OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 124, 17 June 1876, Page 2

OPENING OF PARLIAMENT.

THE VICE-REGAL SPEECH. ; [by electric telegraph.] Wellington, June IG. The first session of the sixth Parliament of New Zealand was opened this day by the Governor, when his Excellency was pleased to make the following speech : Honorable Legislative Councillors, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives. I have recourse to your advice and assistance with much satisfaction, at an earlier period of the year than has hitherto been usual. Since the Assembly last met, the colony has been brought into telegraphic communication with the other parts of the world.

YonrwHf reco&nfee. that this event is of .great-importance to New Zealand. Prothe Government of New South Wales to aid in the establishment of a second line of communication with Europe,'and the reply of my Government thereto, will be laid before yon. In pursuance of the legislation of last session, important measures will be submitted to you, to give to the country districts and the towns a larger share of self-government than they have h&herto enjoyed. Other legislation, consequent upon the abolition of the provinces, will be proposed to you. I earnestly urge yon to co-operate and assist in making as beneficial ns possible the changes which are to take place, immediately after the termination of the present session. You may not be able to effect all that these, changes will render necessary, but yon will at least be able to deal with the principal measures, as well as to provide against any inconvenience arising from deferred legislation. I desire specially to commend to your notice a bill for establishing comities, and for giving to them powers and revenues of an independent character, but with liberty to adopt concerted action with boroughs and other districts. During my recent visit to Auckland, I availed myself of various opportunities of becoming personally acquainted with a largo part of the North Island, and visited several of the native tribes who occupy that part of the Colony, I cannot refrain from expressing to you the gratification I derived from observing the rapid development of the splendid'pastoral and agricultural country in the province of Hawke’s Bay, and on the East Coast: _ I visited the Arawa tribes of the Bay of Ploiay, and Taupe, and also those of the Thames, as well as the large and influential Nganuln and Rarawa tribes of the .North, by all of whom 1 was received in the most cordial ami loyal manner. The kindly feeling which I found existing, between those tribes and tho European settlers in their district, together with the increasing desire on the part of the natives to_ adopt the practices of civilized eountiies, as evinced by the requests made, especially by the Ngapuhi tribe, for the construction of roads and telegraphs, and the establishment of courts of justice and schools, afford the most promising guarantee for the future peace and prosperity of tho colony Yon will also leafn with pleasure, that i'n other native districts, besides those to which I have referred, tho relations between the two races continue to improve. Recent interviews between the Minister for Native Affairs and Tawhiao, and other leading Waikato chiefs, have been of a highly satisfactory character. The results from the portions of railway opened for traffic are encouraging and assuring. Beyond tho good effected by promoting settlement, the railways already yield an excess over working expenses, a material contribution towards the interest on the cost of their construction.

The prosperity of the colony continues unabated. The “prospects 0 f the agricultural ami industrial interests are satisfactory, and there arc notable evidences of improvement in the results from mining of all descriptions. Not the least pleasing feature of the progress of tho colony is the remarkable extent to which petsons possessed of capital are coming from other colonies and countries, to invest their means, and settle in New Zealand. 1 direct your earnest attention to a measure which will be proposed to you for largely altering the system of dealing with, and disposing of, native lands. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives — The Estimates of expenditure for the coming year, framed as far as possible to meet all the conditions arising from the abolition of the provinces, will be laid before you without delay. _ I invite your consideration of the papers relating to the negociations which my Government have entered into with the Bank of England. Honorable Legislative Councillors, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives — My advisers are forcibly impressed with the necessity of enlarging the facilities for acquiring land, in moderate sized blocks, for cultivation and settlement, A bill for these purposes will be submitted to you. It will also contain provisions for continuing the local administration of the Waste lands. Various other measures will bo placed before you, as the time of tho session permits; amongst them will be a bill to consolidate and amend the laws relating to Boroughs ; a bill to amend the Debtors’ and Creditors’ Act; a measure _to consolidate the laws relating to Public Works snd Immigration ; and bills amending the laws relating to Friendly Societies and to Building Societies. I commit to your grave consideration tho business of the session, and I pray that the Almighty will so guide and order your deliberations, that they may be productive of happiness and prosperity to the people of New Zealand.