60

quite bright and clear before it leaves its rocky bed
in the gorge."

As many portions of the Provincial Engineer's
plans are capable of curtailment, if considered de-
sirable, I have no doubt of its entire practicability
within the sum which this province is authorised to
borrow under the "Waterworks Loan Act, 1864."

The possibility of borrowing money under the
terms of that Act, and the desirability of attempting
to negotiate any New Zealand debentures in the
present state of public opinion on all New Zealand
securities, are questions upon which I shall require
and have sought competent advice, the tenor of which
I will communicate to you as soon as received.

XII.—I have received from Mr. Burnett a very full
report of the coal-fields of this province, and as that
gentleman writes with a knowledge of the subject
and of the various localities in which our known coal-
fields are situated (which I do not possess), I feel that
I cannot do better than refer you to it for all general
information upon that subject. The resolutions which
you passed as to the steps to be taken for placing the
merits of our Buller Coal-fields before British capi-
talists with a view to enlist their interest and co-
operation in their development, were not carried
into effect by the late Superintendent. Much as I
regret any delay in carrying out a well considered
project for realising this long neglected source of
wealth and prosperity, it is perhaps as well that no
expense was incurred in sending an agent to London
during the late very remarkable tightness of the
English money market; and should the private en-
terprise, now so energetically engaged in endeavors to
develop the coal-field believed to exist at Pakawau,
prove that a good coal can be found so near to the
Port of Nelson, we shall not need the assistance of
English capital to bring that coal to the market.

A very few weeks will probably enable those en-
gaged in it to ascertain whether a workable and useful
seam of this most important product exists there or
not. Should the promoters' efforts be attended with
success, the benefit to the province cannot but be
obvious to every one. The shaft is situated at little
more than a mile and a half from the sea-board,
towards which there is an easy decline, and the sea
frontage is said to offer great facilities for the erection
of an inexpensive pier or jetty for shipping the coal,
whilst its easy distance from the Port of Nelson would
enable the coal to be brought at all seasons of the
year with great ease and rapidity, and sold at a price
that would not fail to ensure a large consumption.

Should this coal prove to be unmixed with shale,
and otherwise of good quality, neither Governmental
nor foreign aid will be required for development;
but should the sanguine expectations of those who
are now engaged in finally testing that long doubtful
and very important question, be doomed to disap-
pointment, I shall feel much pleasure in promptly
carrying into effect the resolution of last session, or
any similar recommendations you may make on this
subject.

XIII. A new Licensing Bill has been prepared and
printed; you will see that it embodies the alterations
in the law recommended by the select committee ap-
pointed by you last year, and two other important
features, which I hope that you will consider it ad-
visable to adopt. Having a very strong conviction
that habitual drunkards should be treated as mono-
maniacs rather than as criminals, and therefore re-
strained and protected rather than punished, I pro-
pose to abolish that portion of the existing law which
empowers a magistrate to imprison a person who has
been convicted of drunkenness three times within six
months, and to give power to the magistrates to send
the name and description of the unfortunate indivi-
dual to all the license holders, with instructions not
to serve him with any intoxicating drink. I also
propose that no license holder shall be able to re-
cover any debt incurred for any kind of intoxicating
liquor that may have been drunk on his premises.

XIV. The "Hackney Carriage Bill" has been pre-
pared, in accordance with a resolution passed by you
last year. I need only remark on it that no new
officer need be appointed, or additional expense in-
curred, for the inspection there recommended as it
can easily be combined with the duties of an existing
officer.

XV. A Scab Bill is being prepared, which I hope
will be found more adapted to the general wants of
the various districts in this province that the existing
Act has proved to be.

XVI. The large sum which has been spent in chari-
table aid during the last year, exceeding your vote
by £393 7s. 10d., with every probability of an annual
increase, and the very unsystematic manner in which
that fund has hitherto been dispensed and accounted
for, together with the conviction that its dispensation
is a duty that should never be placed in the hands of
an elective Superintendent, even if he could be sup-
posed to have sufficient time on his hands to carefully
investigate the merits of the many claims made for
relief, has induced me to request the sergeant-major
of police to generally superintend the details of what
has now become an important and difficult depart-
ment, and one for which the nature of his police
duties, as well as the personal qualifications of the
present holder of that office so thoroughly fit him.
That gentleman is now engaged in removing such of
the poor as require to be permanently supported by
public funds to the Taranaki Buildings, where I hope
to be able to make such arrangements as will secure
them due arrangement, and comfort, to the aged and
infirm, and place some wholesome restraint upon
those who may show a necessity for it. This step
was rendered specially necessary by the dangerous
and dilapidated state of the buildings known as the
Old Depôt, hitherto occupied by those who were un-
able to procure a home of their own; the injury
which these undrained and uncleanly hovels had
inflicted and were likely to inflict upon the health of
the town, and the danger of fire in the heart of the
city, which the carelessness of their inmates has more
than once rendered very apparent.

The yard in which the Old Depôt stands will also
require to be enclosed, and used as a depôt for the
large number of stores, castings, &c., that will be
imported for the Nelson Waterworks, for which pur-
pose it is very conveniently situated.

XVII.—I have received a letter from the Medical
Officer of the Hospital, calling my attention to the
inadequate accommodation afforded by the building
used for a hospital in this province, and suggesting
the propriety of making some provision for the num-
ber of patients that would probably arrive from the
Hokitika Gold-fields, as well as for the increased
demand for space that would arise should this pro-
vince be visited by any epidemic.

In the reports from these gentlemen, which will be
forthwith laid before you, you will find that they
recommend increased accommodation to be provided
on the present hospital site.

Since the receipt of that letter the number of
patients has decreased, and there is no doubt the
Canterbury Government has made, or will immedi-
ately make, arrangements for the reception of their
own patients at Hokitika, and I hope also to relieve
the hospital of some of its more permanent inmates.