WELLINGTON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 900, 2 October 1866, Page 4

WELLINGTON.

(FROM OL'E OWN COKEESPOKDEXT.) Sept. 25. The report which I informed you of yesterday with regard to dissensions in the Cabinet does not appear to have been realised. The ministers took their seats on the Treasury benches as usual, and to all appearance the heterogenous Ministry which now controls the destinies of the country still cohere. The most important matter under discussion was the following proposal of Mr. FitzGerald: — " 1. Iliat this House adheres to the policy indicated by its resolutions of the 6tli December, IgGS, as to the expediency of putting an end to the divided responsibility in the Government of the colony, and in the conduct of its internal defence. " 2. That whilst disclaiming any interference with the prerogative of the Oown, to place her Majesty's forces in any part of the empire which may be thought necessary for the protection af Imperial interests, this House is of opinion that the safetvand good government of Now Zealand cannot be secured unlesß the employment of the whole of the military force engaged in its internal'defence be placed under the sole direction of the Civil Government of the colony. " 3. That, whilst always ready to make such provision for the civil government and the civilization of the natives, as may be right and necessary, this House does not deem it expedient that its duiies in this matter should be measured by the amount of military force which hor Majesty's Government may think it right to keep within the colony. " 4. That a respectful address be presented to his Excellency the Governor, praying that his Excellency will be pleased to communicite these resolutions to the Secretary of Stato for the Colonies." ' No man ever made a greater mistate than the' Honorable gentleman did in expecting the present House was going to reassert the sham policy of Mr. Weld with regard to withdrawing the Imperial troops, and throwing the colony on its own unaided resources. The Government, not wishing, I suppose, to irritate Mr. Weld's supporters, said that on condition a certain addition was made to the first resolution, they would not resist the passing of them. The amendment of Mr. Stafford was to add to the first resolution the following words :—" and in order to give full effect to that policy is prepared to provide, from time to time, sufficient means for such defence from the colonial revenues." There is no doubt that this amendment put the whole matter on a proper footing, inasmuch as it pledged the colony to find the means for supplying a substitute for the troops at present stationed here. As it really the legitimate corollary of the proposal, the member for Cliristchureh, although he growled at it' a good deal, iinaily accepted it. .But even after that amendment was made the unfortunate member for Chris tchurch was doomed to lose his motion. I say unfortunate, tor somehow throughout this session it has happened, that whatever that gentleman puts !iis hand to at once falls to pieces. No tnaii ippears to be so little trusted, and it will not be surprising if on an'early day the important constituency of Cliristchureh will see the inutility jf being represented by a mau who is only powerful for evil. The province of Canterbury Has long since forced him out, aDd though, it did jonfer upon him the highest office ia its gift,,

that of Superintendent of tlie province, it has long since prohibited liim from having any voice in the management of its affairs, and not only is his nane never mentioned as a likely candidate for the Snperintendency, but now it is an established fact that the support of the editor of the Press is sufficient to ensure the defeat of any candidate for that office. After the resolutions quoted above had received Mr. Stafford's amendment. Sir. John Williamson interposed and moved the previous question. He evidently saw that a change had come over the House, and that the desire to expel her Majesty's troops from the colony vras not so rampant as it was when Mr. "Weld -was bidding for office. The result was that when it was submitted to the House -whether the resolutions should be put to the vote, the House, by a majority of 30 to 21, decided that they should not. Thus has the colony consigned to the tomb the much-vaunted self-reliant policy. loud applause followed the result of the division. It shows the extreme weakness of the old "Weld party in the present House when the gentleman who has assumed his mantle could not carry those resolutions even -with the support of the Government. Members, I suppose, felt bound to vote for them in consequence of their amendment having been agreed to. I have called this policy a sham policy, for in the course of the debate it was clearly shown to be such by Mr. Yogel. Not only was it a sham policy, but it was known to be such by its originators. In 1564. when it came into existence, it seems that Or. Featherston and Mr. Stafford intimated to ; Mr. Weld, -when he laid his programme before • the House in Auckland, that they could not be > parties to the immediate -withdrawal of the troops ; and, as Mr. Yogel stated, Mr. Weld had no alternative but either to submit or vet-ire from office. He preferred the former course, but I believe none but his esoteric disciples were made aware of the sacrifice that was made in 1 the self-reliant policy. Mr. Yogel went the length of stating that upon that occasion Dr. Featherston was so determined not to consent to tlie withdrawal of the troops, that when the 7 question was put to him in Auckland whether he would accept office in the event of Mr. Weld retiring on this poin v .. Dr. Featherston said that he wouid be prepared to do so. Mr. - Yogel also endeavoured to couple Mr. Stafford with Dr. Featherston in his readiness to go into office in 1804. This the Premier indignantly denied, and thereupon arose one of those scenes : which certainly do not tend to raise the actors in them in the estimation of the public. Mr. Yogel argued that although Mr. Stafford may not have announced his intention to take office 1 at that juncture, yet there was such a close com- ' munion between those two gentlemen just then, i the inference might be fairly drawn that Mr. Stafford would not have been loth to join Dr. ' Featherston. Tlie perseverance of Mr. Yogel in pressing his argument irritated the Premier beyond endurance. He rose up and said that i the gentleman opposite (Mr. Yogel) ought to ■ have desisted, as anothergentlancm would have : done, after his denial of any intention to take ; office at the time. Mr. Yogel is not the man to submit quietly to such an insult, and indeed it was a most gross one, but reminded Mr. Stafford that he ought not to make use of language in the House which the usages of , society would not- allow him to make out of doors. Throughout the affair I must say that Mr. Stafford displayed an amount of irritability that I have not witnessed during the session. His demeanour has generally been of the most placid kind, and it is to be regretted that the leader of the House should ever indulge in such [ escapades. With regard to Mr. Yogel, it is right that I should say that I have rarely seen l him less offensive in debate than on the present • occasion. Mr. Stafford subsequently made t some apologetic remarks, which were accepted by Mr. Yogel, so that I don't expect to have to ' chronicle their deeds of arms. i At the close of the debate Mr. FitzGerald might be seen marching out of the House with ; his hat and stick and proceeding in high dudgeon to the steamer which was just about to leave for Canterbury. Thus, for the second , time this session, has he retired from the political arena after sustaining ignominious defeats. The Hawke's Bay debate did not come off '■ yesterday, as I anticipated, and seeing that there are 33 orders and 11 notices of motion i about it on the order-paper, I hardly think ; it will come on till to-morrow. I forgot to tell you that last week your Superintendent i (Mr. Win taker), with a view, I suppose, of baffling Mr. McLean's proposal to take a slice off the province of Auckland, moved that the Northern Island should be divided into tWG provinces. His motion was lost on a division, all tlie Auckland men voting for it except the Defence Minister (Colonel Haultain), who recorded his vote against it. Certain papers were laid on the table yesterday. beiug, I am told, copies of a correspondence between the Colonial Secretary and the Superintendent of Auckland, with reference to the proposed loan of £'250,000. The gist of it, I am informed, is, that the Superintendent declines to proceed with the Loan Bill, and offers to return to the General Government the confiscated lands in Waikato. I regret that I have not been able to obtain a printed copy of these papers.