Mr. President, and Gentlemen of His Majesty's Council,
Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
I have much satisfaction in meeting the Legislature of New-Brunswick—I am well persuaded that you will continue to promote and support the Interests and Institutions of the Province in a manner that will not fail to receive from me that ready and cordial concurrence which it will be my greatest pleasure to bestow upon all measures that may be calculated to advance the public good.
It affords me great pleasure to have it in my power to congratulate you on the very prosperous state of the Provincial Finances. The Revenue of the last exceeds greatly that of any former year, and yields a large surplus beyond the charges incurred, within the corresponding period.
Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
I shall direct the Treasurer's Accounts to be laid before you, I rely upon your making the usual provisions for the Ordinary Services of the Province; and I am happy to acquaint you that the state of the Treasury is such as to enable you to provide for other objects of public interest and utility, to which your bounty has already been extended, and also to promote other important services which I shall hereafter bring before you.
Mr. President, and Gentlemen of His Majesty's Council,
Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
Watching assiduously over the Public Interests, I shall have to submit to you, by Message, various measures which it will be necessary to bring under your consideration in the course of the Session, but whilst I reserve matters of detail for that mode of communication, important considerations and general views, which require to be fully and forcibly put to the Country, and which could not be properly treated in partial or very concise form, render it expedient, on this particular occasion, to lay before you such a statement of public affairs, as may embrace, generally, all interests, and leave nothing in doubt as to our real situation, in the more important branches of our well being.
I have great pleasure in stating to you that I find the affairs of the Province to be generally in a very prosperous condition. It will be useful however, to observe closely, how far this prosperity depends upon adventitious circumstances and in what degree it rests upon our own inherent means and resources: for it is necessary to contemplate the condition in which the Country might be placed, by alterations in such of her transactions as may be deemed precarious, to feel, with due effect, the necessity, which I earnestly represent, of attending zealously to those internal resources which are not of that uncertain description. The trade of the Province is, at present, very active; but much of that activity depends obviously, upon external circumstances, on the permanency of which, it were imprudent to continue to stake so exclusively, the well being of the Country. It will be prudent, therefore, to endeavour to open channels by which we may make our Commerce more general, consequently less precarious, and particularly to establish and improve commercial intercourse with our sister Colonies. Taking from them, what we require, we may make returns by some important operations of our industry, and particularly by the proceeds of an advantageous trade which this transaction would greatly extend; contributing thus to each others wants, in a way mutually beneficial: and, in an union of interests, promoting and consolidating strong and lasting ties.