NEW ZEALAND

GOVERNMENT GAZETTE,

(PROVINCE OF WELLINGTON.)

Published by Authority.

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

A. FOLLETT HALCOMBE,
Provincial Secretary.

VOL. XIII. SATURDAY, 2nd JUNE, 1866. No. 13.

SPEECH OF HIS HONOR THE SUPERINTENDENT ON OPENING

THE SECOND SESSION OF THE FOURTH PROVINCIAL COUNCIL.

Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the Provincial Council,—

While I regret that my repeated and prolonged absences on duties which could not well have been neglected, have prevented my convening you at an earlier period, I, nevertheless, venture to express a hope that the delay will not be attended either with inconvenience to you, or with detriment to the public service; for the legislation I have to bring before you will not claim any serious consideration, and you have, by the sanction given last session to certain great public works, to a very considerable extent appropriated the surplus revenue of the current year.

However sanguine the views I have ever held and expressed, in reference to the preservation of peace in this Province, and to the complete and final repression of the native insurrection, they have, I submit, been confirmed and justified by recent events. It is, no doubt, true that battles have been fought on native lands within the boundaries of the Province, but it can scarcely be said that the settled districts have ever been involved in war, or been subjected to any of its evils.

And I think I may now safely congratulate you upon the certainty that the rebellion is well nigh extinguished, and that there is every prospect of peace being re-established on a permanent and satisfactory basis. General Chute’s bold and dashing campaign on the West Coast, and the gallantry of our Colonial forces on the East, have undoubtedly mainly contributed to this happy result.

By the entire success which attended all his operations; by showing the natives with what certainty and facility their pas could be taken by assault—that there were no fastnesses in which they could find a safe refuge—General Chute has at last convinced the natives that no matter on what field—whether in the open ground or the densest forest, they are wholly unable to cope with our forces; whether Imperial or Colonial, and that they are engaged, not merely in a hopeless struggle, but in a struggle which, if persevered in, must end in their extermination.

Hence it is that during the last few months we hear of the leading chiefs (with few exceptions) in almost every part of this Island—of the leading chiefs in the East Coast, in Waikato, at Taupo, on the Wangaui river, hastening to tender their submission to Sir George Grey. And if the intelligence received within the last day or two be confirmed, that the Ngarauru and Ngatiruanui tribes—the tribes so justly and severely chastised by General Chute—are now suing for pardon, not only may the war be considered as an end, but it may safely be predicted that another serious rising among the natives is extremely improbable, if not well nigh impossible.

To say nothing of the natural causes in operation, rendering the extinction of the native race at no distant date inevitable—an absolute certainty—those engaged in the recent rebellion have suffered such a heavy loss, are so dispirited, so divided amongst themselves, as to render it extremely difficult for them ever again to make a stand against the authority of the Crown.

But our chief guarantee for the future peace of the Island consists in the undoubted loyalty of a large portion of the native population; and it must be extremely gratifying to you to recognise that the natives of this Province, between whom and the settlers, ever since the foundation of this settlement, the most friendly relations have subsisted, have given such repeated proofs of their readiness to fight our battles, and have so materially contributed to the suppression of the insurrection.

Nor is it less gratifying to me to be able, in opening this session, to announce that the only probable cause of war in this Province has been removed by, I trust, the final adjustment of the Rangitikei land dispute. As I hope to lay before you in a few days a full report of my recent in-