ASSEMBLY NEWS.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2668, 17 November 1871, Page 2

ASSEMBLY NEWS.

■♦ (Per Greville's Telegram Company, Renter's Agents.) Wellington, Thursday. The result of the Conference is that clause 8 is dropped, and clause 68 struck struck out, and parts 5 and 6 omitted. The Goldfields Water Supply Grant Clauses are reinserted with amendments, and direct taxation is substitdted for rates to meet any provinces' deficiencies on account of railways. Clauses 90,91, relating to payment for land taken for emigration purposes, are reinserted with an addition that only such land as is actually used for settlement be paid for, and all unsold within two years after taking shall either revert to the provinces or be paid for. On the third reading of the Appropriation Bill, Messrs Stafford, Gillies, and fiolleston spoke at length, reviewing the session. Messrs Vogel, Gisborne, and Fox replied. Tbe House was then prorogued with the following speech : — Honourable Legislative Councillorand Gentlemen of the House of Repeesentatives,— I thank you for the attention you bave bestowed on public business, and the consideration you have given those measures which j have been proposed during the session, with j the object of promoting the advancement and prosperity of the colony. I have to congratulate you on the progress you have made in the noble policy of colonisation, which was inaugurated during the session of last Parliament, and which has been vigorously continued by you during the present session Everyone who has the welfare of the colony at heart, must eagerly welcome the desire to people the country, and open up means of communication, which has found expression in your measures for promoting public works, immigration, and the construction of railways. Fortified by the support which you have given tbe colonisation policy, it will be the duty of my Ministers to give effect to itto the utmost extent consistent with provision being madefor theemployment and settlement of the immigrants introduced, and with care being exercised that the labor required for other enterprises is not unduly absorbed by public works. I hope that in a few months immigrants will commence to arrive under the new system, and will continue to do so with regularity, and in numbers sufficiently large to supply the need of increased population ; but not so large as to overstock the labor market, or overtax the means at my command for comfortably settling them. I hope also that within a very few months railway works will be under construction in different parts of the colony. I observe with much satisfaction the support you bave given to tbe Californian mail services, and trust that the course you have taken will lead to the establishment of a peimanent service, which, whilst it brings New Zealand in near and convenient communication with Great Britain, will also open the way to large business relations with the prosperous and enterprising people of the United States. It is with great gratification I notice a great improvement in the gold produce of the colony, and am pleased to observe you attach very great and deserved importarce to the valuable industry of gold mining. I am also able to congratulate you on tbe improvement in the prospects of wool and flax produce, and it is with great pleasure I foresee better days in store for those who follow agricultural pursuits. The presence in London of a special agent of the colony, himself a colonist of thirty years standing, and intimately acquainted with its wants, and who in former sessions occupied a prominent place in the deliberations of the Parliament of the colony, will, I trust, greatly aid you in the construction of the public works you propose, as well as lead to judicious selections of immigrants you require, and to making proper arrangements for th<_-ir passage to the colony. His presence will also, no doubt, tend to make permanent these friendly relations which, I am glad to say, exist between the Imperial and Colonial Governments. The session has been profitable in respect of that most important stimulus to colonisation, local and muneipal Government. I am sanguine that excellent effects will result from the pecuniary assistance you have agreed to render to Road Boards, and from the operation of the Highways Act. I regret that the shortness of the session, and other reasons, have prevented you legislating on the question of education. Your attention has, however, been given to the subject, and its principles bave been fully discussed in tbe House of Representatives, and it is, perhaps, well that on a subject on which there exists so many differences of opinion, time should be given the constituencies to consider more fully the bearings of the measure which is proposed to the House of Representatives. Gentlemen of the House of Representatives, — I thank yon for the supplies you have granted, for the public service, which shall be administered with due care. I am glad also you have revised taxation in some particulars with a view to providing ways and means to meet the necessary expenditure of Government. Honorable Councillors and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives,— Since the commencement of the session there have not been wanting many indications of a growing inclination among the few remaining malcontents »»ong the satire race to return to their

allegiance, and resume friendly relations with Europeans. The presence of highly intelligent representatives of the Native race in the House of Representatives, and the judicious manner in which I am informed by Ministers they exercised their functions, fully justify the wisdom of the recommendation the House of Representatives made, that persons of the Native race should be called to the Legislative Council. On the best method of giving effect to that recommendation I will consult my responsible advisers. I shall forward to her Majesty's Government, for presentation to her Majesty, the address ycu passed in both Chambers of the Legislature on the subject of the labor traffic which is being carried on between some of the Australian colonies, the Fiji islands, and various other islands in the Pacific. I have no doubt that the melancholy death of Bishop Patteson and his companions will deepen the interest which has already been excited on this question at home, and that her Majesty's Government will bestow upon it the attention it merits. In releasing you from your labors I venture to express an earnest hope that under the blessing of Divine Providence the measures you have authorised will promote the prosperity of the colony.