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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 18

[introduction]

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As the dissolution of the House of Representatives will shortly take place,* and thus my connection with the Electors of Dunedin and Suburbs North will be severed, I take advantage of the opportunity thus afforded me of expressing my views on the various topics which have lately occupied and still engross the public attention; and I do so the more readily because my opinions have been misconceived and my actions misrepresented, and not the less readily because the conclusions at which I have arrived, after mature reflection and careful observation, run counter to the opinions which find favour in Otago at the present moment. To state these conclusions unconnected with the past would place me in a false position, because it is their being the legitimate deductions from controlling circumstances of an inflexible nature, that have led to their adoption. It will be necessary, therefore, to sketch rapidly the past history of the Colony since 1860; its position when the City of Dunedin first honoured me with its confidence as one of its Representatives in 1862, and subsequently, where on my resignation after a division of the Electoral District, you elected me as one of your Representatives. It would be as impossible to arrive at a just judgment of what the country requires by confining the view to what may be at first sight desirable, as it would be to page 2 depict a broad landscape by restricting the vision to one isolated spot : and it would be doing me an injustice, which I am sure you would not willingly do, were you not to bear with me while I throw a retrospective glance on the past Time will doubtless dissipate those baseless tales which have been so industriously circulated of late, and to it, as to a sure interpreter of the character of men's actions, I leave them. I am not, however, unreasonably anxious that, now our connection is about finally to close, you should have the opportunity of estimating aright the various phases through which the Colony has lately passed; and I have a strong conviction that, on an impartial review, you will acknowledge that the trust you confided to me has been fairly and honestly executed to the best of my judgment and ability. It has been said of me, both publicly and privately, that since I joined the Weld Ministry I had forgotten that I was a Representative of the Province of Otago, and that in fact I sacrificed the interests of the Province to the interests of the General Government. I demur altogether to this statement, for it has no foundation in fact. But it appears to me that the prevailing views of the duties of a Representative to the General Assembly are very erroneous. I have always held, and still hold, "that Parliament is not a congress of ambassadors from "different and hostile interests, which interests each must maintain, as an agent and advocate against other agents and advocates; but Parliament is a deliberative assembly of one nation, with one interest, that of the whole,—where not local purposes, not local prejudices ought to guide, but the general good, resulting from the general reason of the whole." "You choose a member indeed, said Burke, who represented the City of Bristol, but when you have chosen him, he is not member for Bristol, but he is a member of Parliament." It is the duty of a representative to live in the most unreserved communication with his constituents—it is his duty to prefer their interest to his own; but "his unbiased opinion, his mature judgment, his enlightened conscience, he ought not to sacrifice to any man;" "he owes yon not his industry only, but his judgment, and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." But to whom have I been said to have sacrificed the interests of the Province? To the General Government ? But, what is that but the embodiment page 3 of the central authority working for the general good : a body susceptible of constant change, as nearly every Session proves, and entirely subordinate to Provincial authority ? Clothe it with what amount of power you may, that power can be revoked; supply it with unlimited funds, those funds may from time to time be appropriated as the Provinces list. Let the Provincial constituencies send men to represent them in the General Assembly whose views are in harmony with their own, and the General Government will prove but an idea : if it is the Provincial wish that it should be strong, it can be clothed with strength; if but a name, it can divest it of all power. The Minister of to-day may be a private member to-morrow, and unconnected with the Legislature a few weeks after. I at present merely touch upon these general principles. The supposed examples of defection on my part will be noted in due course.

I will now proceed to give a faint outline of the past, and we shall find that the principal difficulty then, as now, was that connected with the aboriginal race, whose political status had never been accurately defined. Governor Browne, as may he seen in his letter of the 14th October, 1858, stated, with reference to Imperial matters, especially those dealing with the Natives, and negociating for the purchase of native lands, that "he always desired the advice of Ministers—but would act on his own responsibility; and that this arrangement had been approved of by H. M's. Government and accepted by the Assembly"; and, on the 30th of July, 1860, he asserts, when addressing the Houses of the Legislature, "the necessity of upholding Her Majesty's supremacy by force of arms," and the "preservation of the rights of the proprietors of land." In order that there may be no misapprehension on this important subject, I give extracts from a despatch of Lord Caernarvon, of the 18th May, 1859 :—"Circumstances do not yet justify the Imperial Government in abdicating the responsibilities which at present rest on it, with regard to this remarkable race."—"And while Her Majesty's Government feel themselves constrained to justify to Parliament the large expense which every year is incurred for the maintenance of a military force in New Zealand, for the defence of the Colony, and for the better control and regulation of the native race, they must retain in their hands the administration of these affairs, which at any moment may involve the employment page 4 of these troops, and the consequences of an expensive conflict. So long as the Colony for this purpose enjoys the advantage of military and naval protection, Her Majesty's Government cannot consent to yield a point, which, in their opinion, is so intimately connected with the security of the Colony, the justice due to native claims, and the issues of peace or war itself." The Colonial Office thus clearly announced their intention not to abdicate their responsibility unless the Colony were prepared for an "expensive conflict." On the meeting of the General Assembly, in 1861, (Messrs Stafford and Weld, with Mr., now Mr. Justice, Richmond, being in the Ministry) His Excellency's address, of the 4th June, stated "that the terms offered to the Taranaki and Ngatiruanui will be laid before you. Their aggravated offences can only be pardoned on their giving such tangible proofs of submission as will at once afford a means of reparation for their unprovoked aggressions, and be a memorial to themselves of the punishment due to lawless violence." The reply to the address echoing the same sentiments, was moved by Mr Jo lie, of Canterbury, and seconded by Mr O'Neil, of Auckland. Subsequently his Excellency requiring more explicit information as to the amount of assistance likely to be expected from the Colony, Mr. Stafford moved, while asserting that the maintenance of H. M.'s sovereignty was a matter of Imperial concern, and that the Colony had a vital interest in the firm establishment of peace and the security of life and property, that "the cost of the necessary measures for the attainment of this great end must be to us, at the present juncture, a secondary consideration, To the extent of the limited resources of the Colony, this House (as for as in it lies) both as regards men and money is willing cordially to co-operate with the Imperial Government."

* Written before the receipt of the Gazette dissolving the House of Representatives.