826

THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.

[No. 56

GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, —

Carefully-prepared Estimates of the revenue and expenditure for the ensuing twelve months will be laid before you.

The facts elicited by the Commissioners whom I have appointed to inquire into the present position of the Civil Service will, I have no doubt, assist my Responsible Advisers in effecting substantial reductions in the cost of that Service.

I regret to have to announce to you that a falling off has taken place during the past financial period in almost all the principal items of revenue.

While this may in some measure be attributed to temporary causes, it would be unwise to ignore the fact that prior to the existing depression there had been a time of extraordinary inflation consequent upon the expenditure of large sums of borrowed money.

With the lessening of the abnormal influx of foreign capital, the country must look for a diminution in the rate of progress it has recently been accustomed to, both in respect of its ordinary and territorial revenue.

In these circumstances, my Advisers entertain no doubt as to the course to be pursued. Expenditure must be decreased; luxuries must be curtailed; the public works which have already been constructed must be made more reproductive. It is to industry and economy that the colony has to look for a development of its resources, and the maintenance of a healthy progress.

You will be asked to consider a plan which, it is believed, will place the finances of the local bodies on a satisfactory basis, and will enable those bodies to carry on their works in a self-reliant and independent manner.

HONORABLE LEGISLATIVE COUNCILLORS, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRSENTATIVES, —

At a time when it is indispensable that the closest attention should be bestowed upon the state of our finances, upon the solution of Native questions of grave importance, upon the settlement of the waste lands, and upon the general economy of administration, it is not the intention of my Government to ask you to devote a longer time to the work of legislation than will be required to complete the constitutional measures already initiated, and to deal with pressing questions of social and administrative reform.

Bills will be presented to you for consolidating and amending the Licensing Li Laws of the colony;—for placing the administration of Hospitals and Charitable Aid on a sound and intelligible basis;—for completing the changes in the Electoral Law which were commenced in the last session of Parliament;—for readjusting the repre- sentation of the people;—and for amending the laws affecting the dealing with Native lands, and the constitution of the Native Lands Court.

The work of consolidating the statutes, as authorised by you, has made con- siderable progress, and a number of Bills, the result of the labours of the Commission, will also be placed before you.

The necessity for revising the whole system of legal procedure now in force in the Supreme Court and in other Courts of the colony has forced itself upon the attention of my Government. The subject is too large to enter upon during the present session, but it is proposed to institute an inquiry, with the view of preparing such measures of reform as will render the administration of justice more speedy and efficacious, as well as less costly, than at present.

The work of opening up the waste lands of the Crown for settlement has been vigorously prosecuted, and blocks of land for occupation upon the deferred-payment and village-settlement systems have been set aside over a large portion of the colony.

The desire which exists for the occupation of land in small holdings exhibits a determination on the part of the people of the colony to devote themselves steadily to the development of its resources.

It is to be regretted that in some parts of the country land of this class has been bought on terms with which the purchasers have found it impossible to comply. The subject is under the careful consideration of my Government.

In now leaving you to the labours of the session, I have to assure you of my earnest desire to co-operate with you in your efforts to promote the welfare of the country, and to express my hope that God's blessing may rest upon your deliberations.

Printed under authority of the New Zealand Government, by GEORGE DIDSBURY, Government Printer, Wellington.