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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Auckland Provincial District]

[introduction]

The Act which gave to this Colony representative government was passed in the Imperial Parliament in the year 1852, and provided for three branches of the Legislature. The first branch—the Governor was to be appointed by the Crown; the second—the Legislative Council, was to be nominated by the Governor, which, of course, meant by the Executive Council of responsible Ministers, presided over by the Governor; and the third—the House of Representatives, was to be elected by the people. Provincial Councils were also provided for in the Constitution Act. The two men in New Zealand who had most to do with the framing of the Constitution were Sir George Grey and Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield; and yet, though these two were probably the cleverest men who ever set foot on New Zealand soil, the result of their genius, as exhibited in the Constitution, was not a marvel of completeness; for when it came to be tried on it was found to be rather an ill-fitting vestment. Still, with the exception of the abolition of the Provinces, the changes in the Constitution have not been great, though further modifications, intimately connected with the Legislative Council, are occasionally mooted.

When the Constitution was passed in 1852, the population of Colony numbered about 27,000; and when, during the following year, it became necessary to elect six Provincial Councils and a House of Representatives there were probably not more than 16,000 males in the whole Colony. Even in those days nearly half of the males would be children, and of the adults not more than six or seven thousand, at the outside, would be qualified to vote. In view of these figures, Constitutional Government cannot be said to have arrived very late in the day. It would be safe to say that, on an average, one man in every fifty was either a Legislative Councillor, a member of the House, or a Provincial Councillor.

The first session of the Legislative Council was opened on the 24th of May, 1854, and the first members were appointed by the Acting-Governor, Colonel R. H. Wynyard. There were sixteen members, of whom Auckland had six; five were from other parts of the North Island, and the whole of the South Island contributed five. The Auckland members were: The Hon. William Swainson, F. Whitaker, T. H. Bartley, J. A. Gilfillan, W. W. Kenny, and John Salmon.

Until 1891, the Legislative Council had no power to elect its own Speaker; and though the Hon. Mr. Swainson still held the office of Attorney-General direct from the Crown, he was appointed Speaker of the Council. During the following year, however, the dual position was found to be incompatible, and Mr. (afterwards Sir) Frederick Whitaker was appointed to the office. When in turn Mr. Whitaker became Attorney-General in 1856, he also retired, and Mr. T. H. Bartley was appointed Speaker. Thus Auckland supplied the first three Speakers of the Upper House.

If Aucklanders had excessive representation on the Council when members were appointed by the Governor before the days of responsible Ministries, the disproportion was still greater for some time thereafter, for in 1856 the number of Councillors had declined to thirteen, while, by the addition of Sir Samuel Osborne Gibbes in 1855, the Auckland members constituted a clear majority. Three of the other six Councillors were from Nelson, and one from Taranaki, Canterbury and Otago, respectively, and during the session the Otago member resigned. By the next session, in 1858, there being none in the previous year, the number was made up to nineteen, and Auckland's number was increaed to nine by the appointment of Chief-Justice Arney and Colonel Wynyard. The latter, however, resigned in 1860, reducing the Council to eighteen, of whom the remainder of the North Island contributed four and the South Island six. The next session saw three more Councillors added, two of whom—the Hon. Dr. Pollen and Henry Sewell—were Auckland men.

From this point Auckland's supremacy in the Legislative Council waned rapidly. By the session of 1863, when Mr. Domett's fateful motions regarding the removal of the seat of Government were passed in the Lower House, Auckland's power in the Upper House was but ten out of twenty-nine; for the addition during that year of the Hon. Henry Walton was balanced by the resignation of Sir S. O. Gibbes, and during next session Mr. Whitaker resigned. In 1865, the session following the actual removal of Government, the roll of Councillors consisted of thirty-five members, though Auckland's number had declined to nine through the resignation of the Hon. H. Sewell. By the next session the Chief-Justice and Messrs J. A. Gilfillan and H. Walton had resigned; but the appointment of the Hon. Ponsonby Peacocke made Auckland's number up to six—the smallest since the first session when the total membership was smaller by more than half. In 1868 a further reduction was made by the vacation by absence of the seats of Messrs W. Swainson and John Salmon. During that year the Hon. Major Richardson, of Otago, was appointed Speaker in succession to the Hon. T. H. Bartley.

While Auckland's numbers were being reduced the total was rapidly increasing. By 1869 the roll embraced forty-one members, but during this year the representatives of Auckland were doubled in number by the appointment of the Hon. Henry Chamberlin, F. D. Fenton, James O'Neill, and C. J. Taylor. In 1870 the Hon. James Williamson was added, making nine members for Auckland out of a total of forty-seven. The numbers for the other provinces were: Wellington, nine; Otago, nine; Canterbury, page 92 five; Nelson, four; Hawke's Bay, four; Southland, three; Taranaki, one; and Westland, one. By 1871 the names of Dr. Pollen and Judge Fenton were omitted from the list; but the Hon. James Farmer was added. In the following session the number of Auckland members declined to six by the resignation of Mr. O'Neill, and the death of Mr. Ponsonby Peacocke; but the appointment of the Hon. Randall Johnston raised it to seven. The appointment in 1873 of the Hon. Mokena Kohere, and the re-appointment of the Hon. Dr. Pollen increased the number to nine. In the following session Mr. Bartley's seat was vacated by absence; but the Hon. Every McLean was appointed to the vacancy. During this year Mr. James Farmer resigned; and in 1876 Mr. Every McLean's seat was vacated by absence, which reduced Auckland's numbers to seven. Two years later Mr. C. J. Taylor's seat became similarly vacant, and Auckland's numbers declined to six; for though the Hon. Thomas Henderson was appointed in that year, the Hon. Randall Johnston removed to Wellington.

The roll of Councillors in 1879 embraced forty-nine members allocated provincially as follows: Auckland, by the addition of the Hon. P. Dignan, seven; Wellington, eleven; Canterbury, eight; Otago, eleven; Nelson, four; Hawke's Bay, four; Taranaki, one; Marlborough, one; and Westland, two. During this year Sir William Fitzherbert, of Wellington, was appointed Speaker, in place of Sir J. L. Cheese Richardson.

The re-appointment of Mr. Whitaker in 1880, and the death during the same year of Colonel Kenny, one of the earliest Councillors, after thirty-seven years' service, left the number unaltered. In the following year, however, the Hon. Henry Williams, who is still a member, was appointed. The year 1885 saw the largest Council which the colony has ever had, for at that time there were fifty-four members, the appointment of the Hon. G. B. Morris and W. Swanson, making a total of ten members for Auckland — the number that, in days of yore, the Northern Province had in a Council of twenty-one. The death of Mr. Thomas Henderson in 1886, the resignation of Mr. Kohere early in 1887, and the death of Messrs Chamberlin and James Williamson in 1888, made serious reductions in the number of Auckland's members though Mr. Kohere's seat was filled by the appointment of the Hon. Major Ropata Wahawaha.

With the exception of a short temporary absence, during which the Hon. G. M. Waterhouse acted as Speaker of the Council, Sir William Fitzherbert held the Speakership from the 14th of June, 1879, until the 23rd of January, 1891, when he died, and was succeeded by Sir Harry Atkinson. Sir Harry, however, had a lamentably short rule, for he died on the 28th of June, 1892, within a few minutes of his leaving the chair, on the adjournment of the Council as a mark of respect to the memory of Sir Frederick Whitaker and others who had passed away during the recess. The present Speaker, the Hon. H. J. Miller, was elected to the Speakership. He was the first and, so far, is the only Speaker elected to the position, all previous holders of the office having been appointed by the Governor-in-Council. The Act of 1891, which altered the constitution of the Council by fixing the term of subsequent appointees at seven years, conferred on the Council the privilege of electing its Speaker, and fixed the duration of the office at five years. At the end of his first term, Mr. Miller was re-elected.

The appointment to the Council, of the Hon. J. B. Whyte in 1891, and of the Hon. W. T. Jennings and William McCullough in 1892, gave Auckland a total of nine members. By the session of 1895, however, it had been reduced by the death of Mr. Peter Dignan, and still further in the following year by the death of Dr. Pollen. In 1897 Major Ropata died and Mr. J. B. Whyte's name disappeared from the list; but these losses were balanced by the appointment of the Hon. Benjamin Harris and William Kelly, who are still members of the Council. The Hon. W. McCullough vacated his seat by effluxion of time on the 15th of October, 1899, and was not re-appointed, but on the 21st of December following, the Hon. A. J. Cadman, formerly Minister of Railways, was called to a seat in the Council.

On the thirty-four persons who have been appointed to sit in the Legislative Council as representing the province of Auckland, twenty-seven appear on the list of late Councillors. They were all appointed for life, except Mr McCullough, yet only nine held the office for life, and two of the nine had resigned and been re-appointed. Three sat for fifteen years, one for sixteen, one for eighteen, one for seven, two for nineteen, one for twenty-three, one for twenty-seven, and one (Dr. Pollen), for thirty-three years, though not continuously.

Of Auckland's late Councillors, several had held high positions in the service of the state. Colonel Wynyard had, prior to his appointment to the Council, been Commander of the Forces, Lieutenant-Governor of New Ulster, Administrator of the Government (for nearly two trying years), and Superintendent of the Province of Auckland. Sir George Arney was, at the time of his Councillorship, Chief Justice, and the Hon. W. Swainson was, for nearly fifteen years, Attorney-General under appointment by the Crown, and was afterwards a member of the Grey Cabinet. The Hon. Henry Sewell, Dr. Pollen and Sir Frederick Whitaker each held the Premiership and many other important positions in various Ministries; and Mr. Thomas Henderson was a member of the Executive in the second Fox Ministry.