_His Majesty's Speech at the Opening of the Extraordinary Session of the
Legislature._
NOBLES AND REPRESENTATIVES:--By virtue of the power which the
Constitution declares to be vested in me, I have convoked you
to this Extraordinary Session of the Legislature. Neither the
late dissolution, nor, of course, this Session, would have
occurred under any but extraordinary circumstances. The only
public business of emergency left unfinished at the close of
the late Session, was the passage of the Appropriation
Bill--the most important measure of every Session. It is
solely to pass the Bill I mention that you are now brought
together. I trust that whilst your memories are so freshly
charged with the circumstances that prevented unanimity
between your two Houses in regard to the Bill of Supplies,
upon which you were deliberating when lately I dissolved you,
there will be a desire on the part of all to restrict the
amount appropriated for the current year within the probable
limits of the year's receipts. It is useless to make
appropriations for appearance sake, knowing that they will
not, because they cannot, be acted on. My desire therefore is,
that you will reject at once, in your deliberations, every
item that is not of immediate necessity, since the means at
your disposal will barely suffice for those outlays that are
indispensable. By acting on this suggestion you will save time
and render less likely the recurrence of differences on
questions not of public interest.
Nobles and Representatives, I hope the Session now opened will
be a very short one, and that you will all cordially unite in
appropriating our small means to the best advantage for the
general good.