(83)

prescribe the System of Instruction to be pur-
sued in the Schools, and to make Rules for
the Regulation and Government of them.

I find that this enactment has given occasion
to a Protest signed by three Members of the
Legislative Council, who condemn it as of a
Sectarian character, and as tending to confine
the education of the Natives to Teachers in
communion with the Church of England, to the
exclusion of the Teachers of any other Bodies
of Christians, by whom any of the Natives may
have been brought into the Christian Church.

Now, in the first place, the Bishop of New
Zealand is the only one of five Trustees who
must of necessity be of the English Church, so
that in point of fact the sectarian principle, of
which complaint is made, is not adopted in this
law; and in the next place, I cannot hesitate to
record my conviction that in our attempts to im-
part the blessings of education to a race of men
in so defective a state of civilization, we ought
not to be deterred by the charge of narrow or
Sectarian views, from keeping as far as possible
out of sight those ecclesiastical controversies
which so habitually agitate more advanced
Societies.

If any case can be imagined, in which such
minor distinctions should disappear to make
way for the advance of the great truths, doc-
trinal, and practical, of our common Faith, it
is the case of the Aborigines of New Zealand.
If any case can be suggested in which contro-
versy on different modes of Worship, and on
subtle questions of Belief, would be fatal to the
great end to which all such discussions ought to
be subservient, it is the case of these inquisitive,
and comparatively ignorant people. In their
proper place, and in their due season, such dis-
putes may be innoxious. But in the Native
Schools of New Zealand, they would at present
be most inopportune and disastrous, and I must
acknowledge that I shall not regret (but the con-
trary) to hear that the Trustees appointed under
this act, are all of one mind as to the mode in
which the Scholars should be taught, as to the
Books they should read, and as to the rites and
ceremonies with which their social worship
should be conducted.

Her Majesty is pleased to confirm and allow
this Ordinance.

The Native Exemption Ordinance, dated 18th
January, 1844, is an experiment of a difficult and
doubtful nature. To the general principle of
exempting the Natives in their relations with
each other, from the operation of a code of laws
utterly unintelligible, to them, and wholly un-
suited to their condition, I fully assent. But in
carrying that principle into effect, several rules
have been framed, the operation of which may
give birth to well founded complaints on the part
of their fellow subjects of the European race.

For example, if a Native shall commit an of-
fence against the person of an European, the
wrong-doer cannot be arrested except by two
chiefs of his own Tribe. Except in cases of rape
and murder, the party charged (if a Native) is to
go at large. till his trial, on making a Deposit,
which, if the offence be theft, is to be of four
times the value of the property stolen. But sup-
pose a case of maiming, of arson, of burglary,
and the like, where no property is actually taken
away, the amount of the Deposit is not ascer-
tained, and the safety of society from the freedom
of such a criminal seems highly problematical.
In case of theft, however aggravated the offence,
the offender is to be absolved from further punish-
ment by paying four times the value of what he
may have stolen. In Civil suits, no Native is ever
to be subject to imprisonment. Thus, even if he
shall contumaciously defy the process of the
Court, he may do so with impunity, as long as
he has no property liable to seizure.

I fear that the zeal, however laudable, for the
welfare of the Aborigines which has dictated
these Enactments, has rather outrun discretion,
and that Laws so unequal in favour of the weaker
party will, by the sure operation of familiar
causes, defeat their own end.

Her Majesty is unwilling to disallow such an
Ordinance, and to hazard all the alarm and dis-
quietude which such a measure might occasion.
But neither can Her Majesty confirm it in the
form it at present wears. You will lose no time
in recommending to the Legislature a revision
of this Law, in order to confine it as far as
possible to cases arising between the Aborigines
themselves, and not immediately affecting others,
and so far as the extension of some such Rules to
cases between the Aborigines and the European
races may be unavoidable, you will endeavour to
obviate the manifest inequalities and the conse-
quent dangers of the Enactments to which I
have referred.

I have the honor to be, Sir,

Your most obedient humble servant,
(Signed) STANLEY.

GEORGE GREY, Esq.,
&c., &c., &c.

The Lieutenant Governor laid on the Table
the following Bills:—
1st. A Bill to provide for the establishment
and maintenance of a Constabulary Force.
2nd. A Bill to amend an Ordinance for estab-
lishing a Supreme Court.
3rd. A Bill to confirm certain Rules, Forms,
and Tables of Fees touching the Practice
of the Supreme Court.
4th. A Bill for the Naturalization of certain
persons in the Colony of New Zealand.
5th. A Bill to amend "An Ordinance for
appointing a Board of Trustees for the
management of Property to be set apart
for the Education and Advancement of the
Native Race.

The Colonial Secretary gave notice that he
should move the first reading of the "Consta-
bulary Force Bill" on Tuesday, the 6th inst.

The Attorney General gave notice that he
should move the suspension of the Standing
Rules and Orders to enable the Council to
proceed with the first reading of the " Supreme
Court Amendment Bill," and the "Supreme
Court Rules' Bill," on Tuesday the 6th inst.

Mr. Domett gave notice, that on Tuesday,
the 6th instant, he should move the first
reading of the "Naturalization Bill."

The Colonial Secretary gave notice that on
Tuesday, the 6th instant, he should move the
first reading of the "Native Trust Amend-
ment Bill."

Council adjourned at $\frac{1}{4}$ past 3 o'clock,
to 12 o'clock on Tuesday, the 6th
October.

TUESDAY, 6TH OCTOBER, 1846.
PRESENT:
All the Members.

The Council met pursuant to adjournment.
The Minutes of the last Meeting were read
and confirmed.