NORTHERN INTELLIGENCE.

Southland Times, Issue 1574, 7 May 1872, Page 3

NORTHERN INTELLIGENCE.

We are indebted to our Dunedin exchanges for the following : — "Wellington, April 30. The 21st session of the Provincial Council of Wellington was opened to-day by the Superintendent, Mr Eitzherbert, in a speech of nearly an hour's duration. He congratulated the Council on. meeting in their own new building, accepting the fact as an indication that they were not likely to abandon Provincial Institutions. He did not, however, believe in responsible government in Provincial affairs. The experiment was an interesting one, but it had been tried and had proved a failure. The legislation of the last session of the Assembly had been most satisfactory to the Province, though he did not carry any measures without meeting with strong, unexpected, and unjustifiable opposition. During the past year, the Province had been enabled to pay off £31,000 of its funded debt, being equal to 12£ per cent of the whole. After the land sale to Colonel Fielding had been effected, he had requested the General Government to raise £78,000 only of the amount authorised under the Wellington Debt Act. He congratulated the Council on the extensive purchases of Native lands. The data for the construction of the first fifteen miles of the Wellington and Masterton railway were, the Government informed him, ready for submission to Mr Brogden. The Government, however, he regretted to say, had refused his application for the delegation of powers to enable him to arrange for the survey and construction of the whole line of railway himself. As the railways were by law provincially charged, his request was only fair and reasonable. It was a rotten system of finance which made one party provide the money for another to spend ; yet the Assembly was drifting into a system of Provincial charges relative to the Colonial public works, although provincial charges in every other respect had been abolished. The Provincial Government were anxious to transfer the management of local affairs to local bodies as much as possible, retaining only a general legislative and administrative control, and devoting their energies to the work of colonisation. The last financial year was commenced with an overdraft of £10,000. This had been paid and all engagements met, and the present year commenced with a credit balance of £7,383. The estimated revenue for the year was £75,251, and the estimated expenditure £75,104, exclusive of a contingent public works vote of £15,000. The general administration of the Province could be conducted for £33,000 a year, and he saw his way to raising a revenue of £42,000, exclusive of any assistance from the Colonial revenue, for the next 15 or 20 years* If this prospect was not a great one, it was a sufficiently hopeful one to prevent them from throwing up the sponge and abandoning their functions. With prudence and economy, they could manage their own affairs, and if the other Provinces acted likewise, reform could be effected in the administration of the General Government affairs. Nelson, April 30. The Provincial Council was opened to-

day by the Superintendent. In his speech the Superintendent states the estimated revenue for the year at £70,000, and the estimated expenditure at£67,000. He regrets the decrease in the revenue, which is caused by the repeal of the Capitation Act, IS7O, and also by the gold duty falling short of the usual amount, and the ordinary goldfields revenue decreasing by £1000. He refers to the progress of the Nelson and Foxhill railway line, and states that the preliminaries of the line fro;n the Bmnnar coal mine to Q-reymouth have been agreed upon, subject to the approval of the Council. He impresses on the Council the importance of voting £33,009 for the construction of a water race from Lake Hochstetter to Nelson Creek. The construction of the telegraph from Grrey mouth to Ahaura, and from Nelson to Motueka, had been arranged for, the Province guaranteeing the Colony against loss. The speech further remarks upon the excellent prospects of the Inangahui reefs, and also upon the survey of the first block of five thousand acres into 50 acre sections for agricultural settlement, and states that the survey of a second block has been ordered. It is proposed to construct the road to the goldfields by money votes against land in payment for the work. Stock roads will also be constructed to connect the Grey and Inangahua districts with the Amuri and Marlborough. A proposal will be submitted for the establishment of a special settlement in the Central Buller district. The speech also notices the discovery of the Nakawa coal field, possessing great facilities for shipment.