NEW ZEALAND

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE,

(PROVINCE OF WELLINGTON.)

Published by Authority.

All Public Notifications which appear in this Gazette, with any Official Signatures thereto annexed, are to be considered as Official Communications made to those Persons to whom they relate, and are to be obeyed accordingly.

J. WOODWARD,

ACTING-PROVINCIAL SECRETARY.

VOL. XI.] MONDAY, JULY 18, 1864. [No. 28.

Speech of His Honor the Superintendent on closing the Provincial Council.

MR. SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN OF THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL,—

I beg to intimate that I have assented on behalf of His Excellency the Governor to the following Acts, viz. :—

An Act to enable the Superintendent to guarantee a fixed rate of interest on the cost of erection of a Patent Slip.

An Act to authorise the Superintendent to purchase a site for a Patent Slip in this Harbor.

An Act to provide for the management of the land set apart as the Wairarapa Race-Course.

An Act to Re-adjust the Representation of the Province in the Provincial Council.

An Act to provide for the Branding of Horses.

An Act to provide for the management of the land set apart for the Hutt District as a Public Park or Race-Course.

An Act to grant a piece of land to the Ancient Order of Foresters.

An Act to amend and extend the Scab, Catarrh, and Sheep Inspectors' Act, Session IX, No. 13.

An Act to appropriate the Revenue of the Province of Wellington, for the year commencing the first day of April, 1864, and ending the thirty-first day of March, 1865.

An Act to grant a piece of land to the Society of Freemasons.

Though the Acts thus passed are few in number, and the majority of them of no great importance, still, I venture to say, having regard to the ample provision you have made for various public works and undertakings, that no session will ever have conducted more to the future advancement and prosperity of the Province.

While I warmly appreciate and acknowledge the testimony you have borne to my efforts to preserve the peace of the Province, and to cement those bonds of union between the two races, which were first established by the pioneers and founders of this settlement, and which, in spite of many disturbing causes, have never been materially weakened, yet I feel far more grateful to you for your cordial and hearty acknowledgment of the services so nobly rendered by the natives of Wanganui, in preventing, at a great sacrifice of life, and without the slightest aid or assistance from the Government, an attack on the settlement by a band of fanatics.

And it is an interesting and gratifying fact, that at the very time you were expressing your gratitude to the brave men who fought and conquered at Moutoa, they were preparing to ward off another threatened assault—again to engage in a conflict in which they cannot be said to have any immediate concern—were ready a second time to risk their lives in defence of their pakeha brethren.

I need scarcely add that your desire that a suitable monument should be erected to the memory of those who fell in that ever memorable engagement, shall be carried out as speedily as possible, for I assure you that during my lengthened administration of the Government of this Province, no more pleasing duty has ever devolved upon me than that of joining you in paying this dearly earned—this richly deserved tribute.

With the Wanganui river thus guarded by between 300 and 400 such gallant and trusty allies—with the Waitotara block cleared of rebel kingites—with daily desertions from the ranks of kingism of most influential chiefs—with the growing confidence, (I believe) in the native mind that justice will be tempered with mercy, I feel that I am more than ever justified in congratulating you on the prospect, I had almost said certainty, that the peace of this Province will not be disturbed—is permanently secured.

It will be satisfactory to you to learn that within the last few days another instalment has