LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

Southland Times, Issue 582, 24 October 1866, Page 3

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1886. The Speaker took the chair at 11.1* a.m. MESSAGE The SPEAKER announced that h< had received a message from the House of Representatives, signifying theii assent to the amendments made by th< Legislative Council in the Naturalisation Bill ; also, that they had agreed to th< report of the Conference on the Golc Fields Members Qualification Bill. THE LIBRARY. On the motion of the Hon. Mi DOMETT, it was ordered that sucl members residing in or near "Wellingtor during the recess, should have power tc manage the affairs of the Library. PROROGATION. His Excellency the G-overnor entered the Council Chamber shortly after twe o'clock, attended by his Private Secretary and one or two other gentlemen of his suite, and took the Speaker's chair. The members of the Lower House were immediately sent for ; they came in preceded by the Speaker, and the Sergeant-at Arms bearing the new mace. Before anything else was done, the Clerk of the Upper House read out the names of the Bills awaiting the assent of His Excellency, and the Clerk of the Lower House signified His Excellency's assent to them on behalf of Her Majesty. The SPEAKER then read the following address to His Excellency the Governor : — May it please Yotjr Excellency — During the session now about to terminate, the House of Representatives has been earnestly and laboriously engaged in considering the many important questions which it devolved upon it to deal with. The number of Acts passed has been greater than during any former session, amounting to eighty-two. Of these a considerable proportion is of the nature of amending Acts, intended to remedy defects indicated by experience. In several a revision and consolidation of the existing law has been eifected, which cannot fait to make its provisions more generally known and more easily administered. Our other Acts embrace a wide variety of subjects, and are intended either to meet those evils which from time to time develop themselves in every growing community, or to assist in the progress and promote the social and material v--;---fareofboth races of the people of i:,n Colony. Resolved to rely in future upon our own efforts for our internal defence, and the maintenance of the law, it has been our duty to vote considerable supplies for the means necessary to secure this object. Our financial arrangements have also been based upon the admitted necessity of finding a large surplus for the Provinces to enable them to carry out those functions of Government which devolve upon them, and to undertake and push forward works of local improvement. To provide the necessary revenue we have subjected the Colony to additional taxation. "We have authorised the levying of duties by stamps as suggested by your Excellency in your opening speech, and we have re-arranged the duties of Customs in a manner calculated to distribute their pressure with greater firmness and over a wider surface, but from which we do not anticipate any diminution of the total amount to be collected. The large revenue thus intended to be raised, it has been our earnest desire to apply to the purposes above indicated with the greatest economy and prudence, and I have now respectfully to request your Excellency's assent on behalf of Her Majesty to the Bill which appropriates it. His Excellency then delivered the following speech : — Honorable Legislative Cottncillors and grentlemen op the house of Representatives, — I am happy to be able to release you from further attendance in Parliament, and at the same time to express my acknowledgments for the assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to the discharge of your public duties during the session. The various measures for improving the administration of justice, and other subjects of practical utility, which you have passed, cannot but be productive of material advantage to the people of this country. The" Act for further regulating the management of the Goldfieids will facilitate operations connected with that most important branch of industry, and will tend to promote the development of the large mineral wealth of the Colony. GrENTLEMSN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, — I thank you for the supplies you have granted for the public service of the year. The introduction of a new mode of raising the public income by means oi Stamp Duties is the initiation of a sounder and more equable system oi taxation than was possible so long as Duties of Customs were almost the only source of revenue. This change will enable my G-overnment to give effect tc the wish, strongly entertained by them, of lightening the taxes which have hitherto been imposed upon many articles of necessary consumption. The revision of the Tariff which you have effected, will also remove many oi the objections which existed to the manner in which Duties of Customs were levied, and will facilitate the contemplated reductions. Honorable G-entlemen and G-entle^ men, — . I congratulate you on the steady in crease in the public revenue, and th< improved condition of all branches of in dustry, which will be still further ac celerated by the recent discoveries of nevi

I goldfieids in the Middle Island, and by continued tranquility in those native districts of the North Island which have been the seat of disturbance. The attention of my Government will be directed during the recess to the consideration of a general measure, having for its object the establishment of munici- > pal institutions throughout the country on a large and liberal scale, so as to secure the advantages of self-government to 9 many rising localities, the daily increasing i requirements of which demand attention. r I hope on an early day, in accordance 3 with a wish long entertained by me, to l have an opportunity of visiting the 3 southern portion of the colony, and of be--1 coming personally acquainted with its many thriving and prosperous settlements. ? In dismissing you on this occasion, I 1 feel assured that on returning to your l homes you will employ the influence j which you possess to promote the welfare and happiness of Her Majesty's subjects in New Zealand. The SPEAKER of the Council having received directions from his Excellency > for that purpose, then declared the r Assembly to ba prorogued till the 27th of 5 December next, and his Excellency re*- ■ tired.