Council Paper.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 789, 23 May 1870, Page 4

Council Paper.

ym SUPERINTENDENT'S SPEECH DELIVERED ON SPSN?NG- THE PROVINCIAL COUNCIL on SrEpNESDAY,$ r EpNESDAY, MAY 18, 187 Q. sfr Sveaker and Gentlemen of the. Provincial Council,— - In accordance with ttye wish you expressed last session, 1 haye called you together at this date, that time ynay J?e allowed for the fuljl consider -ation of such questions as come before you, and especially in order that the financial arrangements for the ensuing twelve months may be con #idered and settled before ttye expiration of the present financial year. I propose to bring before you, without delay, the different measures 1 in tend to ask you to consider, and I will now briefi.v refer to them

The subjects which are of most in Merest are—A Bill to amend the present *'Education Act;" a Bill to amend and consolidate the Acts rer lating to sheep and their disease*; and a Bill to consolidate the *'Licensino- Acts" at present in force.

In regard to the Education question, nothing but a conviction that the present Act is not providing satisfactorily for the wants of the Province, has determined me to ask you to make other provision during the present session, as I would rather have left this important ques tion to be dealt with by the new Council, which will, in all probability, be elected before next session. The main object of ihe Bill, which will be laid before you, is to localise the management of the Schools, and so endeavor to engage the active as-

sistance of those most directly in terested in the education of the youth of the different districts. r phe subject of education is exciting general attention in this Colony, and it U, I hope, probable that it will ere long be taken up and treated as a Colonial question. I regret that the spread of the disease called scab towards our southern frontier, and the presence in our pwn flocks of foot-rot, to a very considerable extent, should call for serious consideration; but there can be no doubt that the pastoral interest of the province does require that legislative action should be taken to pec ure as far as possible, against the spread of the diseases iii question.

The consolidation of the different ,1/icensing Acts in force has been re-. peatedly called for, and a Bill for that object has been prepared and will be laid before you. hi connection with the subject of Immigration, steps! have been taken to secure the introduction from Great Britain of a number of female immigrants suitable for domestic service, some of whom may, I hope, be expected to arrive shortly, and 1 shall ask you to approve of what. ha>been done in this respect, although the conditions upon which the portion of the Loan set apart for Immigration purposes was to have been applied, have not been complied with. I shall ask you to consider whether provision cannot be made for future periodical bringing out of female immigrants, and certain other plasses of labor much required in tliis province. It will be necessary for you to consider the position of those runs, and portions of runs, the licenses for ■which terminate at the close of the present year, and make such recommendations as you consider advisable in respect to their future disposal. The subjects to which I have referred, together with the financial matters which will necessarily come before you, are the principal questions I propose to ask you to consider.

With regard to finance, J am Jiappy to inform you that the estimated revenue i? ;.* the coming year will provide for the ordinary expenditure, and allow a larger sum for appropriation to public works than was a-Vajlable this year. The estimates of both Revenue sm\ Expenditure have been prepared and will be placed kefqre you withgat delay.

\ am also glad b$ he able to inform ■y ou that tfye receipts for the present year have exceeded the amount estimated, and ifrat there will be a considerable balance to the credit of the ' provincial account on the 30th June next. 4s T propose bringing the estimates before you at once, I will defer any detailed explanation; but I think this is a proper* occasion upon which to congratulate you upon the steadily increasing ordinary revenue of the province, showing as it does that, in spite of the depression from which the whole Colony is suffering, we are in this province steadily progressing. Prom official information furnished me by the Collector of .Customs, I find that the Customs revenue at the port of Napier for last year, i.e. 1808 69, amounted to £22,988, whilst the receipts for the present year, 18G9-70, will amount to 27,564; and it is estimated that the receipts for the ensuing year will be stilj. further increased. In connection with this subject, I think it my duty to bring to your notice the great this province labors under from the loss of revenue on goods consumed here that have paid duty elsewhere. It is estimated that three-fourths of our import* (not including spirits, wine, beer and tobacco, the duty on which articles is generally paid here) pay duty al other .New Zealand ports, and swell their Customs returns, and that the revenue so lost to this province, for the present year, amounts to £20,000. To put it more plainly, if all the goods imported aiul consumed in the province of Hawke',* Bay during this year, had paid duty here, we should have received as our provincial share of <he Customs revenue £IO,OOO more than we have, and have had that additional sum +o expend on public works and other purposes. The loss is so serious, and the injustice so great, that I trust } T on will appeal to the General Assembly for such an alteration in the present sys tern as will give us in future our ftiir share of the Customs revenue. It is unnecesary for me to point out to you that the addition of £IO,OOO to our provincial revenue would enable us to make satisfactory provision for Public Works, Immigratiou, Education, and other necessary purpo*es, and add enormously to our well-being and progress, A comparison of the value of imports than ha/e paid duty at the Port of Napier during the past three years, shows the following re suits : In the year 18G8 our imports were valued at £52,000 In the year 1869 our imports were valued at ... ... ... ... ... 75,000 In the year 1870 our imports were valued at ... .. r 83,000 —These amounts, however, only represent the value of imports that have paid duty at Napier, and it is difficult to form an accurate estimate of the value of goods imported which have paid duty elsewhere, as no re- ■ turn is kept of them. lam informed that an approximate calculation may be made by valuing the imports at ten times the duty which it is esti- , mated js lost to this province, which would give £200,000 as the value of, the goods that have not paid duty here, and make the total value of our imports for tl]e present year £283,000.

Satisfactory as the advance of our import trade must be considered, enquiry show;? that our exports are increasing in quite equal proportions. From official information I learn that a comparison of the value of exports from the Port of Napier during the past three years, shows the following results: — In the year 1868 our exports were valued at ... ... £ 45,000 In the year 1869 our exports were valued at... ... ... 48,000 la the year 1870 our exports were valued at... 104,000 —lt is necessary, however, to point out that these figures only represent the exports from the port of Napier to other countries, and do not include the large quantities of produce sent every year through the neighboring provinces. It is also right to state that the very large apparent increase this year is partly to be accounted for by the increase of direct trade with Great Britain, It is estimated that the value of exports shipped coastwise from the province during the present year is about

£68,000. So ihat the total value of our exports for this year., may be stated at .£17.2,000. I think the incontestable evidences of progress I have quo ted* cannot but be consi4ered satisfactory,- and are almost .more than could have been expected considering the depression and difficulties under vyhicl) we Jiave been laboring. Turning from the questions of local interest upon which I have been addressing you, I cannot allow this opportunity to pass with referring to the -improved position of this pro vince and of the whole colony, in respect to our relations with the native difficulty Any one who looks back to the state of things this time last year, and remembers the general feeling of despondency and insecurity that then prevailed, cannot but be struck with the change that has taken place. We have, happily, this year no fresh disaster to look back upon—no repetition of massacres, such as those of Poverty Bay and Mohaka, to check the progress of settlement. The operations that have been necessary have been carried on in unsettled districts, and the enemy's couut try has suffered, in place of ours, the desolation and ruin that accompany war. We have at length occupied Taupo, the centre of the Island; and I believe our undisputed possession of that position is the best guarantee the Colony can have against the native difficulty ever assuming the pioportions it last year threatened. J feel that no excuse is due for referring to a subject so intimately connected with the welfare of this province, and thankfully congratulate you on the improved condition of affairs. ,

There is one other subject upon which I wWh to sa> a few words. At your desire, I am meeting you without an Executive Council, and shall have, unassisted, to conduct the business which, a* Supprinten dent, it rs my duty to bring ho* fore you. This is a very great change in the system hitherto pursued throughout the Colony, and will doubtless be watched with considerable interest. Your object in promoting this change, and mine in 'agreeing to it, originated in a desire ; to simplify the conduct of business, and you believed this would best be effected by making the Superintendent directly responsible to the Council for the administration of the public business. I venture to think that, if we succeed and are able to show that provincial institutions can be worked in this simple wav, we shall induce the people of' other provinces to follow our example, andj shall do much towards leading to that general simplification of the system of local self-government, which is what is really desired by the people of the Colony, That will not be effected until the Superintendents are reduced from the false position they at present occupy, and are brought into direct communication wi v :h, and obliged to carry out the decisions of the Provincial Councils, When that is done, and the present costlv and unnecessary system of ministerial go bet weens is dispensed with, the chief causes of dissatisfaction with existing institutions will be removed. Tn conclusion, I trust I shall receive from you that cordial assistance and support which is necessary to enable me to carry out successfully the position you have requested me to undertake. I now declare this Council open for the despatch of business.