TE PUNA.

Press, Volume VII, Issue 796, 18 May 1865, Page 2

TE PUNA.

We have made further enquiries about this purchase, and find that the Ngatihauas have an undoubted claim to land in that neighborhood. It has boon the fishing place of the tribe for many years, and not many years ago Thompson himself lived there. And yet it is pretended that this land was purchased. We shall be told that Thompson was a rebel, and we had a right to take his land. We believe the Natives do not deny the Queen's right to the land she has confiscated. But Te Puna was expressly not confiscated, it was bought ; and a bad title cannot be made good by saying that we might have confisj cated the land if we had pleased. We did not confiscate it, but pretended to buy it; and we must stand by our own acts.

Lectttbb. —Mr. FitzGerald will give a lecture at the Mechanics' Institute this evening, on a subject which is generally considered a rather delicate one — the rate of wages. There will probably bo a large attendance of laboring men as well as of employers, go both of which classes the subject is equally important. The chair will be taken at half-past seven. The Telegbaph.—Our readers will see by a paragraph we quote elsewhere from the Otago Daily Times that the telegraph has been completed and brought into operation between Invercargill and Dunedin. The wires hare been fixed along the route to Christchurch, but there are some practical difficulties in keeping them in working order across the rivers, which will delay the opening of the line for some days longer. Meeting of Ratepayebs.—An adjourned meeting of ratepayers was held last evening at the Lyttelton Hotel; Mr. Allen in the chair. Mr. Wynn Williams explained to the meeting the steps that had been taken at the previous one, and stated that in consequence of the decision of the magistrates they might consider the present ioll abandoned. The Council now intended to introduce a measure at the forthcoming session of the Provincial Council to amend their present ordinance, and under which they intended to levj a rate for the ensuing year. He thought that no one of the ratepayers would object to pay a fair assessment. They had not met for captious purposes, but to protest against what they considered an injustice; and their course was now to await the preparation of a new roll, which he hoped would be a fair one. He was far from wishing to throw obstructions in the way of the Council; bui, as a lawyer, would point out to the meeting an objection which he took to be insuperable, viz.—that the Provincial Council had no authority to delegate the power of levying taxes. Such power belonged only to the Imperial Parliament, and rested in these colonies with the G-eneral Assembly. As a case in point, he would instance the present crisis existing in Otago; there the Provincial Council bad interfered with the municipal body, and in fact had delegated a commission to carry on the functions of that bod/. The ratepayers had taken the opinion of an eminent counsel (Mr. Barton), and his opinion was, that the Provincial Council had no power to interfere in the matter, such power belonging only to the General Assembly ; and at the present time municipal matters in Otago might be said to be at a dead lock. He was afraid this would be the case here, and the only way he saw for the Council to get over the difficulty was by at once, that is at the next session of the General Assembly, introducing a bill into that House to remedy the evils attendant on the present Acfc. If this course were nob followed, objections would be raised on the ground stated, and the ratepayers might rest assured that a great proportion of the rates, if any were raised under the present roll, would be spent in legal expenses. He would, therefore, propose to the meeting that a petition be drawn up and signed by the ratepayers, requesting the Council at once to go to headquarters and have the matter settled. He had had the honor of speaking to the Hon. Mr. Weld yesterday, and -might state that that gentleman's opinion was, after arguing the question with him, similar to his (Mr. Williams) own. The General Assembly would meet early in June, and the delay would be little more than if they applied to the Provincial Council. The Council might rest assured that, if they proceeded as they at present intended, objections would be raised, and a considerable amount of their money spent in litigation. The meeting then agreed to adopt the steps proposed by Mr. Williams. Pbincbss' Thbatee.—The theatre was moderately well attended last night to witness the performance of the " Pride of the Market," and the " Hi-treated Trovatore," the latter piece for the fourth or fifth time of representation. The former, a lively but, commonplace play, went off well, Miss R. Cooper j filling the principal part with great ability and effect. This lady is a most welcome acquisition to the company, and we hope ere long to see her in a piece which will allow her to display to a fuller extent the powers as an actress, which, in comparatively unimportant parts she has shown herself to possess. Mrs. Hall, as Javotte, the peasant girl, was as clever and amusing as she always is. Mr. Dale as the coveetricken baker, made the most of a character not quite so lively as the author seems to have intended to make it; there is a quiet drollery about his style which is very effective. Mr. Richardson was quite at home in playing the Marquis De Tblango, a good-natured roue of the Regency school, who, however, gets thoroughly outwitted by the market girl with whom he has attempted to trifle. Aβ to the "Trovatore," all we can say is, that every one should go to see it. Mr. Hall's burlesque ofAzueena is inimitably funny, and contains "moreover many touches of a very high order of tragedy, which serve both to relieve-and by contrast to .heighten the absurdity of the grotesque -and extravagant humour which envelopes the piece. It ie to be repeated to-night, and we recommend our readers not to lose the opportunity.