OPENING OF THE NELSON PRONINCIAL COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1713, 30 January 1874, Page 2

OPENING OF THE NELSON PRONINCIAL COUNCIL.

• THE SUPERINTENDENT'S SPEECH. Mr Speaker and Gentlemen of the Provincial Council— In accordance with the intention which I expressed during the late election, I have called you together at this unusual time in the year in order to lay before you proposals for submission to the General Assembly, empowering the Provincial Government to raise money for. the construction of public works essential to the further settlement and prosperity of the Province. The sum which I think this Province may prudently borrow, and profitably expend, istwo hundred and fifty thousand pounds, and the various works which I shall submit to you as those to which I consider that the proceeds of the loan should be devoted have been carefully selected as being best calculated to open up the interior of the Province, and to enable: its resources to be utilised in the most speedy and effectual manner. Although the General Assemby has, from the passing of the Consolidated Loan Act in 1867, steadily set its face against the raising of loans for Provincial purposes, the events of the late sessiun of Parliament show a decided tendency towards a change of policy in this respfect. In common with the Superintendents of most of the other Provinces, I intro-. duced a Bill to authorise the. Province to raise a loan of Lllo,ooo for the construction of certain specified public works. : But although the Bill received the assent of the House of Representatives, it was rejected, togethftr with the other similar measures to which I have referred, by the Legislative Council. The necessity for supplementing the main trnnk lines of railway, the construction of which has been authorised, and in some cases commenced, by branch roads arid bridges' connecting them with the surrounding country was, however, almost universally recognised in both branches of the Legislature, and there is, I am confident, little reason to fear the rejection of well-considered measures of this character presented on behalf of the Province of Nelson at the approaching session of Parliament. '.-.',' The increased. demand for labor, which will necessarily arise during the construction of the public works I am now proposing ;to you to provide for ibyJmeans of borrowed money, combined with that arising from the works already in progress or in. contemplation by the General Government, induces me to recommend to your consideration the policy of taking immediate steps to obtain such an addition to our population as will enable these works to be, carried out without materially interfering with the progress of the permanent industrial occupations, of the Colony. Resolutions requesting the General Government to make provision for the introduction of one hundred and fifty immigrants per month will be submitted for your approval. ..,;,: In the event of your acceding to the proposals- I.now make to you in reference to Public Works and Immigration, it appears to me that in all probability it will be , necessary for me to suTnnTon you to a : special session immediately after the prorogation of the General Assembly, and that hinder tl\esV circumstances '^t will be worthy of your oorisideriationj^Bej^er it will not be expedient 'to"saye y youraelveß

the trouble and inconvenience, and the public the expense, of holding three sessions in one year, by making provision during your present sitting for the conduct of the business of the Province until November next, when the result of the proposed application to Parliament for a 'ldan^wHlr-be^bßfore- -youy "and^-yon? will therefore, be in a position to deal more effectually and Tnore with the financial and other afMrs of the Province 7 ""*■""; ; r "■ "■"aw^^w The completion'of the main coach roads from Nelson through to Greymouth and Westport is pi '/so.; much urgency and importance, that Ijfeel justified in suggesting to you the expediency of authorising me to obtain a temporary advance, in anticipation of 'the - proposed permanent 16an,for the. purpose:. 1 The sum required ' will beabWtL6p,ooo. : , ' - ; : Witha'view to establish ah Executive Council > upon a broader basis and under conditions satisfactory . to. jthe .public and to yorirselyes, I h ave again, separated the offices of Provincial Secretary and • Treasurer, and have. also given. a seat in the Council to a resident on . tt(e gold-fields, in order to secure the special- representation of .the interests of those important districts. ' Some 1 ' pecuniary iproyisiqn .will be required to tarry put' th'&fe alterations, to which your assent will be asked. ) .1 am glad to be' able to inform you that the survey for , the main. line of^railway from FpxhilL to. Brunnerton; is now, being rapidly pushed forward ,; .that, the. survey of the line from Westport to Ngakawhau is also beingenergetically proceeded lwith; that .tenders for the .to wn ; section of the Nelson and Foxhill line' will be called for within ten days from this time; and that the construction -of the line from Brunnerton to .Greymouth has made considerable progress. ' ;' V, ;;. •':',.... I now declare this'Couricil open for the dispatch'of business'/ •: :i' j;» ,*- 1 v s