Local Intelligence.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIII, Issue 753, 25 January 1860, Page 4

Local Intelligence.

By the' English Mail,'a new monthly journal devoted to furnishing information for the Australian Colonies up to the departure of each mail from England, the first number of which has now reached us, we are informed that "The Waste Lands Act of the General Assembly of New Zealand, 1858," which has so long been under consideration by the Home Authorities, has at last been submitted to Her Majesty by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for approval. This approval, which finally legalises the. provincial acts and ordinances, giving to, them the sanction of the general legislature of the colony, renders unnecessary the,step which many provinces have adopted under the impression that the Act iself would be disallowed— that of re-enacting their regulations under the previous Act of 1854,. There is now less chance than ever that the errors of these can be amended by any plan which will preserve to the provinces their rights over their own lauds., The following announcement iii the ' Examiner' —an Auckland journal—of the 7th January has been sufficient to awaken fears in Wellington that the Session of tlie Assembly will not be held there. We can scarcely imagine that any change of a plan so distinctly arranged between all parties can have been made, especially without a longer notice than is now possible. The ' Auckland Examiner' says :

"We have been taken by surprise a short time back in consequence of a rumour which has been spreading about—to the effect that the General Assembly will not meet in Wellington, as was expected. We were inclined ourselves to discredit the report, but we were led to understand that the preparations which were being made by the government—such, as the selection of papers and books, and packing them up—has been stopped.

" We also heard that one or two influential members of the ministry have declared positively that they will not go to Wellington. Many strange things occur. This may turn out one among tlie rest. We give it just as we heard it. Time will show whether we have it on reliable authority or not." .'■'.' ..'".;7 .■'.:".' Concebtv—Ori^i-iclay evening last, the musicians of Clui*tuhuich7gaye' a';farew'ell. concert in the Town Hall to their frjond^fiviC, Merton, prior to his departure from,_amOTjg}tiiem;t Tlie attendance was not so iuimorb%s as/7for Mr. Merton's sake, wo could have wished, though, the reserved seats Were entirely filled. Amongst the singers we noticed several of our old Lyttelton musical :acquaintances, whose ■performance" lost nothing when contrasted and combined with that of their Christchurch coadjutors. The programme also was of a character entirely similar to those which used to be seleoted by the Lyttelton Choral Society. Wo noticed with pleasure the absence in this concert of a practice much in vogue at all our public entertainments of this nature; we allude to the

unnecessary prolongation of the intervals beU^" tho pieces, which delay goes far to exhaust t? patience, of the audience and render them diss-t lied with the performance. We wish Mr. n'l" 1, success in his new sphere of action, and hoiji.i\! n his talents and, we may say, his optimal)] 1 character may there be as highly appreciated - '' they have been in Christchurch. M