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I have to inform you that the Provincial Government have entered into an agreement with the Wellington City authorities for the cession to them of a certain portion of the foreshore in the harbour of Port Nicholson, held under grant from the Crown by the Superintendent of the Province. It is proposed to cede, on certain conditions set forth by deed, the foreshore referred to for the sum of £30,000. This agreement is subject to your ratification, and I recommend it for your acceptance. I believe the proposal to be a favourable one for the City, and, at the same time, not unfair towards the Province.

In connection with this subject I may mention that during the recess the right of the Superintendent to sell the foreshore was questioned; and also, the existence of a sufficient appropriation to enable the Superintendent to pay the contractors for the reclamation, which he was authorized to contract for, was denied. Not only were legal opinions taken on these questions at Wellington, but the opinions of gentlemen of high standing in their profession at Dunedin have also been taken. All their opinions will be laid before you, and you will be able to form your own conclusions on the points raised.

Papers will also be presented to you relative to a conditional agreement entered into by the Provincial Government with Mr. Moynahan for the construction and maintenance, for a term of three years, of a steam-tug for harbour use. The terms are, in my opinion, very favourable; and the want of a suitable steam-tug has now for a long time operated as a drawback to the commerce of this port. Your consent to this agreement is recommended.

You will have done much to improve the business part of the City of Wellington, and the water frontage of the harbour, when the reclamation of the foreshore to which I have referred is completed. You have already added greatly to the accommodation of shipping by the erection of a Patent Slip, to which you continue to contribute largely out of Provincial revenue; and the proposal respecting a steam-tug will, if carried out, still further facilitate the commerce of the port; and I hope the day is not distant when steps will be taken to construct a Dry Dock, although I am not prepared to make any specific proposal respecting such an undertaking on this occasion.

You must not, however, confine your views merely to the requirements of the harbour itself, but also have regard to the communications with the interior, if you intend to derive the full advantage which the magnificent port you possess is capable of conferring on you.

I should not be discharging my duty to the Province if I did not invite your earnest attention to this subject. The southern half of the North Island contains country unsurpassed in any other part of New Zealand, and its trade is destined to concentrate in Port Nicholson. This destiny will be accomplished sooner or later, accordingly as the efforts of the people are exerted in a right direction or otherwise. Now, nothing can be more unsatisfactory than the manner in which you are at present hemmed in and cut off from the interior for want of facility of communication. I have had a lithographed map prepared, which will be appended to, and circulated with, the printed copy of my speech; a reference to it will illustrate my remarks. It represents the adjacent Provinces of Wellington and Hawke’s Bay. From A to B, a distance of from thirty to thirty-five miles, a road has been laid off by the General Government, and partly formed out of the sum of £400,000 voted by the General Government for the construction of roads in the North Island. This road extends from the edge of the tract of country commonly known as the Seventy-Mile Bush, and passes through the southern portion of that country to a point near the Manawatu Gorge, where it joins the road leading from Napier to the Gorge itself. I believe that I am correct in stating that this important main line is left entirely unfinished; that it is a struggle for travellers on horseback to get along it; that it is impracticable for wheeled vehicles; and that the General Government has declined at present to proceed with the metalling. From C to D, a distance of from sixty to sixty-five miles, a metalled road has been constructed by the General Government, and finished in such a manner that for some months past a mail and passenger coach has been able to run regularly through to the West Coast from Napier on the East.