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tuted would allow, to provide for the due
representation of the different views with
which the question was regarded. It was
therefore a source of great gratification to me,
as it must have been to others, that the con-
sideration of these conflicting views resulted in
the recommendation of a scheme of so liberal
and practical a character, as was certain to
receive for any system based upon it that
amount of public approval without which no
mode of general education could be sus-
tained. You will perceive that the Education
Bill which has been prepared vests the
determination of the mode of instruction in
each district in the parents of those to be in-
structed; the sole restrictive provision being
one to prevent the violation of the religious
scruples of the minority. That this measure
will be eagerly accepted by the people of the
province I feel confident, and it will be a
legitimate source of pleasure and pride to us
to believe that we have laid the foundation of
a system, by means of which the mental con-
dition of the future inhabitants of this fertile
country may correspond with their material
prosperity.

In the three bills which I have briefly
noticed, two pervading principles will be found
—one, that all should contribute to works
which are for the benefit of all—the other,
that the members of each community should,
through their own agents, direct the execution
of them. This latter principle is the main-
spring of action in all those countries remark-
able for political freedom, social advancement,
and commercial enterprise. It is eminently
suited to the genius of the race by which this
country has been colonised, and is most con-
sonant to the spirit of our constitution. Its
importance in forming the future character of
the population is thus forcibly illustrated by
that eminent political economist, Stuart Mill:—
\"A people amongst whom there is no habit of
spontaneous action for a collective interest—
who look habitually to their government to
command or prompt them in all matters of
joint concern—who expect to have everything
done for them, except what can be made an
affair of mere habit and routine—have their
faculties only half developed; their education
is defective in one of its most important
branches;\" and again, \"the discussion and
management of collective interests is the great
school of that public spirit, and the great
source of that intelligence of public affairs,
which are always regarded as the distinctive
character of the public of free countries.\"

In accordance with the powers conferred by
the Waste Land Act, I have caused a set of
Regulations for the Disposal of the Waste Lands
to be prepared for your consideration. In
transmitting them to you, I will remark upon

them at greater length than is permitted to me
in the limits of this address. I may, however,
briefly observe here, that they have been pre-
pared, after a careful consideration, as the
most suited to the circumstances at present
attending the disposal of the Waste Lands; and
that in the event—as is not improbable—of a
larger control in this matter being given to the
province, they would require but few modifi-
cations to adapt them to the change.

The different branches of revenue during
the past year exhibit the prosperous condition
of the province, the revenue of the Customs
having amounted to £9,674 1s. 1d.; while
one hundred and fifty-nine vessels, of an aggre-
gate burden of 17,055 tons, have entered the
port of Nelson; being in both respects an
increase over the previous year. The receipts
of the Land Department amounted to
£13,920 18s.; 29,317 acres having been sold
during the year. The manner in which the
revenue has been dealt with has, however,
prevented the province in a very great degree
from reaping that benefit which would other-
wise have been experienced from its expen-
diture on public works. I need but shortly
instance that, since the commencement of the
last financial period of fifteen months, the
proportion of the Customs receipts paid to the
Provincial Treasury has not only been changed
from two-thirds to one-half, but the alteration
was made retrospective, thereby causing a
refund. Again, the land revenue, the whole of
which, after deducting the expenses provided for
by the Constitution Act, had previously been re-
ceived, was first treated in the like retrospective
manner, and shortly afterwards impounded
altogether to meet a debt alleged to be due by
the General Government, the par-
ticulars of which are, notwithstanding repeated
requests on my part, to this moment unknown
to me, while the amount of this alleged debt
has been so repeatedly altered, that I have
been for the present compelled to abandon the
attempt to come to an understanding on a
subject which must ultimately be considered
by the General Assembly.

The effect of this treatment of the revenue
without any previous warning, and in violation
of financial arrangements made at the intro-
duction of the Constitution, upon which the
expenditure of the provinces is based, has
been most injurious, and were it to be con-
tinued would inevitably lead to disastrous con-
sequences, as effectually preventing any public
work of magnitude or prolonged execution
from being undertaken. That I am now
enabled to submit to you Estimates for the
current year with any degree of certainty is
due to our new Governor, who, pending a final
settlement of financial differences in the next
session of the General Assembly, promptly