The Express.
London, England, 1851-06-24 00:00:00

with his 3,0001.
fear from even

a year out of the church
his Bishop.

Osi the 13th of May, WA, Lord Jolts Russm,
in the debate on the Australian Colonies' Government
Bill, intimated that: "The Governor of New Zea-
land said that the state of the colony was mostsatis-
factory, and that he (lid not see any reason for con-
tinuing the suspension of the free institutions sanc-
tioned by parliament. At the same time, there were
certain points in respeA of which the government
were desirous of amending the constitution [Lord
GREY'S]. There would not he time during the pre-
sent session; but, in the course of the next year, he
hoped to submit to the house a measure on the sub-
ject." What has become of the promised measure ?
The business of the session, it is admitted on all
hands, is beginning to be wound up—already has Lord
JOHN given notice to discursive members, prone to
avail themselves of the talking licence of days on
which notices of motions take precedence that for
the rest of the session business must supersede talk ;
but no step has been taken by him to redeem tho
pledge given more than twelve months ago.
This obliviousness of his promise on the part of
the Premier, must be the more galling to the New
Zealand colonists, that it follows upon the tantalising
treatment they have experienced at the hands of the
noble Secretary of State for the Colonies. Earl
GREY distinguished his advent to office by bestowing
a constitution on New Zealand, by which there is no
reason to doubt he proposed to confer upon the
settlers a considerable latitude of self-government.
The Governor, Sir GtainGE GREY, objected to sonic
of its details, and to please him orders to suspend its
introduction for five years were sent out to the
colony, before it could be brought into operation. A
general power was conferred upon the governor
to administer the affairs of the colony in the mit:Lim
in any way that suited his fancy.
Sir GEORGE, true to the instincts of the Colonial-
office, chose to administer the local government by
the aid of provincial legislative councils consisting
exclusively of his own matinees. With &dimity he
contrived to get together a few individuals willing
to be nominated by him. One session was held in
each province, the only result of which was to afford
a practical illustration of the subserviency of nominee
councils. But the trouble of keeping even his own
creatures in ordnr was too much for the governor.
From the expiry of the session down to the priod
' of the latest despatches from the colons-, Sir fif.”1:(.1:
GREY continued to administer its aftalis and expend
• its revenue—to act us sole legislator. us sole local
' chief magistrate—without the ussiqauce of any
• couucil. The government of New Zealand ha, bena a

pure despotism, and a tolerably capricious one to I,•;ot.
In the course of last Nove:nher the to!onista
were surprised by their governor's publish:lT in
the Official Gazette a constitution, or, rather,
one chapter of a constitution, which, it was
intimated he had recommended for the nil
of the home government. A very brig f exam
sufficed to convince the colonists that the

ption

constitution must of necessity prove entirely
A large proportion of' gpvernment nominees rL
to have voice and vote m the councils along with
the elective members; the civil li,ts of bo:h
climes were to be augmented and withdr:t r

from the control of the' councils; and a vt

questions of purely local concern was reserved to
the home government. The public opinion of Wel-
lington, Nelson, and Auckland—the three mo-t ad-
vanced settlements—was deliberately and fairly can-
vassed; and overwhelming majorities deelar,d at all
the three places against the governor's constitution,
and in favour of one which would conkr the reality
of self-government. To this decision. New Ply-
mouth, Otago, and even the infant settlement of
Canterbury, have given in their adhesion.
Thus then stands the question of constitutional
government with reference to New Zealand. From
the date of the first settlement on Cook's Strait

till the advent of Lord GREY to office, what
local administration there was, for many im-
portant functions were left altogether undis-
charged, was absolute, and in defiance alike
of the feelings and interests of the settlers.
After the accession of Earl GREY to office, the colo-
nists were tantalised by the present of a constitution
which was again snatched from their grasp before they
could make any use of it. During the years which have
succeeded, the governor, left to the uncontrolled free-
dom of his own will, has successively tried to go-
vern by the agency of a puppet council, to govern
avowedly without any council at all, and, lastly, to
persuadi3 the colonists to accept of n constitution,
which, professing to be based on principles of ultra
democracy, would, in fact, have retained all real
power in the hands of government. Harassed by
the want of any administration in more than
one important department of public busi-
ness, galled and irritated by perverse despotism
in others, tantalised by clusory promises of constitu-
tional government, broken again and again as soon
as made, the colonists have repeatedly appealed to
the home government. But they have oil every
occasion been put off with promises of great things
to be done "next year," as Lord JOHN said in Mav
last. The vehement and clamorous importunities of
the settlers remind one of the simultaneous calling
of customers from all the rooms in Dante Quickly 4
house ; the evasive promises of government of the
anon, anon," of the drawer.
It is no mere theoretical question about gratifying
a sentimental longing for self-government that
agitates New Zealand. The practical evils
of wanting a constitution are felt on all
hands. land titles of the first Wel-
lington settlers are still unconfirmed. In all the
settlements applications to have the local revenue
applied to works of local utility-- roads, bridges,
ferries, piers, and the like—are systematically dis-
regarded. Not long ago the young settlement of
Otago announced complacently a surplus of some
SOO/. on its yearly revenue. There was at the time
a discarded judge from another colony hanging
about the governor; the sum would exactly suit him,
and accordingly he was sent to Otago with a com-
mission of Chief Justice of the district, where no
such functionary was required, and authority to
draw his 800/. per annum.
In New Zealand, settlement is still in its infancy.
The most sanguine calculators do not estimate the
aggregate number of colonists at more than Is,ooo
souls. These are scattered through six settlements,
extending over a space of some five or six degrees of
' latitude. Such a colony is helpless against a home
government supported by the apathy and carelessness
I of the mother country. And thus the tempers of the
inhabitants of our youngest colouv are already being
soured against the parent state. They feel that their
I appeals for justice are trilled with, and they see
L other colonies more favourably treated only when by
insurrection, or something bordering upon it, they
• can alarm the home government. the first lesson
I taught to the settlers of New Zealand is, that nothing
short of rebellion can extort justice from the imperial
- government. As if Canada, the Cape, and the Aus-
tralian colonies did not suffice to perplex the Colo-
nial-office, it is planting fresh shoots of rebel-
lion in New Zealand, to be ready for harvesting
) against the time that the crops of the more advanced
colonies have been reaped and garnered.

Tux GREAT Extuarnos yesterday was visited
by 67,592 persons, of whom about 800 were ticket holders.
The whole of the officers and men belonging to the royal
yacht Victoria and Albert, and her tenders, ore to proceed
from Portsmouth to London to-morrow, to ♦isit the Ex-
hibition, an order having been 6sued to that effect yes-
terday.
EMPLOYERS AND THE EXHIBITION.—Yesterday

morning, the workmen employed by Messrs. Doulton and
Watts, at the Lambeth Pottery, about 200 in number, with
their wives, were conveyed to the Exhibition in tweiro
covered vans (provided by the firm), accompanied by a
band of music and flags, a banner being placed at the head
of the proccuion with the words "To the Great Exhibi-
tion." Each man was presented with 35., and each boy
with 2s. ; those men who were accompanied by their wises
received an extra shilling. _ .

ROCHDALE SAVINGS BANK.—A circular has been
addressed to the members of parliament by the committee of
depositors in the Rochdale Savings Bank. The committee
urge the rrliament to make good the loss of :04,0001. which
they hive sustained by the defalcation of Mr. Howarth, their
late auditor, on the ground that parliament has, by its fre-
quent interference, conic under a moral obligation to pro-
tect the depositors, while the laxity of the government
supervision, in this particular instance, required them to
I be held responsible; and the relief given to the depositors
in the Cuffee-street bank in Dublin, and to the pensioners
who were depositors in the Rochdale, afforded sufficient
precedents for the government taking the loss upon
themselves.