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in the hands of the Bank for sale, should be settled by arbitration; and this Council will not sanction any expenditure which may be incurred for legal proceedings without its warrant.” I have abstained from taking any action in this matter. In justice both to myself and the Council, I have thought it right to place you in possession of such a statement of the facts of the case, as, with the papers already before you, will, I trust, serve to elucidate a somewhat intricate question. I will not now detain you by reading this statement, which will be placed at once in your hands.

A resolution was passed by you on the day previous to the prorogation of the Council —“That a separate charge should be made for carriage and wharfage on all produce carried over the Lyttelton and Christchurch Railway.”

I gave the most careful consideration to all the facts bearing on the subject, and found— that the existing rates for wool and grain are less per ton than that charged for general goods, and are calculated to cover only the cost of the carriage and delivery in Lyttelton.

That the cost of unloading is intended to be included in the rate charged for carriage, and it is immaterial to the Railway whether the unloading be into the sheds or into a ship alongside the wharf.

That cranes and other machinery used for the shipment and landing of general goods are not used in the shipment of wool and grain.

Considering, therefore, that the present freight rates on wool and grain do not include a sum for wharfage distinct from carriage, no part of the present charge can be called wharfage dues. If, therefore, such charge were made, it should not come out of, but be added to the present freight rates. Such additional charge, if I understand your resolution rightly, was not contemplated by you, and could not, in my opinion, be made for the reasons stated above, in fairness to the growers of the staple articles of product of the country, whose interest I could not doubt your desire in common with myself to promote. Understanding, however, from the Members of my Government that it was considered that the absence of any separate charge for wharfage operated as a restriction on the accommodation for the shipment of grain, inasmuch as a charge for wharfage on these commodities was imposed at the wharf known as Peacock’s Wharf, in addition to the railway charges, and that vessels were thereby deterred from loading at Peacock’s Wharf, and that it was thought undesirable that shippers from Peacock’s Wharf should be placed at a disadvantage as compared with those who ship from the Government wharves, I gave the subject my attention with the view of meeting your wishes in these respects. A remission has accordingly been made of 4d. per bag on the carriage of all grain shipped at Peacock’s Wharf, this sum being the amount determined upon as capable of being fairly remitted in consideration of the fact that a saving is effected by the Government in consequence of its being relieved of the labour of unloading on Peacock’s Wharf.

I communicated to Mrs. Selfe the expression of your feelings of sorrow for the loss sustained in the death of the late Mr. Selfe, and your sympathy with his family, and I took immediate action in respect of the appropriation made by you in recognition of the important services rendered to the Province by the late Mr. Selfe. Mrs. Selfe desires me to express to you her deep sense of gratitude for the course taken by you.

It is with deep regret I have to record the recent loss by the Province of one of its oldest and most valued servants, the late Chief Surveyor, Mr. Davie, who had been in the service of the Province for a period of more than 20 years.