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Attorney-General.

This department has necessarily been called into existence by the Charter, but the office of Crown Solicitor has been abolished. The only unusual item of expenditure connected with the department is that of clerk to the Attorney-General, an appointment which was sanctioned in consideration of the Attorney-General having to draw out all grants of land, and his being unable, as at Auckland and other places, to obtain assistance in preparing such documents from officers of the Land Department. Here the Demesne Lands being vested in the New Zealand Company no Government Land Office is required or exists.

Post-Office.

The Post-office having been placed under the colonial authorities some additional arrangements in connection with the department may hereafter be required, but I have been informed by the Governor-in-Chief that his Excellency is expecting some communication from England on the subject, and I have therefore for the present made no alteration in the existing establishment.

Police Department.

The altered circumstances of the colony and the prospect of continued tranquillity, added to a remarkably small amount of crime in proportion to the population, have enabled me to make very great reductions in the strength of the Police establishments.

In 1847 the force for the Wellington district alone amounted, including officers, to 57. Under the changes which have been made it now numbers only 20 men exclusive of officers, and 27 including officers, but to increase the efficiency of this small body, and more especially as regards their services in the country districts, where lines of road have been opened or where the country is naturally traversable by horses, I propose to mount seven of the men during the present year, and from year to year afterwards to mount such an additional number as the occupation of the country districts, the formation of roads, or other circumstances may render necessary.

The Council will perceive that the character of the Police Force will thus become gradually altered with the changing circumstances of the colony, but at all times it will be confined to the smallest number of men compatible with an efficient discharge of the duties expected from them. In making these changes, I also look forward to the time when the progress of the colony may make it necessary that the Police Force should be divided into two distinct classes, one of which would be a foot or Metropolitan Police, and the other would be exclusively a mounted force. To this division the arrangements I propose will gradually prepare the way.

Nelson.

Department of His Honor the Superintendent.

A slight increase has been made to this establishment by the addition of an extra clerk, whose services have become necessary from the increase in the public business, and in justice to the gentleman who has hitherto discharged all the duties connected with the Superintendent’s Office and the Resident Magistrate’s Court, besides affording his services to the public in various other departments. The salary of the latter officer has also been slightly raised, viz., from £135 to £155.

Sub-Treasury Department.

At Nelson the Sub-Collector of Customs is also the Sub-Treasurer, and formerly received the sum of £20 per annum on account of this service, in addition to his salary as Sub-Treasurer. For the last two years, however, no additional remuneration has been given to him, and I have, therefore, at the earnest solicitation of His Honor the Superintendent and in consideration of the extra duty and responsibility entailed by two such important offices being in the hands of one individual, placed a sum of £50 upon the estimates as a salary to the Sub-Treasurer.

Customs Department.

In this department a slight increase has also been made by raising the salary of the acting Landing Waiter from £130 to £150.

Otago Estimates.

I have forborne making any alterations in, or (with a single exception) additions to, the existing establishment in the estimates for Otago, because there seems a probability of a separate Government being shortly established there. The exception to which I allude is the making provision for a Clerk to the Bench, an officer whose services are required in every district where petty sessions are held and cannot longer be dispensed with in the principal settlement of so extensive and important a district as that of Otago.

General Charges.

The items under this heading are, for the most part, of a similar character to those classed under the denomination of “Miscellaneous” in the estimates of 1847 for the whole of New Zealand, and are corresponding in amount to about one half, or a little less, of the sums so appropriated.

There are, however, some new items introduced which require more particular explanation, viz.:—

Education.

The Education Ordinance No. 10, Session 8, gave power to the Lieutenant-Governor and the Executive Council to appropriate any sum for educational purposes not exceeding one-twentieth of the whole revenue of the Province. This I have been unable to do in consequence of my Executive Council having declined to recommend any such appropriation, and I have, therefore, placed on the estimates a sum of £800, which I would ask you to vote for the purposes, and with a view