56

GAOL.

The sanitary state of the Gaol is satisfactory, and no case of serious illness has occurred among the prisoners.

S. A. CUSACK, M.B., F.R.C.S.
T. B. THEBING, M.D.
BERNARD C. BEALE, M.R.C.S.E.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE NELSON TRUST FUNDS, for the Year ending December 21, 1862.

The questions which the Trustees have been required to take into consideration during the past year have been chiefly such as related to Steam Communication; indeed, with the exception of a grant of £100 to the Roman Catholic community of Marlborough, and an application from the Superintendent of that province for a loan of £2,000 on the same terms as those formerly granted to the Nelson Government, which could not be acceded to for want of funds, no other subject came before them of any public interest. At the close of the year 1861, the steamer Tasmanian Maid was performing the coasting service very efficiently; and, shortly after, the Undine began to run between Nelson and Metueka. But the steaming arrangement of this latter vessel were defective, and the service, in consequence, irregular; so that the attempt was unsuccessful, and the owner applied to the Trustees for leave to send her for sale to Otago. This, under the advice of their Solicitor, Mr. Poynter, they consented to do; and although the vessel has not yet been sold, they are assured by that gentleman to whom the matter was entrusted, and whose attention they have called to it several times since, that the interests of the Trust are fully secured.

In the month of May, our other steamer, the Tasmanian Maid, met with a serious accident, having been wrecked on the bar of the Wairau river, condemned by the Surveyors, and publicly sold for the benefit of the underwriters. Shortly afterwards a most unexpectedly heavy fresh in the river so altered and improved her position, that she was got off and brought into Nelson, comparatively uninjured. She was then disposed of, and taken to Auckland. The Trustees, upon this, applied to the Steam Company for payment of the loan, and received the same of £2,000, but were induced to allow the payment of the remaining sum of £2,000 to stand over for six months, to allow time for the Company to recover the sum for which the steamer was insured. That time has now elapsed, and the Trustees have made application for payment.

In the meantime, the inconvenience to the numerous passengers to and fro between Nelson and Marlborough, and the consequent diminution of traffic, were much felt. Attempts were made by several individuals to form fresh Companies, and applications were, in consequence, made to the Trustees for the funds at their disposal. But none of these offers were altogether satisfactory. Whilst the Trustees, guided by their former experience, required some guarantee in the interest of the province that the next steam service, once undertaken, should not be discontinued, even although more lucrative employment for the steamer were offered elsewhere, the applicants very naturally demurred to any such condition, and the negotiations came to an end.

This condition, indeed, was opposed to the well recognised character of all private enterprises, which look primarily to individual advantage, and to the public benefit only as a necessary ingredient and consequence.

At this time the Trustees thought it desirable to communicate with the Provincial Government, in the hope that it might be found possible to secure a regular communication with the West Coast, as well as with Marlborough; but they found that temporary engagements had already been entered into, for which their co-operation was not required. They, therefore, came to the conclusion that they should best consult the public interests by becoming themselves the owners of the best steam vessel which the funds at their command would enable them to purchase, and accordingly, after consulting those whose experience and local knowledge made their opinion most valuable, sent an order to England, selecting the builders of the Tasmanian Maid to execute it, as deserving such a preference by the satisfactory character which that vessel had maintained during the whole period of her service.

They took this step with the conviction