68

NELSON GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.

of the main road between Nelson, Greymouth, and Westport, until I had learned the views of the Colonial Government with regard to it.

The result of consultations with the Premier and other members of the Ministry has been the abandonment of my part of my intention to raise the sum I have referred to on the ground that to do so would endanger the success of our proposed application to Parliament for a loan of £250,000; and the acceptance of an advance from the Colonial Government of £20,000 for the completion of the main road connecting the Upper Buller, as far as the Maruia, with the port of Nelson, in order to render the blocks of land reserved for special settlement available for that purpose.

A portion of this work is already in progress, and tenders for the remainder will be called for as soon as the necessary surveys and specifications can be completed.

6. Amongst the measures which will be presented to you are—A Bill for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; a Bill to give security over the Buller Reserve for the cost of construction and maintenance of the railway from Westport to Ngakawaho; and a Bill to empower me to hand over the Waterworks and Gasworks of the City of Nelson to the newly formed Corporation, in consideration of relief to the province from the liabilities and expenditure it has incurred with respect to them.

7. Resolutions will also be submitted to you recommending the consolidation of the laws regulating the sale and leasing of the waste lands of the Crown within the province, with such minor alterations as the course of administration has proved to be desirable.

These laws, spread as they now are over a number of statutes, are complicated and difficult to understand, and I think you will concur with me in the opinion that it is highly expedient that they should be compressed into a single Act so as to be more readily accessible and comprehensible to intending immigrants, as well as to those already settled amongst us.

I propose also that the land laws should as far as possible be made uniform throughout the province, whether within or without the goldfields, relying upon the provisions of the "Resumption of Land for Mining Purposes Act, 1873," in the event of land disposed of for agricultural or pastoral purposes being subsequently proved to be auriferous. The operation of this Act has already at your request been extended by proclamation of His Excellency the Governor to this province.

8. The Minister for Public Works having now accepted tenders for the construction of the Lake Hochstetter Water-race, I trust that this work will at last be pushed on to completion, and that it will prove the means of giving profitable employment to a large number of gold miners in the Grey Valley.

9. The steady progress making in the exploration and energetic working of the gold-bearing reefs of the Inangahua and the Lyell, together with the late promising discoveries at the Mokihinui and the Anator. induce me to believe that this branch of industry will take a prominent and permanent position in the province.

10. The formation of the first company, with a capital sufficient to work efficiently a portion of the iron and coal fields of the Para Para and Collingwood, gives good reason to hope that this valuable mineral district will before long afford the means of support to a large and thriving population.

11. The survey of the line of railway from Foxhill to Brunnerton having now been completed, the Colonial Government will be in a position to make application to the General Assembly for an appropriation of money for the construction of a further portion of it, in accordance with the understanding arrived at during the last session of Parliament.

12. The building of the new Lunatic Asylum is in progress, but as the amount of the funds placed at my disposal will not be sufficient to complete and furnish it for the reception of patients, you will be requested to make further provision for that purpose.

I now declare this Council open for the dispatch of business.

OSWALD CURTIS,
Superintendent.

Printed under the authority of the Provincial Government, by R. LUCAS & SON, Bridge-street, Nelson,
Printers for the time being to the said Government.