§ MR. HENNIKER HEATON (Canterbury)asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, What reason was assigned for the resignation of Mr. Hensman as Attorney General of Western Australia; was the Governor of the Colony censured for his conduct towards Mr. Hensman; and, will he lay upon the Table of the House the whole Correspondence relating to the question?
§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE (Sir HENRY HOLLAND) (Hampstead)Mr. Hensman resigned on the ground that he considered that the Governor had made grave and unjust charges against him and had reflected on his professional 1606 honour, and had charged him with discrediting and disgracing his office. The Governor has not been formally censured; but his conduct has been, in some respects, disapproved; and as to the matter referred to in his letter of resignation, Mr. Hensman was informed by my Predecessor that he appeared to have advised the Governor in perfect good faith, and that his conduct had not laid him open to any just imputations of professional misconduct. I may add that he has since been offered the Attorney Generalship of Barbadoes, which he was unable to accept. The Papers are very bulky, and in part confidential, and I cannot, I fear, undertake to present them. The matter is not one of public interest; and Mr. Hensman's character, as I have before pointed out, has been cleared from any charge of professional misconduct.