The Evening Herald. TUESDAY, SEPT. 7, 1869. PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

Wanganui Herald, Volume III, Issue 646, 7 September 1869, Page 2

The Evening Herald. TUESDAY, SEPT. 7, 1869. PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.

The Assembly was prorogued, onj Friday. His Excellency the Go-! vernor, a little after 1 o'clock, when the necessary formalities had been gone through, rose and read the following address :— Honorable Legislative Councillors, ASD GENTLEMEN OF THE House of Representatives—The time for closing the present session of the General Assembly having arrived, I thank you for* the earnest consideration which you have given to the many important topics to which yom-atfcention has been directed.

The safety of the country will, I j hope, be effectually provided for by | the measures you have" taken. You have acted wisely in making parliamentary provision for the cost of an { Imperial regiment, in taking steps to remove the grounds of the misunderstanding -which has arisen on this j subject, and to restore those friendly j relations which should ever subsist between the Colony and the Imperial Government. ,

I cannot avoid expressing my satisfaction that General Sir Trevor Chute has been able, in the meantime, to detain the 18th Regiment. The presence of that regiment, and of pai-t of a squadron of Her Majesty's Navy, fit o nee affords protection and exhibits to the insurgent natives symbols of the Queen's authority and of the power of the great British Empire of which, the Colony is an integral part.

Your efforts to organise and render j more efficient a Constabulary Force for the permanent protection of the Colony, cannot but contribute greatly ' to its future tranquility, and will, it is hoped, reduce the heavy cost hitherto incurred on account of active military operations. Gentlemen op the of Representatives,— I thank you for the supplies you have granted for the public service of the year; they shall be administered with all due care and circumspection.

While you have wisely refrained at • present from making any changes of! a fundamental character in yoxir financial system, the amendments effected by several measures which you have ' passed will tend to promote the better i administration of finance, and to secui-e greater economy in the public I expenditure. Honorable Gentlemen and Gentle- | MEN, i I heartily congratulate you on the | wonderful progress of the Auckland j Gold Fields, and heartily concur in j the sense which jow have shown of, their importance. I am confident j that national tranquility and increased population are all that are requisite to secure a great and general extension of the gold fields in that j and other parts of this auriferous country. Nothing will promote peace and immigration more than the development of gold fields. The yield of the precious metal and the growth of the prosperity of the Colony are reciprocal powers which act and react on each other with the most beneficial effect.

While, howevei*, you have shown yourselves sensible of the importance of developing the resources hidden within the earth, I am glad that you have not neglected another obvious soxirce of wealth which is to be found on its surface in the native flax, and that you have directed inquiries to be made during the recess which may lead to the further advancement of the growing trade in this valuable material.

The absence during this session of any considerable number of petitions from inhabitants of outlying districts, suggesting changes in the constitutional machinery of Government, leads me to believe that the excitement on that subject during last year was only of a superficial and ephemeral character, and that the dissatisfaction with existing local institutions, which at one time appeared to be widespread, is no longer felt.

I have also transmitted to her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Colonies the resolutions of both Houses and acts affirming the expediency of maintaining an Imperial regiment in the Colony, and making provision for its cost; and I will do all that is in my power to assist the Commissioners whom }>mi have deter- ! mined to send to England to communicate with the Imperial Govornment jon tliis subject, by accrediting them to her Majesty's Ministers, and. impressing on the attention of the latter the views of the Assembly. I have every hope that, strength- [ ened by the countenance and aid of j the Imperial Government, the Colony will, under the blessing of Divine Providence, le restored to a condition of peace and prosperity ; that the settlers who have been molested by rebels will regain possession of their homesteads, and successfully resume their industrial pursuits; and that insurrection will bo fianlly suppressed.

I cannot conclude without recording my satisfaction at the cordial welcome which was awarded by the whole Colony to his Hoyal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, whose visit, though occurring at a period of great depression, and when the minds of the colonists v/ere engrossed with events of most serious import, evoked all those feelings of loyalty towards the person and family of her Most Gracious Majesty which are everywhere entertained and expressed in the British dominions.

His Excellency having retired, the Hon. the Speaker of the Legislative Council said, "It is Ms Excellency's will and pleasxn-e that this Parliament stand prorogued until the Ist day of December next." So ended the fourth session of the fourth Parliament of New Zealand.