IMPORTANT FROM AUCKLAND.

Wellington Independent, Volume XIX, Issue 2117, 18 October 1864, Page 3

IMPORTANT FROM AUCKLAND.

! THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO MEET ON 15th NOVEMBER. By the s.s. Ahuriri which arrived here on Sunday, we have received the very important intelligence that the General Assembly is to meet at Wellington on the 15th Nov. Unfortunately the Ahuriri brought no mail, but our Auckland files are nevertheless nearly complete to the 12th inst. The New Zealand Herald of the 11th instant says : — " It is, we believe, intended that the coming session shall be held at Wellington, and on or about the loth of next month. The resolution of the House expressly stated that Christchurch should be the place of meeting ; but as arrangements are not complete for holding it there, and as Native matters will not permit the Government to leave the Northern Island, no doubt Wellington has been chosen as being the most convenient for all parties." After deploring the necessity of calling a meeting at such a crisis, the same journal remarks : — " There is however no other remedy for the dead lock which his Excellency's manoeuvring has brought about, and we are glad that the Ministry have allowed no further time to elapse, but have referred the quarrels between themselves and Sir George Grey to the Assembly. Constitutional Government in New Zealand is now put upon its mettle. Shall the will of the Assembly be trampled under foot. This is for the Assembly themselves to determine. The will of the Assembly should be the will of the people, and we know clearly enough what the will of the poople is in this matter. It is clearly that the Assembly shall say to the Imperial Government, so far you shall go in the interference with the internal government of thi3 Colony, and no further ; go beyond this point and we, the Assembly of New Zealand, will oppose such interference by every legal measure in our power. The will of the colonists also is clearly this, that the policy of the Assembly, expressed in 18G3, shall be carried out inviolate. This duty which was entrusted to them, the Ministry have carefully and jealously performed. To them their course was plainly laid down by the Assembly. They could not depart from it without betraying the Assembly which placed them in this position of trust. To that Assembly they now appeal, and will it in turn betray them. Wethinknot. Muchas the Southern members of the Assembly may differ on minor points of departmental management, they cannot but admit that the Ministry has faithfully carried out the duties imposed upon them, and, as in the case of the escape from the Kawau, when all papers relating thereto are printed and laid before them, many a mystery will be cleared up, and dark treachery disclosed, that will place the Ministry in a high and proud position, not only with the Assemby, but with the Middle Island as well as the Northern Island coloaists." The New Zealander of the 12th instant, kas an article strongly arguing that the meeting should take place nowhere but in Auckland, and. states that a petition to that effect peas being signed on the 11th inst. It is evident however that this opposition was altogether ineffectual. In the Southern Cross of the 11th inst. the 3ase is very fully stated. We reprint the article in full : — Fhe Governor has at length made up hig mind. After mature deliberation, and communicating with various parties, he has been forced to acknowledge that he cannot form a responsible Ministry which would command the respect, much less the confidence, of the General Assembly. His Excellency tried hard to escape that confession ; but it was extorted from him. Ministers, having tendered their resignations for above a week, and in the meantime- supplied him with all the information which he said he required to enable him to decide what was best to be done, naturally expected to hear from his Excellency. But Sir George made no sign. He might be meditating some master stroke of policy, which would delight his admirers and overthrow his enemies ; or he might be at his wit's end to know what to do ; but certain it is, that from Friday week until yesterday, the Governor never indicated whether he would accept or decline to receive their tender of resignation. A cemmunication passed from Ministers, however, requesting to know what he meant to do, and intimating that, unless his Excellency was prepared to nominate their successors, they recommended him to call an early session of the Assembly, — not later than the 15th of November. To this, his Excellency replied, that he was unable to appoint a responsible Ministry, and acceded to Ministers' req\iest for calling the Assembly together. The Assembly will be summoned, therefore, for the despatch of business, on the 15th of next month. The open question still is — Where will the Assembly meet ? The House resolved last session, that the Assembly should next meet in Christchurch. It was then understood that the Assembly should not meet until March, 1865 ; and we believe we are right in stating that the time is now too short to enable preparations to be made at Christchurch for an extraordinary session. The time is extremely short — not quite five weeks; and at least a week must elapse bofore the proclamation, summoning the Assembly, could be published in Canterbury. That would reduce the available timo to about three weeks, in which to have a suitable building erected. It would be unfair, therefore, to Christchurch, to summon the Assembly to meet there early in November. But there are weightier reasons than the want of accommodation why the Assembly ought not to meet in Christchurch at this crisis. It is well known that the native difficulty has not been settled. The whole of the North Island is in a chronic state of rebellion, and hostilities may commence north, east, or south at any moment. It would never do, therefore, to have the Governor, in whom is vested the supremo command of the forces in New Zealand, and his advisers, who are supposed toberesponsible in native affairs, so far romoved from the disturbed districts for several months. Matters requiring immediate attention will bo constantly occurring, and it would not only embarrass the action of the Government, but might tend to prolong the war, if the Governor and his Executive were not in a position to avail themselves of favoring circumstances as they transpired. When the important interests at stake are considered, therefore, we are sure our Canterbury friends will not feel themselves slighted if the Assembly does not meet in Christchurch on this occasion. It doe 3 not follow that it may not meet there at its next sitting, as was the case with Wellington once before. At all events, whatever may be the feeling of the Canterbury province on the subject, one thing is clear — the interests of the Crown and the Colony require the presence of th«

Governor and his advisers nearer the disaffected districts of the North Island tban they would be if they were compelled to reside at Christchurch during the session of the General Assembly. Where, in that case, ought the Assembly to meet ? If wo wore to consult our own interests, we should say that Auckland is the most fitting place, because the Government have every document at hand hore which may be required or called for ; and also, because it is most conveniently situate for communicating with the Northern and Southern divisions of the island. But we are willing to forego the advantage it would be to Auckland and the Government, for the convenience of the Southern members. We know this is their busy season — that they are engaged shearing their sheep, whilst the Maoris are clipping the fleece of the Northern settlers, and not accounting for the carcases. Wo desire to meet the South half-way, and to say that " somewhere in Cook's Straits" ought to be ' chosen. The choice, therefore, lies between Wellington and Nelson. Which ought to be chosen ? We think that admits of little discussion. Wellington is in a position to receive the Assembly, and is within a few hours' ride of the Wanganui district, which may not unlikely become the theatre of active operations at no distant date. It is, therefore, preferable to Nelson, which is separated from the disaffected districts by the Straits, and therefore practically cut off from direct communication with them. Wo write this in g_ood faith. To ourselves it is a matter of indifference where the Assembly meets, provided only the public interests do not suffer ; and as the House of Representatives decided that the Assembly should not sit in Auckland in the ensuing session, we are anxious that the least objectionable place should be chosen. Moreover, and we say it with pain, we do not desire to see the Assembly in Auckland until it is prepared to do justice to this province — to recognize the self-sacrifice of its inhabitants, and the noble devotion to duty of its people. There are members of the House, settlers in tho Southern provinces of New Zealand, who have caused Auckland to stink in the nostrils of the Empire ; and we do not wish to meet them in an unfriendly spirit. Whatever may have been their motives, we know the time will come when they shall change their opinions, and till then we would prefer hearing them from a distance than in our midst. Not that we object to listening to the truth, however unpalateable ; but that we object to listening to assertions, contrary to the truth, repeated in our hearing. We hope the Assembly, when it meets, will devote itself diligently to the task before it, for the sake of tho colony. This ia no time for party displays or the indulgence of personal dislikes. It is a season of peril and anxiety. The serpent has been scotched, not killed. The rebels whom, five months ago, many believed defeated have been nursed into strength once more, and are ready to renew hostilities. The country plunged into debt, is about to be inextricably ruined by the policy his Excellency has latterly pursued ; and it will be the duty of the Assembly to decide what is to be done under the circumstances. There is no time for delay. There is no room for a compromise. There must be a policy of Thorough inaugurated, or the North Island of New Zealand had better at once be surrendered to King Potatau and his Ministers. Let the Assembly meet in Wellington, we say, and take such action as will decide the fate of this colony for many years to come.