THE Thames Advertiser. MONDAY, MAY 4, 1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1804, 4 May 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. MONDAY, MAY 4, 1874.

! For the last three or four years, we have had a good deal of trouble and discussion about the foreshore, all -of which we thought had been .settled, and that from henceforth .the,only . question', would-b'e, how. .we' could best utilise the inheritance. Upon the faith,; of getting the foreshore the Municipality might be said to come into beiu'g, for on the question being 'put of where the Municipality were to get funds, the foreshore was always pointed to as an asset of value, upon which funds might be raised to do anything in the way of pal improvement. But it would seem that it is not to be so, and that neither the Provincial nor General Govern- 1 mentyhavelthe! ;]eM j ideal flff.handiog the land over to the local author rities. The steps in the eventful history of the foreshore may be briefly recalled. When the goldfield was first proclaimed, the boundary to the west was "the sea.!.—Nothing was thtjn | thought of the foreshore j nobody thought of reclaiming it from the flojwi: of the tide, or of mining under it. But; when rich lode 3 were discovered in the' , face of the hills, it was concluded that* :. Jiheyj; might,-,run jput J .tO;Sea > 'and r !when : the scrip mania was at its height, claims? r , were,p t egged^over.;ther^rn i iles i of,|.^ud[to the channel of the river Thames.*. Large sums.,were,.paid,, for; serifjjia these claims, and' a considerable* amoiinfc was spent in sinking shafts out in the tideway. This soon came to an end—the i sea and the burst up of the scrip maniaswamped the foreshore claims, and people began tojhink that those who had ever contemplated mining on the, foreshore were somewhat crazy. Mean- 1 while private parties had purchased interests in considerable portions of tne, , ioreshore.from jthe.natiyes,,.and jiheije- ' as'to'' tile''legal position of the land. At,,,length,, -'' 'tKe'N'a'tiv'e' 1 Lands f Oomvdecided that the natives were entitled to the right;of fishing 'Gbvefnrheiit issued a proclamation declaring that m private person could deal with the" ' natives for their interest. Then the Government commenced to buy, and, now we believe-that the whole, Or nearly the whole, of the foreshore jis . in their hands. But it is not; a part of the goldfield, and would not become so even if it were to be reclaimed, fori proclamation 1 is'! in' existence defining the boundary of the goldfield as , .high-wateriimarki!atj.,the)time: ; !\6f -Mi \ Mackay's agreement with the natives. .f^hen'Am^^^ of, the foreshore was naturally cast ejjes , upon as an endowmont. Mr Gillies made several distinct statements that so soon as the title to the foreshore was • in possession" of lß.e Government sit would be handed over, to the Munibi-, , pality of the Thames as an endowment. Soiariasiwejreme.mher,'. Mr Williamson ■ has not made any distinct promise on the subject, and indeed Dr. Kilgour has publicly stated that he declined to jdo so. MrYogel'was appealed to, and his declaration wa3 that the surface would be handed over for the MunicL pality to deal with, aud to make any profit they codd put oil SayeraMol those'/who :i .have< takenva. prominent part in connection with the Munibipality did not seem to be satisfied with, the length which Mr Vogel went, bjab we think., a good , deal can 'be, said in defence" of his caution. The foreshore is.not part of the goldfield, J and it might be rather eia-l bavrasaiDg.<;foe-. &Ui ■ concarued { if |

.the v.-Municipality had a private goldfield of their own adjoining tbe ! "Hauraki goldfield. Any other rights ! but those, ,to the surface we think the General Government should keep in their own hands, and should even impose certain conditions for mining rights, to come into force when the land is united to the goldfield. But so tar as tho surface is concerned, the Municipality of the Thames is proper body to administer, and not the Provincial Government. When a . Superintendent, makes.a.definite .promise, as Mr. Gillies did on this point, within sphere of -his authority, we think his successor is bound to carry it "out, more "important public action has'been taken here on the.faith of..the .promise being carried but; '' ' '.But.from J ali we can distinguish, the 'present- Provincial 'Government have not the" slightest intention of 'handing overan kch-of the ■ foreshore to the Municipality; but are to manage it entirely themselves. Probably, most people of 'the Thamesi will be of opinion that/that' body should have it which could make the best use of it. % Jut we •must' remember that it may .become a : most"valuable property) aud'thatfit is of importance for us to secure that any . proceeds arising from it shall go-to the improvement of the,;township< rather than into the Provincial Treasury. On a few''days more,' we shall probably be in possession of further information respecting the designs of the Provincial Government, but from all appearances, ' tbe : Municipal-Council will have a Btruggle;[befor^they;'get'-.what they .thoiighb .they v? Biive, of. j,',', u ..i .'