NEW ZEALAND

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE,

(PROVINCE OF WELLINGTON.)

Published by Authority.

All Public Notifications which appear in this Gazette, with any Official Signatures thereunto 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. XII. FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 1865. No. 4.

SPEECH OF HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT ON OPENING THE TWELFTH SESSION OF THE WELLINGTON PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the Provincial Council,

I have convened this special Session, at, I fear, grave personal inconvenience to many of you, simply for the purpose of asking your consent to a sale to the General Government of the Provincial Government Buildings. Believing that such consent will not only be readily given, but that it will be your desire, equally with that of the whole Province, that we should in every possible way assist His Excellency’s Government in rendering the removal of the Seat of Government as easy, and as little onerous to the rest of the Colony as possible—and that we should, in short, meet the wishes of Ministers in no niggardly, no huckstering spirit. I have already, subject to your confirmation, agreed on behalf of the Province to accept the sum of £8,200, this being a third less than the original cost of the buildings—a deduction for wear and tear, which, considering that no expense has been spared in keeping them in thorough repair, cannot be deemed other than liberal.

While it would be manifestly unwise, if not unfair, with an impending dissolution, to enter on questions of future policy, I still gladly avail myself of this opportunity to bring before you two or three matters on which further and immediate legislative action is required.

Certain allotments of the Reclaimed Land having inadvertently been sold in contravention of the law, a Bill will be submitted to you to make good the Purchasers’ Titles. From an estimate received from England by the last mail, and which will be laid on your table, you will learn that the cost of the proposed extension in iron of the Queen’s Wharf will exceed your appropriation by at least £10,000. Should Mr. Morrison, as I have every reason to believe, have accepted a tender for the delivery in Wellington of the materials and plant, the necessary funds will have to be remitted by the next mail, and I shall, therefore, ask you to make a further appropriation to the amount I have just specified.

As there seems every prospect of the Wanganui Bridge Committee being very shortly in a position to proceed with that great work, now absolutely essential to the future progress of the settlement, it will be necessary to pass a Bill extending the period during which the Committee may exercise the large powers conferred upon them by the Act of 1863; and should, as I confidently anticipate, a majority of the electors resident in Wanganui, Turakina, and Rangitiki Districts, in the most emphatic manner declare against separation, I would earnestly recommend you, in order to prevent any further delay in the commencement of the work, to empower the Government to make the Committee such advances as they may require, on the understanding that they will lose no time in availing themselves of their borrowing powers.

I shall also submit to you a Bill authorising me, in accordance with your resolution of last session, to convey a certain piece of land to the Wanganui Society of Odd Fellows, on the same conditions as similar grants have hitherto been made. A Bill will also be introduced to amend the Representation Act of last session, by giving an additional member for Rangitiki.

Understanding that the Trustees of the Wesleyan Reserve, which was formerly a part of the Town Belt, and which comprises some 73 acres, are willing to dispose of it to the Government for a moderate sum; and, having regard to the paucity of public reserves in this city, especially of reserves for the purposes of public recreation, I venture to urge upon you the expediency of authorising the Government to effect its purchase, with a view to its being converted into a Public Park, for which it is in all respects most admirably adapted. I make this suggestion the more readily, because I propose submitting to you a Bill authorising the transfer to the General Government, either by a deed of gift or at a valuation, a portion of the Town Belt abutting upon the land selected by His Excellency’s Ministers as the site of the Governor’s residence.

In making proposals, which will involve a considerable outlay, it is right that I should mention that the actual receipts for the current financial year will so far exceed my estimate of revenue that there will be no difficulty in providing the funds required to give effect to them. The financial position of the Province never was so prosperous—so entirely satisfactory.