CIRCULAR TO THE MEMBERS OF THE May 31, 1855 Auckland, 31st May 1855 HIS Excellency the Officer administering the Government has directed that the following circular, addressed to the members of the General Assembly in the Southern Provinces, and the accompanying despatch from the Secretary of State, should be published for general information: CIRCULAR By command of his Excellency the Officer administering the Government, I have the honor to inform you that Mr. Carkeek, the Collector of Customs at Wellington, has been instructed to make arrangements for the conveyance of yourself and other Members of the General Assembly from the Southern Provinces to Auckland, for the approaching session, on the 5th of July next. Some uncertainty exists as to the means of conveyance that may be available for that purpose, in consequence of the proprietors of the "Nelson" steamer having declined to renew the contract for continuing steam communication between the several Provinces of the Colony, and should the Collector of Customs at Wellington fail to procure the required means of conveyance in due time, or should any other obstacle arise to prevent Members of the General Assembly reaching Auckland at the time appointed, I have to inform you that his Excellency will be prepared 1 Commons Papers, 1860, vol. 46, No. 2719, p. 119. Announced by the Colonial Secretary in Auckland (enclosure in the Report). to prorogue the opening of the session. Mr. Carkeek has been directed to inform you of the arrangements alluded to so soon as they are completed. As his Excellency conceives that it may be convenient to members to be informed of the course which his Excellency proposes to pursue on the opening of the Assembly, I have the honor to state, that it is his Excellency's wish that responsible government should be established at the earliest convenient time, and with that view he will cause to be laid before the Assembly a bill of the nature required by the despatch from the Secretary of State on the subject, dated 8th December 1854, a copy of which is annexed. The only other business, as it appears to his Excellency, that it will be requisite for the Assembly at once to deal with, will be to make temporary provision (probably by the renewal of the present appropriations for a limited period) for the public service till a responsible ministry shall have had time to take upon themselves the government of the country, and be enabled to meet the Assembly after sufficient time shall have been afforded for the requisite preparation. Having disposed of these measures, it is not his Excellency's present intention to propose any other; and, in order to afford the electors an opportunity of choosing members with a view to the new form of government, his Excellency is of opinion that the dissolution of the Assembly ought to take place immediately afterwards. Should this, however, on further consideration, not be deemed advisable, it still appears to his Excellency indispensable that the Assembly should be prorogued for some months, in order that the responsible ministry may be afforded sufficient time to make themselves acquainted with the affairs of the Colony and to prepare such measures as they may deem necessary to propose to the Assembly. REPORT OF THE ACTING GOVERNOR ON OPENING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY1 August 10, 1855 REFERRING to my despatch of the 5th ultimo, No. 77, I now do myself the honor of enclosing, for your information, the accompanying copy of an address I opened the General Assembly with on the day appointed, namely, the 8th instant, by which it will be perceived that my first desire has been to carry out the instructions from the Secretary of State, with a view to the complete establishment of responsible government in New Zealand; and then, after securing an appropriation of the revenue for so long as may be deemed necessary, to leave to another session of the General Assembly, as soon as the constituencies shall have had an opportunity of electing those in whom they place confidence, every other subject involving questions of policy, on which his Excellency Colonel Gore Browne will, no doubt, be furnished with instructions. ADDRESS OF THE ACTING GOVERNOR IN OPENING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY2 August 8, 1855 HONORABLE Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives. When I prorogued the General Assembly of New Zea 1 Commons Papers, 1860, vol. 46, No. 2719, p. 135. 2 Ibid., p. 136. Enclosure in the Report of August 10. land in the month of September last, I did not then entertain an expectation that it would become my duty to be present, in the same capacity, at the opening of another session. It is, however, a source of great satisfaction to me that it has pleased Her Majesty to permit me to continue in the Government of this Colony sufficiently long to see the accomplishment of that ample measure of self-government which this Assembly, and I believe the colonists in general, have so ardently desired. Whatever may have been the differences of opinion during the former sessions of this Assembly, as to the time or the manner of introducing without reserve, "ministerial responsibility" in the conduct of the legislative and executive proceedings of the Government, we were all, I feel assured, sincerely anxious that the colonists of New Zealand should have conferred on them, without unnecessary delay, the advantages of that form of government in its integrity. At the close of the session it became my duty to transmit to the Secretary of State the representations which I had received praying for the establishment of responsible government, and it afforded me much gratification to add my earnest recommendation in favor of granting that which I believe will be highly conducive to the welfare and advancement of the Colony. On its being communicated to me that Her Majesty's Imperial Government had complied with our wishes, I took the earliest opportunity of making known that fact to the Colony by the publication in the "Government Gazette" of an extract from the Secretary of State's despatch, and since then I have placed in your hands a copy of that despatch, in order that you might be made aware of the preliminary measures which are required to be taken by the General Assembly, and of the views of Her Majesty's Government on the subject. GENTLEMEN of the Assembly, It now rests with you to take the next step; on my part I can assure you that whatever remains to be done by me for the complete and satisfactory establishment of responsible government, will, without hesitation, be most cheerfully performed. I do not anticipate that the present session need be a protracted one. Legislation on important subjects, not at the same time urgent, will not, it appears to me, be desirable in our present state of transition. It has been communicated to me by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, that I may shortly expect my successor in the Government, and it has also been intimated to me that he has been placed in possession of the views of Her Majesty's Imperial Government on several of the most important subjects which engaged the attention of this Legislature during its former sessions. Not only these subjects, but indeed every other involving any important question of policy, would, I think, be more properly dealt with after the Executive Government of the country shall have passed into the hands of those with whom will rest the responsibility of administering the laws which shall be enacted. In the present position of the affairs of the Colony, the most suitable course, as it appears to me, would be to limit the business of the session to what is absolutely necessary to be done, and that another session of the General Assembly should be held as soon as the constituencies shall |