gratulate you, upon the steady advance
which this Province is making, in ge-
neral wealth and prosperity : a pro-
sperity the more satisfactory because
it is shared by all classes of the commu-
nity. It is not in my power to lay before
you any official statistics which will enable
you to judge of the advance which has
been made. Some amendments in the
Census Ordinance will be proposed to you,
which may enable me, in future years, to
provide such information, but, so far as in-
cidental sources of information may be re-
lied on, there can be no doubt that the
quantity of land now in cultivation is con-
siderably greater than when I first opened
the Council eighteen months ago; and I
have reason to believe the amount of stock
in the Province has nearly doubled since
that time. The population has slightly in-
creased. The imports have increased con-
siderably, and the exports very largely.
The latter fact is very significant. The
increase in imports for the year ending the
31st December last, is returned at 29 per
cent over those of the preceding year,
whilst the increase in the exports for the
same period is one of no less that 500 per
cent, and it is certain that, from the value
of the wool of the present season, the
exports will again be far more than
doubled in next year\'s returns. This is a
very encouraging fact, inducing the hope
that our settlement, so lately formed, is
rapidly approaching the normal condition
of every country in a healthy state of trade,
and that the imported necessaries and
luxuries which we enjoy, will, before long,
be paid for wholly by the products of
our own labour, and the resources of our
own Province.

The only draw back to this state of
general prosperity arises from the great
scarcity of labor. This, however, will be
probably of temporary duration, as the ar-
rival of Immigrants both from Australia
and from England may now be daily
looked for. With regard to Immigration
from England I regret to inform you that
owing to the delay in paying over the pro-
ceeds of the land fund to the Provincial
chest, and the consequent inability of the
Provincial Government to transmit funds
to England, a delay has occurred in mak-
ing arrangements with shippers to under-
take the Immigration. I endeavoured to
avoid the difficulty by empowering the
agents in England to draw on the Provin-
cial Government; but there appears to be
some temporary difficulty in negotiating
such bills. As soon, however, as I was ap-
prised of the difficulty, I caused £10,000 to
be transmitted to Mr. Godley, through the
Union Bank, and in the mean time Mr.
Godley and Mr. Selfe have again come for-
ward to aid the settlement by their private
credit; So that some immigrants may be
daily expected.

To the same scarcity of labor you
must attribute the apparent delay which
exists in accomplishing those public
works for which funds have been voted
by the Provincial Council. In this matter
I have felt it incumbent on the Govern-
ment to act with great caution, both to
avoid withdrawing labor from the ordinary
occupations of the colony, especially dur-
ing harvest time, and also to avoid throw-
ing such large public funds into the labor
market as to raise the price of labor to an
extent ruinous to the ordinary employer.
I do not, however, doubt but that with the
assistance which will shortly be received
from fresh immigration, all the works for
which funds have been voted, will be ac-
complished in the course of the ensuing
year.

With one or two trifling exceptions,
however, it is not the intention of the
Government to ask you for any further
votes on account of public works for the
current year, both because it is not likely
that any works those already en-
gaged in, could with the labor we shall be
able to command be readily executed dur-
ing the current year, and also because no
larger sums than those already voted could
be safely expended in labor during that
time, without risking so serious a distur-
bance of the labor market, as to inflict
considerable injury on the Province.

With regard to the main work undertaken
by the Government—the Sumner Road—so
much misapprehension exists, that I shall
request your attention for a few moments
to that subject. The Commissioners ap-
pointed to enquire into this subject have
reported on the best line of road, and also
on the best line of railway. I entirely
agree with those who think that a Railway
from Lyttelton to Christchurch is neces-
sary, in order to develope the resources of
this settlement; and I have no doubt
but that in a few years, the Province
will be in a position to undertake such
a work. At present it possesses nei-
ther means or credit, public or private,
for so large an undertaking. In a young
and comparatively unknown community,
the establishment of the public credit is
the first consideration. To undertake a work
far beyond our present means, would be
ruinous, not only to that work, but to fu-
ture undertakings. On the other hand,
the formation of the cart road into the in-
terior from the Port, will only hasten the
time when the Province will be able to
undertake a Railroad; and the sum of