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sion, and with ample time for consideration, all
the three branches of the Legislature shall have
given their deliberate assent.

Gentlemen of the Assembly,

I have had great pleasure in giving my assent,
in Her Majesty's name, to the Bill "For regula-
ting the disposal of the Waste Lands of the Crown
in New Zealand."

With regard to the system now in operation for
disposing of the Waste Lands of the Crown, es-
tablished by Governor Sir George Grey, the Act
affirms the validity of the Proclamation of the
4th March, 1853, and confirms the General Land
Regulations contained in it, and at the same time,
makes provision against their hasty or inconsi-
derate alteration. With regard to the future, the
Waste Lands Act in effect provides that hence
forward the Demesne Lands of the Crown shall
be disposed of in accordance with the wishes
of the Colonists of New Zealand. So far
as may depend upon myself I have only to
repeat the assurance I have already conveyed to
both Houses of the Legislature, that I shall be
prepared, as occasion may require, to adapt the
existing Land Regulations to the particular re-
quirements 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 the several inhabitants with res-
pect to the unsatisfied claims alluded to in my
address on opening the Session-it will now mainly
rest with the colonists themselves to determine
in what manner and to what extent compensa-
tion shall be awarded to those who may be found
to have just and unsatisfied claims to compensa-
tion on account of their losses and sufferings arising
out of the unfulfilled engagements of the New
Zealand Company, and to which pointed refer-
ence has been made in the recent report of a
Select Committee, of the House of Representa-
tives on the subject of that Company's debt..

The operation of the no less important Bill to
authorize the General Assembly to empower the
Provincial Councils to make laws for regulating
the sale and disposal of the Waste Lands of the
Crown must necessarily be deferred until it shall
have received the Royal assent; I shall not fail
to urge Her Majesty's Government to take such
measures as may be deemed necessary for enabling
the General Assembly lawfully to delegate to the
Provincial Legislatures the powers conferred upon
the Assembly by the New Zealand Constitution
Act.

Owing to the late period at which the "Bill
for regulating the Law of Marriage," has been
presented for my assent, I have been unable to
give to its provisions that careful attention which
the importance of that measure most undoubt-
edly demands; neither have I had the oppor-
tunity of offering to you any amendments which a
deliberate consideration of the measure in its details
might have enabled me to suggest; I have much
pleasure, however, in declaring my entire ap-
proval of the principle on which the Act has been

based, and I am happy to believe that the As-
sembly have succeeded in devising a measure
which, without disturbing the good feeling which
has hitherto subsisted between the various reli-
gious denominations without creating invidious
distinctions between them, and without un-
necessarily interfering with existing usages, will
be found more efficient in its provisions than the
disallowed Ordinance of 1851.

The "English Acts Act," to which I have
also given my assent will have the effect of ex-
tending to New Zealand the benefit of those
amendments, which, within the last few years
have been effected by the British Parliament in
the Laws relating to the Administration of Jus-
tice; and the provisions of the "Secondary Pun-
ishments Act will, I trust, be found to operate
not less beneficially in promoting the efficiency of
the Law.

On the subject of the charge of 268,000l. upon
the Waste Lands of the Colony in favour of the
New Zealand Company, it will no doubt be satis-
factory to the Colonists, to be informed that
both the Legislative Council and the House of
Representatives have agreed to a Resolution to
the effect, that the charge in favour of the New
Zealand Company on the Land Fund of the
Colony, is an oppressive burthen on its resources
and appears to have been created by Parlia-
ment in ignorance of the real facts; and to have
been obtained by that Company, by means of the
suppression of material circumstances. I need
hardly add, that I believe a full and fair enquiry
into the subject by the Imperial Government is
due to the Colonists of New Zealand.

The determination evinced by both Houses of
the Legislature to take effectual means to re-
press the spread of intemperance in this coun-
try, will, I believe, be hailed by the whole
community with unqualified approval.

Cordially concurring in the views embodied in
the Address presented to me on the subject of
Education, that "the Establishment of a sound
system of Education for the youth of New Zea-
land, is a matter of public concern;" and that in
order to determine whether the education of
youth in New Zealand, would be extended or im-
proved by the interposition of the State, it is de-
sirable to ascertain the present state of education
in New Zealand. I will use my best endeavours
to furnish the Assembly on the occasion of its
next meeting with the information necessary for
giving effect to the wishes of the Legislative
Council embodied in the Resolution in question.

It only now remains for me to thank you, gentle-
men, on the part of the country, for the time and
attention you have given to the discharge of your
public duties, and to express my earnest hope,
that the measures you have passed may, by the
Divine blessing, be found to promote the progress
of the Country, and the happiness and content-
ment of the people.

R. H. WYNYARD,
Officer Administering the Government.

Printed by WILLIAMSON & WILSON for the New Zealand Government.