ready resigned; and I should not have been
justified in taking any further steps in so important a matter before I should be in a position
to receive the advice of a new Executive Council.

But however I might have been inclined to
incur such a responsibility under ordinary circumstances, the grave character of the bill before
me, and the magnitude of the questions involved
in it would have forbidden my acting with
precipitation in the present instance. The bill
deals with the whole Representative system of
the Provincial Constitution: it determines the
degree in which the several constituencies shall
be represented in your Council; and, therefore,
the relative amount of political power which
shall be exercised by various parts of the Province. The Bill had never been printed; it
had not been placed in the hands of all the
members of your own House. A considerable
portion of the Province were in ignorance that
it was about to be proposed.

I cannot for a moment doubt that the measure
received at your hands full and careful
consideration, notwithstanding the unusual rapidity with which it passed through its various
stages. But the facts to which I have alluded
could not but induce me to proceed with more
than usual caution in determining what course
it was my duty to adopt as charged with the
interests of all parts of the Province and all
classes of the community. If it be urged that
the measure in question was intended to be
merely a temporary expedient, there still remained room for doubt whether the necessity
for unusual precipitation in a matter of so grave
importance as that of an act of constituent
legislation was such as to overbalance the obvious danger of introducing frequent changes
into the constitution of the Province.

Upon these matters it is not for me to give
a final judgment; but I have thought it right
to lay them before you so far as they constituted
sufficient reasons to my own mind for inducing
me to act with great deliberation before placing
the Bill finally beyond your control at a time
when I was necessitated to determine in the
absence of constitutional advisers; and I entertain no doubt, gentlemen, but that your
Council, and the inhabitants of the Province
generally, will justify the course which I have
taken. That it will be felt, that, even if the
delay of one month should occasion any slight
inconvenience, which I cannot myself anticipate, it will be far more than counterbalanced
by the consideration that in making so material
a change in the constitution of the Province,
that change has been made with the unanimity
of the different branches of the Provincial Legislature, and with the cordial, well-considered,
approbation of the people.

So far, gentlemen, I have found it necessary
to speak of what occurred before the present
Executive Council accepted office. I will now
refer briefly to the topics which I am advised to
bring before you for your future consideration.

The Provincial Council Extension Bill will
be laid before you with certain amendments;
and your attention will be drawn to the point
whether an entirely fair distribution has been
made of the proposed additional members
amongst the existing constituencies. Another

Bill will also be submitted to you on the same
subject. It provides for a subdivision of the
Christchurch Country District, and a re-distribution of the Representation upon a fair basis
amongst all parts of the Province. It will also
be suggested for your consideration whether the
present mode of revising the Electoral Rolls
ought not to be amended and assimilated to
that in use in England, namely, by means of a
revising officer specially appointed, instead of
by the Bench of Magistrates, as at present in
use in this country. If the first Bill be assented
to by His Excellency, it has been thought a
fresh election would not be necessary, but that
additional members might be elected, the present members retaining their seats. It is possible, however, that His Excellency may be of
opinion that such would be an improper mode
of bringing the bill into operation, and might
think it right to dissolve the Council. In such
case you will probably all feel that the Provincial Council Extension Bill would be hardly the
measure you would wish to have passed. That
measure indeed appears to be based upon the
idea of avoiding the necessity of a dissolution.
The second bill therefore proposed to you will
be one to come into operation in the event of a
General Election.

The Ordinance passed in the First Session
for the prevention of the spread of disease in
Sheep has operated upon the whole, I am
informed, with great advantage, but some additional provisions appear to be required to prevent
introduction of diseased sheep into the
Province by land as well as by sea.

A statement will be laid before you of the
available balance still unappropriated in the
Treasury for the remainder of the financial
year.

I have to call your attention to the immediate
necessity of making provision for the erection
of a Council Chamber and of suitable
Government Offices. The present Council
Chamber will be no longer at your service at
the conclusion of the term for which it is hired,
except at a considerable increase of the present
rent; nor could it afford proper accommodation
to the Council when enlarged as proposed. The
Government offices at Christchurch are at present in apartments in my private house, from
which I am anxious they should be removed as
soon as possible.

The question of completing the communication between the Port and the Plains will also
be submitted to you, and you will be asked for
such a grant as shall enable a road to be constructed with all expedition.

You will also probably consider the propriety
of taking some steps to promote the establishment of small steamers to keep up a constant
intercourse by sea between the various bays of
the Peninsula, Lyttelton, Christchurch, and
Kaiapoi.

Upon the subject of the Waste Lands it is
necessary that I should say a few words. The
regulations to be proposed to you will be ready
to be laid before the people in a few days. If
the regulations proposed by the Government
should meet with general acceptance, and if it
should prove to be the general wish of the people that this question should be settled without
waiting for the enlargement of the Council, the