DUNEDIN.

Grey River Argus, Issue 113, 2 October 1866, Page 3

DUNEDIN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT,) 22nd Sept. 1866. The General v. the Provincial Government has been the question which has occupied most attention during the week, and nearly everywhere the overbearing and arbitrary conduct of the Executive has been condemned. The threatened withdrawal of the fees and fines from the municipalities., town and country, is very much canv.-vssedjjuid a strong appo<j^ A sition. to the attempt W being organised, A more purely Provincial or local source of revenue than this it is hardly possible to imagine ; and it is equally difficult to see on what grounds the General Government can lay claim to such a tiling. It forms a considerable item in the-revenue of the. Dunedin. Corporation particularly ; the working out of several ordinances falling within the jurisdiction of th_e Mayor's Court. Should these betaken away the Mayor's Court will be practically \is.eless. ; a great deal more work will be thrown upon the. already suffi-J||ciently-worked Resident Magistrate, and ||l||render the appointment of a seqond one "||g||ecessary. Altogether, the Dunedin c.itia&ijgen s feel the conduct of the Government |9pto be particularly uncalled for, as N the jyT Mayor's Court was working very satisr ■', factorily. A public meeting is to be held , • -on the subject in the Theatre Royal +his Ceyening at seven, when a series of resolutions, prepared by the City Council, is to be proposed for discussion and adoption. A crowded meeting is>oxpected. For once, we have to congratulate our- ■ selves on receiving the Home mails to date. The Albion arrived at the Bluff early on Monday morning, and had the telegraph people. only been up to their work, we might have; had the summary published by one p.m. at latest. But in-, stead of pronrpt despatch, oneof the most ludicrous muddles possible took place. The first slip was handed in by the agent a.t. the Bluff at eight a,ni., but Canter^ bury was not ready to receive the message,' and could not take it for two hour.s.. This was to save the. trouble, of. repeating the messages here, and sa make one. operation do for all. After this difficulty was surmounted, Tokomairiro interposed another : the station had been left in charge of a lad, who,, in ln's : wisdom, refused to clear the line until he had diaposed of some private messages! he had on hand. Meantime everybody was waiting, and much time-lost* In this way other interruptions occurred; and it was not till nearly 11-p..m, that- the whole message was received, too late ta be of much use to the public. It ought to have been all sent in about three hours. The mails ..were delivered on Tuesday, thus giving a day and a half for answering, a great public benefit indeed j enabling the Tararua to take away- a rather heavier mail than usual. The Athenaeun Committee are before the public just now with, a proposal to the institution into a. free public :'W library, prodded the Government grant some pecuniary assistance towards carry- . ing out the scheme. They are also pre-* pared to erect a fine building on the present site at the corner- of Manse street,. if they can secure the freehold of the ground ; but about this there is some difficulty, as the section belongs to. the Corporation, who are unwilling to give the land, indeed they are prevented by statute from entirely alienating any of their landed property. It is to be hoped this matter will be brought to a successful j issue, as there cannot be two opinions as to the large amount of good that would result from having a free public library in our midst. At last the rain has come.. On Thurs-

day evening, after it had threatened all afternoon, the clouds gave out a copious shower, effectually laying the dust and refreshing everything growing. The wind changed to S.S.E. yesterday, and the temperatnre fell considerably: The day continued showery, so that the drought, which was beginning to be seriously felt in the higher parts of the town, may now be said to be over, and water barrels and tanks fully replenished, to the delight of wives and housekeepers. For some time back the audiences at .the Princess Theatre have been very slender, and it was no surprise to some when it was rumored on Saturday last that the establishment would not be opened that evening. However, it was,to the most slender house the actors ever played. On Monday, it became known that the house would not open, and that the lessee had become insolvent, which was corroborated by the appearance of his name in the usual place in the papers. An announcement appeared that the Royal would be opened with a new company, and next day one that the Princess would also open with the old company and some new performances. Mr and Mrs S. Howard's names appearing in both advertisements. If one theatre would not pay, how in the name of all that \% dramatic, will two derive an existence ? Business has been a good deal interrupted this Aveek by the incoming and outgoing mails, but trade is healthy. The creditors of Messrs Coote and Co. have been called together, when much dissatisfaction was expressed at the balance-sheet, and a thorough scrutiny ordered. Two vessels — the B.esolute, from Glasgow, and the Alexandrina, from London— are at the Heads, with large cargoes of very-nvueh-wanted goods, ajxd about 200 passengers. The Escort brought down 69G00z. of gold yesterday. The publication of the result of the trial of the Maungatapu murderery yesterday gave rise to a feeling of satisfaction that the career of such a gang is to be brought to a speedy ' termination. The "Daily Times " published a fourpage supplement containing a full account of the trial as far as it had gone, on Thursday.