I will not conclude this Report without recalling the success which attended the efforts made by the Government, to which my private secretary Mr.Henry Weld Blundell largely contributed, to represent the products of Western Australia at the Sydney Exhibition of 1873.

Much of this success was attributable to the exertions of Mr.F.P.

Barlee, Colonial Secretary, then representing at Sydney this colony in the intercolonial conference.
In that conference, the first to which a representative of this colony was admitted, and which therefore marked an epoch in its political existence, Mr.F.P.Barlee took a prominent part, ably upheld the trust I placed in him, and received a most marked and cordial reception from our colonists on his return.
41.

I have further to express my obligations to that officer for the assistance he has ever given me; were it not for his fearless and loyal support, for the confidence which is placed in him by the very great majority of the colonists, and for his fidelity in following my instructions and carrying out my policy, it would have been impossible for me, under a form of government most difficult to work, to have carried to a successful issue the trust that has been imposed upon me, and to have left this colony prosperous and self-reliant.
42.

Should your lordship, considering the position in which I found Western Australia--the reduction of imperial expenditure it has been my duty to effect, the failure of the wheat crop for four successive seasons and consequent depression, the inexperience of a new Legislature, the absence of any propositions for the benefit of the colony from the opposition, the obstacles thrown at first in the way of all measures which have eventuated in good--should you, considering these things and the present state of the colony, be of opinion that the administration of its affairs during the last five years has not been unsatisfactory or unfruitful, I beg that you will award a due share of credit to the Colonial Secretary, who, as my mouthpiece in the Legislature, has carried on single-handed all parliamentary business, and also to those gentlemen who are now, or have at various times been, members of my executive, and who have ever united to support me; to the nominated members of the Legislature who have steadily voted for all the measures which have led to the present progress of the colony, and whose merits the constituencies have fully recognized by electing them as representatives on vacancies in every case where they have stood; to the elected members, who every session have given me increased support, and who, forming two-thirds of the Legislature, had it in their power entirely to have reversed my policy; and lastly, to the people of Western Australia, who on each election have increased my strength, on whose ultimate good sense, I--knowing colonists, myself an old colonist--put my reliance, a reliance which has not been disappointed.
I have, etc., (Signed) FRED.