"As we are in the capital of New Zealand, this is a good place to study the government of the colony.
"Well, then, New Zealand is an English colony, with a governor appointed by the Queen, and acting in accordance with the principles of responsible government. Legislative power is vested in the Governor and two chambers. One of these chambers is called the Legislative Council, and consists of fifty-four members nominated by the Governor for life; the other is called the House of Representatives, elected by the people for three years, and consisting at present of ninety-four members.
"Down to 1876 each of the nine provinces of the colony had an elective superintendent and a provincial council; in that year the provincial form of government was abolished, and the colony was divided into counties and road-board districts, and the local administration is now managed by the county councils and municipalities. The colonial legislature meets once a year, and has power generally to make laws for the government of New Zealand. The acts of the legislature may be disallowed by the Queen, and in some cases they require her assent, but the royal prerogative is very rarely exercised.
[Illustration: HOME OF A PROSPEROUS RESIDENT.]
"Voters must be twenty-one years of age, either born or naturalized British subjects, and must have resided one year in the colony and six months in the electoral district. Every male Maori of the same age whose name is on a rate-payer's roll, or who has a freehold estate of the value of twenty-five pounds, may also be enrolled as a voter. There are four Maori members of the House of Representatives, elected under a special law by the Maoris alone. Legislation concerning the sale and disposal of the public lands and the occupation of the gold-fields is exclusively vested in the colonial parliament. In general it may be said that the parliament and the county and local boards have the management of public affairs, just as the parliament of England and the local authorities there conduct the affairs of the nation at home.
"There is no connection between Church and State, otherwise than in all ministers being registered once a year, in order that they may legally perform the marriage ceremony. At the last reports there were 638 registered ministers, belonging to the following denominations: Church of England, 235; Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, 81; Roman Catholic, 86; Presbyterian Church of Otago and Southland, 57; Methodists, 95; Congregational Independent, 19; Baptist, 17; and ten other bodies with from one to seventeen ministers each. The Episcopalians of various kinds have over 200,000 adherents; the Presbyterians, 113,000; the Methodists, 50,000; and Catholics, 70,000.