The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 1870.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume V, Issue 98, 27 April 1870, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 1870.

Once more has the Superintendent delivered his opening address to lhe Nelson Provincial Council, and, looking to the present coudition of the province, the session can hardly be said to have opened under more favorable circumstances than was the case last year. There is an old and a homely adage which tells us thiit " when poverty comes in at the door, love flies out of the wiudow," and this saying may prove quite as applicable with reference to political, as to domestic, affairs; it is therefore hardly to be expected that the same amicable relations will subsist between the executive and legislative bodies as if his Honor had beeu in a position to come down to the Council with a statement that a surplus, instead* of a deficit, existed in the actual, as compared with the estimated, revenue of last year. Eighteen thousand pounds would have completed many public works which are still in abeyance, and uncompleted works, in the direction of opening up the country, and otherwise improving the general condition of the population, usually prove a fruitful source of complaint on the part of those who would have benefited by their execution. But it must be remembered that while the Superiutendeut and his Executive are responsible for the expenditure of the public revenues, they are not to be held liable for any deficiency that may have occurred in the anticipated receipts owing to circumstances entirely beyond their- control, and the recollection of this should go far towards healing the sores that may have been created by what might, at a casual glance, appear to be the results of neglect ou the part of the provincial authorities. We must, therefore, in considering the account which his Honor has rendered of his stewardship during the last twelvemonths, look to the realities with which he has had to deal, and not argue upon what might have been had his suppositions been borne oufc by actual facts. In over-estimating the revenue the Super-intendent-did exactly what has been done by the Executive heads in. other portions of the colony— lß6B-69 had proved a disastrous year for New Zealand, and it was the prevailing opinion that no further depression would take place j the contrary, however, has proved tobe the case, and 1869-70 has been a season of even greater depression than its predecessor, and to this must be attributed the falling off in the funds at the disposal of the Government. The question then that arises is — has the Superintendent, with a knowledge of the growing deficiency in the revenue, been guided by economical principles in the expenditure of the funds at his disposal, and, to this query, the address before us furnishes a most decided affirmative reply. The Superintendent | says : — With regard to the departmental expenditure I have not been able to add materially to the large reductions which I effected last year, amounting to nearly £1 2,000 or 25 per cent, of the total departmental expenditure of the province. I have, however, kept the expenditure well within the amount appropriated, a balance of about £1500 voted for departmental purposes remaining unexpended. * * * * * * In the course of the year the overdraft at the Bank of New Zealand has been reduced from £6800 to £4100. The question of revenue and expenditure being disposed of, the next point touched upon is the much vexed Wangapeka dispute. We are not now going to follow his Honor through his arguments on this subject, but we recommend them to the careful perusal of our readers, for they will there find, clearly and succinctly set forth, the Superintendent's view of the question, and, however great the diversity of opinion which, with the after knowledge now possessed by all, may exist as to the action taken by the Land Board, no one can deny, after reading that portion of the address which refers to this unfortunate question, that the Superintendent was actuated by the most conscientious motives, or can for a moment

doubt that the line of conduct adopted by him was the result of a settled conviction that he was acting for the best interests of the province of wliich he is the head. The proposed amendments in the Land regulations will no doubt be carefully considered by the Council, and such alterations be made as shall prevent a recurrence of similar disputes. Mauy topics of interest to the province and the colony afc large were touched upon in the course of the address, and will no doubt give rise to much serious discussion, and, of these, wbat appear to us to be the most important are the reference to the necessity that exists for the establishment by the General Government of a central Lunatic Asylum for patients from all parts of the colony, aud the suggestion that the Council should, by resolution or otherwise, strengthen the bauds of those who are briugiug before the notice of the colonial legislature the question of Government interference in supplying the goldfields of the colony with a plentiful and regular supply of water. This latter is a matter in which Nelson is as largely interested as any portion of the colouy, and one on which the members from the West Coast will no doubt be in a position to give many useful hints. There is one subject to which we could have wished that allusion had been made in the address, namely, the question of immigration, not so much with reference to the importation of laboring men, as of female servants, of whom there is afc present, and has been for a long time, a great scarcity, thereby causing serious discomfort to large numbers of families. The question of appropriating a moderate sum for this purpose is one that we hope to see introduced when the Estimates are under discussion. On the whole, the address may be pronounced as satisfactory a one as could possibly have been expected under the depressing circumstances that have obtained during the past year. There is a frankness and an . earnestness about it which seem to speak of an anxious desire on the part of the Superintendent to do the utmost in his power to promote the welfare of the Province, and he freely invites discussion on all matters of importance. The Council will, no doubt, meet him in the same spirit, and, casting aside all party feeling, or personal prejudices, devote themselves earnestly to the task they have undertaken of legislatiug to the best of their ability for a Province for which we are sanguine enough to believe that there is yet a bright future in store, notwithstanding the dark and gloomy cloud in which it has been enveloped for the last two years. With the Superintendent, we entertain a strong conviction thafc the depression under which this Province is suffering is Qf a temporary character ; that its rich mineral resources, of which comparatively little has been developed, and upon which, in the absence of large tracts of agricultural land its prosperity and progress are mainly dependent, will prove to be capable of maintaining a large and prosperous population, and that the financial year now commencing will at its close present a marked and encouraging contrast with its predecessor. May these words prove prophetic.