✨ Provincial Council Address
OTAGO PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY.
All Public Notifications which appear in this Gazette, with any Official Signature thereunto annexed are to be considered as Official Communications made to those Persons to whom they may relate, and are to be obeyed accordingly.
JOHN L. C. RICHARDSON, Superintendent.
VOL. IV.] WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1861. [NO 147.
ADDRESS OF HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT
ON OPENING THE TWELFTH SESSION OF
THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL,
June 19, 1861.
MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN OF THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL,—
I HAVE taken the earliest opportunity after the close of the Election of calling you together, because I am unwilling that measures of importance, which were to have been brought before you during the last session, should be any longer delayed, and because I am most desirous of avoiding the expenditure of the public revenue until the same shall have been appropriated by you. I might have been induced to postpone this meeting so as to have given me sufficient time for the introduction of other important Bills; but, remembering that the Council Chamber would be required by the middle of next month for the use of the Courts of Law, I thought it advisable to restrict myself principally to those subjects which have already been matured by the Executive, and to defer the introduction of others till the month of October next, when I hope again to meet you.
When I remember the generous confidence you evinced, but little more than a year ago, by conferring on me, a stranger to political life, the honour of presiding over your meetings,—and when I further bear in mind that this kindness accompanied me throughout the short but troublous time which has now closed, I have no fear that in my new position as Superintendent I shall have to regret the absence of that kindly feeling which adds to the pleasures of duty, while it alleviates some of its attendant anxieties.
It is a cause of great congratulation that the cloud which so lately hovered over the political horizon, casting a shadow of uncertainty and possible disgrace over our future prospects, has been dissipated, and that the circumstances in which we now meet are bright and full of hope. There may yet be duties to be performed of which I could wish to be spared the execution, but I should consider myself unworthy the position I hold if I allowed any stain to rest on the Government, and by reflection on yourselves and the Province generally, whatever the personal sacrifices which might be entailed.
The paths of advancement and honour are open to be trod by all alike, and they who break the law, whatever their position, are equally amenable to its tribunals and its penalties; and, while I will endeavour, in the exercise of the trust confided to me, to temper justice with mercy, I will meet a high handed defiant criminality with a stern unflinching opposition.
Next Page →
Otago Provincial Gazette 1861, No 147
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🏘️ Address of the Superintendent on opening the twelfth session of the Provincial Council
🏘️ Provincial & Local Government19 June 1861
Provincial Council, Otago, Superintendent, Political Address, Twelfth Session
- John L. C. Richardson, Superintendent