PAYMENTS TO PROVINCES ACT, 1871.

11

D.—No. 2

YXI.-MARLBOROUGH. No. 16. His Honor A. P. Seymour to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sir, — Superintendent's Office, Blenheim, 17th January, 1872. In reference to your circular letter No. 64, of the 4th December, 1871, in which you inform me that you have reserved the other half of the Road Board allowance until the Minister for Public Works and I shall have decided what portion of the reserved half is to be devoted to permanent public works within the Province, authorized by an Act of the Provincial Council, I have the honor to recommend that the money should be devoted to the following works, which have been authorized by Act of the Provincial Council. 1. Road to Top House. By this it is proposed to connect the Provinces of Marlborough and Nelson by a line of road fit for cart traffic. 2. Construction of a wharf at Picton. 3. Viaduct, south side of Opawa River. These are all most necessary works, and with the assistance of this sum of money the Province will be able to complete them. I have, &c, A. P. Seymour, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. Superintendent.

No. 17. The Hon. W. Gisborne to His Honor A. P. Seymour. Sir,- — Colonial Secretary's Office, Wellington, 23rd January, 1872. I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, in which you forward a list of the permanent public works authorized by the Provincial Legislature of Marlborough to be undertaken, and recommend the same for the consideration of the Hon. Minister for Public Works, as works on which the amounts allocated to that Province, under the 28th section of the Payments to Provinces Act, may be expended. In reply, I beg to inform you, on behalf of the Minister for Public Works, that the objects on which you recommend the above expenditure are approved, and that the sum of £510 14s. 2s. will be paid to the Bank of New Zealand to the credit of the " Grants for Public Works Account, Marlborough Province," being the amount due for the two quarters ending 31st December last. I have, &c., His Honor the Superintendent, Marlborough. W. Gisborne.

No. 18. His Honor A. P. Seymour to the Hon. W. Gisborne. Sir, — Superintendent's Office, Blenheim, 17th January, 1872. Referring to your circular letter No. 67, of the 20th December, 1871, I have the honor to request that you will be good enough to cause His Excellency the Governor, under the powers given by clause 14 of "The Payments to Provinces Act, 1871," to make an exception in the distribution of the Road Board allowances for the Province of Marlborough, for the following reasons: — The whole of the Province is divided, by Act of the Provincial Council, into five Road Board counties, viz., Kaikoura, Awatere, Wairau, Pelorus, and Picton, each containing lands of the description comprised in the three classes in clause 13 of the Act referred to; it is therefore unnecessary to retain one-tenth of the money for any portion wherein no Road Board is now in existence. That, owing to the said Provincial Act having but recently come into operation within the Province, and other insurmountable difficulties, the County Boards in most cases have as yet been unable to collect the full amount of their rates, and that if the present mode of distribution as provided by the Act is insisted upon, some months will elapse before any payments can be made under it. That, in the present dry season of the year, it is desirable that the necessary works should be prosecuted with the utmost vigour before the winter sets in, when the money could not be economically or efficiently spent, and a much larger sum would not procure the same satisfactory results. For these reasons, I would recommend that the Provincial Treasurer be authorized to pay over to the Chairman of the County Boards in proportion to the rates levied in each county, exceptions being made in the Pelorus and Picton Counties, wdiich should be credited in proportion to twice the amount of rates levied. I have, &c., A. P. Seymour, The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Superintendent.