BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

Evening Star, Volume VII, Issue 1975, 3 September 1869, Page 2

BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.

(from our own correspondents.) PROROGATION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. THE GOVERNOR’S SPEECH. Wellington, Friday. “ Honorable Legislative Councillors and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives — “ The time for closing the present session of the General Assembly having arrived, I thank you for the earnest consideration you have given to many important topics to which your attention has been directed.

“ Thq safety of the country will, I hope, be effectually provided for by the measures taken. You have acted wisely in making parliamentary provision for the cost of an Imperial Regiment, and in taking steps to remove the grounds of misunderstanding which Inis arisen on the subject, and to restore those friendly relations which should ever subsist between a Colony and the Imperial Government. “ I cannot avoid expressing my satisfaction that General Chute has been able in the meantime to detain the 18th Regiment. The presence of that regiment and part of the squadron of Her Majesty’s navy, at once affords protection, and exhibits to the insurgent Natives symbols of the Queen’s authority, and the power of the great British Empire, of which the Colony is an integral paid. “ Your efforts to organise and render more efficient a Constabulary Force, for the permanent protection of the Colony, cannot but contribute greatly to future tranquillity, and will, it is to be hoped, redxice the heavy cost hitherto incurred on account of active military operations. . “ Gentlemen of the House of Representatives— I thank you for the supplies you have granted for the public service for the year. They shall be administered with all due care and circumspection. While you have wisely refrained at present from making any changes of a fundamental character in the financial system, the amendments effected by the several measures passed will tend to promote the better administration of finance, and secure greater economy in the public expenditure. “ Honorable Gentlemen and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives I heartily congratulate you on the wonderful progress of the Auckland goldfields, and entirely concur in the sense which you have shown of their importance. I am confident that national tranquility and increased population are all that is necessary to secure a great and general extension of goldfields in other parts of this auriferous country. Nothing tends to promote peace and immigration more than the developing of goldfields. The yield of the precious metal and the growth and prosperity of a Colony are reciprocal powers which act and react on each other with most beneficial effect. “ While, however, you have shown yourselves sensible to the importance of developing the resources which are hidden within the earth. I am glad you have not neglected another obvious source of wealth, which is to be found on the surface, viz. : native flax, and have directed inquiries to be made during the recess, which may lead to the further advancement of a growing trade in this valuable material. “ The absence, during the session, of any considerable number of petitions from the inhabitants of outlying districts suggesting changes in the constitutional machinery of Government, leads me to believe that the excitement on that subject during last year was only of a superficial and ephemeral character, and that the dissatisfaction with existing local institutions, which, at one time appeared wide-spread, is no longer felt. I have already transmitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonies the resolutions of both Houses and the acts affirming the expediency of maintaining an Imperial Regiment in the Colony, and making provision for the cost of its retention. “ I will do all in my power to assist the Commissioners whom you have determined to send to England to communicate with the Imperial Government on the subject by accrediting them to her Majesty’s Ministers, and impressing on the attention of the latter the views of the Assembly. “ I have every hope that strengthened by the countenance and aid of the Imperial Government, the colony will, under the blessing of Divine Providence, be restored to the condition of peace and prosperity, and that the settlors who have been molested by the rebels will remain in the possession of their homesteads, and successfully resume their industrial pursuits, and the insurrection finally suppressed. “ I cannot conclude without recording my satisfaction at the cordial welcome awarded by the whole Colony to 11. R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, whose visit, though occurring at a period of great depression when the minds of the colonists were engrossed with events of serious import, evoked all those feelings of loyalty towards the person and family of Her Most Gracious Majesty, which are everywhere entertained and expressed in the British dominions.