Governor of New Zealand

“ Because too many together are the men of her tribe who have sat down in this land and are coming hither.
Now it is the Queen who desires that the Governorship may be arranged that evils may not come to the native men, to the white who dwells lawless. There! Now the Queen has been good that I should be sent, William Hobson, a Captain of the Royal Navy, a Governor for all the places in New Zealand that are yielded now or hereafter to the Queen. She says to the Chiefs of the Assemblage (Confederation) of the tribes of New Zealand, and other chiefs besides, these laws which shall be spoken now. ”

“ IR GEORGE GREY, K.C.B., was the first Governor of New Zealand who paid the West Coast a visit. On Thursday, the 24th of January 1867, His Excellency reached Hokitika, having made the journey overland from Christchurch on that and the previous day. These being the palmiest times of the coast, you may be sure the Governor, who was very popular, received a most hearty welcome at all the places he visited. ”

“ In readiness to receive new ideas, and in the power to assimilate them, he and his kinsmen, Ruatara and Hongi, were striking examples of the height to which the Maori race could attain. Hardly had the century dawned which was to bring New Zealand within the circle of the Christian world, when word came to Te Pahi of the wonders to be seen at Norfolk Island, and of the friendly nature of its governor, Captain King. To test for himself the truth of these tidings, the chief, with his four sons, set forth (about 1803) across the sea to the great convict station. ”

“ The corvette, the Herald, brought Captain Hobson and all the members of his approaching administration. The Protestant Missionaries spread the report amongst the natives that this time the Catholic Bishop was going to be taken out of the country by the English man-o'-war which lay at anchor off the coast. They said also that I would not dare to appear at the public meetings that the new Governor was going to hold with the Maori chiefs and the whites, to talk over with them his plans for the Colonial administration of New Zealand. ”

“ That is a mystery difficult to solve. The result was that some chiefs signed it and some did not. But the Catholic religion gained instead of losing its dignity and its influence over the minds of the people. When a certain number of natives had signed the treaty the sovereignty of England over the whole of New Zealand was declared by a salvo {159} of artillery fired by the corvette Herald. The English flag floated over the country, and Mr. Hobson took the title of Vice-Governor of New Zealand. ”

“ Let my lands be returned to me which have been taken by the Missionaries—by Davis and by Clarke and by who and who besides. I have no lands now—only a name, [67] only a name. Foreigners come, they know Mr. Rewa, but this is all I have left—a name! What do native men want of a Governor? We are not whites or foreigners. This country is ours, but the land is gone. Nevertheless we are the Governor—we the chiefs of this our Fathers' land. ”

“ New Zealand is not a Crown Colony, such as the West Indies, but has its own constitution, its Governor, two Houses of Legislature, and within some broad limits complete power of self-government. The Church here is not established in the sense of Establishment at home, and I suppose must look to itself, not only for its maintenance, but for its government, and is, it would seem, outside the legal control of the State, either at home, or in the Colony, in matters that are purely ecclesiastical ”

“ Of the seven or eight Ministers who make up a Cabinet, four or five are usually able and overworked men. The stress of New Zealand public life has told on many of her statesmen. Beside Governor Hobson, McLean, Featherston, Crosbie Ward, Atkinson and Ballance died in harness, and Hall had to save his life by resigning. Most of the Colony's leaders have lived and died poor men. Parliaments are triennial, and about one-third of the constituencies are pretty certain to return new members at a general election. ”

“ The Islands of New Zealand are as clearly within the prescribed limits as Norfolk Island, Van Dieman's Land, or even New South Wales itself. On November 9, 1814, the Governor and Captain-General of New South Wales and its dependencies, acting on the representation of the Crown, by public proclamation, declared New Zealand to be a Dependency of his Government, and by regular commission of dedimus potestatem appointed Justices of the Peace to act there. Some of the Magistrates so appointed were aboriginal natives of the country. It is plain that they were treated as British subjects. ”

“ At home the influence of a wealthy and important society was all-powerful at the colonial office, glad to be relieved of trouble and responsibility whilst obliging a great party; and the organ of that society, its secretary, wielding an expenditure of fifteen thousand a year in New Zealand, found himself virtually governor and bishop of both islands, of which that sum might have bought the fee simple. ”

“ At the moment he was Governor of New Zealand, and seemed disposed to stay on there indefinitely when his term of office expired. The Empire, he wrote, was a saner, sweeter, more spacious place of abode than twentieth-century England, which seemed temporarily given over to the cheap-jack, the specialist, and the party politician. ”

“ All the territories comprised within the Commissions for the Government of New Zealand, and all persons inhabiting those territories, are and must be considered as being to all intents and purposes within the dominions of the British Crown."—Vide Lord Stanley's Despatch to Acting-Governor Shortland. ”

“ Several political parties exist in the Dominion, and the one in power chooses from among the Assembly a successor for the Premiership. Although the Premier is the responsible head of the government, over him is an imperial official, a governor-general, from the British Isles, who is appointed by the King of England. New Zealand, in common with other colonies of the British Empire, pays the governor-general's salary. ”

“ You must preserve our customs, and never permit our land to be wrested from us. Yes, it is good, it is straight. Sit thou here, dwell in our midst. Remain, do not go away. Do not thou listen to what the chiefs of Nga-Puhi say. Stay, then, our friend, our father, our Governor." [80]
As it has always been frankly conceded that Nēne's speech was the turning-point in the debate, it may be well to present here a sketch of the chief whose stirring history and admirable characteristics were well and personally known to a writer who lived through all these eventful days in New Zealand. ”

“ Administrator of the Government XII. Whenever the office of Governor-General is vacant, or the holder of the office is for any reason unable to perform all or any of the functions of the office, We do hereby authorise, empower, and command the Chief Justice of New Zealand to perform the functions of the office of Governor-General. ”

“ The whole question of the self-government of the colony was involved in the battle between the Ministers and the new Governor. New Zealand had arrived at a critical point in its history. It had had some bitter struggles for its independence in the past. Conservatives and Liberals had united in defending the constitutional right of the people to govern themselves, and there are many traditions of the sacrifices the colonists were ready to make in the early days as long as the Imperial Government left them their self-government. ”

“ The accumulating reports of increasing disorder, the strenuous recommendations of Governor Bourke, added to the touching appeal of the chiefs, at length moved the Colonial Office to acquiesce in the contention that some one should be sent to New Zealand directly charged with the duty of representing the British Crown. ”

“ This feeling of indignation was rampant amongst those who were deeply implicated in land speculations when the proclamations were issued at Sydney and the Bay of Islands, declaring null and void all titles which were not derived from the Crown; and their ideas of British enterprise were even further outraged when on May 28, 1840, Sir George Gipps introduced to his Legislative Council, "A Bill [168] to empower the Governor of New South Wales to appoint Commissioners to examine and report on claims to grants of land in New Zealand." ”

“ Things fell again into their places; three new provinces—Hawke's Bay or Napier, Marlborough and Southland—were added to the rest, the Bank of New Zealand was incorporated, and only those within the innermost circle knew that underneath the seeming calm was deep-rooted unrest.
But so it was. Governor Browne demanded, very much in the imperative mood, the submission of all concerned in the late rising, and a general oath of allegiance to the Crown. ”

“ The Ross Dependency, - a Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief who shall be Our representative in Our Realm of New Zealand, and shall have and may exercise the powers and authorities conferred on him by these Our Letters Patent, but without prejudice to the office, powers, or authorities of any other person who has been or may be appointed to represent Us in any part of Our Realm of New Zealand and to exercise powers and authorities on Our behalf. ”

“ In 1875, on the invitation of the Auckland settlers, he became superintendent of their province, and entered the New Zealand House of Representatives to resist the abolition of the provincial councils of the colony, a change then being urged on by Sir Julius Vogel in alliance with the Centralist Party. In this he failed, but his eloquence and courage drew round him a strong Radical following, and gave him the premiership in 1877. Manhood suffrage, triennial parliaments, a land-tax, the purchase of large estates and the popular election of the governor, were leading points of his policy. ”

“ In 1853, after the grant of a constitution to New Zealand, he took up his residence in the colony, and immediately began to act a leading part in colonial politics. In 1854 he appeared in the first New Zealand parliament as extra-official adviser of the acting governor, a position which excited great jealousy, and as the mover of a resolution demanding the appointment of a responsible ministry. ”

“ Such conservatism is rare in liberal New Zealand, and has few hopes and fewer followers.
A most interesting event occurred in 1877; for Sir George Grey returned to power, not as Governor, but as Premier. He had made for himself a home on an island in the beautiful Hauraki Gulf, and perhaps nothing could have been more fortunate than his presence in the Colony at a time when the new union between Pakeha and Maori required the cement of perfect comprehension to render it irrefragable. Among the colonists there might be disagreement as to Sir George Grey and his policy ”

“ Once the Maoris sold many of these preserved heads to traders in the Bay of Islands, who sent them to Sydney, whence they were shipped to Europe. The traffic finally was stopped by the New South Wales Government.
A block from the museum, standing in beautiful grounds, is a wooden building of peculiar interest. It is Government House, in which New Zealand's Governor resides for a time each year. In Government House it is easy to imagine one's self under the roof of Napoleon's St. ”

“ The men themselves are respectable, but have not taken a leading position in their tribe.
The only object in giving these particulars is to enable the Secretary of State to form an opinion as to the weight that should attach to the statements and proceedings of the deputation.
With regard to the "wrongs" detailed in the memorial, Ministers desire to point out that the first six have reference to transactions during the time Native affairs in New Zealand were under the control and management of the Imperial Government, through their officer, the Governor of the {307} colony. ”

“ It shall be lawful for the said board of governors from time to time and at all times hereafter to frame and suggest such alterations or amendments in the rules to be made by the Governor in Council as aforesaid and that such alterations or amendments shall if approved by the Governor in Council come into force from and after such approval. ”

“ The Parliament of New Zealand is the same body as that which before the commencement of this Act was called the General Assembly (as established by section 32 of the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom) and which consisted of the Governor-General and the House of Representatives. Cf New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, s 32 (UK) ; 1950 No 3 s 2 (2)
Section 15: Power of Parliament to make laws
(1) The Parliament of New Zealand continues to have full power to make laws. ”

“ BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the General Assembly of New Zealand as follows:–
Governor may remove from office A. Sinclair, W. Swainson, and A. Shepherd.
1.Whenever it shall appear to the Governor that it would be expedient that the said Andrew Sinclair, William Swainson, and Alexander Shepherd, or any of them, should cease to hold office as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the Governor to remove them or him therefrom. ”

“ Election of Speaker The House of Representatives shall, at its first meeting after any general election of its members, and immediately on its first meeting after any vacancy occurs in the office of Speaker, choose one of its members as its Speaker, and every such choice shall be effective on being confirmed by the Governor-General. ”

“ Neither the validity of the performance of the function or duty, nor the validity of the exercise of the power, can be challenged in any legal proceedings on the ground that the Sovereign or the Governor-General was not prevented from attending the meeting of the Executive Council by some necessary or reasonable cause. ”