SUPPLY—NEW ZEALAND. (Hansard, 22 July 1850)

§ MR. AGLIONBY
said, he did not rise to oppose the vote, for he was aware of tin circumstances under which the money was required; but he wished not to be thereby precluded from calling attention to other matters connected with Now Zealand. His object now was to ask his hon. Friend the Under Secretary for the Colonies whether the grants for the bishop and clergy contained in this vote were to be permanent?

§ MR. HAWES
said, that, as the matter stood at present, the grants for the bishop, chaplains, and schools, were permanent; but as there was a prospect of representative institutions being established in the colony, he could not say how far this country would remain responsible for these charges.

§ MR. HUME
considered that this country had enough to do to maintain its own ecclesiastical establishments, and that to begin paying for the colonial establishments was most objectionable. Where was the system to end, if once admitted—were we to pay for the clergy and schools of all the colonies? He had nothing to say against the efficiency of the bishop; but he contended that, as the House had had nothing to do with his appointment, they had no right to be called upon to pay his salary. He would move that the vote be reduced by 600l., the amount of the bishop's allowance.
95 Whereupon Motion made, and Question put, "That a sum, not exceeding 41,130l., be granted to Her Majesty, to defray the Charge of New Zealand, to the 31st day of March, 1851."

§ SIR R. H. INGLIS
bore testimony to the high character of the bishop for piety, zeal, and general efficiency, and urged that while the mother country administered the affairs of a colony, she was bound to provide the means of religious instruction.

§ MR. AGLIONBY
should regret very much if the Committee assented to the Amendment. Dr. Selwyn was receiving a very small salary, while his duties were most onerous and arduous—he having to superintend several settlements, extending over a country as large as Great Britain. [Mr. BRIGHT: That is no reason why he should be paid by this country.] The Bishop of New Zealand had more important and onerous duties entrusted to him than perhaps any other colonial bishop; and though he thought Dr. Selwyn had been occasionally mistaken, and had taken a course hostile to the views and interests of the New Zealand Company, he believed a more zealous, honourable, and conscientious man could not be found; and the trouble he had taken, and the good he had done in assisting in the civilisation of the natives, could not be too highly commended. He had great pleasure in supporting this vote, which was a very inadequate payment for the services rendered, though, he admitted, as much as could be expected from this country. He was glad to hear that representative institutions were likely to be extended to the colony; and he could assure his hon. Friend the Under Secretary for the Colonies that nothing would give more satisfaction to the colonists than an assurance that a Bill would be introduced next Session for establishing such institutions on a just and firm basis. He hoped his hon. Friend the Member for Montrose would not divide on his Amendment.

§ MR. HUME
objected to the principle of voting money for the support of the ecclesiastical establishments of the colonies. The revenue of the colony was estimated at 36,000l. a year; and if the Governor told them that their expenditure must be limited to that sum, it would be so limited, and there would be no necessity to come to Parliament for grants of this description.

§ LORD J. RUSSELL
contended that if the hon. Member for Montrose opposed the vote on the ground that they were now be- 96 ginning for the first time to support a Church Establishment in the colonies, it was not tenable; for from the year 1842 until the present time a vote had been taken every year for this purpose. This was a case wholly different from that of the North American colonies, where having been in existence for many years, and having the advantage of popular institutions, they were able to support their own Church Establishment; but in the case of New Zealand it had been represented to him by the New Zealand Company and others that it would tend to the settlement of the colony if the missionaries and Church ministers were under the superintendence of a proper and efficient ruler appointed by the Government; and the Government concurring in that view, Dr. Selwyn had been appointed. And without going into the question of whether the duty was worth 600l. a year or not, he thought the cause of civilisation had been much promoted by having a bishop there, and he thought it was better to pay that amount for a bishop than a considerably larger sum for the salaries of a number of police magistrates.

§ MR. HUME
suggested that it might be better to adopt at once the old Catholic rule of the Spanish and Portuguese, to which we seemed fast approaching, of appointing a bishop as the first act of colonisation.