Superintendent and the Executive. Its importance will be at once appreciated when you
remember, that in addition to the other matters
which have hitherto made such a measure de-
sirable, certain powers respecting the manage-
ment of Education and Roads, are, by the Bills
which will be proposed to you, transferred
from the Boards which had the direction of
them, to the Superintendent and the Executive.
I freely acknowledge, that the more I investi-
gated the change, the more I did find it beset
with difficulties; I have, however, drew confidence
from the fact, that in its consideration I was
assisted by an Executive which took office from
possessing the confidence of my predecessor
and yourselves, as is manifested by the resolution
of the Provincial Council, of the 26th April,
1860, which asserted, as one of the principles
of constitutional liberty, that responsible
Government is essential to our progress and
security. Receiving this as a direct enuncia-
tion of your wishes, as it is of my own, I ac-
cepted it as the base of operations. As a
powerless Government has not the elements
of responsibility, I deem it advisable, that with
the exception of those powers which by the
Constitution Act are restricted to the Super-
intendent, and also of the control of the public
departments, all real power should rest in an
Executive Council, the Superintendent having
a deliberative as well as a casting vote, and
also the power of withholding his assent. In
cases where differences on vital points exist
between the Superintendent and his Execu-
tive Council, it will be difficult to refer
them to the decision of the Provincial Coun-
cil; and, if unadjusted, to the constituencies;
but I do not apprehend any such difficulties,
as honest men acting for the welfare of
their common country, will be anxious to
avoid such injurious crises, and evidence, by
mutual forbearance and respect, that consti-
tutional liberty and responsible Government
are not mere chimeras. Necessarily connected
with such an arrangement as I propose is the
right of the Superintendent to have the at-
tendance of the Executive; and, to effect this,
it is absolutely necessary that the unofficial
members should be remunerated. I have
therefore placed a sum on the Estimates, in
anticipation of your coinciding with my views.
I have not thought it necessary to create the
appointment of a Provincial Secretary; for, if
no great and sudden increase of business re-
sults from the discovery of the gold fields, I
shall, in conjunction with my efficient
Office Department, I can not only overtake
the local duties, but exercise that supervision
over the outlying districts which is essential
to the well-being of the Province. Before
leaving this subject, I may say that I have
cheerfully acceded to those guards on the
issue of Warrants and Cheques which the past
has shown to be necessary, believing that it
is not possible, when the efficiency of the
Treasury Department is jeopardized, to fence
the public property with too much jealousy;
and as a part of this arrangement, it has been
necessary to add to the duties of the Account-
ant those of Sub-Treasurer, for which provi-
sion will have to be made.

10. The Education Bill has been for so long
    a time before the public, and has met with
    such an unusual amount of favour, that it
    will be unnecessary for me to do more than
    introduce it to your notice. Acting upon the
    unquestionable principle, that it is the duty of
    the parents to educate their children, it
    steps forward, with Government assistance, in
    the performance of this duty, when circum-
    stances indicate that such aid is necessary. I
    am not, however, sure that some precautionary
    provisions are desirable to insure a well-
    to-do district providing its entire educational
    machinery—thus leaving the Government to
    grant assistance to those poorer neighbour-
    hoods which may be unable for a time to meet
    even half the expenses of a teacher\'s salary.

11. The subject of the issue of Licenses for
    the sale of spirituous liquors is confessedly one
    of the most difficult with which the legislator
    has to deal. On the one hand is opposed
    by the conscientious convictions of a class,
    who, deploring the fearful consequences of
    excessive indulgence, go to the extreme of en-
    deavouring to prohibit or restrict the admis-
    sion of spirits into the country; while on the
    other hand he meets the advocates of a system
    who fail to recognize the distinction between
    a commodity of life and a medicine or a poison,
    and who insist upon a free trade in spirits as
    well as in corn. It is a maxim of a master of
    political economy that expediency, not truth,
    is the object of all legislation, or, in other
    words, that that measure of truth which, in
    the peculiar circumstances of a case, is expedi-
    ent should be our guide in legal enactments.
    In Britain it is acknowledged that spirits are
    a commodity out of the consumption of which
    ought to be levied the maximum of revenue,
    which can be obtained without incurring the
    risks of fostering adulteration and illicit dis-
    tillation, for, unlike our treatment of tea and
    sugar, our object is to limit the consumption as far
    as possible consistently with obtaining the money
    we want, and which money should be solely used
    in protecting the public from the evils arising
    from intemperance. It is on these principles,
    gentlemen, that I should have been prepared
    to meet you on this occasion had you not
    enunciated sentiments, embodied in a late re-
    solution, opposed to the restrictive system and
    in support of that which throws the trade
    open. I did not feel in such a case justified
    in introducing a bill in opposition to your
    views. Whatever decision you may arrive at
    on this important point shall receive my ear-
    nest attention; but all our endeavours will be
    without avail unless we can secure the moral
    co-operation of the people in the suppression
    of that nefarious system of illegal sale which
    is sapping the foundations of social order, and
    demoralizing the rising generation. I sincerely
    hope your legislation may result in an Ordi-
    nance which will secure the support of the
    many respectable storekeepers, who state that
    they are compelled to go with the tide and at
    the same time strengthen the hands of the ad-
    ministrators of the law by causing its decisions
    to be regarded as in unison with the require-
    ments of society.

12. With respect to the new Road Bill
    which will be laid before you, I would only re-
    mark that it is little more than a methodizing
    of past legislation. There is no department of
    Government, in which a liberal expenditure is
    more justifiable than in that of opening out
    the communications between the different
    parts of the Province; and at the same time
    there is none which demands on the part of
    the Government entrusted with the adminis-
    tration of the funds appropriated for the pur-
    pose, a calmer judgment and a more watch-
    ful supervision. Local influences are ever at
    work to the prejudice of the general interests,
    and require to be counteracted at every turn.
    I am indisposed, during the present session, to
    recommend any very considerable outlay for