290
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

and has not since been disturbed in that neighbourhood. On the West Coast,
also, the Natives who had for years been hostile to the Queen's authority,
met with a serious check at Pungarehu, from Lieut.-Colonel McDonnell and the
Colonial Forces under his command, since which time many of them have
returned to their allegiance and others have expressed their intention of doing
so. The conduct of Her Majesty's Colonial Forces, both European and Native,
on these and other occasions, deserves the highest praise.

During the recess I have made a journey, partly on foot, through the North
Island, and have traversed Native Districts which it had, for some time past, been
deemed unsafe to enter. I everywhere found the embers of disaffection dying out,
and I was received by the Maori population, even in districts recently in rebellion,
in such a manner as to inspire confidence in the future peace of the Country.

A necessity having arisen for revising existing arrangements for the trans-
mission of Mails between the Australasian Colonies and the United Kingdom by
way of Suez, it was deemed expedient that the whole question of Ocean Postal
Communication, so far as it affects these Colonies, should be discussed at a
Conference of Representatives of the several Australasian Governments, I accord-
ingly accredited Representatives on the part of this Colony to the Conference.

The result of the deliberations of that body will be laid before you, and will, I trust,
meet with your approval. This result appears satisfactory, not only as providing
for the establishment of an efficient and comprehensive system of Postal Commu-
nication with all parts of the world, but also as demonstrating the great benefits
which may be derived from cordial and united action on this and other subjects
affecting these Colonies as a whole.

The Act for the establishment of Post Office Savings Banks has been brought
into operation during the past year, and the extent to which it has already been
made use of warrants the belief that it will prove an important means of fostering
industrious and provident habits among the population at large.

The complicated and unsatisfactory state of the accounts between the
Imperial and Colonial Governments rendered imperative a careful examination of
those accounts, with a view to their early and final settlement. I accordingly
commissioned a member of my Government to conduct the inquiry on behalf of the
Colony, in conjunction with an officer duly appointed by the Imperial Government.
The correspondence on this subject, and a Report from the Colonial Commissioner,
will shortly be submitted to you.

Papers concerning the administration of the Otago Gold Fields will be laid
before you.

GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, —

Accounts of Revenue and Expenditure for the past year and Estimates for the
ensuing year will be laid before you ; and I trust that you will be able to recognize
in both that careful regard for economy upon which, at this juncture, the future
prosperity of the Colony greatly depends.

I recommend to your consideration a measure for the conversion of Provincial
Loans into Colonial Stock, with a view to placing the securities of New Zealand
on such a footing that they may be more advantageously dealt with than is at
present possible, —and to maintaining and improving our credit in the money
market. A very general belief in the necessity for some such measure has long
been entertained, and has recently increased. Such necessity is amply confirmed
by the present position of many of the Provincial Loans.

A Bill will also be submitted to you for extending the benefits of the Colonial
credit to enterprises calculated to foster and extend the important industry of the
Gold Fields by offering a guarantee of interest on capital invested (under proper
restrictions and supervision) in procuring supplies of water for the operations of
gold mining. The very special character of the taxation and laws of the Gold
Fields justifies and requires such provision for their interests.

HONORABLE GENTLEMEN AND GENTLEMEN,--

This part of Her Majesty's dominions will probably be shortly visited by
His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh. I have at the earliest moment