A.—No. 1

DESPATCHES EROM THE GOVERNOR OF NEW

36

this your first visit to our city, and bid you welcome amongst us as the Representative of Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen. Aware of tho many difficulties which a. the present time surround your Excellency, from the disloyalty of a portion of the Native race, wc are especially gratified at the opportunity of expressing our devotion to the Throne, and our confidence in your Excellency's administration, trusting, by the blessing of Almighty God that a lasting peace may crown your Excellency's endeavours. We hope that, under the rule of your Excellency, the natural resources of this Colony may be largely and speedily developed, and that education in its various branches may be widely diffused. Wo hail with great satisfaction your Excellency's presence amongst us, earnestly desiring that it may promote an attachment to your Excellency's person ; and wo trust that we may often have the pleasure of a renewal of your Excellency's visit, together with the additional gratification of affording a welcome to Lady Bowen. Wishing you long life, prosperity, aud happini Signed by His Worship the Mayor and tho City Councillors, together with the Town Clerk.

His Excellency's Hicpi.v. Mh. Mayor ami Gentlemen, —■ I thank you with my whole heart for this address. In the first place, for the assurance of your continued loyalty to the Crown—the symbol and guardian of the unity of the British Empire ; and, in the second place, for your gratifying expressions of respect and regard for myself, as the Representative of that Crown. I rejoice to see around me here so many signs of that well-ordered prosperity and progress which provincial and municipal self-government, when prudently and vigorously administered, cannot fail to confer. Permit me to take advantage of this opportunity to express my satisfaction in finding that so many of the principal towns of the South Island have applied for incorporation, an example which I hope will be extensively followed throughout New Zealand. lam desirous to draw general attention to the conclusions on this subject, arrived at, after deliberate consideration, by the practical and experienced statesmVn who form the Privy Council of Great Britain. In their report on the political institutions of the British Colonies, which was presented to the Queen some years ago, it is stated as follows: —" AVe are of opinion thai the existence in Australia of municipal bodies in a state of " efficiency is scarcely less necessary to the public welfare than the existence-there of Representative " Legislatures. A largo part of the benefit to be derived from such Legislatures seems to us to depend on '• the simultaneous establishment and co-existence of incorporated municipalities. It is the only prac- " ticable security agaiust the danger of undue centralization. It is the only security for the vigilant; " and habitual attention by the local Legislature to the interests of the more remote localities. It is by " such bodies alone that iu those secluded societies public spirit is kept alive, and skill in the conduct of " public, affairs acquired and exercised. It is in such corporations that the Colonists are trained to act "as legislators in a larger sphere. By them, and by them alone, can any effectual •resistance be made to "the partial and undue dedications of the public resources to the advantage of districts peculiarly " fortunate in the zeal and authority of their representatives in the Legislature." These, gentlemen, are wise and weighty words. Still this, like all other social and political questions in a free country, must be ultimately decided by the people themselves. It need scarcely be said that I have spoken without any reference whatsoever to any political parlies or controversies, and simply as an impartial but not indifferent observer of the course of public affairs here, and as a sincere well-wisher to the great eommunit\' over which I have the honor to preside. Par be it from me to press on the inhabitants of any portion of New Zealand unwelcome duties under the name of municipal privileges. In the State paper from which I have already quoted it is farther remarked, that "if such " duties are not undertaken with alacrity and performed with zeal, and controlled by public vigilance '■ and rewarded by public applause, they would be undertaken to no good purpose." But, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, you may probably consider that I have said too much, while I myself am painfully conscious that I have said too little on a question of such vital importance. Let me conclude by again thanking you for your hearty welcome, and for your kind wishes for my wife. It has been a deep disappointment to Lady Bowen that she has been unavoidably prevented from accompanying me on the present occasion. She will certainly be with me on that future visit to which you so kindly invite us. Meanwhile, we shall both make it our earnest endeavour to deserve a continuance of your esteem and confidence.

Addeess from the Natives. To His ESCELLEifCX Miu Geokge F. Bowex, — Welcome, guest, welcome from mist and storm, welcome to calm and sunshine! Come see these tribes that belong to our Sovereign the Queen. Approach. Draw near. .Step boldly. Step confidently (not with the cautious step of one approaching au enemy). Welcome, representative of your great ancestors, fathers, and brothers. "Welcome to this land, to the great spouse of Heaven, to the laud where the mist never hangs. AVelcomc to the people who live mindful of their ancestor Tuahuriri'a last words, "After me be kind to men."

Hts Excellency's Reply. <) mi friends, salutations to you all! lam very glad to have heard your words —words full of loyalty to the Queen, and of friendship to myself the Representative of the Queen. Behold, I have brought with me three of the principal chiefs of the other island, Wi Tako, Tamehana te Eauparaha, and Mete Kingi, men who have always been loyal and friendly to Europeans, and who are like yourselves living in peace and quietness with their European friends. This is the word of the Queen —her desire is now as it always has been, that there should be one law for her Maori and Pakeha children, so that they mar become as it were one people, The Queen has sent her son, the Duke of Edinburgh, as a token, of