for statistical returns of the efforts that have actually been made by the Government on. behalf of the Natives. We have often raised our feeble voice, and plied our weary pen, in cpndemnation of the apathy and:negjectof iheGovern r ment towards the objects of jts vaunted regard,; ond, if we mistake not, these returns, when published, .will furnish a sarcastic commentary upon the faithfulness with which the British Government have fulfilled their professions of philanthrophy. When we get fact, and figures before us, we may have something additional to say. upon this subject. ; The returns called for by Mr. Kennedy are also highly important ; the nature of them will be seen by reference to the report of the ■ proceedings in Council on Monday last. They will shqw hpw much of the money obtained by Government from the Colonists for Lan 4, has been expended upon object* of public utility, and in this instance again, we anticipate, a disclosure faf from creditable to the Government. Both Mr. Do- nelly and Mr. Kennedy deserve the thanks of the 'community f«r moving for these important and interesting returns, and in matters of this kind, they may really serve the general interests o{ the Colony, even if they cannot do so as Legislators.