GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 1169, 30 September 1865, Page 5

GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

TiJE SEPARATION QUESTION".

• ( Mr COLENSO continued: The next* t charges brought against the Go-vent* • Jment by the hon member were to the i effect that the Colonial Treasurer- "had i made a deceptive statement: that he bnd. I failed to disclose the outstanding liabilities? I that he had kept hack these facts, viz., that i the eight per cent, debentures were selling i in the colony itself at a reduction- of five per cent.: that they were unsaleable in. Sydney, and under par at home: and also, that the million eight per cent, debemurear were falling due." The- hon member said he had not been informed what outstanding labilities the colony was to pay. Now, if tbe House was not informed of them, the hon. member was most toblame; fort&os2 liabilities had, on many past and present occasions, to be ascertained in the dark corners of the earth. (Hear, hear.) It was impossible for any Treasurer to slate liabilities* he did not know of. It however occurred to hint that his hon. friend knew of some liabilities which nobody else did. If so, it was rather hard to charge him (the Colonial Treasurer) with not disclosing them. (£t laugh.) lie knew of none that he had not disclosid. He had informed the House that there were outstanding liabilities to tbe amount of L 270 000 i which would come iv the course of fulfilment; during the present financial year, to redeem the pledges given by their predecessors. He had shown to the House that* in round numbers, L600,000-was the remnant after the feast of the L 3,000,000 oa which the hon. member had fed ;.and now the fragments they had picked up—(which did not, however, fill 12 baskets)—(a laugh) —were carefully examined, and they were asked to give an account of these old cruets, which, like careful housekeepers, th-y had picked up. The hon member said. ''You have not picked ud all the crumbs." It was, however, all a- myth; [Mr Rusfell: "I mean current liabilities"] The hon. member might just a» weil talk of plum liabilities (or any other nonsem-e fit lor " Punch.") For not onlyhad the whole of the current liabilities been discharged, but also all those up to the end of the present financial period; and not only had they been disclosed, but specific, and as he (the Colonial Treasurer) believed, ample proposals had been made to cover the whole of them. When the hon. member said that the Colonial Treasurer had concealed the fact that the 8-per-cenr. debentures were being sold at a reduction. of 5 per cent, in the colony, he Avas altogether breaking out of bounds and misleading tl c House. If he had contented. himself with saying, " I think Government made a mistake when it parted with a portion of these debentures to the Taranaki claimants, because they would be likely to injure the market by disposingof them below par," he would have have had some show of argument on his side_ and he (the Colonial Treasurer) should have readily conceded that the present; G tvernment, in their de-ire m longer to trifle with the poor Taranaki settlers (who> had re-eived the sympathy of preceding Governments, but nothing more), had run the risk of slightly damaging the local sale of the^e debentures by the course pursued. But when it was recollected that tie proceeds of L 788,348 14s 6d of) debentures disposed of within a period of six* months, viz., from Ist January, 1865, to30th June. 1865, ha.l realised no less a sura, than L 791,904 15s lid, it did seem unac- : counra'i'e that an hon. member (who a!so> ■■■"•was a Director of the Bauk, which at present conducted the Government bu mesa) should permit himself to state (and apparently to glory in the statement), "That the Treasurer concealed from the House the information that these_debeutures were s.llii g bdow par in the colony." Surely the hon. member had no* desire to take advantage of his position to damage the sale «-f the Government securities, and thus prolong the peri id of dependence of the Govenunent on his Bank. If the House should • ever have reason to entertainsuch a belief, it would receive the statements of hon. members, who were also Directors of that Bank, witn great caution, not to say distrust. But the lum member seemed to gloat over the supposed pecuniary embarrassments of* the colony, for his next charge was to the • ffict, that the Treasurer hid concealed the fact that these debentures were not saleable* in Sidney, What will be the opinion oi the Home when he (the Colonial Treasurer) reads an extract from the very last despatch received from the Inspector of the I. ink of New Zealand of which the hoa itifiuber is a Director, dated AuckLind, 22nd August, 1865. He quoted a paragnpb, 2, of that letter in eitenso, as fbl- '' lows, viz:—" I have also the honor to inform you that further sales have beer* iffj-cted in Sydney, to the extent of L 15,000, for which (with accrued interest from Ist July) your account here was credited on 2Lst instant, L 15,000 9s sd, as per statement of particular* herein. I enclosed the first coupons cut off, twenty-six in number. The brokers report that the approaching offer of a LSO 000 5 per cent, loan of tho New South Wales Government may possibly in'.erfeie temporarily with the sale of the remainder of your 8. per cents., but i hey are hopeful that fun her sales may be soon eff-cted." What further will.be the concLu-io.i of hon. members, when they are informed that almost every mail (tne I Colonial Treasurer believed he might say i every mail) had brought similar accounts j and favorable reports of s eady sales at I Sydney, from the date at which the agent j of the Bank of New Z.calaad left these i debentures behind, him, for sale oa | ao.ount of the- Government. They may f think they aye hearing a friend of the | Bmk deliver his sentiments, but thpy j will scarcely think they are listening to- j one who has the interest of the colony at 1 heart It ia scarcely worth while to | notice tbe la*t specific charge made by jj the hon. member, viz; :-— «■ That the Treas- I urer had failed to disclose in his financiat 1 t-tatement the fact that the million 8 per | cent debentures were falling due," It is I quite true that the Treasurer did not ialoria | tho House that tbey were falling doe, 1 Had he done so, he would have beea 1 justly blamcable for having endeavored | to deceive the House, The truth is that j these securities are not falling due. Oat I of L 788.348 16s 4d< sales reported up to. j the 30th of June last, only Lll 5,068 16s-1 4dfall due within the present financial year; and none of those sold since the 30tt* I • Jane fall doe within the present financial ■ t ycar. It is pcrbips »igaiflc*at tfel

add that LIOO.OOO out.of the Ll 15,068 16s 4-.1 thus falling due within the financial year, were di-posed of to the Directors of the Batik of New Zealand, of whom the hon. member, the late Defence Minister, is one; and that they declined to accept from the Colonial Treasurer debentures with a longer currency in exchange for tho*-e Treasury Bills whicii iiis hon. fri-nd's Government, issued to them, and for which it wa. necessary to make provision, as they were falling due i in the months of Jiiiu-iry, February and March, of the- present year. This, gratuitous statement of the ho i. member—contrary to facts—coming as it did from one in his peculiar position, did not appear to present altogether a nice complexion. He (the Colonial Treasurer) hop-d it might prove otherwise. But when he (the Colonial Treasurer) came to r« fleet that the finance of the previous Government (of wliich the hon. member who preferred these unfounded charges waa a member at th-j same time that he remained a Director of the Brink) was characterised as one of plunging the colony into 10-.ns of vast di.i.ensions, and long defeired redemption; that its system of raising money was by discount and anticipations—and that in all these particulars it prcs.nted the Ktton.est po-t-ible contract to the system of finance pursued hy the present Government, wliich fitetnly declined to contract further lo ms—set itself in a determined manner to pay off the extravagant debts of i's predeccs.-irs, dared to face the unpoptihr tank of raising the income by increased taxation, and flnrkssly economised the funds of the colony, so far a-* ihe faith of the colt ny, l-.ee-dle-sly pledge-! by i's predecessors*, woull permit —these reflections did -icm to account for the regrets of the honorable number, that the Treasurer should at length have succeeded in piloting the vessel of State into the mere tranquil waters of public crc-'it arid cor.fi letice, which, if undi-turbed. might lead to undesired competition, and tj explain fully his views when he said " that he had read the financial stateme- t of the Colut-hl Treasurer, anil was surprised at the future prosperity he presented ol the state of the colony, and that he had thought at fust there must he some foundation for it.; but that was removed, he was sorry to say, by enquiry." But lii-s hon. Iricnd should have I,cm one of the la-t persons to indulge in such attacks. For the bulk of the exp nditure incur.'cd by the late Government, large and lavish as it hal been, had bi.-en incurred uml-.-r the itt-nudia'e control of ihe hon. member, if not us acting Treasurer for some time, yet certainly as Mini-te-r for Defei.ce. lie would refer briefly t-.i an instance or two of the way in which the hon. member us. d to make the money lly in his time. When he (the Colonial '■ n't-iirer) came into office he found demands* wee bei--g constantly made for p-iyment for sawing timber. He fir?t enquired what Government had to do with sailing timber? But he was soon silenced, and informed that not only did the la c Government draw bills like any mercantile firm, but that they had taken up with the shipping butiness, and iuve-ted in a flotilla ; th>*t they had speculated in laying down a tramroad, when so perfectly u-e!cs. as to have 1 ng fines become a ridicule, and familiarly known as " Russell'.--ioliy;" and at last, as if they hid not enough irons in the fin*, they went into saw mills and sawing timber.—(Mr Russell : Hear, hear.) His hon. friend said''ln-ar, hear," an if he gloried in these things. But, according to his (the Colonial Treasurer's) humble opinion, it was absolutely contrary to the tirst principles of Government for a Cabinet to be meddling with such purfitiis; and he ktew of his own personal knowledge that several Auckland settlers regarded with distrust and aversion this interference with commercial enterprise. S:ill, however, if such things must needs be, if ii I'onncd an integral part of the policy cf the late Government to enter upon such enterprises in propria persona, surely there could he no reason why they should not have been conducted with precaution and exactitude, anel the usual rules of business made applicable. His hon. friend, the present Minister for Defence, had furnished him with tlie following explanatory statement, viz. : — "The original terms with the Military Settlers were, that there should be a block-hous. built in each village for each company." Subsequently these terms were altered by Mr Russell, at the suggestion of Colonial Hnultain, to the effect that each man should receive LlO-wotth of sawn timb.r, to assist him in building a house: an earthen ledoubt, which could be erected with'iitco'-t, to be thrown up by fatigue parties instead of the block-houses. Notwithstanding this, extensive barracks and stores were ordered to be erected for the whole force in the towns of Alexandra, Cambridge, and Hamilton, but such as could be stopped were so by the present Defence Minister. Owing to the manner in which the arrangements were entered into, deliveries have been made so loosely that any check on the quantity has become exceedingly difficult. The contractor is Kiid to have arranged to pay a certain sum for all trees that had been previously felled ; but this is referred to only incidentally, and the amount chargeable on this account (it any) cannot yet be ascertained ; neither does there appear to be any means of doing this unless the contractor himself should state it. It is not even known whether tliis applies to both contracts, or to Jeffcott's only." The particulars of figures are as foliow, viz : — v E. J.-ffc->tt to tv; ply 500 000 feet at 19) .. ... .. £-1750 Gibhm & Cr. to .upi-l* 1 500 000— , 600,110 at i'Ji, 1.000,000 at-la IS.? 50 £20 000 .hffco'.t has i-rc-iv.-l .. .. 3650 0 0 Gibbons aud-.0. have reetiv.d 11,-5. 9 2 £14 904 a 2 Of which latter sum £2300 r.nly was paid bi-fore the 22ud Nov., lift-.

And yet for this large amount no bonds appear to have beco~cutered into, nor regular formal articles of contract or agreement dra-.vn up with care and rrecision. And so complicated i. the whole matter with regard to these timber contracts, tbat the officer, Major Jackson, who was the most farailar with the affair, has been nearly three months engaged in the investigation, and has not yet been able to make a report. [Colonel Haultain : "Because he could not get the account from Wellington."] [The Hod. Major Atkinson:

"He could only say that neither the gallant member nor Major Jackson had reported this, which should bave been done"] But however that might be, enough has been said to .how that the whole affair bad been entered into and conducted in the loosest possible manner. No rcppectablc mercantile firm would have rushed into operations involving so large an amount of expenditure, without requiring agreements nnd bon.'s of the strictest character to le first entered into, and certainly not with that precision which would justify the hon. member in delivering lectures on financial management. Then there was the affair of tlie iron with Messrs Graham and Co. It appeared that the Government aud that Auckland firm had been shipping iron to Waikato at the same time, and that the Messrs Graham were allowed to take from the Government shipments to enable them to get on with their contracts. The result wan that the Government somehow came to consider that they had a large I claim on Messrs Graham and Co ; but when he (the Colonial Treasurer) enquired into the question and referred it to the Attorney General for his legal opinion, tbe whole affair appeared to have been so loosely conducted that the Government had not a l'g to stand upon. Many other cases might he referred to, but the details would only weary the House. He would, however, say a word as to the method of conducting the departmental business of tiie Treasury which prevailed during the tenure of office of the late Government. It was usual to make requisitions, unaccompinied by details, on the Treasurer, who came to be regarded as a sort of quiet milch c iw, who was .xpecfed-to give milk to everybody without even a kick. (Laughter) It had not been the custom, it appeared, to demand particulars, and the Treasurer used thus to put away money without a murmur. It was a pleasant kind of life for the Treasurer, if the. supply had only lasted (Laughter.) But he (the Colonhl Treasurer) happening to he of an enquiring turn of mi "id, made objections, and at last in-ei-ted on turning over a new leaf. Detailed warrant?, which apparently were considered to be troublesome documents in the halcyon days of his hon. friend, the lite Minister for Defence, and discarded as impediments to the rapid progress ol business-, were now fortunately the rule; anil he trusted that even his honorable friend would admit, in his unprejudiced moment***, tnat the present system was an improvement. He (the Colonial Treasurer) having now rebutted the charges of the hon. member and brought countercharge?, must he permitted to say a word or two on the subject-matter of the motion ; for most of what had hitherto been said on both sides, —fallowing therein the example set them by the hon. mover—had not much more to do with the question of separation than the " man in the moon." It would be observe! that the most remirkable arguments had been adduced by the hon. members for Auckland in favor of separation, of which the following might be taken ai samples. One argument was, that his hon. friend (the member for Ellesmere) bad been appointed Native Minister, and therefore they must have separation. Another re; son given was the inefficiency and extravagance of the present Government. That teemed to be the main argument on which the hon. mover himself relied lor carryfn-i his motion. It did not seem to occur to the hon. gentleman that the proper remedy for such a state of things was to oust the present Government, and replace it by one more competent. Then there was at'-other argument of a most singular character ; it belonged to the lion, member for the Northern division, who, with a countenance radicnt with hope, intimated that if the House would only offer him some of the territorial revenue, he would say no more about separation at present. There was another respect in which the question presented itself, so far as the members for Auckland were concerned. A conviction had gradually been earning on the House that the members for that part of the Colony did not really desire separation. Like schoolboys, they had a task to repeat, aud they had said it after S'.-hoolhoy fashion. But, in reality, they were too shrewd men of the world not to perceive that, if the united Colony could scarcely sustain the drain on ils own resources occasioned by the prcs3tit rebellion, it would be absurd to suppose that a mere fragment could hear the strain. But Auckland knew very well that under no circumstances would they receive elsewhere such generous treatment as they had received from the South, nnd which, he would venture to say, they would continue to receive; for the South had b-irne with the petulance of her Auckland friends, just as a parent would bear with the waywardness of a child just recovering from sickness. Although he was very much grieved at the sorry figure which his Auckland friends had exhibited in the present debate, which was one of the most miserable that had ever disgraced any Assembly; he of course was understood to be regarding it from an argumentative and philosophical point of view. So much with reference to the Auckland side of the question; as to the Southern view, there could be no doubt that the South had made considerable sacrifices. It could not be denied, however, that these sacrifices had been originally entailed on the South by southern vote?, though nobly had the Southern members redeemed their pledges iv that respect. At the same time, the Government had thought it necessary to lead out trumps in rZf .rence to the future disposition of territotial revenue in a certain event, and with the best possible result. There remained, however, one consideration, bearing on the question of separation, which affected North end South equally, and which as Treasurer of the Coloay, he felt bound to submit to ihe serious consideration of the House. Hon. members might rest assured that from the moment separation was determined on (if indeed such a calamity did really await the Colony), capitalists would fight shy of investments, the securities of the Colony would be handed over as a fitting prey for small speculators, and the credit of the couutry would be doomed.

The hon. member, after a speech of three hours, &at down amidst loud cheering.

Mr VOGEL (whose speech we extract from the Soutkern Cross) said he was surprised at the position taken by Mr Weld in criticising the wording of the resolutions. His -amendment showed plainly enough that he understood their purport—a

proposal of separation. If tbey were carried —if the principle were approved—the details would not be waoting. Still more inge_ious was the Premier's objection to the mover's- having criticised the policy of the present Government, and defended that of the last. Mr Russell, the sole representative of the late Government, was bound to take notice of the censure which was embodied in the financial statement of the Treasurer, and which had been expressed on other occasions by members of the Government. He (Mr Vogel) would go through the remarks made by Mr Weld ; but, before doing so, he could not but comment on their claptrap style. Mr Weld seemed to be aadressiug himself to the gallery, and in stage phrase , had ranted instead of addressing himself to the intelligence of the members and condescending to argument. He had adopted, too, the practice which seemed to be common with his colleagues of picking out isolated passages or remarks of the speech he was criticising, and commenting upon them without reference to the context or meaning of the speaker. Mr Weld told the House that the conduct of the Wanganui campaign was not iv accordance with "he desire of the Ministry, and that he had communicated to the General his opinion of ho* itoughttobecarried on. He must be strangely unconscious of his position if he thought that because he was Premier it followed he po-ssssed any military ability, or conferred on him any claim to military knowledge. He (Mr Vogel) could understand even an ensign, much more a General, laughing at the idea of attaching any weight to the military opinions of the hon. member. (Laughter.) The correspondence between the Governor aud the General had been dragged in, and the Premier attempted to justify it, and throw blame on Sir D. A. Cameron. lie (Mr Vogel) would take the opportunity of saying that it wa-* a piece of great weakness on the part of the Premier to have allowed himself or the Government to be drawn into that miserable controversy. It would only have been honorable of him to have refused to take any notice of the General's letters until that officer had given his consent to his doing so. lie knew they were private letters— that the General had written them on that understanding, and Mr Weld should nave refuted to look at them until the General declared himself willing to allow an official character to be attached to them. Had this course been adopted, the colony would not have been dragged into the quarrel. He (Mr Vogel) must express his unqualified surprise at the revelation of the cardinal point of his policy the Premier had confessed to-night. He has said, •■*■ We do not want the troops, but we cannot force her Majesty to withdraw them. If they remain they would not be paid : that was all he could say about the removal ol the troops." Now he would explain what he understood to be Mr Weld's policy last session;—if he was wrong let hon. members correct him. He understood the Premier to say that he wanted the troops to ba withdrawn—not because of any doubt of their usefulness, but because whilst they were here the colony must labor under the evils of double government. It was against this double government the Premier hurled all his remarks, and that was the reason why he asked for the withdrawal of the troops. Was this so? ("Hear, hear," from Mr Weld.) Now, he said, the announcement of to-night was an entire reversal of that policy. He had told them to-night he did not-want the troops, because he thought he would do better with the colonial force, but that he could not help it if the Imperial authorities retained them here. All he would say was he would not pay them This was reducing the matter to a mere monetary one, and was an entire abandonment of the position that the presence ofthe troops necessitated the double government, therefore the Primier would insist on their removal. He appealed to the House, was not this a reversal of the Ministerial policy ? (Loud cries of "Hear, hear," and " No, no.") He did not ask the Government to respond—of course they would deny it. It was most amusing to notice the Government constantly applauding their own members. He was unfortunate enough to sit next to a gentleman (Mr Wayne) between whom and the Government there appeared to exist a mechanical connection. As soon as a member of the Government sat down, the hon. member's feet were stamped in applause, raising a cloud of dust in his neighbours' faces. He congratulated Mr Wayne on the cordial sympathy that existed between himself and the Government (" lLar, hear," from Mr Wayne), only he wished the sympathy was displayed more by his head thm by his feet. (Laughter.) The House was led to believe the Government objected to the presence of the troops because of the double government, ancl again and again the Premier had solemnly pledged himself to resign if they were not removed. But he had not fulfilled those pledges, and had now altered his tone. He was a party to the action by which the departure of the troops was absolutely delayed. The accu-a--tion against the mover of reflecting on the courage of the colonial forces was most unjust. He had not said a word against the colonial forces. His assertion that the selfreliant policy had failed, was founded on the facts admitted by the Premier in his memoranda, that the colony was unable longer to bear the expense ; and must, therefore, throw itself on the assistance of the Imperial Government. Mr Weld complained that Mr Russell developed no policy. He (Mr Vogel) contended a very definite policy was shadowed out —Separation, the retention of a portion of the troops, and the request of monetary assistance from home. What policy did Mr j Weld even announce, but that of the departure of the troops—a policy he had eaten? And, indeed, the Government seemed to thrive upon the swallowing of their own opinions. He had no words to express his surprise at the attack made by Mr Weld on the late Ministry. Whatever Mr Russell had said, Mr Weld should not have been drawn into making accusations in which he did not believe; and if he did believe them, all he would say was that Mr Weld very much deceived the House last session. He (Mr Vogel) did not support the late Government, but the House did • and if the question had been raised, the House would almcst unanimously have approved its confidence in the late Ministry. Mr Weld had succeeded them on personal grounds, and, as the House understood, to support their policy of resistance to double government.

Mr WELD : I did announce that I would regard a vote of confidence in the late Ministry as one of censure on us.

Mr VOGEL: Yes; but that was because it would have embroiled the hon. member with his Excellency. But again and again tbe late Ministry were assured by the Premier that he desired to cast no reflections on them. It was in the belief that the Government supported what they had done that the late Ministry, out of a desire to avoid committing Mr Weld, had not pressed on a discussion of their conduct and a vote of the House. And now Mr Weld talked of their " wild extravagance, and their wild incompetency," and of their clinging to office. If Mr Fox were still in the Hou-e he would not have dared to say so; and he thought it very bad taste to attack a Government only represented now by one member, and which was allowed to believe last session that it commanded the approval of the Premier who now reviled it. As to the late Government clinging to office, it would not have submitted to the indignities this Government did. It would not have withdrawn and altered its financial policy, ag this Gover-iment had done. It would not have been contented with personal support coupled with opposition to its policy, with which this Governmnt was content. The fact was, the influence which Mr Weld went into office to resist he had succumbed to: and this influence the Whitaker Ministry hal resi-ted. This Government was weak where the other had been strong. They need fear no difficulty arising from double -.overnment whilst a Ministry was in office so pliable, so easily led aud divided as this one. Mr Russell's arguments were very clear. He started by showing that the self-reliant policy had broken down through the colony not being able longer to supply the means to carry it out. He quoted Mr Weld's memoranda, tn .show h-s ..lmis^ions of that failure. The cause of tbe failure was the enormous expenses incurred in the Wangtnui campaign. He would say, in answer to ail the assertions that that campaign had been authorised, that it had been nothing of the sort. The money for it had not been voted ; replies to Governor's addresses or resolutions, were no substitute for the legitimate machinery by which supply should be granted. The "louse had never authorised, nor even contemplated, the enormous cost ofthe Wanganui campaign. Well, Mr Russell further alleged that, although the admission of the failure was distinctly contained in the memoranda, yet the House was deceived by the Treasurer into not understanding it. It was asked, instead, to sanction gigantic additional taxation, in the face of Mr Weld's admission that the count-y would not endure to be more heavily taxed. Mr Rus-ell asserted that Imperial assi-tat-cc wa-3 necessary, aud that some of the troops should be retained. He did not deny, and indeed, General Cameron admitted, that it was better the guerilla warfare should be carried on by flying columns of colonial forcps; but for maintaining the posts which it was meant to retain, and to act on the defensive, surely it was better to use the Imperial troops at L.O per man a year, than to employ colonial troops at L2OO a man. Mr Russell next referred to the enormously unnecessary taxation, and which he considered the colony could not meet without driving its industrial population away. Then he explained that he was quite consistent in asking for Separation. He was for relinquishing the assistance of the Middle Island. He as-erted that what the North Island wanted was to govern itself; and he contended that it was better to purchase self government by relinquishing Middle Island a distance. They would endure anything rather than tint the native question, upon which the very existence of the inhabitants of the North Island depended, should be left to the empirical treatment of a lot of Middle Island men, who knew nothin-. about it. All this was very intelligible. He (Mr V.) now took up the argument himself. Session after s.ssion he found affairs getting worse; the colony plunged in larger liabilities; heavier taxation imposed, and no discernible limit to the tlisastrous condition of affairs. Every 3<ssiiin he was told to, wait and things would mend; every session he found them worse. When he contrasted the condition of the colony now with that which it was in even a few months ago, when the present Government took office, he confessed to the utmost alarm. Then there was an increased tariff, but tlie House was led to believe only a temporary one. Now, it was obvious a further increase was intended by fresh taxation in another shape, an 1 the constitution of the Provinces menaced by an attack being made on their revenues. It was not a matter of generosity but of justice. The Middle Island could not afford to retain the connection in justice to its own creditors; therefore, he eagerly welcomed the oiler made by the North Is'aud to make no further claim on the Middle Island, if the Middle Island would only leave to it the boon of selfgovernment. He might say, apart from the immediate arguments to which he had referred, he had been an advocate for Separation for years. He had foreseen that it was a necessity; that the Northern Island sootier or later would insist on s.-lf-government; and thatthe Middle Island would be compelled from its own wants to welcome a termination of the claims upon it for native purposes. If the time had not arrived now, assuredly it would next session. He should support the resolutions. (Cheers)

Lambing in Victoria.—We take the following from " Clough's Circular ": —" Mr Thomas Hogan, of the Werribee, informs us that he * has had a most successful lambing this season, .notwithstanding the scarcity of feed which has prevailed generally throughout the country. This result is attributable to the laying down of English grasses with a small quantity of prairie grass, by which means the .c.ntine.s of indigenous herbage has been compensated for. The flocks have been kept in comparatively good condition, and the increase has been brought to 120 per cent, of lambs, with every prospect ofthe whole of the produce being reared, a result which we believe to be unprecedented in this country. Nothing can more conclusively show than this the large importance of bestowing care and attention upon the management of.sheep ;ia the manner, ado-fifesd by Mr ,Hogan, and especially sp in excepuonaUy bad I seasons like the present."