Chapter XVII.
Abolition of Provinces—The four Superintendents.
With the abolition of Provincial Government, an important chapter of the History of Christchurch came to an end. The Act was passed by the Hon. Daniel Pollen’s Ministry, but as Dr. Pollen had his seat in the Legislative Council, it devolved upon Major (afterwards Sir Harry) Atkinson to pioneer it through the House of Representatives. The third reading was passed (September 29, 1875) by a majority of forty to twenty-one. Included in the minority was Mr. William Rolleston, then Superintendent of Canterbury, who opposed the measure at all points. There was practically no opposition in the Legislative Council, and on October 12, 1875, the Bill became law, and came into operation on November 1, 1876.
Many years later, on March 7, 1894, a veteran Canterbury statesman, Sir John Hall, K.C.M.G., testified to the splendid work done by the Canterbury Provincial Council. The occasion was almost dramatic, Sir John Hall, in the evening of his life—he was then seventy years of age—was bidding a final farewell to his constituents. It was the close of a political career which had extended over more than forty years. During that time he had filled, amongst many other public positions, those of head of the Provincial Executive of Canterbury, and of first Chairman of the Christchurch Town Board, and of Prime Minister of New Zealand. Speaking then, with the weight and authority of such experience, and with the detachment of one about to pass out of the area of party politics, he briefly reviewed the work of the Canterbury Provincial Council:—‘'I think,” he said, “the work
