1864.

The Session of 1864 was opened by His Excellency on 24th December. Public rumours had for some considerable period been loud in declaring that irreconcilable differences had arisen between the Governor and his Ministers; and, when the correspondence was laid before the Legislature, it was a subject of universal regret that it had been characteised by such bitterness of spirit. Ministers deeming it impossible to hold office any longer, because the policy that the House had endorsed was not supported by the Imperial authorities, had tendered their resignation, and Mr, Weld was commissioned to form a Cabinet, and he undertook the duty on certain specified conditions. On the 28th of November the reply to the Address was passed. It embraced the following points: That prompt and energetic measures are necessary, with a view to place the settlement of Taranakion a firm and secure footing, and of restoring order in that Province arid the Ngatiruanui District; it declared that the construction of roads to be a powerful pacificator to this end; and it further recorded the approval of the House to an immediate removal of the Seat Government. No less important was the declared intention of the new Ministry to request the removal of Her Majesty's troops, in order to secure the full benefits of Ministerial responsibility, to avoid all differences with the Colonial Office and the Governor, to effect a saving in the military expenditure, and to promote the efficiency of the means adopted to suppress the rebellion. Independently of these considerations, Mr. Weld's Government considered it utterly impossible to meet the peremptory demands of the imperial Government for £40 for every soldier remaining in New Zealand. It was also the resolution of the Ministry faithfully to carry out the Panama Contract, after certain modifications had been made. It was one of the chief points of the policy of the Government that the Waikato Regiments should be placed on their land, and struck off pay as early as possible, consistently with existing arrangements, and that the immigration to Auckland should cease at once, for, not only was the scheme a failure, but the means for carrying it out and providing for accru- page 15 ing necessities were wanting. In order to meet the inevitable expenditure which loomed largely in the distance, the Ministry introduced a new tariff and took power to dispose of eight per cent, bills in lieu of the six per cent, debentures which were hanging very heavily on the markets, indeed, not saleable except at a fearful sacrifice. The Government succeeded to an empty Treasury, a large balance on the wrong side, unsaleable debentures, and the most pressing demands for money to meet liabilities which their predecessors had incurred and transmitted to them; while irreconcilable differences existed between the imperial and tile Colonial authorities, and the scarcely frigid courtesy which characterised the communications between the Governor and the local Government paralysed all Executive action. Their position was a most unenviable one, and still more oppressive from the difficulty of ascertaining the precise state of the accounts. One of the first acts in the recess was to re-organize, or resuscitate, the 'treasury Department, in order to make it efficient; and universal testimony tells of the success which has attended the Treasurer's never-ceasing labours. All arrears were ascertained, and, as far as possible, paid. The demand of the Imperial Government, according to the Commissary-General's account after the necessary deductions were made, so far as the outstanding liabilities were ascertained, have been satisfied by a remittance of debentures to the amount of £500,000; and, moreover, trust funds, which had been merged into the general account, were restored, and placed to a separate credit. An ample control is now kept over all the Sub-Treasuries, and the books are balanced and accounts rendered within, judging from past experience, what might be termed almost an impossible period.

The system of solely employing Colonial forces and Native levies has worked so admirably that at no period during the whole of the rebellion did appearances indicate the probability of so early a termination to it. Wherever the rebels and our forces have come into collision the result has been the same—one of success. The capture of Wereroa Pah, under the almost immediate personal direction of His Excellency the Governor, gave the impetus to those brilliant successes which we now expect as a matter of course. Pahs and rifle-pitted defences are no longer the bugbears they were, and are stormed or outflanked without hesitation. No longer does the page 16 Commander of H.M.'s Forces deem it prudent to avoid these native fortifications, and leave the bush country to be a haunt and a refuge for the rebel, but adapting the Colonial tactics he tells us in those practical lessons, which are easily learned, that the rebellion in the whole country between Wanganui and Taranaki might have been put down with a high hand had General Cameron pursued the strategy of General Chute. It was always a matter of deep regret to Mr. Weld's Ministry that they felt compelled to resent General Cameron's unjust aspersions, and to decline the co-operation of H.M.'s forces during their short stay in New Zealand, pending the receipt of instructions from Great Britain for their removal. They felt that it would be wise to avoid a correspondence likely to be interminable, and possibly tending to be acrimonious. They, therefore, simply confined themselves to their own resources for the repression of outrages, as was practically illustrated by the expedition to Opotiki, the scene of a most villainous and barbarous murder, to supporting our allies, and to securing our frontier.