The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1870.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 249, 26 October 1870, Page 2

The Evening Star. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 1870.

The opening to-day of the twenty-sixth session of the Auckland Provincial Council will be attended with great interest to all the r?siients in the province ; and the measures that will form the subject of the deliberations of our legislators will, it is hoped, be the means of introducing an era of advance. Much is expected from the present session, and we trust that anticipations will not close in disappointment. General dulness pervades the affairs of the country, and some scheme is longed for that will revive industry, and give an impulse to trade. The last session of the Council was accepted as making but temporary provision, until the session of the General Assembly being over, members of the Provincial Uouncil should have opportunity of applying themselves to the consideration of well-digested measures of a comprehensive kind for advancing the interests of the province. The General Assembly, having closed its sittings, the results of its deliberations, which largely in many respects affect tho interests of this province, are before our councillors, and will form the basis for the legislation of the session. The speech of his Honor the Superintendent deals largely with the legislation of the Assembly in this aspect; and subjects which could not have been submitted to the last session of Council to any purpose can now be legislated on with practical effect. The Waikato railway, the Kaipara rail or tramway, the Harbour Tru.4 Board, the Waste Lands Act, and the goldfields, from the known interest which Mr. Gillies has evinced on those subjects, naturally take a prominent place in his opening speech, and from their paramount importance, we have no doubt the views of the Superintendent will be willingly aided by the representatives of the people's interests in Council assembled The building of a patent slip—to the subject of which attention is directed by his Honor—though coming far short of the accommodation of a dock, would be more in accordance with the limited means at the disposal of the province. The proposal for supplying water to the city of Auckland and to our goldfields' townships is one that will meet with a ready and general response outside, and, we presume, jnside the Council chambers; while bills relative to the highways, education, and the educational reserves, and licenses, in whatever way they may emerge from the hands of the Council, will at least raise questions on which the public mind has been long and strongly agitated. The activity of.the Superintendent has. been directed to a variety of subjects, with more or less of success, since the closing of the last session, to which attention is now called ; and in such a case, especially as that of the Albert Barracks and Fort Britomart reserves, we feel confident that the Council will strive as earnestly as his Honor has done to secure this boon to the people. It is satisfactory to learn of the buoyancy of the provincial finances ; and from the programme submitted, and the wants of the province, we have every confidence in expecting to see a session of sound, practical, and beneficial legislation.