HC Deb 30 July 1845 vol 82 cc1236-51

On the Motion that 22,565l. be granted to Her Majesty to defray the Charges of the Colony of New Zealand being put,

Mr. John Abel Smith

observed, that he understood that the New Zealand Company, confiding in the expressions made use of by the right hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel)—and he could assure the right hon. Baronet that he thought he spoke the sentiments of the various members of the Company, when he said that he believed those expressions had been sincere—the Company had, since the last discussion, addressed a letter to the noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies, making certain proposals to the noble Lord, with a view to the settlement of the differences existing, unhappily, between the Government and the Company. He understood also, that upon the receipt of that letter, the Under Secretary, the hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. G. W. Hope), expressed a wish to re-open the negotiations which had recently been carried on between the parties; that a deputation of the Company had waited upon him; that these negotiations were continued up to this moment; and that they now awaited for their final conclusion the approval of the noble Lord at the head of the Colonial department, whose unavoidable temporary absence had prevented that from being given up to the present moment. The Company were satisfied to rest upon that state of things for the present, and hoped that the noble Lord would look with favour upon the propositions which had been submitted to him; but they wished to understand if, in the event of their hopes in this respect being disappointed, and of the attempt at adjustment, which they had sincerely made, being fruitless, they should have another opportunity of making those remarks upon the present state of New Zealand which they would have done on the present occasion, had these negotiations not now been pending. If the hopes of the Company were not realized, he trusted that the opportunity sought for would be given before the close of the present Session.

Sir R. Peel

entertained a sincere wish to see all differences satisfactorily adjusted between the Company and the Colonial department, and to co-operate in every way in which he could for the well-being of the Colony of New Zealand. No one could regret more than he did the differences which had arisen between the Company and the Government. Communications had now passed between the Colonial Office and a deputation appointed to act on the part of the Company; and the members of that deputation were themselves, so far, the best judges of what had passed. He trusted that an amicable arrangement would ultimately be come to, and the probability was that such would be the case; but if it should not be so, he saw no difficulty in giving an assurance that, if the present opportunity of discussing the matter were foregone, another opportunity, as desired, would be given for the discussion.

Mr. G. W. Hope

said, that the absence of his noble Friend was not the only reason why the negotiation was not yet concluded. Another Gentleman had been called in to give his advice, and he was preparing his views, which would, when submitted, receive full consideration.

Mr. Roebuck

said, that when New Zealand was first colonized, the country had been led to expect that a new era in colonization had commenced. He believed that if a little care were taken, and proper preparation made, before colonization was attempted, they might have a self-sustaining system. A great deal had been said of the danger which existed to colonists so situated as were those of New Zealand; but if they formed a general government on the principle of the representative system, there would be no danger whatever. Let them have a Governor representing the Crown, an Executive Council appointed by the Crown, and a legislative body appointed by counties, and let the legislature of the Colony be formed on this basis. Let the administration be in the Governor, with the advice, though not necessarily with the consent of the Council. It was surprising, seeing that we had colonized the whole of North America, that we had not by this time acquired sufficient knowledge and experience to colonize so small a portion of the earth's surface without the terrible squabbles which had been carried on between the Government and the Company—squabbles, terrible from the consequences to which they had, in some measure, led. What he wished to press upon the Government was, that they should adopt a general system. If they sent out to New Zealand a body of men, who understood the business of political surveying, who would lay the country out into counties, and if they had a general law prepared that each county, as it attained its necessary share of population, should receive its law from the law and from nothing else; and that it should govern itself, not by giving to it municipal powers—a course against which he would warn the right hon. Baronet—a course which would split the country into sections—into a north and south island—which would make an Ireland and an England, a Rhode Island and a Connecticut, of it; but, if they kept the country one, with one central government, with a county administration, with no municipal, that is to say, with no legislative powers, then there would be a chance of governing the country well, and of rendering it prosperous. This single regulation also should be attended to, that metropolitan interference should only be resorted to to defend, when necessary, the Colony from hostile attacks. Let the colonists, so far as related to their local concerns, govern themselves, and let the Government of this country entrust the internal management of the Colony to their activity and exertions, to their daring and sagacity. The Government should not allow one hour to pass before they framed a uniform system of Government for the whole of the Colony.

Mr. Hume

said, that the manner in which the Colonies had been treated required that Parliament should pass an Act, declaring what rights they were to possess, and what government they were to enjoy, and they would then be prepared to carry out the suggestions of his hon. and learned Friend. The great defect of our present system was to be found in the Colonial Department itself; the evil existed at head quarters. People might plan what they liked for the good government of the Colonies elsewhere; but so long as the Colonial Department remained defective, nothing in the way of permanent good could be accomplished. There was no prospect of an improved system in regard to our Colonies until they introduced some change into the Colonial Department by legislative enactment. He entreated the right hon. Baronet, in reference to this unfortunate matter, to step boldly out, and take the course which he well knew to be the right one, and to bring forward proper measures by which to impart confidence to the colonists. He hoped the right hon. Baronet would do this, for nobody trusted the noble Lord the Secretary for the Colonies. As to this Vote, he thought that they had already thrown away too much money for the support of Colonial misrule, and he felt it his duty to oppose it.

Mr. Sheil

could not concur with his hon. Friend in his opposition to the Vote. He thought that it was but wise and prudent to fortify every settlement which was exposed to such an attack as Kororarika had sustained; and as to Captain Grey, the newly appointed Governor of New Zealand, it appeared to him that they should be liberal in their remuneration of a man who had the arduous duty to perform of correcting the calamitous mistakes into which the Colonial Office had been betrayed. No doubt some of the misfortunes of New Zealand were to be attributed to want of experience and incapacity on the part of Captain Fitzroy; but it was not at all on the vicarious back of Captain Fitzroy that the chastisement should exclusively fall. Who appointed Captain Fitzroy? By whom was he instructed? Of whom was Captain Fitzroy the undistorted image? It a different policy had been pursued towards New Zealand—if a different construction had been put upon the Treaty of Waitangi—if the construction adopted by the Committee, at the suggestion of Lord Francis Egerton, had been made the rule of the Government—if the contract had been fulfilled which was entered into by Lord John Russell—if Mr. Pennington's award had been carried into effect—if the Company, in consideration of their expenditure of 600,000l., had got a single acre of land—if the Company had been induced, or rather permitted, to apply their vast capital and immense resources to the colonization of New Zealand, it was manifest that all the evils now loudly complained of, and deeply deplored, would not have happened; it was clear that property and life would have been protected in New Zealand; it was manifest that the New Zealanders themselves would have been signally served; that the value of the property in their possession, and to which their title would have been confirmed, would have been augmented from twenty to a hundred fold; and that the New Zealander himself, civilized and humanized, would have largely participated in the many advantages which would have been generally diffused. He thought, that such was not an exaggerated view of what, in all likelihood, would have taken place in New Zealand had a different policy been pursued. It was urged that Lord Stanley had been influenced in what he did by motives of humanity towards the New Zealanders. That assertion he was not disposed to question, nor did he doubt but that Lord Stanley had given that interpretation to the Treaty of Waitangi which he considered most conducive to the interests of the New Zealanders. He thought, however, that the noble Lord had utterly mistaken the real interests of the native population, and that he had entailed great calamities, unwittingly, on the New Zealanders. If the Company had been the victims of his injustice, the New Zealanders had been the victims of his commiseration. Let them look at the results of the noble Lord's policy, and try that policy by its fruits. What had been the effects of the pseudo conciliation which had been adopted in reference to the New Zealanders? They were informed by the principal Protector of the aborigines, Mr. George Clarke he believed, that notwithstanding the interpretation given by Lord Stanley to the Treaty of Waitangi, and notwithstanding the strenuousness with which the rights of the New Zealanders had been protected, the Government, the conciliatory Government, were still the objects of abhorrence and scorn to the native population; and Captain Fitzroy himself, as was stated in Sir Everard Home's despatch, mentioned that the Colony was on the very verge of ruin, and that on the events of the next few months the tenure of the Colony by Great Britain might depend. Under these circumstances, it was manifest that some great change, some essential alteration, was necessary. The Government saw the malady; and for such a malady it was quite clear that petty medicaments, small doses, prescriptions at once empirical and homœopathic, combining strange experiments with erroneous practice, would not suffice. The Company asked the Government of this country to infuse the representative principle into the Government of New Zealand. It had been observed that a representative assembly was not fitted for New Zealand. That, perhaps, was quite true. Kororarika, though once a promising settlement, was now reduced to the state of Old Sarum, with but one house left in it, and he should certainly not propose that Kororarika should send a Member to the Colonial Parliament; but if three or four persons were delegated from Wellington and Auckland, and were to form component parts of the legislative Council, it was quite manifest that there would then be, in regard to New Zealand, something like that which was so important in our own constitutional system—a check upon the power, which was now next to unlimited, in the Colony. At present the Colony was under a legislative Council, and the legislative Council was under Lord Stanley. This was certainly an order of dependence in which it was highly desirable, if not indispensable, that an alteration should be made. It was not quite legitimate for the Government to say that the Company had asked them to establish in New Zealand a Colonial Parliament. That was not the case. The Company only wanted the Government to infuse some portion of the representative system into the Colonial Government. The decision of Lord Stanley was not irrevocable, and he might yet see good reason to change that decision, in compliance with the desires of the Company. With respect to the land question, the sources of mischief still continued. The Government still adhered to their interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi, which they did in direct opposition to the Report of the Committee. He was very far from saying that the Report of a Committee was to be regarded as paramount in every case, although to Reports of Committees they occasionally attached very great importance. Lord Stanley had been condemned by a Report of a Committee of that House. The right hon. Baronet the Secretary for the Home Department relied for his acquittal upon the Report of that House. For three weeks the right hon. Gentleman was almost in a state of continuous ovation, on account of the Report of such a Committee. They were told to look at the manner in which that Committee had been constituted—happily constituted—that there were six Whigs and five Tories, all men of high intelligence and of remarkable impartiality. That was the course taken by the right hon. Baronet; but then the Government did not venture to take that course with New Zealand. When fault was imputed to the right hon. Gentleman, they were content with six Whigs and five Tories; but in the case of the noble Lord, two-thirds of their Committee were Tories and one-third Whigs; and upon that Committee they placed Members of the Government and embryo Ministers—Gentlemen who proved their capacity to serve the Government by their high qualifications, and the effective ser- vice they rendered on that Committee. But when it happened that the Report of that Committee was against Lord Stanley, it was unnoticed. The Prime Minister, in the course of his observations, never adverted to the Report of the Committee. He had marked with that attention which every word uttered by the right hon. Gentleman was entitled to, and he observed that he never referred to the Committee, to the proceedings of the Committee, or to the Report of the Committee. It would be a bold proposition for a Prime Minister to pay, that a Committee appointed by himself — let them mark that—a Committee appointed by the Government—a majority, a great majority, being the supporters of the Government — several of them Members of the Government—that the Report of such a Committee should be dismissed with utter disregard. What was the object of that inquiry? What the object of these observations? A great mistake had been committed. It had been suggested that that mistake should be repaired. It was to show the Government that if they would not go the entire length with the Committee, that the right hon. Gentleman perhaps might use his influence to induce Lord Stanley to retrace his course. He was the last man in that House to say that Lord Stanley should be treated with disrespect. His talents were great, and as a Parliamentary debater, he was far superior to almost any one he had ever heard; but if Lord Stanley were as calm and as unimpassioned as he was beyond doubt prompt, dexterous, and agile; and if his talents were not as peculiarly remarkable in every department in which he had been engaged, still he (Mr. Sheil) ventured to say that New Zealand ought not to be sacrificed to him, and that in choosing between the retention of a great patrician in the Cabinet, and the maintenance and happiness of a great British possession of the Crown, the latter ought to be preferred.

Sir R. Peel

said, he was sorry that the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Dungarvon (Mr. Sheil) was deprived of the opportunity on the last occasion that the subject of New Zealand was debated in that House, of delivering the speech he had just made, and which was intended, as he thought, for a Motion very different from that which was now submitted to the House, and of which he cordially approved. He knew how painful it was for hon. Mem- bers at the end of a Session to carry away undelivered speeches with them, and he should have sympathised with the right hon. Gentleman in his disappointment if he had not had the opportunity of making this speech. The second debate on the affairs of New Zealand lasted two nights; and, as the right hon. Gentleman had referred to what had then had fallen from him, he begged to observe that he thought it would have been more appropriate had the right hon. Gentleman made those observations on that occasion. He certainly should not now be provoked to a renewal of the discussion on New Zealand, because he did not consider that it would be for the public interest, or the interest of the Colony itself. In noticing the remarks of the right hon. Gentleman, he would not even do what it was painful for him to refrain from doing, namely, enter into a defence of his noble Friend at the head of the Colonial Department, and repel the imputations which he thought were unjustly cast upon him. He could not do that without affording an opportunity for a renewed discussion, which he deprecated only upon public grounds. He felt the less regret, however, in adopting this course, because he thought that on the last and preceding occasion he did everything in his power to show that there was not that diversity of sentiment between his noble Friend and himself that had been imputed, and upon those occasions he certainly did exert himself to vindicate his noble Friend from the accusation directed against him. The right hon. Gentleman said that his noble Friend must be held responsible for the appointment of Captain Fitzroy. He admitted that, speaking technically — he granted that his noble Friend was responsible for the appointment; but, at the same time, he thought that it would be most ungenerous if, for every act of Mr. Hobson or Captain Fitzroy, he said to the noble Lord the Member for the city of London, "You appointed these gentlemen, and in the eye of the Constitution, you are responsible, and I hold you culpable for every act they have done." That doctrine was constitutionally and technically true; but, morally speaking, his noble Friend could not be held responsible for all the acts which were performed. With regard to the question of the militia, his noble Friend informed Captain Fitzroy, some months ago, that he thought a militia should be organized; that there ought to be a local force established. But Captain Fitzroy differed from him, and did not act upon the instructions. It was quite true that his noble Friend was constitutionally responsible for the non-performance of this order; but he did not think that any gentleman out of the House would say that his noble Friend must be considered morally responsible for the decision come to by Captain Fitzroy. Captain Fitzroy, acting, no doubt, upon pure and honourable, though mistaken views, declined organizing the militia. The House might be assured, however, that his noble Friend had no wish to throw on Captain Fitzroy any responsibility that belonged to himself. As to the appointment of that gentleman, there never was an appointment made from purer or more disinterested motives. His noble Friend took Captain Fitzroy because he sincerely believed that he was a man better competent than almost any other for the discharge of the functions of Governor of New Zealand. With regard to the mode in which the Colony should be governed, he did not see much difference between the views of the hon. and learned Member for Bath, and those which he entertained. The hon. and learned Gentleman said, "Don't let there be municipal government, but county government." For any territorial division of the country they must take, as the centre, the largest town of the district; then incorporate with that town as large a district as they possibly could, and give the natives resident within the district the right of representation, and all the advantages of British subjects. By circumscribing the district, they excluded the possibility of mere ignorant physical force overpowering the spirit, enterprise, and intelligence of the English colonists. If they provided that every one of the natives should be entitled to vote, it was possible that a combination might be formed, and mere numbers overcome the settlers; but if they took their districts, and pave the natives an equal franchise, that would be a sort of county institution. He would certainly give a liberal franchise, and he thought that the body to be entrusted with the taxation of the Colony should have as extensive powers of taxation for county purposes as were consistent with the proper exercise of the functions of the supreme authority. The constitution of this supreme authority was a most important ques- tion; but that in some way or other, the Legislative Council—the governing body—ought to represent the public opinion of the Colony, was a principle which he was ready to admit. How that could be best accomplished, it was impossible for him to lay down, at this moment, any precise rule. Having alluded to the appointment of Captain Grey, who, he stated, should be amply remunerated for any loss he might sustain, the right hon. Baronet concluded by observing, that it was neither for the advantage of the Colony, nor for the public interest, that this discussion should be further continued.

Mr. Hawes

was glad to hear that the intercourse between the Colonial Office and the New Zealand Company had been revived. This was creditable to the Colonial Office, after so many sharp debates; and he trusted that the whole matter would soon be brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

Mr. C. Buller

said, that nothing could be in a better tone than was the speech of the right hon. Baronet; and he should feel greatly disappointed if the communications now going on between the Colonial Office and the New Zealand Company were not attended with the most satisfactory results. As to the choice of a Governor for the Colony, they ought to recollect that for a new settlement they required as a Governor a man of great ability, and 1,200l. a year was not sufficient for a gentleman going out as Governor of New Zealand: a taxing officer in one of the Law Courts in Dublin, his right hon. Friend informed them, got as high a salary. While they were voting the Estimates for New Zealand, they ought to take as much as would pay the debt at once. Now, the present Estimates did not give a fair notion of what the Colony required. In some Papers from Captain Fitzroy, the expenditure of this year was estimated at from 36,000l. to 40,000l., and the only revenue to meet that, was 14,000l., leaving a deficit of 22,000l. But of the 14,000l., Captain Fitzroy calculated on receiving 8,000l. from property tax, and 2,000l. from land titles. The first return showed that the property tax would not produce 4,000l. instead of 8,000l., and as to the revenue from land titles, by allowing parties to purchase from the natives, it was swept away altogether. Thus, then, all they had was 8,000l. as a revenue, with an expenditure of 36,000l. or 40,000l. leaving a deficit of 32,000l. The present Estimate was only for 22,000l. and odd, and they had a debt of 15,000l., for which they had issued their debentures. He did not think that there could be a less deficiency than 40,000l. in amount. He wished to call the attention of the Committee to another point. Captain Fitzroy had made a reduction in every one's salary in the Colony. He had taken one-fourth of each person's salary. They had, for instance, sent out Mr. Chapman as a judge, with a salary of 800l. a year; by Captain Fitzroy's regulations that had been reduced below 600 a year. This he considered a very hard case. Why was a difference to be made between judges? What right had this gentleman to expect that the Governor would have swept the customs from 22,000l. down to 8,000l., and that he should be made to suffer for it? They ought to keep faith with the public servants; and in this instance they ought to take such an Estimate as would enable them, amongst other things, to pay this gentleman the salary they had contracted to give him.

Mr. Aglionby

observed, that there appeared to him to be very little difference between the opinions of the hon. and learned Member for Bath, and the right hon. Baronet, as to that species of representative government which should be given to New Zealand. He hoped that the result of the proceedings that had been alluded to would be good government, under which the Colony would prosper.

Viscount Ebrington

said, he rejoiced heartily to hear once more that there was a prospect of agreement between the Company and the Colonial Office; but he warned the House not to expect any satisfactory settlement until some clear and intelligible principle had been laid down for dealing with the waste lands. All the great writers on international law were agreed on the subject. Their authority had been already appealed to in this controversy; but he would venture to trouble the House with the opinions of a great and good man, the late Dr. Arnold, who thus wrote in the Englishman's Register, in June 1831, long before the New Zealand question had arisen:— It is said the land belongs to everybody—nothing belongs to everybody; it either belongs to somebody or to nobody at all. The air belongs to nobody, the open sea belongs to nobody, and for this reason, because man has done nothing and can do nothing to make them better for his use than God made them from the beginning. They are not his property at all; but with the earth or land, and all things on it, is quite different. Men were to subdue the earth, that is, make it by their labour what it would not have been by itself; and with the labour so bestowed upon it, came the right of property in it. Thus every land which is inhabited all belongs to somebody. But so much does the right of property go along with labour, that enlightened nations have never scrupled to take possession of countries inhabited only by savages—countries which have been hunted over, but never subdued or cultivated. How different is the case of New Zealand, where the natives derived no supplies of food from the slaves, but depended on cultivation for their support! but where yet, he heard it stated in evidence again and again, not one thousandth part of the land had ever been cultivated. Dr. Arnold goes on to say— It is true they have often gone further and settled themselves in countries which were cultivated, and then it becomes robbery; but when our fathers went to America, and took possession of the mere hunting grounds of the Indians of lands on which man had hitherto bestowed no labour, they only exercised a right which God has inseparably united with industry and knowledge. These are clear intelligible principles, clarly laid down; but up to this time no intelligible principle had been avowed by the Government on this subject; and as the land question was at the bottom of all the difficulties and disturbances in New Zealand, he thought the House ought not to be satisfied till Ministers declared how the waste lands were to be dealt with, whether they formed part of the domain of the Crown or not. Unless Government made up their minds to grapple firmly with this question, all hopes of a satisfactory settlement would be illusory; and these civil speeches between the Company and the Ministers, preferable as they were to their previous unseemly squabbles, would only terminate once more as they had so often before, in renewed disputes and disappointments.

Mr. G. W. Hope

, leaving the general question as having been already sufficiently discussed, would confine himself to the amount of the present estimate. He agreed with the hon. and learned Member for Liskeard, that the smallness of the Vote required some justification. The fact was, that among the many other difficulties in which the late Governor had left the Government (and he wished not to press unduly upon Captain Fitzroy), was that of great uncertainty as to the state of the finances of the Colony. He was not prepared to say that the calculations upon which this Vote was founded would prove to be correct; but in preparing the Estimates for Parliament the Colonial Office could only proceed upon such documents as had been furnished to them. And the only statement in reference to this, the financial question, which had been supplied to the Government by Captain Fitzroy, was that which had been referred to by the hon. and learned Member for Liskeard himself.

Mr. W. Williams

had come down to the House expecting that this Vote was to be opposed. That, he believed, was the general understanding. But it appeared now that the Company having got their million of acres of land secured to them, as he supposed they had or would have under the renewed negotiation with the Colonial Office, they were for increasing instead of opposing the Estimates, knowing very well that the more money was expended in the Colony, the better it would be for themselves. He had no doubt if the Session lasted much longer, they would have a Supplemental Estimate brought in for New Zealand. For his part, he thought we were already taxed enough for this mismanaged Colony. Would the hon. Gentleman say whether this Vote included all that this country would be called upon to pay on account of the present year, or whether he intended to propose a Supplemental Estimate?

Mr. G. W. Hope

had already stated that the calculations upon which the present Estimate was framed, were made upon very imperfect information.

Mr. Mangles

believed, if the colonists of New Zealand were allowed to govern themselves, there would be a revenue more than sufficient to meet all the expenses of the Colony, without calling for any aid from this country.

Mr. B. Osborne

was somewhat surprised at the turn the discussion had taken. It appeared now that the attention of the House had been taken up by a mere squabble between the New Zealand Company and the Government, and now that that dispute was in a fair way for settlement, the more important question of whether the Colonial Department as now constituted was fit to be intrusted with the destinies of our vast Colonial Empire, was altogether lost sight of.

Mr. Hindley

complained that the present Bishop of New Zealand had consecrated, for the exclusive burial of Protestants, a portion of the cemetery which had hitherto been used for the interment of the inhabitants of the Colony generally, without regard to religious distinctions. He had received communications stating that this act of the Bishop's had given great dissatisfaction, and that a petition would be forwarded to him for presentation to the House of Commons on the subject.

Admiral Dundas

could not allow any aspersions to be cast on the character of the present Bishop of New Zealand, without standing up in his defence. He believed no man had ever exercised the functions of his office with greater zeal and devotion—no man had been more successful in the performance of his sacred duties—and there was no man whose character was, in every respect, more exemplary than that of the right rev. Prelate.

Mr. Protheroe

asked, was it intended that this country should be saddled with the ecclesiastical establishments of New Zealand?

Mr. G. W. Hope

was understood to say, that, in the present state of the Colony, it was necessary that the means of religious instruction for the inhabitants should be provided by this country.

Mr. B. Osborne

wished to know whether the present Governor was to have any increase of salary, as compared with the former Governors.

Mr. G. W. Hope

said, the present Governor went out on a special mission, and he would, therefore, receive a special allowance. That special allowance would be 2,500l. a year, instead of 1,200l. a year, which was the salary of the late Governor.

Mr. W. Williams

observed, that from all he had heard, he believed the present Bishop of New Zealand to be a most estimable person, and in every way fitted for the duties of his sacred office; but he thought the charge for the ecclesiastical establishment of the Colony ought not to be placed upon this country. He hoped that means would be taken to provide for the payment of the clergy out of the revenue arising from the waste lands of the Colony.

Viscount Sandon

agreed that it would be impossible for this country to maintain the ecclesiastical establishments of all the Colonies. He believed that by an appropriation of the waste lands means might be provided for the religious training and education of the people, and for all clerical purposes, and he considered that the colonists ought to be put in a position, as soon as possible, to provide a religious establishment for themselves by those means.

Mr. Hindley

was an advocate for the voluntary principle in all cases. But he believed the New Zealand Company had already turned their attention to the subject, and had invested 7,000l. in the hands of trustees for church purposes in New Zealand. Under these circumstances he thought it was hard that the charge should be thrown on this country. He had no wish to asperse the character of the Bishop of New Zealand; but if the statements which had been made to him were true, Dr. Selwyn had, he thought, acted imprudently in consecrating, for the exclusive burial of members of the Established Church, that part of the cemetery which had been previously used in common by all sects. He might have selected another piece of ground for the purpose.

Mr. Aglionby

said, his hon. Friend was quite correct in supposing that the New Zealand Company had set apart a large sum for the purposes of religious instruction, and they had granted assistance in this respect without regard to any feelings of partiality for one religion more than another. They had been guided only by the proportionate numbers of each sect in the particular locality to which the grant was made, and they had given the largest division of the funds to the members of the Established Church, as being the largest body.

Vote agreed to.

Upon the Question that the sum of 2,597l. be granted for Salaries and Expenses of the Commission for the improvement of the river Shannon,