✨ Provincial Council Address
avoid the large expenditure in the extinguishment of private rights, which the neglect of that precaution would otherwise have occasioned. The state of the weather has also caused delay in the completion of the Electric Telegraph, but I have every confidence that, before the rising of the Council, this means of correspondence will be available. It is obvious that, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, the establishment of a communication of this nature between the two portions of the Province is most essential, if not altogether indispensable, for the good government of the whole.
Amendments have been made, at the suggestion of my Government, in the Waste Lands Regulations of the Province, having for their object partly the removal of a technical obstacle to the sale of land on the West Coast, and partly the introduction of terms and conditions better adapted to the circumstances of that district, and calculated to encourage permanent settlement.
You are aware that by an Act of the General Assembly passed during the late Session, two new members have been added to this Council as Representatives for the Goldfields; and it will be left to the Provincial Legislature to take any further steps which may be necessary for the more effectual representation of the Gold Mining interest. I hope that measures of this nature will have the effect of bringing before the Legislature in an authentic form the real wishes and views of a population employed in pursuits so different from those which engage the attention of residents on the eastern side of the range.
It is with much satisfaction that I recognise the importance of the scientific researches undertaken by the Provincial Geologist; and the fact of his having two years ago—in papers laid before this Council—accurately defined the gold districts on the West Coast, is a strong proof of the practical value of his labours, and leads me to expect that the Province will derive great benefit from his knowledge as to the auriferous nature of those lands which it may be advisable to survey for sale.
The repeal of the New Provinces Act of 1858 has deprived the outlying districts of the power to separate from the rest of the Province, unless by means of an Act of the General Assembly, but this appears to me to be no reason for neglecting the recognised claims of the settlers resident in those districts, and it will be my duty to make such recommendations to you for the appropriation of the Land Revenue as shall satisfy every reasonable claim.
I shall invite your consideration of some plan for the establishment of an Educational Institution of a superior class. I do not now propose to lay before you any measure for finally determining the exact mode in which such a plan should be carried into effect. It will be sufficient for the present to indicate its general features, which will then be before the public for consideration and discussion during the recess.
I now declare this Council open for the transaction of public business.
S. BEALEY,
Superintendent.
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Canterbury Provincial Gazette 1865, No 64
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
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Address by Superintendent to Provincial Council
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🏘️ Provincial & Local Government21 November 1865
Provincial Council, Address, Superintendent, Canterbury, Railway, Harbour Works, Goldfields, West Coast
- S. Bealey, Superintendent