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believe, be made a line of railway in the future. There are no serious engineering difficulties, as I am informed, to prevent the construction of a line in that direction. A very considerable amount of work has been done in exploring and laying off roads in the north-eastern part of the Province; and the privations and difficulties to which some of your Engineers have been exposed in carrying out this work, and others, have been far greater than you might imagine, and merit recognition.

I may here suggest that it would, in my opinion, be very desirable that in future, reports should be sent in by the various Highway Boards; so that you may have presented to you the results of the expenditure of the considerable sums arising from rates and grants-in-aid which are at the disposal of those Boards.

The report with which the Chairman of the Board of Education has favored me bears evidence of the careful attention which is being bestowed by that Board on the work which its members have voluntarily undertaken. As I anticipate that the Board will have at its disposal during the present year a sum not less that £18,000, there is every probability that increased results will be reported next year.

The report which I have received from the Principal of the Wellington College is interesting, not only from the fact that the new College Buildings have been opened since I last had the honor of addressing you, but also from the clear manner in which that report explains the intimate connection which, according to the liberal educational system now established, subsists between the Wellington College and the University of New Zealand on the one hand, and the Primary Schools of the Province on the other. The Principal, in his report, explains how "a boy of the requisite ability, from whatever part of the Province or from whatever rank of life he may come, may obtain as high an education as the Colony can offer almost entirely free of all charge." You have always acted with great liberality in your votes towards this Institution, considering the means at your disposal, and it must, I am sure, be a satisfaction to you to reflect that you have materially contributed towards the establishment of an institution, the full benefits of which will be more recognised perhaps hereafter than at the present time.

By favor of the Trustees of the Wellington Hospital I am enabled to present a report from the architect for the new Hospital Buildings which they purpose to erect. I understand that the plans and elevations will be exhibited for your inspection. The Trustees have been good enough to consult me from time to time on the subject, and I desire to express my entire approval of the proposed design. If they are able to accomplish their object, you will possess in this Province Hospital buildings constructed according to the most approved system, and capable of being extended according to the growing wants of the community. A new Hospital has become a necessity, and the Trustees cannot, if I may venture to offer advice, do better than dispose of so much of their estate as will put them in sufficient funds to defray the very considerable cost of buildings such as those proposed.

You will read the Report on Immigration with interest. The total of 5160 immigrants for this Province has been distributed almost on arrival. By pursuing the system of general distribution, there have scarcely been any immigrants left, for any length of time, in the various depots throughout the Province; and the calculations of the Provincial Government as to the capacity of absorption of immigrants in this Province have been fully verified. The population of the Province according to the census on the 1st March, 1874, was 29,790. It may, I am informed, be estimated that on 31st March, 1875, it amounted to 37,208 showing an increase from all sources of nearly 25 per cent. during the past thirteen months. The best testimony to the general suitability of the immigrants consists in their ready absorption.

The police force continues to be efficiently handled; the management of the Asylum is satisfactory; the Warden of the Wellington Gaol has had great difficulties to contend with hitherto from the want of sufficient room; but I am glad to be enabled to state that these difficulties are in course of removal by the additions which are now in course of being made, and the further additions which you will be asked to sanction. The Harbour Master is diligent in meeting the increased requirements of this Province, and exercises a careful control over the outports and ferries.