NEW ZEALAND

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE

FOR THE

PROVINCE OF NEW PLYMOUTH.

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.

CHARLES BROWN, Superintendent.

VOL. IV. NEW PLYMOUTH, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1856. [No. 14.

PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

MONDAY, 17TH NOVEMBER, 1856.

THE Superintendent opened the Fourth Session of the Provincial Council at 11 o'clock, A.M.; when His Honor delivered the following

ADDRESS.

MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN—

The present may probably be the last opportunity I shall have of addressing you previously to the dissolution of the present Government, and it may not be considered inappropriate to make a few observations as to the past years of our mutual labours.

New as I may truly say we all were to the duties and the business of Government and Legislation, and small as have been the means and assistance the Province has enjoyed, I believe it will be found that, whether regarding the Public Works of the Province, or the amount devoted for Immigration, no Province has surpassed New Plymouth, considering of course the means at our disposal. The measures of Government and Legislation during the period of our trust are public property and the judged by their results.

Incident to the newness of the Institutions we have had to introduce, much time and money have been expended in establishing an organisation applicable to the requirements of the Province, and we should indeed be fortunate could we say that all our efforts had been exempt from mistakes, but that was not to be expected and it is satisfactory to know that whatever expenditure has taken place has been satisfied out of the current revenue of the Province, and that the first Provincial Government of New Plymouth will enjoy the enviable satisfaction of being the only one of the Provinces of this Island that will at the close of its labours leave a Government unencumbered with debt to its successors.

In fact it will be found that this is the only one of the three Provinces of the Island that meets its current expenses out of its current revenue.

Of the Departments handed over by the General Government to Provincial control, the Harbour Department, the most important of all, was perfectly disorganized, and deficient of the necessary means and appliances; these latter have been supplied and efficient men have been obtained for the performance of the duties, and it is now admitted that the department has no equal in the Colony. Referring again to the subject of Revenue and Expenditure, in this department alone the added value to the property of the Department, estimated far below the cost price, is upwards of £1500.

In the present suspended state of the commerce of the Colony the Harbour Master has not considered it advisable that all the moorings obtained should be laid down, thus the present wear will be saved until the improved commerce of the Settlement requires their use. The same may be said of the commercial facilities which the Warehouse connected with the Department was intended to afford for the reception of cargoes landed or for shipment, when a steady demand shall again call the Harbor Establishment into activity.

The Police Department, maintained by the General Government at an expense exceeding £800 a year, is now supported by the Province at a sum little exceeding £300. This, however, is no doubt greatly due to the better social order and respect for the laws, growing out of Representative Institutions which make all alike influential as interested in the good Government of the Country.

During the last and present year upwards of twelve miles of forest roads have been opened, which are for the most part a chain wide, and indicate the steady occupation of the Bush Land of the Province. Irrespective of the sums granted for this purpose, six hundred pounds have been appropriated out of the surplus of the general revenue of the Province in aid of the Rates for