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after the separation had been completed. I make no complaint of the want of personal courtesy to myself, nor of the want of respect manifested towards the Province, of which I was the official head,—but I would point to the extreme unfairness of this proceeding on the part of His Excellency’s Government.

Nearly a third part of the territory of the Province of Wellington, is handed over to little more than a tenth of its population, on the petition of that tenth alone — and no intimation whatever of the transaction is given to the rest of the Province, till the affair is concluded, past all remonstrance or suggestion. No attempt is made to consult the wishes of the other nine-tenths (whom His Excellency had succeeded in disfranchising in the General Assembly)—no means taken to ascertain their views as to boundaries or other ingredients of the separation—no investigation as to the state of financial accounts between the separated district, and that from which it is cut off—still less any provision for adjusting such accounts, or making the new Province bear any part of the burdens of the old one, of which it formed a part when they were incurred. This entire ignoring of the feelings and rights of the old Province—this neglect even of the commonest courtesies—could not have occurred, had the General Assembly not abdicated its functions, and handed over its powers to the Executive Government. For if the specific question, of the separation of Hawke’s Bay from Wellington, had been brought before the House of Representatives, there can be no doubt that the various questions, which might have arisen between the old Province and the intended one, would have been referred to a Select Committee, and all those points, on which both had a right to be consulted, would have been adjusted, first preliminarily in such Committee, and then finally, after open discussion in the House; not by the arbitrary fiat of a secret Ministry, without any investigation—nay without any communication whatever, with nine-tenths of those, whose rights and interests were so deeply affected.

Had these numerous objections to the Act been brought under the notice of Her Majesty’s Government, before it had taken effect in the Colony, it is far from improbable, that it would not have received Her Majesty’s assent. At all events, it was only fair, that those who had been deprived in the Colony, of the opportunity of resisting the passing of the measure, should have been allowed the opportunity of an Appeal, such as the reservation of the Bill would have afforded, and from availing themselves of which, the haste with which His Excellency gave his assent to the Act, effectually prevented them.

As regards the administration of the Waste Lands, changes have occurred in that department which it is necessary to mention.

After the Act of the General Assembly of 1856 was passed, the entire administration of the lands including the receipt and control of the revenue, was formally handed over to the Provinces, in accordance with a policy, in which every political party in the Assembly concurred, and which formed a fundamental principle of the Sewell, and almost the only avowed principle of the present ministry.

The entire transfer of the proceeds of the land sales to the provinces, was one principal basis of compromise, under which the Northern Island consented to relieve the Southern from its liability to contribute towards land purchases.

This basis has, however, since been departed from, and the compact arrived at by the various interests represented in the Assembly in 1856, has been deliberately violated by an Act of the last Session, which enables the General Government to take, from the 1st January, 1858, one-sixth of the land fund of the Northern Island towards the future land purchases of that Island, already provided for by a portion of that heavy loan, for which the colony at present pays interest.

This violation of public faith has, I need not inform you, tended very considerably to embarrass the financial arrangements of this Province, by withdrawing a large portion of the revenue, which, relying on the pledges given in the Assembly in 1856, I had every right to anticipate.

When the Waste Lands were transferred to the Provinces in 1856, the Receivership was included, and though nominally under a General Government Commission, was accepted, without salary, by Mr. Fox, the Provincial Commissioner, under the new arrangements, on the distinct understanding, that he was not under any official control from the General Government. Subsequently the General Government very peremptorily asserted a right to issue instructions to him, on which he resigned that office; and it was, after personal negotiation between the Colonial Treasurer and myself conferred (without salary) on Mr. Fitzherbert. Mr. Fitzherbert was subsequently removed from the office, on the express ground, that he was politically opposed to His Excellency’s present Ministry; and another gentleman (to whose competency I bear a willing testimony), was appointed in his place, with a salary of £150, which with other expenses, he is instructed to deduct from the proceeds of the Land Sales.

The receipt and control of the Land Revenue has thus been resumed by the General Government contrary to the arrangements of 1856.

In 1858, a new Ministerial office was created by the General Government, in connection with the Waste Lands—that of Chief Secretary of that department—to whom it appeared to be the intention of the Government to subordinate the Provincial Commissioners. It was the interference of this officer with the Wellington Commissionership, and the dilatory and unsatisfactory progress of the extinction of the Native Title which led to Mr. Fox’s resignation—in reference to which some correspondence will be laid upon your table.

But the most important event in connection with the Waste Lands, is the disallowance by Her Majesty of the Act of 1858, following the disallowance of that of 1856. The result is the remission of the Colony to the law of 1854—under which the administration of the Waste Lands remains with the General Government; but the regulations, under which their sale or lease is effected, originate with the Superintendent and Provincial Council, becoming law by His Excellency’s confirmation. The Amended Regulations of this Province passed in 1855, were framed under the Act of 1854, and I shall