shall receive my early attention, in the full belief that they will confer very important advantages upon the Southern settlements, and will contribute greatly to the advancement of the whole of New Zealand, whilst the increased number and the more varied experience of those persons, upon whose wisdom and advice I shall have to rely in framing laws for the general Government of New Zealand, will give me greater confidence in the various measures I may adopt, and will, I trust, in a great degree remove the difficulties I unavoidably labour under, from my necessarily imperfect acquaintance with the local requirements of so many distant and scattered settlements, and from my consequent inability to judge of the several degrees of influence which local causes should be allowed to exercise in modifying those laws which are to be put in force throughout the whole territory:

"The circumstance of my being aided in the General Council by the advice and knowledge of so many gentlemen from the various portions of New Zealand, will also enable me with greater confidence to propose and carry out any changes in the Constitution or powers of the Provincial Legislative Councils, which time and experience may point out as necessary; and the same circumstance will ultimately afford me the greatest assistance in introducing into this country a complete system of Representative Government, a measure which I anxiously desire to see accomplished, and the removal of the difficulties in the way of which has always been to me an object of the greatest solicitude.

From what I have already stated, you will have seen that the duties which will devolve on this Council are of the most important kind, being the entire conduct of all subjects of legislation connected with local affairs and the control of the Provincial Revenue—a fair share in the general legislation of the whole of the New Zealand Islands—the removal of the difficulties which stand in the way of an immediate introduction of a complete Representative Government—and ultimately the supervision of all the details of such a measure, and its adaptation to the peculiar circumstances of each Province. These are duties which are in part unusual, springing from causes peculiar to New Zealand, and a right discharge of which forms an object of legitimate ambition for every intelligent man, and will certainly, if well performed, establish a just claim upon the lasting gratitude of the inhabitants of these Islands.

I do not propose to make any remarks upon the subject of the local affairs of this Province, as this duty devolves more properly upon the Lieutenant-Governor, who will, upon a future occasion, propose for your consideration all such measures connected with these, as may appear to his Excellency to be calculated to promote the welfare of the Province, or to advance its interests; but upon

the subject of the administration of the provincial revenue, I must make a few remarks, as this is a point connected with the general finances of the country, and in which the welfare of the whole islands is involved.

I would remind you therefore, that the fact of the colony being able to defray the expenses of its internal Government from its own resources, is a necessary preliminary to the introduction of a complete representative form of government; the strongest inducement is thus afforded you to watch with the utmost vigilance the mode in which the revenue is appropriated in order to obtain at the earliest possible period for the European inhabitants of New Zealand that form of government which they appear so earnestly to desire.

But apart from these considerations you will find that an orderly regulation of the finances of your adopted country, and a frugal expenditure of the public resources in this the early stage of the colony will do more to establish its present prosperity and to promote its future welfare, than any other measure which you can adopt, whilst upon the other hand to plunge the colony into financial embarrassments at this early period of its history, or to create a large and unnecessarily expensive Government establishment, would entail upon New Zealand misfortunes which many years of the most careful administration of public affairs might not be able hereafter to remove.

There appears no reason to doubt that, under a prudent system of management, this Province may shortly be able, from its own income, to defray the whole of its legitimate civil expenditure. Its revenue is already considerable, and by slight modifications in the mode of collecting it, is capable of considerable improvement. In about two years from the present time, the great lines of road now in progress will be completed, and the town of Wellington will then be connected, by easy lines of communication, with immense tracts of fertile country, which will, I trust, be shortly in a great measure the property of the Crown; and which will then be fully laid open to the industry and energy of the settlers. These causes, taken in conjunction with the measures which I am about to propose for your adoption, ought to render the progress of this portion of New Zealand very rapid, and to cause a continued augmentation of its revenue.

It would also seem probable that the revenue of the Nelson district will rapidly augment, as its inhabitants are now reaping the due reward of their industry and energy in the state of prosperity to which they are attaining; whilst the rapid increase of their flocks and herds since the acquisition of the Wairau district must speedily ensure them a large export of very valuable commodities.

Having thus before you upon every side the prospect of an increasing revenue, whilst