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arise under any Act of the General Assembly;
but no provision has been made by the Act for
regulating the appropriation of the Customs
Revenue already arising under Colonial Ordinances.
In the absence of any special enactment by the
Assembly, the surplus of Her Majesty's Customs
Revenue would not be payable into the several
Provincial Treasuries, but would remain to the
credit of the General Government. It is pro-
posed for the consideration of the House, that,
subject to the charges necessary for the mainte-
nance of the Civil Establishments, the surplus of
the present Customs Revenue should be divided
amongst the various Provinces in the proportion,
prescribed by the Constitution Act in respect of
the Revenues to be raised under the provisions of
an Act of the Assembly, and the Bill for appropria-
ting the Public Revenues, has been framed with
a view to carry that object into effect. With
respect to the ultimate distribution of the surplus
Land Revenue, it may be a question deserving
consideration whether it would not be more
generally satisfactory to the Colonists, that a
separate account of the Land Revenue should be
kept for each Province, and that as far as may be
practicable the ultimate sum to be paid into
each Provincial Treasury, should be determined
by the amount of the Land Revenue actually
received and expended within each Province in
the course of the preceding year.

The ordinary Establishments of the General
Government, and the salaries of the Officers have
been placed upon the Estimates at the same rate
at which they were originally fixed, and at which
they have for some time been paid; considering
the continued high price of every description of
labour, and the cost of the necessaries of life, the
House will doubtless be of opinion that the Public
Officers are at present inadequately paid. The
Officer administering the Government will be
glad to concur with the House in making any
general augmentation of their salaries which may
appear to be reasonable and adjust: with respect to
the salaries, charges, and expenses, now for the
first time brought into the Estimates, and to the
amount to be reserved for General Public Works,
&c., he will be glad to be guided by the recom-
mendations of the House.

During the short period which appears to be
remaining at the disposal of the House, it can
hardly be expected that the Assembly should
exercise the power granted to them by the Con-
stitution Act of regulating the disposal and man-
agement of the Waste Lands of the Crown.
Believing that the maintenance of uniformity
in the mode of disposing of the Public Lands is
not of essential importance, and indeed that no
general system can be equally well adopted, or can
long remain suited to the various and varying
conditions of a country like New Zealand, the
Officer administering the Government suggested
for the consideration of the Assembly, in his
opening address, whether it might not be expe-
dient for the Assembly to delegate to the Pro-
vincial Legislatures the power of making laws for
regulating the sale, letting, disposal, and occupa-
tion of the Waste Lands of the Crown, and he
would have been prepared at once to submit to
the Assembly, a Bill to carry that object into
effect. It may well deserve consideration how-
ever, whether any Act to be passed by the Assem-
bly to authorize the Provincial Councils to
legislate on this subject, should not, in order to
secure to the General Government an efficient
controlling power, contain a provision that no
Ordinance to be passed by any Provincial Coun-
cil, relating to the Lands of the Crown should
come into actual operation until it shall have it
received the Governor's assent. Looking to the
magnitude of the interests at stake, it may also
be a wise precaution to enact, that the power of
regulating the disposal and management of the
Waste Lands of any Province, shall not be exer-
cised by the local Legislature until there shall
have been a new Election of its Members.

Until the Assembly shall Legislate on the sub-
ject, it will be competent for the Governor by
virtue of the provisions of the Constitution Act,
to regulate the sale, letting, disposal, and occupa-
tion of the Demesne Lands of the Crown. Pen-
ding legislation by the Assembly and aided by
the best information which local knowledge and
experience can supply, the Officer administer-
ing the Government will be prepared, as occasion
may require, to adapt the existing general regula-
tions to the particular requirements of the various
Provinces, and as far as may be consistent with
the interests of the Colony at large, in conformity
with the wants and wishes of their several inhab-
itants, many of the subjects of the most pressing
importance have already for some time been un-
der the consideration of the house. Amongst the
Measures which will probably engage their atten-
tion with a view to immediate legislation, are the
Secondary Punishment Bill, the Naturalization
Bill, the Dower Bill, the Nelson Trust Fund
Bill, &c., &c.

With a general desire to work together, with
a view to promote the interests of the Colony,
the Assembly will be able by a close attention to
the actual business of legislation to turn even
a short Session to profitable account,
and the Officer administering the Government
in conclusion, has to assure the House of his most
earnest wish cordially to co-operate with them,
during the short period which may yet remain at
their disposal, in the endeavour to secure for the
people of New Zealand, the greatest possible
measure of useful Legislation.

R. H. WYNYARD,
Officer Administering the Government.

Government House, Auckland,
4th September, 1854.

MESSAGE No. 5.

The Officer Administering the Govern-
ment transmits to the House of Represen-
tatives the Financial Statement and the
Estimates referred to in his Message No. 4.

R. H. WYNYARD,
Officer Administering the
Government.

Government House, Auckland,
4th Sept., 1854.

In presenting a statement of the financial
position of the Colony it is necessary to
refer to the receipts of the period subse-
quent to the 30th of Sept., 1853, and to the
amount of expenditure maintained in
carrying on the many important branches
of the public service, I have accordingly
directed a comprehensive statement of the
whole of the receipts and expenditure of
the Colony for the period alluded to to be
prepared, and it will be laid on the table
of the House as soon as possible.

Although the prosperity of the Colony is
such that we might confidently trust on the
increase of its revenues, I have not thought
it advisable, in preparing the Estimates, to