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were war, or, as he should advise, a system of wise conciliation of the natives.

The Bishop of Lichfield admitted that the present relations between England and the New Zealand colonists had been set on foot at the demand of the latter themselves; but he appealed on behalf of the colonists against any attitude on the part of the Imperial Government which could be construed as neglect. He traced the present disorders to the monopoly assumed by the Queen's Government of the right to purchase land from the natives, and he expressed a belief that the colonists would never be able to keep up a force sufficient to maintain the law. That, he apprehended, could only be done by means of an Imperial force, which should not intermeddle with the land question, but confine itself strictly to the repression of crime. He asked for such aid to the colony, on the ground partly of mercy and partly of justice.

Lord Lyveden argued strongly against any deviation from the now-established policy of non-intervention. The subject then dropped.

Viscount Bury, about the same time, drew the attention of the House of Commons to the affairs of New Zealand. The noble lord drew a picture of the disturbed state of the colony, and pressed the Government not to withdraw from it the sympathy and countenance of the mother country. For the present troubles the colonists, he contended, were not liable; they sprang entirely out of the policy of the Home Government. What the colonists wished was not money or soldiers, but the support of the mother country. We might guarantee them a small loan, and we ought not to withdraw the last regiment which had been left there, for its departure would be regarded both by the hostile and friendly Maories as an evidence that the Imperial Government did not approve the conduct of the colonists. By throwing them entirely on their own resources we might drive them into an Australian Confederation, or into the arms of the United States; and in the interests of the Maories, he urged that the Europeans should not be compelled to protect themselves by a policy of desperation.

Mr. Magniac supported Lord Bury's appeal, enlarging on the importance of the colony from statistical returns. Sir H. Selwyn Ibbetson earnestly deprecated the entire withdrawal of British troops from the colony. Mr. R. W. Fowler expressed strongly his opinion of the disgrace it would reflect on England if, instead of civilizing the natives, she resorted to a policy of extermination. Mr. R. Torrens espoused the side of the natives in their disputes with the colonists. Mr. Digby, on the other hand, defended the Imperial policy.

Mr. Monsell, Under-Secretary for the Colonies, defended the action of the Colonial Office, which was not responsible for recent events. The withdrawal of the troops had been imperatively demanded by the colonists, and while it was being carried out the Government of the colony had neglected to take adequate

means for the protection of the settlers. It was most unreasonable, therefore-and it would be a fatal gift to the colonists-to return to the old vicious policy. As to a guarantee, Mr. Monsell objected to it by a comparison of the weight of taxation on the English and colonial population, and also on the general ground of policy that, having given the colonists the complete management of their own affairs, we ought to leave them to carry it on without assistance.

Mr. Adderley strongly deprecated the smallest step backwards towards the old meddling system, which was at the bottom of all the misfortunes of New Zealand. Admitting the mistakes of the old Crown Government, he denied that the British taxpayer ought to pay for them; and, attributing the present unprotected state of the colony to party conflicts, he urged that the Colonial Office should support the party which advocated a self-reliant policy.

The Supplies having been voted, and the Bills which the Government had undertaken to pass having gone through their stages in both Houses, the time arrived for releasing the Members of the Legislature from the labours of a session which had been unusually onerous and fatiguing. Although in actual duration it did not exceed the usual term, the length of the sittings and lateness of the hours, as well as the onerous and exciting character of the subjects under discussion, had been such as to task severely the physical endurance of the House of Commons, and especially of the Ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister had suffered in health from his severe labours, and some of his colleagues also were debilitated by over-exertion. It was, therefore, a welcome relief to the Members when the Prorogation of Parliament took place on the 11th August. The ceremony took place by Commission, and the Lord Chancellor read Her Majesty's Speech, which was in the following terms:

"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,

"We are commanded by Her Majesty to dispense with your further attendance in Parliament.

"Her Majesty announces to you with pleasure that she continues to receive from all Foreign Powers the strongest assurances of their friendly disposition, and that her confidence in the preservation of peace has been continued and confirmed during the present year.

"The negotiations in which Her Majesty was engaged with the United States of North America have by mutual consent been suspended; and Her Majesty earnestly hopes that this delay may tend to maintain the relations between the two countries on a durable basis of friendship.

"Her Majesty has a lively satisfaction in acknowledging the untiring zeal and assiduity with which you have prosecuted the arduous labours of the year.

"In the Act for putting an end to the establishment of the

[1869. Irish Church, you carefully kept in view the several considerations which at the opening of the session were commended to your notice.

"It is the hope of Her Majesty that this important measure may hereafter be remembered as a conclusive proof of the paramount anxiety of Parliament to pay reasonable regard, in legislating for each of the three kingdoms, to the special circumstances by which it may be distinguished, and to deal on principles of impartial justice with all interests and all portions of the nation.

"Her Majesty firmly trusts that the Act may promote the work of peace in Ireland, and may help to unite all classes of its people in that fraternal concord with their English and Scottish fellowsubjects which must ever form the chief source of strength to her extended empire.

"Her Majesty has observed with pleasure your general and cordial readiness to unite in the removal, through the Assessed Rates Act, of a practical grievance which was widely felt.

"Her Majesty congratulates you on having brought your protracted labours on the subjects of bankruptcy and of imprisonment for debt to a legislative conclusion, which is regarded with just satisfaction by the trading classes and by the general public.

"The law which you have framed for the better government of endowed schools in England will render the large resources of these establishments more accessible to the community, and more efficient for their important purpose.

"It may reasonably be expected that the Act for the supervision of habitual criminals will contribute further to the security of life and property.

"The measure which has been passed with respect to the contagious diseases of animals will, as Her Majesty believes, add confidence and safety to the important trades of breeding and feeding cattle at home, without unnecessarily impeding the freedom of import from abroad.

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By the repeal of the tax on fire insurance you have met a long-cherished wish of the community; and in the removal of the duty on corn Her Majesty sees new evidence of your desire to extend industry and commerce, and to enlarge to the uttermost those supplies of food which our insular position in a peculiar degree both encourages and requires.

"Her Majesty trusts that the measures for the purchase and management of the electric telegraphs by the State may be found to facilitate the great commercial and social object of rapid, easy, and certain communication, and may prove no unworthy sequel to that system of cheap postage which has passed with much advantage into so many countries of the civilized world.

"GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS,

"We are commanded to state that Her Majesty thanks you for the liberal supplies which you have granted for the service of the

year, and for the measures by which you have enabled her at once to liquidate the charge of the Abyssinian expedition.

"MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,

"Her Majesty reflects with pleasure that, in returning to your several homes, you may contemplate with thankfulness the fruit of your exertions in the passing of many important laws, a portion of which we have now had it in command to notice.

"During the recess you will continue to gather that practical knowledge and experience which form the solid basis of legislative aptitude; and Her Majesty invokes the blessing of the Almighty alike upon your recent and your future labours for the public weal." Parliament was then prorogued, in the usual form, to Thursday, October 28.

The Parliamentary Session of 1869, of which the leading incidents have now been briefly narrated, will be memorable for the important political transactions which marked its course. It was signalized

by two important events-the meeting of the first House of Commons elected under household suffrage, and the first great step taken in reversing the long-standing policy of England towards Ireland. The two events indeed were closely connected together: it was the strongly-marked popular spirit of the new constituencies that placed Mr. Gladstone at the head of affairs, and sustained him in that position with a majority at his back more constant and unswerving than any minister in modern times has been able to command; and it was the intrepidity and success with which he carried through the House of Commons one of the largest and boldest measures ever proposed to a public assembly, that secured the confidence of his followers, and confirmed his ascendency in the country. That it should have been in the power of any Minister to effect within a few months so momentous a change; to rend asunder the long-subsisting connexion between the Church and the State in Ireland, and the ties which almost incorporated together the sister Churches of the two kingdoms; to defeat the powerful combination of Conservative feeling, Protestant zeal, aristocratic power, and clerical influence arrayed in defence of the menaced institution, and to unite together, almost as one man, the diversified and incongruous elements of English, Irish, and Scottish liberalism in the prosecution of a common purpose-was a feat so remarkable that the session which witnessed it can hardly fail to be looked back upon in years to come as one of the most remarkable on record. Even those who despaired of preventing the ultimate disestablishment of the Church had reckoned on being at least able to protract the defence of that institution for a considerable time, and had predicted that its downfall would not be achieved without entailing serious reverses, and perhaps, for awhile, confusion and defeat upon those who should be bold enough to strike the first blow. It was beyond their conception that the work of demolition should be thoroughly

and completely effected within the ordinary limits of a session, and, until the measure reached the Upper House, without a check.

Nor did the passing of the Irish Church Bill, although its magnitude and absorbing interest overshadowed the whole session, so engross the time and attention of the Legislature as to compel the abandonment of all other measures demanded by the public. Several other subjects of great importance, and requiring much consideration and discussion, were undertaken and brought to a successful completion. The Law of Bankruptcy, which had for several years been a standing grievance of the commercial world, and had been the subject of several unsuccessful essays at legislation, was now consolidated and reformed; the new code being based upon the principle of transferring the jurisdiction over the debtor's estate from official control to the hands of those most nearly interested in the equitable distribution of it, the body of the creditors. The cause of education received a not unimportant instalment of its claims in the enactment of a measure designed to revivify and remodel those numerous endowed schools in various parts of the kingdom which, from change of times or circumstances, or through default of their official guardians, had lapsed into a state of stagnation and decay; large funds which, for a long time past, had thus been wasted, or misapplied, being now directed into new and profitable channels. The treatment of the dangerous classes of the population, those who make a trade of crime and live by preying on the industry of others, was another subject to which Parliament in the intervals of its main employment found time to attend; and the Habitual Criminals Bill inaugurated a more stringent and summary method of coping with professional depredators, and other scourges of society, than had hitherto been ventured upon. In addition to these three leading measures, from which important and wide-spread results may be looked for, several other Acts of a minor character, but useful in their degree-such as those which emanated from the President of the Poor-law Board, the Act for the purchase of the Telegraphs by the State, and the Contagious Diseases of Animals Act-deserve to be mentioned; nor would it be just to pass by the remarkable and ingenious change in the machinery of our fiscal system devised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, especially in the mode of collecting the Assessed Taxes-an experiment which encourages the expectation of further mitigations of the burdens of taxation originating with the same fertile mind.

There was no disturbance of public order in England or Scotland during the period now under review, but the condition of Ireland during the latter part of the year was such as to cause serious anxiety. The agragrian outrages, murders, and deeds of violence, which were reported with increased frequency during the autumn, and the spirit of seditious violence which was in many places exhibited-and too often stimulated by the efforts of lay and clerical demagogues were sorely disappointing to those who had persuaded themselves that the policy adopted by Parliament towards the

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