THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 174, 23 July 1872, Page 4

THE GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

A correspondent has sent the following to the Evening Post as Ihe speech originally prepared for the Governor, but altered at the last minute : — Honorable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council and Gentlemen op the House of Representatives — I heartily congratulate you on the triumphant success which has attended the policy inaugurated by myself and my responsible advisers. The magnificent results of the great policy of colonisation and settlement will be la' i before you in hundreds of Blue Boots and Parliamentary Papers, bearing eloquent testimony to the brilliaot aod fertile imagination, the patient and unflagging industry, and the unpretending modesty of my Ministers, whilst also forming a valuable addition to tbe growiag literature of this young and prosperous colony. Thousouds of miles of railroad have been successfully surveyed and delineated on highly embellished maps and plans, which wil' be laid before you, and nothing remains but to re-survey the proposed lines and complete the numerous railways iv contemplation in order to develop the resources of this magnificent country, and to unlock millions of fertile acres for settlement and cultivation. I congratulate you on the marvellous success lhat has attended the great policy of immigration. The introduction of immigrants of various nationalities, selected with due regard to promiscuous excellence nod unsuitability, is calculated to exercise the most beneficial influence in moulding the physical, neological, cacophonical, and catachrestical character of tbe future inhabitants of this Britain of fhe South. In order to ensure the perfect success of the scheme, you will be asked to sanction measures for introducing immigrants from Timbuctoo, Terra del Fuego, Chimborazo, and Jupiter. The financial measures inaugurated by my responsible advisers have amply fulfilled the most extravagant expectations. The large sums appropriated for the public service have been carefully and judiciously expended with due regard to tbe inefficiency of the various departments, the necessity for economical retrenchment, the rigid exercise of indiscriminate patronage, and' the careful prevention of an undue preponderance of bullion in the Treasury. Statements of receipts and expenditure of the public revenue will be laid before you, and in order to facilitate the business of the country, the utmost care has been exercised in rendering public accounts as simple a» tbe perspicuity of intricacy, and tbe involution of generalisation would admit. In order to provide means for the various works in coutemplation, you will be asked to sanction a scheme for borrowing ten billions, to be raised in the adjacent planets on the security of the honor of my responsible advisers. I heartily congratulate you on the healthy and prosperous condition, of the provinces, under the fostering care of my Ministers. In order to extend their functions, and to utilise to the utmost possible extent the local machinery now existing for the administration of the loans aud the development of public works and immigration, a bill will be laid before you for abolishiug the cumbrous and extravagant system of capitation allowance, and for centralising the control ©f provincial revenues. The frightful effects of intemperance, and the necessity for promoting habits of economy in the industrial classes in view of the exigencies of the public service, have engaged the attention of my responsible advisers during the session. The honorable the Premier has at great personal risk and expense to the country made a tour through the West Coast of the Middle Island, and in order to illustrate tbe beneficial results of teetotal ism, has prepared a number of very beautiful drawings. Water color sketches on the subject will be laid before you, and a bill will be introduced giving to one third of the inhabitants of auy district the power to have their diet regulated by the other two thirds. The introduction of smsllpox on a limited scale has been attended with results of a highly beneficial character, in attracting. public attention to the sanitary condition pf the country, and in providing reliable diagnoses for the medical profession ; while the habits of self-reliance aud frugality, acquired during a period of isolation in quarantine, are calculated to improve the usefulness of our settlers, and to prepare them for those future privations and trials incidental to early colonisation. I congratulate you on the success of theSan Francisco mail service. The punctually, prolonged; passages of the steamers have afforded opportunity for observation and intellectual leisure, while the long intervals between successive mails nave benefitted the, commuuity. by

affording more ample facility for pre" paring correspondence. So soon as the machinery of these magnificent floating caßtles has been fully developed it is anticipated that the number of passages during the year will be largely diminished, until ultimately they will be exclusively used in the coastal trade, thus leaving the locally-owned steamers available for the inter-colonial or any other service.