10

a "Provincial Government Bill," an "Immigration and British Agent Bill," a "Debenture Bill," a "Diseased Cattle Bill," and an "Appropriation Bill."

The "Provincial Government Bill" embodies the substance of various Ordinances of the Provincial Council of Otago in a more convenient form, adopting the safeguards which that Council have recently considered it advisable to enact for the conservation of public property.

The "Immigration and British Agent Bill" provides for the appointment in the United Kingdom of agents who shall promote immigration to this Province, and protect in Britain the interests of this Province. To promote immigration is clearly one of the most important duties of a Provincial Government, and the Province of Southland especially would be open to reproach if it neglected its duty as a colonizing centre—a duty the more effective fulfilment of which the new Provinces were called into existence. Under the provisions of this Bill the agents will be authorised to conduct immigration under the instructions of the Superintendent and Executive Council. The nature of the instructions I propose to transmit will be submitted for your consideration. It is proposed that Mr. Morrison, of London, the Colonial Agent for New Zealand, a gentleman who is known to many here, and who has a personal knowledge of this Province, shall be the chief agent.

The recent discovery of a remunerative gold-field in the Province of Otago, while it lends to the belief that a similarly rich field will be discovered in the Provinces of Southland, yet for the present surrounds the question of immigration with difficulties and renders it necessary to act with circumspection. And the same causes will disturb our land sales for a time, so much so as to render our estimate of their probable amount within the next few months a very great conjectural. The suspension of land sales for the past four months has kept our Treasury almost nearly empty, depending as we do mainly on the Provincial proportion of the Ordinary revenue—a form of finance the salaries of the Public officers have been paid by the draft of the General Government. Under the circumstances it will be the policy of the Government to confine the expenditure chiefly to the prosecution of such works as are most necessary. Immigration, however, we should regard first of all as of cardinal importance. On the department of public works which has hitherto been comparatively neglected here, a large outlay will be unavoidable. It is therefore highly advisable to have the means at hand, independent of the fluctuations of the revenue, and in anticipation of a steady income at no distant time, whereby those objects can be steadily carried out; and it is in order to provide for their prosecution that power is asked in the "Debentures Bill" which will shortly be laid before you, to raise the sum of £10,000 by the sale of Debentures—an amount which, being supplementary to the revenue from the ordinary sources, would be realised from time to time in different sums only as a necessity arose.

The prevalence of pleuro-pneumonia in cattle attended with a serious mortality in Victoria, and its appearance in the Province of Otago, render it necessary that steps should at once be taken with the view of preventing its introduction into this Province, and of checking its extension if it should unhappily appear. A Bill calculated to effect these objects will be laid before you.

I have been of opinion that the land laws now in operation in this Province are not such as are best calculated to promote the rapid development of its resources, and that in order to fulfil that end they require some material alterations. Some time ago I drafted a Bill embodying various changes in those laws. Certain propositions which contained some of the prominent points in which it differed from the Otago Regulations are familiar to you, and had I in this Session occupied a seat in this Council as an independent member, I would have brought them forward for your consideration, laying on the table at the same time a copy of the draft Bill, which would have explained many points in those propositions which appear to be obscure or impracticable; and this I avoided the possibility of the continuance of any misconstruction or misconception of their true bearing.

I find, however, that these gentlemen who act as my advisers, while agreeing with me on other subjects, are not prepared to support those propositions in this form; and as it would obviously be incompatible with the relations which ought to subsist between the Superintendent of a New Zealand Province and his advisers that the former should bring forward in the Provincial Council measures with the latter do not concur, it becomes necessary to relinquish my previous intention of bringing the subject before you. I come to this conclusion with reluctance, both because those contemplated changes, if introduced, would operate beneficially for the community.

You will have observed that the members of Assembly for Wallace, with the concurrence of the members for Otago, are bringing forward a Bill to determine