THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES. “ The spirit of the times shall teach me speed.” KING JOHN, ACT IV. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1874.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume II, Issue 204, 19 August 1874, Page 2

THE BAY OF PLENTY TIMES. “ The spirit of the times shall teach me speed.” KING JOHN, ACT IV. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1874.

It is high time that the people of Tanranga bestirred themselves in the allimportant matter of endowments. At the present time, wo are utterly destitute of endowments for anj of tho useful purposes for which they are usually granted. Tauranga has no Hospital endowment, no endowment for a Lunatic Asylum, no Educational endowments, in. fact", no endowments whatever for any of the numerous institutions which will in a few years become necessary in our midst, and burdens too great for us to bear, unless provision is made at once for their initiation and support in tho shape of grants of laud. Tho land is comparatively of little worth, and now is tho time to secure it before it gets too valuable. As the town grows, and population increases, we shall most certainly have our fair share of lunatics, paupers, invalids, and uneducated, &c., and it is our plain duty, therefore, to look well a head, and at once petition the Government for grants of land, which would increase in value as our uneducated, paupers, invalids, and lunatics increase in numbers. Tho result, if our prayer is answered, would be, that instead of those unfortunates becoming a drain upon the public, tho Civic body will eventually have occasion to bless a wise dispensation of Providence which, provides a certain proportion of the above classes, inasmuch as it was tho cause of their predecessors in office having obtained endowments for charitable Institutions yielding revenue sufficient to render taxation unnecessary. There is a property available and most suitable in many respects for the purposes we have mentioned, and wo would most strongly urge that every endeavour should bo made, every nerve straiued, every influence brought to bear upon the Government to obtain tho same. Wc allude to tho foreshore, from the Cemetery Point to tho Custom House Reserve. It is a property, the value of which will grow with our growth, and when our district becomes populous, will become of very great value. We would also suggest, that should the present Town Board succeed in their praisc-wortl-y endeavour to get tho permanent levels of the town fixed, the scheme

should be calculated so as to allow of a considerable supply of earth from time to time for reclamation of the foreshore between the above mentioned pointsT The following Native lands have, according to the oUncial return to the dOth Juno last, been purchased or leased in this district by the General Government through their agents, under the Immigration and Public Works Act, 1870--

PC 1 CHASED. By Captain G. I’rcvce— Acres. £ Date of deed Jiararauramu (bortGala- - 317 150 Part of Matak ana Island, Tauranga Harbour ... 7017 S3S April 2’71 EEASEIIOED. By J. A. Wilson— Mo 'u 100,000 3D3 Dec 19’73 Waikohu, Matawai 50,000 280 Dec 19’73 If, says the Wellington -Correspondent of the 2icw Zealand Herald, the Government are defeated the future Ministry will probably be as follows: 1 itzherbert, Premier; Eoid, Minister of Public Works ; Gillies (Auckland), Treasurer j Atkinson, Native and Defence ; Eolleston, Immigration and Crown Dands ; Sewell, Minister of Justice ; and O Eorke, Speaker of the new House. If the dissolution takes place, the following members will bo found wanting J, C Andrew, Bradshaw, J. E. Brown, J. Bryce, Creighton, Cutlibertson, Gibbs, Bell, W. Kelly, Luckie, McGillivray, and Mervyn.

A sew and desirable regulation is now in fore© at all telegraph offices throughout the colony. Masters of vessels can telegraph to and receive reply from Harbour Masters at any port of New Zealand as to state of wind and weather any time during the usual office hours, and the sura charged for such information is sixpence for message and reply.

The following synopsis of the principal features of the Education Act, 1872, Amended Act, 1874, which has received the assent of His Excellency the Governor, will be read with interest :—By the 3rd clause of the Act the order made by the Board for the levying of a household rate tinder the Education Act, 1874, is rescinded, and it is provided that the Board should proceed under the 37th section of the Act to fix the amount of rate for the year 1874, in the same manner as if no proceedings had been taken by the Board under the said 37th section. The 37th and 38th sections of the Act are amended. Clause 6 gives power to the Board to fix an annual rate, not exceeding 10s in one year, upon every male person of 21 years and upwards residing in the province, who shall not be liable for the household rate ; an d by the following clause, 7, the Superintendent may appoint time and place for the payment of rates, and the 8;h clause makes section 39 of the Act apply fo all rates levied under this Act. By clause 0 the Superintendent; may direct the Highway District Board to be collectors and receivers of the rates levied under this Act. Clause 11 requires that nonhouseholders shall give required information to collectors, and if false information is given by them, it shall be deemed a breach of the Act, for which, on conviction, the offender is liable to a penalty not exceeding £lO. By clause 13 danse 40 of the Act is repealed, and it is provided that arrears of rate may be sued for in the name of the Superintendent by any duly qualified receiver of rates. In cases where the amount due is in dispute, the full amount is to be claimed, and the burden of proof that, the full amount is not due is to rest upon the defenda it. Clause 14 shews that the rate levied is to be made for the then current year. By clauses 15 and 16 it is provided that, non-householders shall have the same power as householders, and that no persons shall take part in any meeting, Ac., without having first paid their rate. Clause 19 provides that district schools may be converted into superior schools. Clause 22 states that n high school for boys may bo established, and clause 23 makes a similar provision for girls. It is also provided by the concluding danse that the powers conferred by clauses 16 to 25 shall not be compulsory, and shall be exercised at the discretion ot the Board.