PROPOSED MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT CHRISTCHURCH.

West Coast Times, Issue 329, 12 October 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

PROPOSED MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY AT CHRISTCHURCH.

(fbom the lyttelton tidies, oct. 9. It appears that some recognition of the exertions of the Middle Island on behalf of the North as to be made by the holding of the next General Assembly at Christchurch. Various arguments, pro and con., were adduced in the discussion ; and it may be nllqwed that all of them had some degree of weight. It was natural that the members for Auckland^ should, without any bitterness against ' Wellington, think it but fair that the Assembly, once moved from its old head-quarters, should put in an appearance at some of the principal seats of business and population. And it must be allowed that although great inconvenience might have resulted from moving the Assembly for one •session from Auckland to Christchurch, they would be comparatively insignificant in moyiug- it to the slime place fiom Wellington. As might be expected,~thc entire body of the Wellington members voted against the change, and the great majority of the 3.liddle * Island members in favor of it. It is no ground of disparagement to the Canterbury representatives that they were somewhat divided upon the point, and that a few voted against the removal to Christchurch. Of course nothing short of holding a session at Timaru could 1 detach Mr Cox from his allegiance to an anti-provincial government. As to the other portion of the' Canterbury minority, Messrs C. Wilson and Jollie, they but fairly represented the extreme of that chivalrous feeling which has -always characterised our members, and led them to postpone all local advantages to the .^general good of the colony. Christchurch is the only large town in New Zealand Avhich has never agitated the question of its own peculiar fitness to be the Seat of Government. But ' this will not prevent either the provincial government, or the people from welcoming the members of Assembly, or from endeavoring to make their sojourn here as pleasant and as attractive as possible. Despite the pugnacious qualities of one or two of oxir members there is no place in the colony where the representatives of other .provinces will be received with more equal and unvarying courtesy. The accommodation provided for the members of Assembly, whether as a body or individually, will contrast favorably with the best they have ever experienced elsewhere ; and we cannot help feeling that their occupation of the handsome buildings used for the Provincial Council will be felt by many of them as not unworthy of the additional • trouble and cost to which the change may expose a few. of their number. At the same time, ev^en though it may seem somewhat ungracious on r ;u* part, as speaking from a Cante.-Li.iy point of view, we canr.ot avoid n^- • pressing our conviction that this temporary removal has nothing whether to do with the question of the seat of Government. That we assume to he definitely settled so long as the colony remains united. Wellington may have few other advantages : and it may have some disadvantages in the necessity which confines its erectioußto merely wooden buildings. But it has all the points which are requisite in a central position. It is within easy and immediate access from every one of the provinces. It has an excellent harbor : and it has not any great extent of country closely connected with it. There was great practical wisdom shown by the founders of the United States in forming a narrow district such as that of Washington, in making it t&e seat of the Federal Government, and in giving to the President the same local powers over ..its territory as the Governors possess in the various States. For how tilucli relief from the attacks of mobs and of mob-orators, and from the pressure of local influences; the Senate and Assembly of the United States have been indebted to their removal from any great centre of population, it is, perhaps, impossible to sny. But we cannot help thinking that it might be an act of wisdom on the part, of our own Legislature to act in the' same way towards the city and suburbs of Wellington. They are physically detached from the rest of the province. Their erection into a distinct province or district, over which the Governor should exercise directly all the local powers of a Superintendent, leaving to a small municipal body the settlement of their little details of management, ■would probably go far to set at rest the • vexed question of the seat of Government. A telegram which we published yesterday refers to a speech by Dr. Featherston, in which he says that so soon as the disputes about the seat of government and the port of call for the Panama steamers are settled, the provincial party will be able to reunite its forces and give a complete overthrow to the party in favor -of centralisation. We are inclined to believe so ; but we are strongly of opinion that the isolation of Wellington and its suburbs from the rest of the would certainly affect the first object and put an end for ever to all local jealousies upon these long-agitated questions. There " is just one political aspect of the temporary session of the Assembly at Ghristcburch on which we are inclined to look with some favor. Taken as a step in the direction of separation, it is worthy of the approval of all who like ourselves, regard that as the true solution of our difficulties. It will give to the Middle Island a taste of the advantages which result from close connection with the General Government.

and may assist the members of the North Island in looking at public affairs from a iicav and disinterested point of A'iew. It might help to open the eyes of all parties to the unquestionable benefits which wovld result from enabling the two islands, whose interests and Avhose leading questions are so distinct, to legislate for them ap*art.