June 27.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2029

HONOURABLE GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,—

Our manufacturers and merchants, as well as the workers of our country, are to be congratulated. There has been no lack of employment, while our industries, with few exceptions, have been in full operation, and traders are enjoying steady and assured business.

Facts have come before my Advisers which show that trusts and combines are operating to some extent in this Dominion, and, as the existing legislation may prove insufficient to suppress the evil, a Bill extending the present law will be introduced.

The Arbitration Act has in the past secured important and valuable results, and it is hoped the future will witness a continuance of its benefits. Measures will be introduced providing for certain amendments in the Act.

It is proposed this session to introduce measures providing for the better accommodation of flax-mill workers, shearers, and sawmill employees.

It is proposed to amend the Valuation of Land Act so as to provide a more equitable assessment of “Improvements” and “Unimproved value.”

The question of a State-owned cable across the Atlantic continues to receive attention. Failing assistance from the Imperial Government, it is proposed to open up negotiations with the object of having a cable laid by the three remaining partner-countries in the Pacific cable.

The erection of wireless stations is making reasonable progress. My Advisers are fully alive to the importance of this method of communication as a means of saving life and property, and it is hoped that before long the seas surrounding the Dominion will be ranged to a considerable distance from the shore.

Negotiations have been commenced between the Commonwealth and New Zealand with a view to considering proposals in regard to reciprocal tariffs in connection with certain products and articles. This, it is believed, will lead to the advantage of both countries.

My Ministers have under consideration a scheme for the establishment of rest-homes, where persons who are suffering from temporary mental aberration may be dealt with, instead of being placed in the ordinary mental hospitals; and it is also intended to establish Boards of Advice to assist the Medical Superintendents in considering whether liberty should be granted to those inmates who are on the borderland of recovery. At the same time it is proposed to develop the central institution at Tokanui on the North Island Main Trunk line, and to extend the existing institutions in the large centres upon permanent and modern lines.

One of the most important factors in national development is the safeguarding of the public health. Every encouragement is therefore being given to the various Hospital Boards to equip the base hospitals with the latest developments in science. It is also gratifying to know that the public are recognizing the value of the hospital system, and that both the voluntary contributions and the payments by patients have steadily increased. You will be pleased to know that a regular supply of qualified nurses is being drawn from both the ordinary and the maternity hospitals of the Dominion, and it is proposed to extend the present popular system of trained nurses to the wives and families of the workers and to those who cannot otherwise avail themselves of such services. The advantage of our public hospital system in also providing nurses for the out-districts is being steadily and increasingly felt, and my Ministers hope that in course of time, by following out the policy that has hitherto been so successfully initiated, the settlers in the remoter parts of the Dominion will receive many of the benefits in the way of medical attendance, nursing, hospitals, &c., that were for many years regarded as the exclusive privilege of the dwellers in our cities. It is hoped, also, at an early date to extend the maternity hospitals to four other centres, two in the North Island and two in the South Island.

A Legislature Amendment Bill will be submitted for your consideration, providing an alteration in the method of electing members of the House of