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capital for the prosecution of these works that I refer when I speak of the " development of the resources "of the Colony." If the public works and immigration scheme is to become—as I believe it will—a source of lasting prosperity, then the two portions of this scheme must run concurrently, and so, while the railways or other public works give employment to those who require it, they will also afford facilities for settlement and communication. This cannot fail in a very short time to attract the husbandman, tho miner, and the merchant—all those, in short, who help to build up the prosperity of a country. AVhen it is remembered that the whole of the railways which now form such a network over the face of the civilized world have been constructed within our own time, it shows conclusively that they have become a necessity of the age; and I am sure that the energy and vitality which have characterized the colonists of New Zealand, not only in their ordinary struggles as the pioneers of civilization, but in those exceptional hardships, losses, and dangers to which they have been peculiarly subjected,— I am sure, I say, that this same energy and vitality will yet lead them on to prosperity, and that they will not rest satisfied until they too have their railways stretching from North to South of both Islands. In this belief I look upon the Auckland and Waikato Railway, the Napier and Paki Paki, the Wellington and Masterton, the Picton and Blenheim, the Dunedin and Clutha, and the Invercargill and Mataura (the lines which my firm have undertaken to construct), as but links in that great chain of trunk lines which, in the not far distant future, will unite Picton and Nelson to Invercargill in the one Island, and Wellington to Auckland in the other. Your Excellency, —It has been thought desirable to take advantage of the presence in this City of the representatives of the people by the celebrating, with all due formality, the commencement of the several lines I have named ; and I would therefore now pray your Excellency to honor and commemorate the occasion by actual participation in a work which I trust will tend to the permanent peace and advancement of the country, and to a closer union amongst both European and Native inhabitants. His Excellency the Governor's Reply. Mr. Brogden and Gentlemen, — I thank you for this address, to which I have listened with much interest, and I assure you that it affords me sincere pleasure to perform the duty which I have been requested to undertake this day. Invitations to the Governor to inaugurate railways and other great public works and institutions cannot fail to be satisfactory and gratifying, for it is well known that such invitations are intended simply as marks of loyal homage to the Queen, and that they in no wise identify Her Majesty's representative with any of those differences of opinion which here, as in all other free countries, must be expected to arise upon every subject of public importance. The commencement of the general scheme of public works and immigration, which has been sanctioned both by the present and by the late Parliament of this Colony, —and which we celebrate this day,—is indeed a memorable event in the history of New Zealand. It appears to be acknowledged on all sides that the two most urgent needs of this entire country are the improvements of our internal communications, and the settlement of our land, which now maintains a scattered population of less than three hundred thousand, but which, according to Hochstetter and other eminent authorities, could easily support twelve millions of people. It will be within the recollection of many who now hear me that a few years ago the Imperial Government despatched an able and experienced engineer to the United States of America, to report on the railway system there adopted, with special reference to the pressing requirements of our own Colonies. His principal conclusions were : — " (1.) A railway would appear to be the best road for arterial lines of communication in a new " country. " (2.) In making railways in a new country, bearing in mind the high rate of interest which " money commands, the outlay for construction should be as small as possible, consistent with safety " and economy of working ; the object being to devote the money to be spent to extending the mileage " and opening up the country, rather than to making any solid works, or to obtaining high speeds." The decision of all questions of this nature must, of course, rest, so far as New Zealand is concerned, with tho practical wisdom of the Colonial Parliament. Meanwhile, let us thankfully acknowledge that the application of the steam-engine to the various arts in the 19th, is as important as the invention of the printing press in the 15th century. It has been said, without any exaggeration, that what printing did for the development of the intellectual faculties, steam is doing in the promotion of the material welfare of our race ; that within the last hundred years engineering science has trebled the mechanical power, and far more than trebled the resources of mankind; while it has reduced tho dimensions of the globe, as measured by time, to less than one-fourth of what they were even in the days of the last generation. I earnestly hope that the ceremony of this day will prove auspicious to all concerned. May the public works now inaugurated throughout this country realize the hopes of the Ministers and Parliaments that undertook them ; may they reward the skill and enterprise of the contractors and engineers; may they help to consolidate friendly relations between the Colonists and the Maoris ; in a word, may they, under the favour of Divine Providence, endure throughout the great future of New Zealand as a source of permanent and ever increasing prosperity. Finally, let me again, as on a previous occasion of like nature, address a few words of friendly sympathy to the artizans and working men, who will soon erect in our several Provinces structures scarcely more honorable to the heads that have planned than to the hands that will execute them. I trust that thousands of the men employed on our railways will ultimately become permanent settlers on the broad and fertile lands of this Colony, and that their success will cause them to be joined by tens of thousands from the old home. lam confident that the new comers will emulate their fellowcolonists in that respect for law and order which is one of the most prominent characteristics of our