THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 107

responsible Advisers on the subject of this
Bill, transmitted with your subsequent despatch,
No. 99 of the 11th October.
They have had great difficulty in deciding
on the best course to take with respect to the
provisions of this Bill, especially as your des-
portant objections which, nevertheless, seem
obviously to arise on the inspection of it.
So far as the effect of the Bill is simply to
transfer the management of the Waste Lands
to the several Provincial Governments, the
measure appears one to which Her Majesty on
might be at once advised to assent. That is a
subject on the expediency of which the New
Zealand Legislatures are the best judges, and
there are besides obvious advantages in the
transfer.

But a more serious question arises, where not
only the management of the revenue, but the
use of the revenue itself, is transferred to the
Provincial Governments.
The Act of Parliament to guarantee a loan
for the service of New Zealand, 20 & 21 Vic.,
cap. 51, recites and adopts the provisions of the
local Act for raising that loan, one of which is,
that the general revenue of New Zealand to
which is pledged for payment of the interest
of the loan, includes the revenue arising from
the disposal of the Waste Lands of the Crown
Any Act by which a portion of that revenue
is diverted from this purpose, and made over
to a Provincial Government, would therefore
seem illegal on the face of it.
Moreover, it was on the faith of this ap-
plication of the Revenue that the loan in ques-
tion was guaranteed by this Country. To in-
fringe on the revenue fund so made applicable
would therefore seem to involve a breach of
faith.

But it is a misfortune arising from the pe-
culiar mode of framing this Bill, which pro-
fesses to confirm in one mass the voluminous
Land Regulations of several Provinces, that part
of it at least is open to this objection. As
regards the Province of Wellington, the general
Land Regulations of March, 1853, are kept in
force, but those regulations expressly devote
the Waste Lands fund (after payment of Par-
liamentary charges under a former Act of Par-
liament) to provincial purposes. By confirm-
ing those regulations, as to Wellington, the
New Zealand Legislature, (no doubt quite
unintentionally, as they have obviously inserted
other provisions from a desire to maintain the
guarantee) would as far as their power goes
exempt the land fund of that Province from
any liability to interest for the loan of 1857.
I do not notice that the other Provincial
Laws and Regulations confirmed by this
Waste Lands Act are open to this specific
objection. But in none of them is there any
recognition of the lien imposed on the Waste
Lands Revenue by the Loan Act; and it is not
easy to foresee the complications and difficul-
ties to which this omission would give rise.
Her Majesty's Government regret that
defects of so partial a character should never-
theless be so serious as to compel them to
delay Her Majesty's assent to the entire Bill,
there being no legal method of giving force to
that much largest portion of it which is
unobjectionable. It is by no means their wish
to enforce the provisions of the Guarantee
Colony. They are fully aware that specific
appropriations of the Land Fund, whether by
general or by delegated provincial authority,
must take place, and that they may take place
with ample security to the creditor; provided
only the paramount nature of the lien be
maintained. And they regret that by delay-
ing Her Majesty's assent to the Act they may
cause some inconvenience to parties who, both
in the Colony and in this country have en-
gaged in transactions on the faith of the Aucl-
land Regulations, before these had been made
operative by law. But they are of
opinion that the exigency of the guarantee
cannot be fairly satisfied, unless the Act be
amended by the insertion of some provision re-
cognising it. They would be satisfied with a
general clause empowering the Governor,
anything in this Bill contained notwithstanding,
to take from the land revenue of the several
Provinces pro rata, whenever, and if ever
revenue from other branches shall be in-
sufficient to pay the interest of the guaranteed
loan. They do not however, wish to prescribe
this particular form of clause, if any equally
stringent can be devised. Until this proposal
has been considered by the Legislature, Her
Majesty's Assent to the Act is necessarily de-
layed.

I have, &c., &c.,
E. B. LYTTON.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 31st May, 1859.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been
pleased to appoint the following person
to be Revising Officer, to revise the List of
Voters for the Election of Members of the
House of Representatives, for the Electoral
Districts set opposite his name.

LAUGHLIN O'BRIEN, Esq.,
Bay of Islands,
Marsden,
Northern Divi-
sion,
City of Auckland,
Suburbs of Auck-
land,
Pensioner Settle-
ments,
Southern Divi-
sion.

HENRY JOHN TANCRED.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Auckland, 31st May, 1859.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been
pleased to appoint the following person
to be Registration Officer for the Election of
Members of the House of Representatives for