of the Australian colonies would not be contained in it, but might be described as being contained in an Act of the fifth year of her Majesty, for the government of the obsolete colony of New South Wales, as cleared of doubts by an Act of the eighth year of her Majesty, as amended and explained by another Act of the same year, as partly repealed and partly amended, augmented, and applied to all the Australian colonies by an Act of the 14th year of her Majesty. I ask the noble lord to consider the subject. I do not ask him to make any alterations in the details of this measure, but merely in its form, in order that we may have fair opportunity to discuss its details in Committee, and to propose amendments.

Sir, I must say that the more I consider the clauses of this Bill the more certain I feel that it will fail to give permanent satisfaction to the inhabitants of the Australian colonies. In support of this opinion, I would call the attention of the House to certain resolutions which Mr. Lowe, a distinguished member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales, gave notice that he would move on August 14 last.

An HON. MEMBER: They were withdrawn.

SIR WM. MOLESWORTH: They were withdrawn ; but Mr. Lowe said they were so withdrawn, not because he or his friends had changed their opinion, but for other reasons. The fact was, that intelligence having been received of the disturbances which had taken place in Canada, the spirit of loyalty, which, I am glad to say, exists at present in New South Wales, induced the friends of Mr. Lowe to advise him not then to bring forward

his resolutions, lest they should embarrass the Government. Mr. Lowe's resolutions were to the effect that no form of constitution for the colony of New South Wales would be acceptable, permanent, or beneficial which did not embody the following requisites:-1. An explicit recognition of the right of the colonists of New South Wales to have their government administered by persons responsible to their representatives. 2. A government removable by the vote of the colonial legislature, and invested with all colonial patronage. 3. An elective assembly, in which no person nominated by the Crown should have a seat. 4. The placing the sum of 81,000l., contained in the schedules A, B, and C, appended to the Act 5 and 6 Victoria, c. 76, together with expenses of the customs department, at the disposal of such assembly. 5. The repeal of the Act 5 and 6 Victoria, c. 76, and the transfer to the local government and legislature of the management of the waste lands of the colony, and the revenue derived from them. And if these concessions were made, Mr. Lowe proposed also to move, that "in consideration of them, the colony of New South Wales would be willing to pay for such military force as in the judgment of the colonial assembly, might be necessary for its protection in time of peace." Now the Bill of the noble lord does not contain any one of the conditions without which Mr. Lowe said that no form of constitution would give permanent satisfaction to the colonists of New South Wales. I am persuaded that Mr. Lowe's assertion will prove true with regard to the Australian colonies, and that no legislative assembly will be permanently acceptable

to these colonies which shall contain members nominated by the Crown.

Sir, in my opinion, the most important question with regard to this Bill is that of the powers to be exercised by the Colonial Office. I am convinced that if we wish to frame a measure which shall remove the great and fundamental cause of colonial discontent we must deprive the Colonial Office of its present power of interfering in the internal affairs of the colonies. A good illustration of the vexatious power which the Colonial Office possesses has been lately brought under my notice. I will mention it to the House. For some time past the inhabitants of Sydney, a city of some 50,000 souls, have been complaining of the practice of slaughtering beasts within the precincts of that city, a practice which, in that warm climate, they considered to be an abominable nuisance, and injurious to their health. They were, therefore, very anxious that the slaughter-houses should be removed; and, on May 31, 1848, a Select Committee of the Legislative Council recommended that the slaughter-houses should be removed to a place called Glebe Island, and that to pay for their removal certain lands upon which a cattle market stood should be sold. Now it appears from the Sydney Herald, of September 22, 1849, that up to that date the nuisance of the slaughterhouses had not been abated, and would not be abated for at least a year or more; because, according to the statement of the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales, the sanction of the Secretary of State for the Colonies must be obtained before the recommendation of the Committee could be

attended to, and with the utmost despatch that sanction could scarcely be obtained in less than a year. Thus, for more than two years, a city of 50,000 inhabitants, in a semi-tropical climate, will be exposed to the fevers and other disorders arising from the putrefaction of animal matter, because it could not sell nor buy a plot of land without the consent of functionaries at the antipodes. The House may be assured that every noxious odour that shall arise from the slaughter-houses of Sydney will be a germ of hatred to our colonial government.

I ask, is it for the interest of the empire that the Colonial Office should retain powers of this description? I maintain it is not; and that as long as the Colonial Office retains an arbitrary power of interfering in the local affairs of the colonies there. will be perpetual discord between the colonies and the Colonial Office. The only mode of removing the cause of discord is by strictly limiting the power of the Colonial Office to questions affecting imperial interests. I know that some honourable members will exclaim: "If we deprive the Colonial Office of its power, what will remain, what will become of the connection between the colonies and this country? The colonies will be separated from the empire." Now, it appears to me that in the minds of those honourable gentlemen there are grave errors and a great confusion of ideas on the subject of what constitutes, and ought to constitute, the connection between the colonies and this country. From old associations and ancient prejudices, we are too apt to look upon the colonies as subject communities-that is, as communities subject to the British community-therefore to look

upon ourselves as kings, and upon the colonists. as subjects, and to consider that the connection between the colonies and this country consists in dominion on our part and subjection on theirs. Therefore we are apt to think that to preserve that connection it is necessary to vest that dominion in some Department of the State. We are inclined to fancy that the power of the Colonial Office binds the colonies to this country, and is the connecting link, which would be broken asunder if the Colonial Office were to be deprived of its power. I maintain a diametrically opposite doctrine: that the Colonial Office is an institution which tends to alienate the colonies from this country, and that in proportion as the power of the Colonial Office shall be curtailed the union between the colonies and this country will be strengthened; for with the destruction of the arbitrary power of the Colonial Office the colonists would cease to be subjects of that office, and would become true citizens of the British Empire. We ought to look upon our colonies as integral portions of the British Empire, inhabited by men who ought to enjoy in their own localities all the rights and privileges that Englishmen do in England. Now, the colonists have no right to interfere in the management of the local affairs of Great Britain, therefore we ought not to interfere in the management of the local affairs of the colonies. We are entitled to reserve to ourselves the management of the common concerns of the empire, because imperial power must be located somewhere for the maintenance of the unity of the empire; and because we are the richest and most powerful portion of the empire, and have to pay for the