THE FORTHCOMING- SESSION OP THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Otago Witness, Issue 620, 16 October 1863, Page 4

THE FORTHCOMING- SESSION OP THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

[From the Qtaqo Dailt Times, Oct. 15.]

Difficult as it is to foresee what course the coming session of the Assembly will take, it is very certain it will be essentially different to the last. Now, as then, Native affairs will be the leading business, but whereas last session everything was of a speculative nature, this session the Huuse will require to deal with the Native question from a more practical point of view. Last session it assumed an. almost purely abstract form. Members were told that his Excellencylfad'a" scheme locked up in his own bosom, whereby the noble Maori was to be purged of his 'savage instincts and be converted into a loyal peaceful and deceit-despising subject. Members listened,— some believed, some tried to believe, and others thought it as well the Piiilo-Maori party should make the experiment just to prove ita vanity ; and so large sums were voted, a carte blanche was given to Ilia Excellency, and the House consented to a suspension of its functions for two years. Never was legislative body more complacent and yielding — it might well be excused, after proving itself in practice 'so amiable, the seeking a relief to its lacerated feelings in the humble protest it uttered in the shape of the memorial to the House of Commons, which English statesmen on all sides have agreed in characterising aa an extraordinary production. It was undoubtedly an extraordinary production, but it wa-* framed under extraordinary circumstances. The Assembly was in «i false position, was a party to a policy in which it did not believe, was guided by convictions not its own. Whilst it was offered the control of native affairs on the one hand, coercion was employed towards it on the other in regard to demands upon the colonial exchequer. In fact it was at liberty to act only in accordance with views not it 3 own, the moment it endeavored to leave the track beaten out for it, it found obstacles in its way. And so it came to passjfchat it abrogated its functions in binding itself to a policy it did not comprehend, and that it contented itself by sending home a dolorous document, the contents of which were a=i anomalous and inconsistent as wa3 the position of the body from which it emanated.

But this Session the stern duties of absolute legislation are before the Assembly. The season for play has passed by ; in the presence of an emergency that threatens the very existence of the colony as a, colony, it is imperatively necessary that party squabbles, personal differences and local jealousies should be forgotten. No colonial legislature ever had a more responsible task than that which devolves on the New Zealand Assembly. With the responsible control of native affairs forced on it, with a war in the colony to which the Imperial authorities are irrevocably committed, — but the successful prosecutiou of which depends so largely on colonial assistance, — the Assembly is not alone lord of life and death, of peace and war, but of Imperial as well as Colonial resources. There is no disguising the fact rhafc the Imperial Government has fallen into a trap of its own making, and if the colony were inclined to retaliate the opportunity is amply afforded it. It can be as sparing of the assistance it rendcr3 (he Imperial troops as it pleases, and yet the Imperial authorities could not withdraw from a struggle in which the honor of the nation is implicated. If the Duke of Newcastle ponder over the circmnslancea of the present, he will see how completely the tables are turned, how the very helplessness of the colony lias given it the power to retaliate on Imperial injustice. But of course it is not to bo anticipated that the Assembly will assume a hostile attitude; it will no doubt feel itself strengthened by the increased responsibility thrown on it, and find itself able to take tip, a more independent, because more clearly defined, position in ita communications with the Home Government. For the rest, it is to be hoped that the stern idealities of the subjects which it will not only have to discuss but to definitively decide will keep the Assembly from indulging in the eccentricities to which colonial legislatures are ordinarily prone. The laying down the basis upon which the colony will undertake the responsible control of Native Affairs ; the adjusting the distribution of the cost of the war; the providing funds for the portion which falls to the charge of the colony ; the ratification of the fiat of 'confiscation, of which the Government have taken the responsibility, and upon the strength of which heavy engagements have been entered into ; and, finally, the conditions upon,' which the submission of the Natives will be received, are all questions that must be thoroughly treated, and which involve the most momentous considerations. The present and the future will overshadow the past ; and ao

doubt much will bo condoned that under other circumstances would be ri^rouly dealt with. The old landmarks of party wiii, in great measure, be broken down, and the path be opened to .ill kinds of coalitions. Still it is not to be expee'ed that there will be no Ministerial cri-is. The very enormity of the duties that will attach to the Executive, a; d the distinction which may l,e gained in thdr discharge, will invest the seats on the Ministerial Bench v itb. more than ordinary attraction. It may be safely asserted that there will be at least twice as many members willing to take office this session as there were last, anil already the names of some dozen eager aspirants to the Cabinet are freely bandied about. The Government think that a reconstruction of the Ministry with the addition of a few members will enable them to stem the tide of opposition, and^ triumphantly retain their po^t. To do thia without a confe3t we fancy they would have to add at least half a dozen names to their ranks, and since such a course is scarcely likely lo be tolerated, a ministerial discussion nviy be safely anticipated. Its result no one 'can possibly predict, since the issue will so materially differ from that upon which foiiner contests have depended. For the sake of enabling our readers to contrast the present with the past, we have given in another column the division list which turned out the late and sent into office the present Ministry. They must not look to it to supply them with any accurate idea of the present party distributions. On the contrary, we fancy the division li«t which will decide for or against the present Miaistry wil}, when contrasted with that which leturned them to office, add another to the many proofs of the ephemeral nature of the part}' combinations of colonial legislatures. The sworn associates of one day are the bitter opponents of the next, the bond ■which binds public men together in the colonies is a very rope of sand. Perhaps the newness of the interests which they represent affords the explanation of the apparent inconsistency. Political institutions are, as a rule, stable in proportion to their age. But be the cause of the sender thread by which parties are held together what it may, this at least is to be hoped, that party differences, which mean little more than personal predilections, may not be allowed to interfere with the really important -work of the Session.