The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1874.

Thames Star, Volume IIII, Issue 1708, 24 June 1874, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 1874.

The question of the foreshore has cropped up very prominently of late —in the .Borough Council and in the Provincial "Council;: Ift the former Councillor' Butt by his dogged, persistency forced his col- ~ leagues to take seme notice of the matter ;ii rby passing a resolution for'which, on its first presentation, he failed to secure a .|a seconder. : The Provincial Council hay * affirmed the desirability of the foreshore irx"']beiilg handed Over to the Superintendent, o)rder tkat jjie may pick out- spine of /the pEpicesfc. spots for endowment of luna- . tic asylums'and for benevolent purposes. :It is not: at all surprising- that the Borough': Council should object to this, course* •as being cukulated to deprive - " them of the~only endowment they have been-led. to expect, the value of which #6uidWe annually increasing. It is ceritaihiyto be regretted • that the Superintendent and the Borough Council should be in antagonism on this question, but the -latter, will be perfectly justified in en-'"deavoring-to obtain the foreshore direct :'H3Frp"hV "the General' Government, with-; '•; putr-the ; intervention of the Super- > intendent and Provincial Council. The foreshore can scarcely be ' looked upon as a portion of the Provincial estate, i any mdfeithah^he Auckland Harbor Board's., endowments; and the Borough Councillors,/have reason and justice on - their aide in their exertions to have the ■'■■■ foreshore conveyed to them—or some other, duly constituted jlpcal body;—to be administered for the good of the Thames. ■rlt 7 is r doubtful if there would have been a municipality here now had it not been for the repeated promises of Ministers . .that the foreshore would be handed over as an endowment. [Residents were pretty well aware that -the erection of a municipality meant additional taxation; hence the opposition so long and so persistently offered'to the attempts to have the district.'prPclaimed a borough. The same reason actuated the prompters in prescribing the boundaries of the borough,

for had the original intention been carried out, or attempted, the opposition would have been kept alive;. In addition to the promises repeatedlygiven lhat the foreshore would bo kanded over as an endowment to the municipality, the late- Superintendent promised the water-works, and.also assis-j----tance in enlarging the powers of .the* Council to collect local revenue from ■ varibtis Sbut rc'e''B,^v^D;'su"ggestirig2iif'-otir^ memory serves vs —that a portion of the publicans' license fees could reasonably be expected by the Borough Council. However, now that the municipality dream lias beenrealised, the burgesses find themselves in possession of an expensive system of local Government, with nothing to meet it but direct taxation, and an insignificant subsidy from the goldfields revenue sad-' 'dled; with- conditions which reduce the., Borough Council to the level 1, of, ?a; mere Eoad Board. They can have £1500 of the Provincial revenue only on condition that it be spent in 'the direction indicated by: His Honor the.' Superintendent, and, we presume, under.i direction of the' Provincial Engineer. Then;as;tp the jwater-wprk's promised' by the late Superintendent, the present Government are willing to redeem the pledge, but again this is burdened with. such, conditions that it is questionable if the Borough Council,will accept the responsibilities —monetary and otherwise, Un.der these circumstances Councillors have to look more than ever.^to the foreshore as an endowment to enable them to carry! .on : without resorting to more taxation than .isfound'to be actually necessary, It nlay, and has been said that the foreshore is the property of the'district—not of the Borough only. Admitted; but until some other body be constituted to supersede - the Borough Council, the latter should undoubtedly be entrusted with the management of the foreshore ; in doing this advantageously for the Borough there would be nothing inimical to the interests of the district, because the' Borough is so intimately connected with.the goldfields that the interests are identical; 'moreover any portion of the income which could I be claimed by the Highway trustees! in the district would be paid! by the Council, who would act as justly: in this matter as the Provincial Government could be expected to do. While regretting, therefore, that any difference of opinion should have arisen between the Provincial Government and the Borough Council as to the "disposal of the foreshore, we consider the Council will'be fully justified in endeavoring to obtain the fulfilment of the promises repeatedly made—rthat. the foreshore would evantually be handed over as an endowment for the Thames. , UK

Very little appears to be known regarding this same " foreshore—its ' r . extent, or the money expended in acquiring it from-ihe nativss. The^only document we can" discover on the subject is ia paperpresented"to bpth Houses of Parliament last .session-—"Reports from officers engaged in the purchase of Native lands.' 1 Amongst other reports is one from Mr. E.'Wi>Ppckey, giving '5 a detailed statement of the purchase of the Thames foreshore, showing the progress 'of operations.'* . The is dated 21st April," 1873, and includes the names and acreage of blocks, names cf claimants, and the amounts pSid. ■ Fromthis we learn that the area .of the foreshore I is 520 acres and., 7 5 perches, and the total amount paid in. respect of claims up to the date of report £1351 Is M. There were then unpaid twenty-four claims, representing interests in about 150 acres of the foreshore, the principal claimants whose interests had not been acquired being Eapana Maunganoa, Hoterene jTaipari, and Wirope Hoterene Taipari. To retire these claims. would not require a very large sum of money. PossiI bly smce ; April, 1873, Mr. Puckey has succeeded in effecting this work ; but' it is scarcely possible that any serious difficulty could arise to obstruct the completion of the purchases. In handing over ■this valuable estate' to the Borough Council the Government would make the. purchase money a charge on the revenue derivable from the foreshore, but we believe that the rents accruing from battery sites—money already due—would more than.cover this charge. At any rate the Council would have something besides local taxation to fall back upon, and lif they desist in their efforts to obtain-a direct conveyance to them of. the foreshore they will be wanting in their duty to the Borough. V:

An annovmcemenb . in.'.' -our.'advertising coluvnnfl 'informs us that Mr Bacl^eldor is about to visit the Thames with his Ccilossoan Pautascopo of the of the Trans-Paoific railway and oMi:r interesting scenery; Those ■who saw this really good colieotibn of pictures on the oocaßsion of;its exhibition here will nob require to bej^old tliafc "it stands unriyaUed amoDgsttj^pAs 6f;jtß;.kind,Vand the wonderful p^ormances?: of the aijtbmatph slack ropo perfOTßß^*-wero the source of great amusfjinent. In addition to these attractions Mrßachelder has'secured the services ;of,Mr _ Praßk •Vfe.'tenr*:'fttwnte'--fo6aK<t I--ind- vnegrb deliaeator, and a capital pv>. hestra^ s Th« de; tcWptire lecture given in connection with tho picturesisfull ofrentertatning^st^vießi and enables persons to •reftlis%,moß« yividlj .the scenes so ably depicted, orf the canvas. J Theexh bition will open in the Academy of-Music on Sa|urclay night. Wo Mr { Bacbelder'« enterprise "we have been indebted for"several.capital entertaincnenfs, and also for the ..most C'omfbrjtable'litijft place (Of-am^sement in;, tlw prp'vinde-4-tlte Adademyvof :Music. / - -