The Express.
London, England, 1850-04-20 00:00:00

ROYAL FORESTS,

Lord DUNCAN wished to know whether the govern-
ment were prepared to lay on the table the report of the
commimionen appointed donne the lest amnion to inquire
with regard to the New Forest and Waltham Forest ?
Lord J. RUSSELL said one of the commissi ,ners whom
he bad questioned on the subject had stated that the report
would be ready neat week.
GRAND JURY (IRELAND) BILL.
Mr. LAWLESS asked the Siieretaty for Ireland whether
he intended to proceed with the Irish Grand Jury Bill
during the present mein ?
Sir W. SOMERVILLE would do so as 60311 as the state
of publie Hines. would allow.
AUSTRALIAN COLONIES GOVERNMENT BILL.
The house went into committee on the Australian Colo
nice Government Bill.

Clauses from Ito 4 were agreed to. Clause 6 being pro-
rated,
Sir W. MOLESWORTH said he had only one word to
my with regard to this claim. In this clause and in clause
11 it war proposed to nation- the set of the sth and 6th
Victoria, which contained • number of provision., and
amongst them one which empowered parliament to interfere
in the affairs of the colony. It would he inconvenient to
enter into • discussion at the present msment, and he would
not prevent the committee going into the next clause.
Claus 6 being proposed,
Sir W. MOLESWORTII moved to omit all the words
after the word " that," down to the word " and," in
line 39, for the purpose of inserting these wards, " there
shall be established in the Colonies of Van Diemen's Lied
and South Australia respectively • Legislative Council and
a House of Ammahly." In line 39, to omit the word "re
mining," and after the word " council " to insert " and
House of Assembly." In line 41, after the word " council"
to insert " and House of Assembly ; " and after the word
"established" to omit the rest of the clause. If this
were carried he should proceed to propose other
amendments, by which these two chambers would be made
elective. He need scarcely observe that at the present mo-
ment the colonies of Van Diemen's Land and South Ant-
tralia did not possess representative institutions, but were
governed by • legislative council, all the members of which
were nominated by the Colonial-office. He might assume
that they were all agreed that that form of government
should be chang,d, and that these colonies should posses.
representative institutions. The question was, what was the
best fora of representative government for these colonies to
coma-ace with ? The Colonial-office, loth to part with all
its powers to, nomination, proposed that they should begin
with a smile chamber, of which one-third of the members
should hold their seats at the will of the Colonial office. Oa
the other hand, he proposed that they should besin with two
chambers, both elective. The question, therefore, was
amply between election and nomination—between two
chambers and one chamber. On a former occasion
this question was fully dimmed. Envy hon. gentleman
who unto was decidedly of opinion that in theory two elec•
live chambers were preferable to one partly notninathd
chamber, therefore it would be • waste of time to reargue
the general question. The committee deal led the other
night that New South Wales and Victoria should continue
to possum their present tons of government. He
did not presume to ask the committee to reverse
that decision, but merely to consider the reasons which
led them to that decision. and whether they were not inap-
plicable to Van Diemen's Load and South Australia. It was
then asserted that New South Wales and Victoria were well '
satislitsd with their present form of government, and pre- '
fined it to any other form ; therefore that it would be an
arbitrary and unjust proceeding to alter it without
their eons-vet. The committee should beer in mind
that this bill was brought in last year, and that one of the
chief reasons assigned for postponing it wee that the delay
would enable the boon to receive information from the
Australian colonies in reply to the report of the committee of
council which had b-en met round to them. Now, within
the last few days very important information had been re-
attired, to which he must beg to call the attention of the
committee, and especially toe despatch from the governor of
Van Diemen's Land, Sr Wm. Denison, who had always
been quoted by the Colonial office as high authority. la
that despatch, dated the 28th December lest, Sir William
Denison gave his deliberate opinion on this bill, and
expressed his decided condemnation of the part which
was now under ousideration. He would state
only the substance of that pert of his despatch.
Sir W. Denison began by saying : 'I have been made aware
that her klejetty's government intend to bring thin bill
forward again early in the next main of parliament. I
think it therefore my duty to point out to your lordship such
of the provisions of the bill es would work unsatisfactorily,"
and he proceeded so to do. He admitted, I have no very
actuate means of arriving at the opinion of the body of the
community ; indeed, I might almost say, that the satisfac-
tion with which any measure conferring a representative
system of government would he welcomed would go far to
prevent any deliberate discussion of is provisions." '
There could be no doubt these colonies preferred
any form of representative government to no form
of representative government whatever. As regarded
his own views, "I observe that the committee of the
Privy Council who gave their sanction to the principle of a
second chamber, bars recommended that In the Australian
coluies thespians of New South Wales, where legislation
is entrusted to • daps body, partly nominated, should be
generally adopted.' He said he quite agreed that it would
be undesirable to press a reform upon an unwilling or even
indifferent people, but I doubt very much whether the evi-
dence in the possession of the government is sufficient to
prove that the people of New South Wales are unwilling to
adopt such a change in the form of the existing government.
Indifferent they may perhaps be, but in that case I would
snomit that the welfare of the three colonies now about to
be called into political existence, might be allowed to out-
weigh the mere indifference of the people of Ns wSouth Wales.
In reply to the common argument of the Colonial office,
that the legislatures of these colonies will have power to
amend their institutions, Sir We,, Denison said: " I am
afraid that the remedy proposed by the Committee of the
Privy Council—as., that of vesting a power in the legisla-
tures of the different oolosies, of amending their constitu-
tions, by resolving either of their single houses of timid
into two, will hardly meet the evil. A single house as-
sembly will always attempt to mount, to itself • portion of
the p wer of the executive. The proceedings of the Legis-
lative Assembly at Sydney, during the last session, will
afford ample evident* of this tendency." Ile went on to
say: " When, therefore • body thus constituted has Pace
found itself in the possesiion of power, it is not at nil pro-
bable that it will originate, or carry oat, • change
which will in effect diminish its power, and tend to deprive
each individual composing it of a portion of the importance
which attaches to him as • member of such a body."
Next, in reply to the favourite position of the Colonial-office
that all the Australian adoniss should have the same insti-
tutions, Sir William Dubois said:—" I would submit also
that, if each colony be empowered to alter its constitution,
the reasons which here induced the committee of council
to recommend that all should have governments constituted
upon the same model, would seem to have but little weight,
as • change on the part or any of the four would at once
destroy the uniformity." And, lastly, Sir William Denison
said •—" My opinion remains unchanged by an that
I have heard or read sines I lest addressed your lordship on
this subject. Every additional day that I remain in this
colony serves to add to the strengthof my conviction that it
would be most desirable, when the change in the form of
the government of this colony does take place, that •
Second Chamber should be constituted at once by the autho-
rity of parliament. Such • chamber, however. should differ
from those which did exist is the North Arian an colonies,