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should retain. The machinery which has been created in more prosperous times has, I think, outgrown the necessities of government in the Province now that its legislative powers have been curtailed and its functions have devolved, to a great extent, upon the Municipalities and Road Boards, and the funds which it has to administer have been largely pledged in permanent charges for works of local benefit.

The Province has still a great work to do in the promotion of immigration, in the bridging of rivers, and other public works, and in maintaining and developing the systems of education, police, gaols, and charitable institutions, which have, under existing legislation been placed in working order, and I should most strongly deprecate the abdication of its functions in favour of a Central Government, which does not and cannot for years to come represent or adequately promote the interests of the people in these matters. I think, however, that we should do wisely not to wait for legislation from without, or until reform is forced upon us by straitened circumstances, but at once to simplify within the limits of the Constitution the general machinery of administration, and I am assured that efficiency no less than economy would be consulted by such a course.

A further, and, as it seems to me, most desirable result to be aimed at is the bringing of the Superintendent into more direct communication than is at present the case with the Provincial Council. This may be effected under the existing form of the Constitution by frequent conference with committees of the Council, to be appointed for the purpose, and so long as I retain office it will be my desire to meet the Council in this way and to give every information and assistance in my power in the conduct of the public business. The same object might perhaps be attained by the Superintendent taking a seat in the Council, as under the New Provinces Act, though this course would require legislative sanction from the General Assembly, and is, I incline to think, open to objection so long as the Superintendent is elected as at present. On this point I would here express my belief that hereafter, when a greater identity of interest prevails throughout the colony than can be hoped for under existing circumstances, the administration of the Colonial and the Provincial Government within the Province may be entrusted to a nominated officer of the General Government, but I am persuaded that for some years the public good will be best consulted by maintaining the present form of election by the people. However this may be, I am satisfied that the establishment of a more direct and unfiltered responsibility to the Council is most desirable if, as I understand to be your wish, the Superintendent is to actively supervise the departments and assist in carrying out the votes of the Council. At the present time a considerable amount of routine work is being done by the Superintendent, and such must continue to be the case, possibly to a greater extent than at present. What I should wish personally, and what I believe would conduce to the public good, would be that he should have the opportunity of explaining his action to the Provincial Council, and should be more directly responsible for it.

The restraints now placed upon the action of the Superintendent by both colonial and provincial legislation, and the fact that he is chosen by the whole people of the Province, and is removable on the motion of the Provincial Council, appear to me to be a satisfactory guarantee that he will carry out the wishes of the people as expressed by their representatives. The fixing and defining of responsibility is what is required to secure in the chief officer care and promptitude in the conduct of business which properly falls upon him. Under the existing order of things, as was pointed out by my predecessor, "the Superintendent has none except a merely political responsibility."

In these observations I have expressed my own personal views, so far as they are formed, on a question of great difficulty, with no wish to assert them dogmatically, and with a desire to promote discussion of a subject which is of great importance.