✨ Provincial Council Speech
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.
HENRY BUNNY,
Provincial Secretary.
VOL. XX. MONDAY, MAY 5, 1873. No. 10.
Speech of His Honor the Superintendent on opening the Twenty-fourth Session of the Wellington Provincial Council.
Mr Speaker and Gentlemen of the Provincial Council.
The opening of the first Session of newly-elected Council presents a suitable opportunity for reviewing the past policy and instituting a calm enquiry as to whether the results obtained constitute an encouragement to persevere in the line of conduct hitherto pursued, or whether they suggest altercation in the future course. After making due allowance for the bias to which every kind of self-examination is liable, it will, I believe, be generally admitted that a large measure of success has been secured, and that, if success is to be the criterion, there appears to be no reason why we should vary our course or hesitate to trust the future.
Self-reliance was the chief characteristic of the policy pursued. By means of direct taxation funds have been provided for elementary education throughout the Province and the maintenance of district roads, and these funds are locally administered by persons elected by the ratepayers. By means also of direct taxation the Provincial Executive is now furnished with the necessary funds for the maintenance of the roads and bridges along the main trunk lines on the East and West of the Province. The prudence of such a course is best illustrated by considering what would have been our position in respect of these three indispensable services, which must in any case be annually provided for, unless, indeed, we should be prepared to acquiesce in a relapse into decivilization in the event of our land revenue having fallen off. During a period of fifteen years the contribution to Provincial revenue out of Colonial revenue averaged in the Province nearly £10,000 a year net, after deducting the amount reserved for payment of interest and sinking fund on Provincial loans. This year it has become, so far as I can ascertain, not only what it has...
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Wellington Provincial Gazette 1873, No 10
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🏘️ Opening Speech of the Wellington Provincial Council
🏘️ Provincial & Local Government5 May 1873
Provincial Council, Wellington, Superintendent, Speech, Policy Review
- Henry Bunny, Provincial Secretary
- Henry Bunny, Provincial Secretary