Chapter VI.
1853–1854.
Arrival of Mr. H. Sewell, Agent of Canterbury Association—Boundaries of Canterbury defined—Land regulations—Wakefield’s sufficient price theory—Election of Superintendent, of Members of Parliament and of Provincial Council—Opening Sessions of Provincial Council—Opening of first New Zealand Parliament.
Soon after Mr. Godley’s departure from Canterbury Mr. Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Mr. Henry Sewell arrived in the “Minerva,” on February 2. It will be remembered that Mr. Godley had left Captain Simeon in temporary charge, as Agent of the Canterbury Association. Mr. Sewell was the officer appointed by the London Committee to wind up the affairs of the Association, and effect, if possible, their transfer to the Canterbury Provincial Council as soon as that body should be constituted, and almost immediately on his arrival he became involved in a newspaper controversy in defence of the London Committee, his principal assailant being Mr. FitzGerald. The attackers emphasised the non-publication of accounts, and the defence took refuge in the official audit in London, and the promise of detailed accounts as soon as there should be a constituted authority (the Provincial Council) to receive them. The dispute was long and bitter, and in itself constituted a remarkable testimony to Mr. Godley’s tact in avoiding an earlier explosion. Ultimately, on the publication of the accounts in London, with an auditor’s “tag,”
