24

wealth and comfort which now surround us
with the wild and unproductive land which
greeted our arrival, we may indeed well feel
grateful for the present and hopeful for the
future.

During the past year there has been a con-
siderable addition to the population, 1,294
persons having arrived in Nelson in that
period; of these, 445 have been introduced by
the Government, 227 of whom are the result
of 460 applications which had been received in
England up to the last advices, 365 addi-
tional applications having been forwarded up
to the end of the year. From the full powers
which Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Tytler possess,
and the means placed at their disposal for
emigration purposes, a continuous stream of
immigrants to the province may be expected.
In this matter we are much indebted to our
old fellow-colonist Mr. Tytler, who, with the
zeal which he has ever displayed in the per-
formance of any duty entrusted to him, has
been of great assistance in carrying out the
wishes of the Government.

The funds which you placed at the disposal
of the Government for exploration and surveys
of lines of road, have been most usefully em-
ployed in examining, in various directions, the
less known parts of the province, and have,
amongst other advantages, led to the discovery
of some additional country available for pas-
turage, and of a short route to the southern
portions of the island, which will be productive
of much future benefit. Two explorations for
a road to Massacre Bay having been attended
with but partial success, and recognising the
advantages which would ensue from a com-
munication by land with that district, if prac-
ticable, I have entered into a contract for the
examination of the intervening country in
another direction.

On no subject has the Government bestowed
more attention than on that of the roads and
public works, becoming with the advancing
settlement of the country daily more necessary;
and it is with no little gratification that I am
able to inform you that, during the last finan-
cial period of fifteen months, upwards of six-
teen miles of road have been formed, and more
than six miles metalled, while repairs have
been effected over a space of fifty-six miles
previously open, and six miles of new road
opened out for traffic. Thirty-one bridges and
twenty-seven culverts have also been erected in
the same time. Much, however, as has been
accomplished in this respect, and which is
mainly attributable to the energy and judgment
of the Commissioner of Public Works, it falls
far short of what is necessary. So long as the
population was confined to the neighbourhood
of a few main thoroughfares, the task of main-
taining a communication between the settled

localities was comparatively easy, but now the
most distant portions of the country, from Cape
Farewell on the one side to the Hurunui on the
other, are fast becoming peopled. From all
quarters throughout that wide extent, appli-
cations are constantly received by the Govern-
ment for the construction of various works
necessary to the convenience of the inhabitants,
the due supervision of which by any central
authority, except in an irregular and inter-
mittent manner, unsatisfactory alike to the
Government and the inhabitants, is simply
impossible. The advantages to the entire
community which would result from extensive
means of intercommunication are so obvious to
every member of the Council, that it would be
superfluous in me to do more than express my
earnest desire to co-operate with you in estab-
lishing a system calculated to ensure them; at
the same time I feel bound to record my con-
viction, arrived at after an attentive considera-
tion of the subject, and the experience of the
last two years, that this object can only be
effectually attained through the instrumentality
of the residents in the several districts, who are
most competent to determine what works are
required and in what manner they should be
executed. A bill based upon this principle
will accordingly be laid before you.

Our past experience has already warned us
that those measures universally essential to the
preservation of the health of a population con-
centrated within confined limits, can no longer
be neglected with impunity. As obviously any
prolonged delay in adopting such measures
would, whilst continuing and increasing evils
which all must recognise, entail additional
difficulty and expense in the construction of
works inevitably necessary in the end, a bill
for providing for the health of the Town of
Nelson will be submitted for your considera-
tion.

Important as these two measures are, as
affecting our physical health and progress, the
means by which the intellectual culture of the
future population may be generally and cheaply
provided for is as essential a consideration.
I regret to have to state that it is this most vital
question, in which the future of the province
is so deeply involved, to which I previously
alluded as forming the solitary exception in
the general advance made by the colonists.
The very able report of the Education Com-
mission appointed under the Act of last session
will have been perused by you with great
interest; aware of the strong, and for the
most part conscientious, differences of opinion
which exist on this subject here, as in all
countries where public opinion is permitted to
express itself; I endeavoured, in appointing
that commission, in so far as the limited
numbers which the act by which it was consti-