The Short Title of this Act shall be “The Abolition of Provinces Act, 1875.”

In the construction of this Act the following terms and expressions shall have the meanings hereby respectively attached to them:—

The second section of the Constitution Act is hereby repealed, and the Provinces of Auckland, Hawke’s Bay, Taranaki, Wellington, Nelson, Marlborough, Westland, Canterbury, and Otago shall be and are hereby abolished.

The portion of the colony included within any province abolished hereunder shall, on and after the date of the abolition thereof, be called a Provincial District, and bear the same name as the abolished province which it comprised.

Within the district included within any province abolished hereunder, all laws in force therein at the date of the abolition of such province shall, except so far as the same are expressly or impliedly altered or repealed by this Act, and so far as the same are applicable, continue in force in such district until altered or repealed by the General Assembly.

Immediately upon the abolition hereunder of any province, and without any proclamation or other act by the Governor or otherwise, the person who was then in office as Superintendent of such province shall cease to hold such office, and the Provincial Council of such province shall be dissolved, and there shall not thereafter be any election of a Superintendent or a member of a Provincial Council for the district theretofore included within such abolished province; and all laws relating to the election of Superintendents of provinces and members of Provincial Councils of provinces, and to legislation by Provincial Councils, shall, immediately upon the abolition hereunder of any province, cease to have any operation or effect within and as regards the district theretofore included within such abolished province.

All powers duties and functions which, immediately before the date of the abolition hereunder of any province, were, under or by virtue of any law not expressly or impliedly repealed or altered hereby, vested in or to be exercised or performed by the Superintendent of such abolished province, either alone or with the advice and consent of or on the recommendation of the Executive or Provincial Council of such province, or which, by virtue of “The Public Reserves Act, 1854,” or any Act amending the same, or by virtue of any Waste Lands Act or any regulations made thereunder, or otherwise howsoever, would but for this Act have been exercised only under an Ordinance of such abolished province, shall, on the day of the date of the abolition of such province, and for the purposes of the district included within such abolished province, vest in and be exercised and performed by the Governor.

Such powers duties and functions may be exercised or performed by the Governor as regards the district with respect to which they may be exercised or performed whether the Governor is for the time being within such district or not.

All powers duties and functions which, immediately before the date of the abolition hereunder of any province are, under or by virtue of any law not expressly or impliedly repealed, hereby vested in or to be exercised or performed by the Provincial Treasurer, Provincial Secretary, or other public officer of such abolished province, shall, from and after the date of the abolition of such province, and for the purpose of the district included within such abolished province, vest in and be exercised or performed by any person or persons from time to time appointed for the purpose by the Governor.

Except as hereinafter provided, all lands tenements goods chattels moneys and things in action, and all real and personal property whatever, and all rights and interests therein, which immediately before the date of the abolition hereunder of any province were vested in or belonged to the Superintendent of any province as such Superintendent, shall, on the date of the abolition thereof, vest in Her Majesty the Queen for the same purposes and objects, and subject to the same powers and conditions, as those for and subject to which they are now held by the Superintendent.

All revenues and moneys, and all securities for such moneys, which on the date of the abolition of any province may be the property of or invested on behalf of such province, shall on the date of the abolition thereof vest in Her Majesty the Queen.

Provided that if at the date of the abolition of any Province any moneys or revenues of such province shall have been specifically set apart, and shall be available for public works or other purposes within such province, or any district thereof, such moneys or revenues shall be applicable to such purposes accordingly.

Immediately on the coming into operation of this Act, all real and personal property whatsoever which is vested in or under the control of the Superintendent of any province comprised within any provincial district, for grammar and common school purposes, or as sites for schools, or for the endowment of primary education, and all lands which shall have been or may hereafter be reserved and set apart for any such purposes or objects as aforesaid, under any Act of the General Assembly, shall be vested in the Board of Education constituted under any Act or Ordinance, or if there shall be more than one such Board in a provincial district, then in such Board or Boards as the Governor in Council shall direct or appoint.

All the functions and duties relating to such property which, immediately before the date of the coming into operation of this Act were, under or by virtue of any Act or Ordinance in force in any province, vested in the Superintendent of such province, either alone or acting with the advice of his Executive Council, shall, on the coming into operation of this Act, be performed by the Chairman of the Board of Education, in whom such property shall be vested as aforesaid.

All lands hereby vested in a Board of Education shall, subject to any leases or contracts theretofore lawfully entered into relating to the same, be held in trust for the like purposes and with the same powers that the same were held by such Superintendent as aforesaid prior to the coming into operation of this Act.

All contracts existing immediately before the date of the abolition hereunder of any province, and all actions suits proceedings and things begun and not completed at the date of the abolition hereunder of any province, of by or against the Superintendent of such abolished province as such, shall belong and attach to and be enforced by and against Her Majesty the Queen.

In every Act of the General Assembly, except such as relate to the election of Superintendents and Provincial Councils, and to legislation by such Councils and the appointment of Deputy Superintendents, and to audit of provincial accounts, and matters of a like kind, and in every Act or Ordinance of the legislature of an abolished province, the words, terms, and expressions following shall, with regard to any provincial district, include the meanings hereafter attached to them; that is to say,—

The word “province” shall include “provincial district,” and when the name of any abolished province is used, or any province is otherwise expressly referred to, the enactment shall be deemed to mean and apply to the provincial district of that name.

The word “Superintendent” shall, with respect to such provincial district, mean the Governor, or any person or persons whom the Governor may from time to time appoint to perform those duties, and exercise those powers which might, if such duties and powers had to be performed within a province, be exercised or performed by Superintendents thereof.

The expression “Provincial Gazette,” or “Provincial Government Gazette,” or other similar expressions, shall be deemed to mean “The New Zealand Gazette,” or such newspaper as from time to time may be appointed by the Governor for the purpose of inserting therein notifications of any kind relating to the government of the colony, or the administration of government within any provincial district.

If after the date of the abolition hereunder of any province the services of any officer in the employment of the Government of the colony, or of the Provincial Government of the abolished province, are dispensed with in consequence of the abolition of such province, he shall be paid out of the ordinary revenue of the colony such sum as he shall be entitled to under the terms of any engagement with the province entered into previous to the fifteenth September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and in default of any such agreement, then for each year of service one month’s salary, according to the rate payable to him at the time of such abolition.

All revenues arising under any provincial enactment within any provincial district from fees or other similar payments, in respect of publicans’ licenses or other licenses for the sale or the making of fermented or spirituous liquors, or of billiard room or table licenses, music or dancing licenses, auctioneers’ licenses, or hawkers’ licenses, or other licenses for carrying on any other business, or as license fees for keeping dogs, shall be paid to the Municipality or Road Board within which the premises in respect of which the license is granted are situate; and in the case of licenses not granted in respect of premises, then the fees or other payments received in respect of such licenses shall be paid over to the Municipality or Road Board within which the person to whom the license is granted has his usual place of residence at the time of the license being granted, and which place of residence shall be mentioned in the license: Provided that where in any provincial district any such revenues are collected or received under any Act of the General Assembly, then the same shall be paid over and dealt with as if the same had arisen under any such provincial enactment as aforesaid.

All fines and penalties which may be inflicted upon owners of sheep or other persons under any provincial enactment as aforesaid providing against the introduction or spread of disease in sheep, and for the cure or remedy thereof, shall be paid to the Municipality or Road Board within which the fine or penalty was actually incurred; and if any such fine or penalty shall have been inflicted upon a person in respect of sheep depastured on or being in more than one such municipality or district, then the fine or penalty shall be equally apportioned between such municipalities or road districts, as the case may be.

All fines and penalties for breaches of any by-laws of any Road Board or Municipal Council shall be paid to the said Road Board or Municipal Council whose by-laws have been infringed.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in “The Public Revenues Act, 1867,” or any other Act, the revenues arising within any provincial district under the provisions of “The Gold Fields Act, 1866,” or any Act for the time being in force relating to the mining for gold, in respect of miners’ rights, business licenses, or otherwise in respect of the occupation for gold mining purposes of Crown lands, and the revenues arising within any provincial district under the provisions of “The d Duties Act, 1870,” or “The Gold Duties Act, 1872,” shall in no be deemed to be revenue arising from the occupation of the waste lands of the Crown, but all such revenues shall be applied in defraying the costs charges and expenses incident to the management and administration of the gold fields within such provincial district:

Provided that nothing herein contained shall extend to any such revenues as in the preceding part of this section mentioned if the same shall be derived from the sale of the waste lands of the Crown within any gold field, or from rents or other moneys received under agricultural leases of such lands, but all such last-mentioned revenues shall be deemed to be land fund of the provincial district in which the same shall arise or be received.

Such revenues shall also be charged with the payment of all rents or other sums of money which may be payable by Her Majesty the Queen or by the Governor of the colony to the Native owners of any land leased or otherwise occupied for gold mining purposes under “The Gold Fields Act, 1866,” or any Act amending the same, or under any other Act for the time being in force relating to mining for gold.

After making the deductions herein provided, the balance shall be held for the purposes of this Act to be general rates, and shall be paid to the Public Account, and a separate account thereof kept, and such balance shall be paid over to the governing body or bodies of the district from which such revenue has been received, together with any proportionate endowments which may accrue from the land fund and from the Consolidated Revenue, to be computed in the manner provided in the nineteenth and twentieth sections hereof.

A separate account shall be kept of the land fund arising within each provincial district, and the same is hereby appropriated and charged as hereafter provided.

With the payment of the interest and sinking fund of all loans debts and other liabilities which at the date of the abolition of the province comprised within the provincial district were chargeable against the province.

With the cost of surveys and the general administration of waste lands within the province comprised within the provincial district.

With the annual payments to the governing bodies of the several road districts, and to Boards of River Conservators within the provincial district, by way of endowment, of sums of money to be computed in the manner provided in the nineteenth section hereof.

Provided that if at the date of the abolition of any province, any of the land revenue of such province shall be invested or deposited in any manner, such land revenue shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be dealt with under this Act as land revenue of the provincial district in which the same shall be so invested or deposited as aforesaid.

If in any case it shall happen that the land revenue raised within any provincial district for any one year shall be insufficient to meet the charges imposed thereon by the last preceding section hereof, it shall be lawful for the Colonial Treasurer, in the manner provided by “The Treasury Bills Regulation Act, 1868,” to borrow and raise such a sum as shall be sufficient to make up the deficiency in the land revenue of such provincial district for any such year.

The sums raised under such bills, and all interest to accrue due thereon, and all charges incurred in the preparation or circulation of such bills, shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be a charge upon the future land revenue arising within the provincial district, and may from time to time be charged in account against such last-mentioned land revenue.

The amount of such Treasury bills in circulation at any one time shall not exceed the sum of one hundred thousand pounds.

The residue of the land fund arising within each provincial district, after the deduction aforesaid, shall be paid to and applied by local governing bodies in the construction and maintenance of public works within the provincial districts, in such manner as shall hereafter be provided by any Act of the General Assembly constituting such local government bodies within such districts.

There shall be paid annually out of the land fund of each provincial district to the governing bodies of the several road districts and to Boards of River Conservators within such provincial district, by way of endowment, a sum of one pound for every one pound of general rates received within the road district, but no such annual payment shall exceed one shilling in the pound upon the annual value-to let, or one penny in the pound upon the value to sell, of the rateable property within any such road district.

There shall be paid annually out of the Consolidated Fund to the governing body of every road district and municipality within each provincial district, by way of endowment, a sum of one pound for every one pound of’general rates received within the road district or municipality, but no such annual payment shall exceed one shilling in the pound upon the annual value to let, or one penny in the pound upon the value to sell, of the rateable property within any such road district or municipality.

On or before the first day of June in each year the governing body of every road district and municipality within any provincial district shall cause to be prepared and transmitted to the Colonial Treasurer a true and detailed account of all moneys actually received within such road district or municipality as and for general rates during the last past financial year of such road district or municipality.

No such account shall avail for the purposes of this Act unless it be verified by the solemn declaration of the Chairman of the Road Board, or the Mayor of the Municipality, as the case may be.

The annual payments to be made to the several governing bodies by way of endowment shall be calculated upon the amount shown to have been actually received by such governing body as and for general rates as aforesaid up to the close of such last past financial year.

The costs charges and expenses of police, gaols, harbours, hospitals, lunatic asylums, charitable institutions, museums, public libraries, and of education throughout the colony, shall be borne on the Consolidated Fund, so far as such costs charges and expenses are not otherwise by law provided for.

Nothing in this Act contained with respect to the appropriation or division of the land fund shall be deemed to alter or affect the liability of the colony to the public creditor, or to affect any permanent appropriation of or charges upon such revenue under any law in force in the colony: Provided always that, on and after this Act coming into operation, the endowment of one-fourth of the land revenue of the Timaru and Gladstone Board of Works shall cease.

Whenever under any Act of the General Assembly any shire shall be constituted, such shire shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to stand in the place of the several road districts or parts of road districts of which such shire shall be composed, and after the constitution of any shire all moneys which under this Act would have been payable to the Road Boards of which such shire is composed shall be paid and payable, to the governing body of the shire.

Section seventeen of the Constitution Act is hereby repealed.

It shall not be lawful for the Superintendent of any province to convene the Provincial Council thereof, or for any Provincial Council to meet in session, before the day next after the last day of the first session of the next or sixth Parliament of New Zealand.

No contract or engagement shall be made or entered into after the thirtieth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, by the Superintendent of any province as such Superintendent, for the construction of any railway tramway or harbour works, without the consent of the Governor in Council.

No other contract or engagement shall be made or entered into after the day last aforesaid by the Superintendent of any province as aforesaid, whereby any public money amounting in the whole to one thousand pounds or upwards, shall or may become payable, unless the money required to meet the expenditure to be thereby incurred has been duly appropriated by the Legislature of the province, and the Governor shall have been satisfied previously to the making or entering into such contract or engagement that the provincial revenue receivable before the thirtieth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, will be sufficient to meet such expenditure.

Until the day next after the last day of the first Session of the next or sixth Parliament of New Zealand, all powers duties and functions which, immediately before the passing of this Act, were under or by virtue of any law vested in or to be exercised or performed by the Superintendent of any province on the recommendation or resolution of the Provincial Council of such province, under any law or Ordinance for the time being in force, shall be exercised by the Superintendent, with the consent of the Governor in Council.

Sections twenty-five, twenty-six, and twenty-seven and this section of this Act shall come into operation on the day on which it is assented to by the Governor in the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, and the remaining sections of this Act shall come into operation on the day next after the last day of the first Session of the next or sixth Parliament of New Zealand.