THE NORTHERN ASSOCIATION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 648, 9 December 1865, Page 6

THE NORTHERN ASSOCIATION.

The usual meeting of tho Council of tho Northorn Association was held yesterday afternoon, at four o'clock, in tho Council Rooms, Fort-street. Presont— Messrs. Cox, Diirnun, Swanson, Creighton, Keening, James O'Neill, Dilwortli, Gee, Kidd, Firth, Macfavlano, T. Russell, J. Olark ,aud Rattray. Mr. P. Dionan took tho chair. The minutes of tho last meeting wero road and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. Tlio Secretary then r ;ud tho following lotter from the London Committee : — " London, 25th Septomber, 18135. " Sir, —I havo to acknowledge receipt of your favors of 30tti Juno and 7th July, tho formor covering roviow of the Ministeri.il memoranda, copyofwhih X lnvo enclosed to tho Secretary of State for tho Colonies, soliciting his attention to the statomont* contained therein, tlio latter onclosing resolutions of tho Council of tho Association, urging tho Mombers of Assembly for tho Provinco of Auckliind to attend in their places at Wellington when tho Assembly met in July. I sincerely hopo that this appeal has beon cordially responded to by members. Nothing in my opinion could bo moro injurious to tho Provinco than their absence at such a juncture. " The London Comuiittoo has not mot for some timo, indeed many of tlio members a r e out of town. " I enclose copy of a .letter from Mr. Weld addressed to Lord Alfred Churchill, also a notice from Army a lid Navy Gazette about General Cameron's return. " I am, sir, "Your 3 obediently, "W.w. S. Grahams. "Bobmt Kidd, Esq., " to:retuy to the Northern Association, " .du-'kland, N.Z." ACCOUNTS. On th " 'motion of Mr MacfaelilNJ!, socondcd by Mr. Firth, a sub-committeo was appointed to examine the accounts of tho lato Treasurer, Mr. King. Tho committjj to c msist of Messrs. Rattray, Clark ■and Keesing. ' the annual meeting. Mr. Firth proposed that the Secretary bi instructed to prepare the annual report of tho proco idingi of the Council for tho ;>ubl!c meeting of tho Association, to be hell on Wednesday, tho 20th instH nt. Mr. Cox secondod tho motion, and it was carri-d. CONTINUANCE OF THE ASSOCIATION. Mr. Swanson having given notice at the last meeting of a motion thut the Association should bo dissolved, was called upon, and lie paid: Ifitwoull I'e desirable to keep It up I do not wish to press the motion. If llr. Creighton spoko tho minds of the 'members in the General Assembly, which ho was supposed to do in his letters to the Council from Wellington, the battle of Scporation was to bo fought out in tho Provincial Council. No one expressed dissent from that, though we dili'ered from him as to the propriety "f our the members for tho Provincial Council. As we have been in existence now tor nearly a year, it is for us now to c >nsult whether we should continue or dissolve. I believe the Association has been of a great deal of use. It is no uso talking over whnt we havo done, but many things perhaps which we dared not do, our Southern friends were afraid wo should do, and in that way, if in no other, wo wero of use. If ths Association was to br&ak up tho want of it woul 1 bo felt in this way that the Provincial Council is not always in session and cannot always act, and this Council can. One thing I seo very clearly, that any petition wo have written ihome has received no answer ; whereas if it had beon ; "llie Provincial Council or tlio General Government, "which h d sent the petition, tho Homo Government "would have sent a reply ; but it doe 3 not follow that Iho*e petitions had no effect, and it is more with a view of getting the opinions of tho members of the Association that I made this motion. Ido not wish to hre ik up tho Council. Mr. Russell : Do I understand you to say there were no answers to any petitions sent home ? Your London Committee have had answers to all their applications. Mr. Swanson : The answers wero not sont to us. llr. Fihth : Our petition was sent to tlio Secretary of State for the Colonies in the usual way— through tho Governor. Had it been sent through the London Committee it would havo been ignored and the reason why a more formal answer has not ieen recoived wn3 in consequenco of the action taken "by tho Colonial Ministry or tho Govornor. Ido not "think they h.ivo ignored the pet tion. Mr. Swajsun : Supposing they had done so, I do not give that as a reason why this Council should breakup. If we can do any good by continuing- by all means let us continue. The year will now very soon be ut an end, and we must go back to the people that elected us, and let thom elect either us or others, as they think. It is more for the sako of eliciting discussion and ascertaining the opinions of the Counci than for any other cause that I mado the motion. Mr. Russell seconded the motion pro forma and then v-ent on to say : I believe I am a member of the Council, although I have ne?er taken an a"tivo part in its proceedings. I havo watched its progreßi narrowly, and I believo it has been productive of much good. I believe also that it will be produ .tivo of more good for the future, and it *-is Mr. SvvftTison'a motion which broughtjne here ' to try to indnce you to pro:ong tho existence ol »u. Association. It is looked upon in the other parts of this colony as an evidence of the opinions of the people of Auckland, and of their being determined to maintain the cause of Separation, and closing it up just nowwutd be misunderstood- The people of Aucklnnd do not flinch from Separation. They are as earnest now about it as when they firßt started the Association, and they mean to carry out their wishes to & satisfactory conclusion. Therefore do not let any idea get abroad that would gi% r e countenance to that understanding. The winding up of this Association would be misunderstood in places where explanations could not be made. At a time when similar Associations are beiii£ formed in other parts tf ihe colony for tho purpose of establishing Separation, why should we closo up this ? Has tho Association, as yet, accomplished all that it started to accomplish ? I think it has not. Jt has done a great deal, and that' successfully, but it should continue in existence until we are mueh nearer to the desired end. The only argument used in favour of breaking up the Association is, that we havo a Superintendent and Council pledged to Separation. llr« Swanson has answered that argument fully, when he faid that tbe Provincial Council was not always in Bession j and I hopo they will not bo. (Hear, hear) I trust that short session, with long interval* batween, will bo the rule. Wo want a Yigilance Committee, always ready to act in any emergency thut may aris % , and that can only bo got by such a Council as wo now have hero. There are aJso various collateral matters which would always contribute to the fuitherance of tho work. There is the registration of voters. Numbers of electors who are now on the rol would not have been 00 but for this Association—l only adduce that as ono instance. Many other things may bo properly done by this Association which could not be done by tho Piovincial Council. To prevent its being misunderstood in other parts, I say let us go t j thi* public meeting and aak them again to elect a Council of this Associntion, whether by re-electing the present member* or by infusing e nch an amount of now blood as may be thought right. Let us «how that wo fully intend to maintain tie action of this Association until we attain our object. M.G.A., and Mr. Cueighton, M.G-.A., expressed their concurrence in the advice given by Mr. Russell. Mr. E. J. Cox moved the following as an amendment,: " That this Council is of opinion that the Northern Association should continue its labours until Separation of the Province of Auckland from the Southern portions of tho Colony bo procured, and that the annual public meeting be inviied again to elect a C ouncil to promote the original objects of tho Association for tho ensuing year." Mr. J. M. Clahk seconded the amendment, and it was carried unanimously. After the transaction of some other business having reference to trie annual public meeting of tho Ast.ooiation, to be held on the 20th inst., the meetin" terminated. °