The Sun.
London, England, 1848-03-01 00:00:00

THE AVENGER.

The Earl of MALMESBURY asked if it was the
intention of the Government to give any reward to
the Arab fishermen who had saved the survivors of the
Avenger ? Re would also recommend to the Govern-
ment to reward the fishermen on the west coast of
Ireland, who had saved the lives of sundry ship-
wrecked seamen.

The Earl of AUCKLAND said that rewards had
been given to the Arabs, and that the acknowledg-
ment by the Government had been conveyed to the
French officers, and to all others that had rendered
assistance in the search after the unfortunate crew of
the Avenger. His Lordship was also understood to
say that the inhabitants of the west coast of Ireland
alluded to had been rewarded.
INDIAN MAIL.

In answer to a question from a NOBLE LORD,
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said, that the
report of the distruction of the Indian mail in France
was false. lie had received a communication from
the French Postmaster-General, stating that the
mail had arrived at Paris, and had been conveyed to
Marseilles.
NE Ar ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BILL.

Earl GREY rose to move the second reading of
theNewZealandGovernment Bill. The Noble Earl then
proceeded at great length to explain the provisions of
that Bill, which have been already frequently pub-
lished. The Noble Earl further stated that
the Governor of New Zealand had exhibited all the
characteristics of a very great mind ; he had enjoyed
the confidence of the colonists, and the change that
had ensued upon his arrival was most astonishing.
The finances, which bad been in a ruinous state, had
revived, and the natives who had previously despised
us had been taught in the course of six weeks to
respect and to fear our power, and to undertake
large public works for wages paid to them
by our Government. Trade, also, hid increased,
and was flourishing, as had been shown by
an increased revenue. It, therefore, was most
expedient that the Government should be
guided almost implicitly by the advice of Governor
Grey. Seeing what he had achieved in New Zea-
land, it would be little short of presumption to reject
his advice. The measure now proposed was grounded
on his recommendation, and followed as closely as pos-
sible the advice which Governor Grey had offered.
It was thought desirable in the year 1845, that the
settlers should have more control over their affairs,
and the Governor less. When her Majesty's present
advisers came into office, there did not appear to him
any reason for altering that opinion„ which he, in
common with others, had entertained. It seemed to
him that without some popular form of government
in the colony, there was little hope of reviving the
spirit of enterprise there, and again directing the
stream of emigration towards it ; and great as the dif-
ficulties appeared to be, it did seem desirable that some
effort should be made with a view of furthering that
object. A measure was, in consequence, proposed and
sanctioned by Parliament, which he now proposed
partially to suspend. The object of that measure was
to found a system of representation, and to form
municipal bodies in the colony to perform duties
which would otherwise devolve on the central go-
vernment. There was great difficulty attending the
adoption of a system of representation in New Zealand,
principally from the wide distance apart from each
other of the towns of that colony, Auckland and Wel-
lington being 400 miles distant from each other. It
had, therefore, been suggested that there should be a
legislature in each; this plan, however, was attended
with many difficulties, besides the objection of having
two independent legislatures in the same colony. To
meet these difficulties it was suggested that there
should be a joint deputation from each to agree on
the amount of import duties and other important
measures. In proposing such an arrangement the
Government had also felt that it would not be easy to
impose such a local government on the natives, and
to meet that difficulty it was proposed that
the power of the municipal authorities should
only extend to those districts where the
settlers principally resided. If it were pru-
dent to establish popular government at once in
New Zealand the Governor did not desire to oppose
it; but he had certainly shown that, at the present
moment, it was impracticable. The main objection
he urged was, that the natives, although not suffi-
ciently advanced in intelligence to take part in such
municipal councils, were sufficiently acute to view
with great jealousy and dissatisfaction the appropria-
tion of a revenue raised on imports partly collected
from themselves, and in the distribution of which
they had no voice.—(Hear, hear.) It was; therefore,
thought desirable to suspend for a time the measure
which proposed to confer legislative power on New
Zealand ; and, as long as the colony did not pay her
own expenses, he did not think the settlers had as
much cause of complaint for not having a repre-
sentative government as they otherwise would have.
He, therefore, proposed to suspend the consti-
tution of the colony for five years, after
which he hoped it would be in a fit state to
receive a popular Government. At the same time, it
was desirable to extend the elements of representation
which now existed, but the amount of representation
to he conceded it was not easy to determine; and, in
fact, Governor Grey strongly recommended that this
subject should be settled on the spot. The Bill on
their Lordships' table authorised the Governor to
increase the Legislative Council which previously
existed, and give them the power of making ordi-
nances to create subordinate legislatures when it
might be thought desirable. These appointments
would, of course, be subject to the approval of her
Majesty. Then as to the municipal institutions, he
saw no reason for suspending them. The Act of
1846 provided that no one should be eligible for
municipal offices unless they could read and write
English. The Gevernment had, however, stated,
that whilst many natives could read and write their
own language, and speak English, they could
neither read nor write the English language. He
thought it most desirable to encourage the English
language in all our colonies, as he believed it to be
the strongest bond of union that could exist between
the natives and settlers.—(Hear, hear.) He con-
sidered it was a great error for the missionaries to
have reduced the barbarous native dialect of New
Zealand into a written language, suitable to the
purposes of civilized man. He thought after a reason-
able period the rule requiring reading and writing in
English should be enforced as a qualification for any
municipal or political office; but at present it was
desirable to suspend this rule, and the Bill, therefore,
contained a clause to that effect. The period, how-
ever, of suspension, would be left to the decision of
the Governor and the Legislative Council. He had
purposely abstained from introducing any topics pot
immediately connected with the actual question be-
fore their Lordships ; but he was quite prepared to
answer any remarks which might be made by any
Noble Lord upon any other topic connected with the
colony of ..New Zealand. The Noble Earl then
moved that the Bill be read a second time.