grow to love you and appreciate your rule over us to the same extent as they have done the beneficent reign of your lamented mother, Queen Victoria, who has gone from among us to a higher kingdom. M*y God ever save and protect King Edward, Queen Alexan dra, and their dominions.—Haora Takabanut, Mkiia te Moan,v nut, for the tribes ol Ilauraki."

RATING ON UNIMPROVED VALUES.
It would seem that in New Zealand as elsewhere, the principle of rating on unimproved values is being very widely accepted as correct. The ag gregate voting in tho nineteen places JnJahis country which have adopted "the reform was 3371 votes for and 522 against. In the nine places where it was not carried (but would have been carried under tho present amended Act) the voting was 1792 for and 345 against. It has been defeated in five places only, viz., Picton, Woolstou, Timaru, Wairoa South and Birken head. The figures for Timaru are not available, but the aggregate vot ing iv the other four places was 289 for and -172 against. Thus the ques tion has been put to the vote in thirty-two places, with tho result that 5H3 ratepa} rers have voted for the reform and 1339 against it, or a majority of four to one.
TECHNICAL SYLLABUS.
