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anes which I hare at all times received from you, and to the cordial manner in which you have co-operated with me in my earnest though humble efforts to promote the public good.
In return for your best wishes for myself and
my Family, allow me to express my fervent hope that your well-known loyalty and pat riotism will be rewarded by the progressiv well-being, moral and religious, as well as so cial, of this highly favored Colony in which you are all so deeply interested.
Address of the House of Assembly.
T. His Excellency HERCULES GEORGE ROBERT ROBINSON. Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of the Islands of Antigua. Saint Christo- pher, and Anguilla, Administering the Go- rernment of the Islands of Saint Christo- pher end Anguilla, Ihancellor, Vice Ad miral, and Ordinary of the same, &c.&c,&c.
May it please Your Excellency,
We the Members of the House of Assembly beg to thank Your Excellency, for the intima- tion which you have been pleased to make to us of the temporary changes which are about to take place in the Government of these islands; and we avail ourselves of the oppor- tunity to express our acknowledgments of the unvarying courtesy which has characterized Your Excellency's intercourse with us.
We are happy to know that the changes to which we have referred, although they involve Your Excellency's removal, will not sever the Londs of your official relations to us, but will enable you to give greater effect to the ea- lightened views which you entertain,
The manifest improvement which has taken place in the public affairs of the Colony dur- ing the last four years, affords ample proof of the zeal and ability with which those affairs have been conducted, and testifies most effectn- ally of the good understanding which has existed between Your Excellency and the other branches of the Legislature. During that period many important measures have been accomplished; and in taking leave of Your Excellency for a season we revert with grate- ful satisfaction to the following instances, evidencing as they do, the success of your Administration:-
The finances of the Colony, which, owing to the heavy expenses incurred during the ex- istence of Cholera in the island, were en barrassed at the commencement of 1855, have been restored to a sound and satisfactory con- dition; a surplus exists, bearing interest; a revenue sufficient to meet our ordinary re- quirements has been provided for the next six years, and means adopted to secure an
economical and efficient administration of this department of the public service.
Many public works have been executed, such as, the supply of water from the mountains to the Town of Basseterre; and in connee- tion therewith, the adornment of the Square with a handsome Fountain and Garden; the Pier; the Treasury Buildings, and Light Houre; and the new Church of Saint George's.
The laws relating to the Public Health have been revised,, and the Sanitary Regula- tions of the island placed under responsible supervision; extra-urban Cemetery in the parish of Saint George's has been provid- ed; and a Registry of Births and Deaths throughout the island established.
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A Volunteer Protective Force and a Militia have been enrolled; and a law making provision for a larger and better organized Police Force, to come into operation in July next, has been enacted.
The Criminal Code has been amended in accordance with the improved state of the law in England; the Statutes of the island have been revised, compiled, and printed in a compendious form; and Anally, that which more than any other single measure distinguish - es Your Excellency's Administration—a la has been enacted which has established a system of Government n ore in accordanc● with the constitutional principles and forms of the Mother Country than that which previously existed.
To Your Excellency's judicious guidance and oversight we are largely indebted for these important measures, many of which cannot fail to exercise a lasting influence on the social and political condition of the Colony.
We beg to assure Your Excellency of our best wishes for your future welfare, and trust that in the extended sphere which you are about to enter, you may enjoy in no less degres than here, the respect and esteem of the com. munities committed to your Government.
C. MCMAHON,
Deputy Speaker. Assembly Rooms, March 30th, 1859
The Lieutenant Governor's Reply.
Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House
of Assembly,
I thank you most sincerely for your kind Addreas, expressing approbation of my public
conduct, and assuring me of your best wishes for my future welfare.
It was, as you remark, my fortune to come amongst you at time of fiuaggial embarrast¬
ment, caused by the ravages of cholera. Th period of depression was, however, mercifully followed by several successive years in which
owing to good crops and an increasing com- merce--the material prosperity of the Island was considerably in advance of its ordinary position. The opportunities thereby afforded were effectually improved by the loyalty, liber- ality, and public spirit by which you were animated, of which the measures alluded to by you are substantial proofs; and more especial- ly by the good understanding which existed he
waen the different branches of the Legislatura
a feeling which it has been the object of my unvarying solicitude to maintain, and with- cat which all other elements of good govern- ment are rendered comparatively nugatory.
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Although for a season removed from person- al intercourse with you, I shall continue watch over your progress with unabated an- iety-fervently praying that your deliberations may be guided from above, and thus you may be enabled to promote the end and object of all government and all legislation-the true wal fare and happiness of the people,
PRINTED AT THE "ADVERTISER" OFFICE, MARCH 31ør, labt,
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