OTAGO PROSPEROUS.

Colonist, Volume XVI, Issue 1632, 13 May 1873, Page 4

OTAGO PROSPEROUS.

Thh Otbgo Provincial Council was opened this day week. The Superintendent (Mr. Macandrew) in his speech epitomised the Province's progress for the year. The declared value of imports was £18,849, on eight duties, which amounted to £262,000. The gold exported was 169,2120z5., against 166,3720zb. in 1872. The total value of Provincial produce exported, inclusive of gold, was £2,279,663, a? against £1,190,000 for the year before. This wa§ equal to £70 a head for each statute adult, which he ventured to say was unequalled in the world. The total receipts from all sources were £338,000, as against £289,000 in 1872. Last year they commenced with an overdraft of £40,497, but this year they would commence with a balance In their favor of £16,698, while £82,874 had been expended in public works. At no period since the commencement of settlement had the Province been more prosperous. He referred to the inoreased gold yield ns evidencing the great vitality of the Province's industrj. The offered bonus for a paper manufactory had produced the desired effect, and a bond had been entered into which would result in the immediate formation of a factory on the banks of the Mataura. Parties in tie Province .were prepared to take up sperm whale fishing, and he recommended that £500 bo given as a bonus. ££7 OCO was required to'incrense th school accoinmodaiion a and he proposed to place aside £1500 out of the £11.000 derived from educational rental for thirty yi ara. If the Colonial Legislature concurred, £30,000 would ba immediately available. Additional ichool ioipwton u4 tht NtftbiuhoMutt

of normal schools were advooatad. He referred to the necessity of connecting the Mataura, Clutha, Moeraki, and Port Chalmers railways, and expressed fears that if left to the Colony it would be years before it was done. He proposed that the Province should immediately proceed with the construction of the connecting links. Between Clutha and Mataura 300,000 acres of splendid agricultural land only Tequired a railway to render it available, and proposals had been submitted for its construction within two yeai'3 from date. The contract was for payment !at the rate of £30,000 the first two years and the balnoco -within a year of the completion of the line. The estimated cost was £150,000. He recommended^ hypothecating the land immediately and calling for' tenders. He intended to improve and widen the ro ids in the interior. The estimates would provide a large amount for public works. The Government intended to continue the pound for pound subsidy to road boards, and to subsidise goldfields districts similarly. Of the north district loan, £14,000 had been expended on the Oamaru breakwater, which was likely to prove a great success. £50,000 was to be expended on a tramway up the main valley of the Waitaki. Tenders were being called for expending £13,000 in bridging rivers in various^ districts and in harbor works at Kakanui. He recommended the expenditure of £15,000 for the defence of Port Chalmers. A contract has been entered into on behalf of the Province with Patrick Henderson and Co. for the resumption of immigration from the Clyde direct. Mr. Auld had urged the establishment of immigration by steamer to Otago direct, and the General Government had warmly approved of the suggestion, and had instructed Dr. Featherston accordingly. He proposed to contine the immigration vote of £12,000 on the estimates, but did not think it would require to be operated upon. He would submit a proposal for the creation of a farm at Tokomairiro, and the removal of the able-bodied lunatics there, and also the throwing open of the J hospital to all medical practitioners in the city, and the further endowment of 100,000 acres to the University, if the Council establishes a school of medicine and surgery. A proposal to reclaim the mud flats in the bay had been made by private persons, who offered to reclaim 250 acres free, if the proceeds of the sale of the land were divided equally between them and the Province. The Superintendent thought the work should be done by the Province, as it would result in a saving of £20,000, which, could go to the endowment of the proposed harbor trust. Thirty thousand acres had been thrown open on deferred payment. He recommended increasing the price of superior waste lands to £2. A very slight reference was made to Reid's dismissal. He concluded by saying that apart from all considerationl of party, never since the establishment of responsible Government here were the affairs of the Province more prosperous or more efficiently conducted than now.