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NEW ZEALAND.
Constitution and Government.
The present form of government for New Zealand was established by statute 15 & 16 Vict. cap. 72. By the terms of this charter, the legislative power is vested in the Governor and a Parliament of two Chambers, the first called the Legislative Council, and the second the House of Representatives. The Legislative Council consists at present of forty members, nominated by the Crown for life, and the House of Representatives of seventy-six members, elected by the people for five years. Every owner of a freehold worth 50/., or tenant householder, in the country at 5/., in the towns at 10/. a year rent, is qualified both to vote for, or to be a member of, the House of Representatives. The executive is vested in a governor, appointed by the Crown.
Governor of New Zealand. — Sir George Ferguson Boicen, born 1821 ; educated at the Charterhouse, and at Trinity College, Oxford ; elected fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford, 1844 ; admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn, 1844 ; Chief Secretary to the Govern- ment of the Ionian Islands, 1854; C.M.G., 1855, K.C.M.G., 1856, and promoted toG.C.M.G., 1860; Governor of Queensland, 1859-67 ; appointed Governor of New Zealand, Nov. 14, 1867.
The governor, who is, by virtue of his office, commander-in-chief of all the troops in the colony, has a salary of 4,500/. and certain alloAvances. He is assisted in the executive by a responsible ministry of five members, the Colonial Secretary, the Colonial Trea- surer, the Postmaster-General, the Minister for Colonial Defence, and the Minister for Native Affairs. Each of these Ministers has a salary of 1,000/. per annum.
The colony is divided into eight provinces, each of which is governed by an elected Superintendent and a Provincial Council. The control of native affairs, and the entire responsibility of dealing with questions of native government, were in 1863-64 transferred from the imperial to the colonial Government.
Revenue and Expenditure.
The ordinary revenue and expenditure of the colony, during each of the six years 1863 to 1868, were as follows : —
