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Southland Times, Issue 923, 27 March 1868, Page 2

The Theatre Eoyal will be opened this evening, for a limited season, under the new management. The company that will make their first appearance before an Invercargill audience come among us with favorable credentials. It is almost superfluous to allude to the talent and accomplishments of Mrs Robert Heir. This lady's reputation as a refined actress is of world-wide notoriety. Previous to leaving England, Miss Fanny Cathcart (Mrs Heir) was acknowledged by the most critical journalists to possess a versatility of talent, a refined and creative mind, with other qualities that would ensure for her a leading position in the theatrical world. Her colonial career has abundantly testified to the correctness of the predictions. No other artiste for so long a period (over twelve years) has succeeded in securing the uninterrupted admiration of all before whom she appeared. In every part she has taken —tragic, dramatic, or comedy—her personifications have been natural, displaying careful study, quick conception of the author's meaning, and individuality in its rendering. Of the other members of the company we cannot speak authoritatively; but the Melbourne and Otago papers have noticed them very favorably. The programme published in another column is an attractive one. It comprises choice selections from the best productions of Shakespeare, Sheridan Knowles, and other eminent authors. The latter part of the entertainment, consisting of select readings by Mrs Robert Heir, promises to be an intellectual treat. This lady's reading, according to Victorian critics, U unexcelled. Altogether, the performances are likely to be of a very high character, and will no doubt bt largely patronised by the public. The engagement entered into with the company is, we are assured, a very short one, being positively limited to five nightt, We would remind such of our readers as possess electoral qualifications but have omitted to enrol themselves that the period for registration terminates on the 31st March, and that all

who neglect to send in their application to tVo Returning Officer of their respective districts Trill *■ disfranchise themselves for another year. It is probable that a dissolution of the General Assembly may take place during the ensuing electoral year, and it is therefore desirable that all residents in the province should at once register. The following tenders were opened on Thuri day, at the Provincial Treasury : — Re-building Brick Safeß. J. A. Frederick (accepted) £137 0 0 30 chains Gravelling Mill Road.

The "Argus" of the 16th inst., says :— " We understand that Messrs Fellows and O'Shanassy had an interview with His Excellency the Governor en Saturday morning, and subsequently communicated with several gentlemen of. the Opposition. Nothing definite has, however, been yet determined on, but Messrs MacMahon, Langton, and Macdonnell are likely to join the new Administration. It is also probable that in case of a Government being formed, Mr Service will accept office as Minister of Lands, and it is said there will be no difficulty in providing him with a seat. From the Northern papers we learn that the Provincial Council of Auckland has been prorogued. Amongst the measures passed was an act empowering the Superintendent- to sell or mortgage the railway works and lands to any Company willing to complete it to Onehunga, or of other terminus to be determined upon by the Superintendent. The " Press" (Canterbury), 18th inst., says : — "The whole of last night's sitting, with slight exception, was devoted to discussions arising out of his Honor's memorandum. The following resolutions were cajrried : — ' That in the opinion of this Council there should be a" Trovincial Council, 01103 v by the people of this province in the same manner as the present Council is chosen.' ' The Council to have th.i control of all matters strictly provincial.' ' That the Council should elect tho Superintendent, who shall sit in the House as Chairman, and act as general controller of departments, but should have no power whatever of engaging the revenues of the province for payment of <my contracts or works without the express sanction of the Council ; provided always that members of the Council should be eligible for election as Superintendent.' ' That there should be a permanent staff of officers for conducting the business of the departments.' ' There Bhould be an Executive Council of members of the Provincial Council, as colleagues of the Superintendent.' * The Council to vote only half-yearly supplies, and, in matters provincial, to have power to raise taxes for provincial purposes — management of waste lands, railways, roads, bridges, and public works, education, immigration, police, gaols, asylums, and harbors ; provided that 25 per cent, of the land fund be given to the districts in which, the revenue is raised.' The principal, we may say the only, debate that took place on these resolutions was on the question whether the Superintendent should be elected by the Council, which was carried on a division by a majority of 20 to 9. A motion, ' That in the opinion of this Council it is expedient that the present system of Government by a Superintendent and Provincial Council, as established by the Constitution Act, be abolished, was negatived by 24 to 5.' " The " Daily Times" of the 23rd inst. thus comments upon the progress of Otago since its first settlement : — " To-day we enter upon the celebration of another Anniversary of the Settlement of the Province. Twenty years have just passed today since the John Wickliffe arrived with her load of pioneer settlers. There were earnest, ardent men amongst these Immigrants, but it is to be doubted if any of them were enthusiastic enough to even hope for the results which twenty years have developed. A population of 48,480. j souls, a chief city such as Dunedin has become, other towns and. townlets scattered over the country, and the whole Province occupied for agricultural, mining, or pastoral purposes; these are the results which have sprung up during the twenty years which have elapsed since the John Wickliffe landed her living freight. From a comparative point of view, much may be said. Otago, in its young years, was often subjected to slights from the older Provinces. The youngster, it was alleged, was too forward and presuming, did not sufficiently recognise the exalted position and paramount claims of the elder settlements. It is now some years since the tables have been turned, but even yet the recognition that such is the case is only partial. Far a-head of the other provinces as Otago has reached, its position is still but grudgingly admitted, if not altogether denied. There has been no hesitation in accepting the hundreds of thousands of pounds of revenue Otago has yielded to the colonial' chest ; there has been no sort of delicacy displayed in spending the money on objects wholly indifferent to Otago ; but there has been hesitation and delicacy in giving the Province credit for what it has done — in recognising the position to which it has attained — in according to it the weight and the influence to which it is entitled. But though looking back the whole

twenty years, we may admit th*> great advance"■^Hfft of the Province, it does not follow that the posifta^fiate years has been altogether satisfactory. ii%?fould be wrong to assume that there has beeff^pne continuous uninterrupted prosperity, andthaFVjg Province iB still marching on, in the same even 'cbt^e. The last three years have not been prosperous -to the Province—the late census disclosed tfiat.jpch wag the case, even if other evidence wefce wanting. One of the great colonising works haß been suspended : taking into consideration the natural increase by births, the figures show that the tide of emigration has exceeded that .of immigration. Again, there has not been, that increase of material, wealth during the tiSe^ndicated, which in a new country there is the right to expect. The agricultural, the pastoral, and the mining interests to some extent languish. . There are many causes to which the depression may be referred ; but it is not our intention to analyse them now. The fearful heavy taxation is, to begin with, a patent one. Industry is taxed more th*n, with all the advantages the country offers, it is well able to endure. The want of assisted immigration on a sufficiently large scale is severely felt, as also the absence of that large expenditure on public works which is an ordinary feature of the settlement of a young Colony. We hope, before another year cornea round, there will be much upon which to hang more congratulatory reflections ; a decrease in taxation, an extension of assisted immigration, and the commencement of the construction of the .Clutha Railway, would contribute largely to placing the Province in a much more prosperous condition."

Geo. Frislrin ... £155 0 0 Thos. PoweU ... 120 0 0 Geo. Frogart ... 127 0 0 J. Anderaon ... 187 0 0 1 N.S.Campbell ... 206 5 0 D. Hunter (accepted) ... 112 0 0 Gravelling 69 chains at Long Bush. F.Martin ... £455 0 0 0. Baggot ... 448 10 0 J. A. Ross ... 450 0 0 J. M'Crostie ... . 400 0 0 M. Shirley ... 414 0 0 F. Frogart and Co. ... 360 10 0 J. Anderson (accepted) ... 522 10 0 D. Hunter ... 344 10 0 N. S. Campbell ... 664 2 6 P. M'Gullan ... 478 0 0 Formation Long Bußh. Tkos. Powell (accepted)... £110 0 0 8.. Gumming ... 130 0 0 James Gibson ... 117 0 0 Thoß. Marshall ... 125 0 0 Approaches to Otantau. K. dimming ... £452 0 0 W. B. Cassels and Co. ... 301 0 0 B. Berndston aad Co. ... 250 0 0 P. Grant ... 310 0 0 B. Powell (accepted) ... 211 0 0 MT. Campbell ... 264 0 0 C. Munroe ..» 430 0 0 J.Gallagher ... 629 1 8 J. Frisian ... 280 6 8 Bridge over the Otautau. Colin M'Bannon ... £960 0 0 W. Scandrett ... 65" 0 0 P. Grant ... 654 0 0 BT. S. Campbell ... 685 12 0 D. Lockhart ... 850 0 0 Reid and Co. ... 593 0 0 W. Moffat ... 643 0 0 J. A. Frederic (accepted) 490 0 0