passing any law for the appropriation of the public revenues.
These resolutions were followed up with an address to the Governor, which was carried on November 23, in which His Excellency’s delay in convening the General Assembly was strongly censured, as entirely prostrating the designs of the Imperial Government; and it was further contended “that many of the powers exercised by the Executive Government will, in the absence of the sanction of the General Legislature, be exercised in an illegal and unconstitutional manner.” With this parting shot, the Council was prorogued on Thursday, November 24, till February 15 of the following year.
During the ensuing session (February 15 to April 3), regulations dealing with the terms of purchase and pasturage for the waste lands of the Crown within the Province of Canterbury, fixing the price at £2 per acre, were prepared and passed. These regulations could, of course, have no effect unless accepted by the General Government, in which the absolute power was still vested, but it was hoped and expected that they would be used by the Canterbury members as indicating the wishes of the Province. The regulations were published in the “Lyttelton Times” of March 4, and in the same issue the announcement was made of the purchase (but outside of the Canterbury block), of 40,000 acres, afterwards known as the Glenmark Estate, by Mr. Moore on behalf of his brother-in-law, Mr. Kermode, at 10/- per acre. The actual cash paid was only £14,000, as part only of the land was bought at 10/- per acre, and the remainder on a deposit of 5/- per acre, to go through the form of an auction afterwards.
It may be added that thanks to the energy of two of the Canterbury representatives, Mr. FitzGerald and Mr. Sewell, both of whom took very prominent parts in the first New Zealand Parliament, the Government passed a Bill giving control to the various
