ONEHUNGA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume III, Issue 720, 6 March 1866, Page 5

ONEHUNGA.

ArUBIiIC meeting was hold at the Institute on Saturday evening, to take into consideration the Town. Board Bill for Onehunga, tho Mongaroi Bridge, One- : lmnga a warehousing port, and the postal arrangement. Mr. Harrison was voted to the chair* i.. The Chairman after expressing a hope .that a patient hearing would be given to those who might, speak, read the notice convening the meeting., , Mr. O'HohKE said that he belieyoil the'only business that now remainod to be db'no. wits to pass a vote of thanks to their chairman (Mr.'Harriaoh) for the very efficient manner in which lie presided.. He(Mr. O'-Korke) had come'down'this in ordej. to hear those important matters,' -specified in the advertisement calling the meeting, discussed by those •who -were most concerned • in-'them.'-.-The ,matter which engaged, the most ot thoir attention'was (he proposed- Town ! Board Bill,, upon, which their, views were stated,-so explicitly .and, 'with'BUch unanimity, ithat,.there..was no mistaking, them. , 4Jlusioji had bqen made .by Sir. Galluugher to the. endowments -' which were, granted some five years ago for the benefit of, the Harbour, but. which .have lain ' doi mant ever sinco. ' He was not awara whether.it was from, him that'his friend Mr, Qallaugher had Heard of the opinions entertained by the' present Provincial 1 Secretary (Mr.' CarletOn) respecting those' endowments, tut he certainly could cor'roborate the' correctr ness of the statement. A short time ago, _wheta;the > Onehunga Board Bill was spoken of,as being likely to- bo re-introduced. this session, he thought.it.right • at. once to ascertain from the Provincial, Secretary i what the views of the Government were on the subiect, .and, he accordingly askod Mr,,. Carleton whether "it was intended to vest any portion of i those endowments in' the Biard proposed. ,to be i established . for tho management of the town. The 'answer he received, was, certainly not. j Now although Mr 1 . Carleton has the reputation oi t ' being eccentric in some of his views, he did jnol t think this meoting would be taken fry surprise at; the r reasons. which that genUomen- aasignod for not ina . trnstingf tb6 inhabitants bf this : town tha-man. • Bg6mfDt of th» eado*ES#at#-thnt-.lay i«it }h»Jr t«S

I doors. Mr. Carleton cut tho matter very short by , saying the endowments at Onehunga belong to ( I Auckland. Now that was a light in which ha had j never seen the matter, and as Tn« views were diametrically opposed, he let the matter drop then but made it his business to-day to see the Superintendent, in order to ascertain whether it was really the intention of the Government to let these valuable endowments lie waste. He was happy to say that he received a ) very different answer from the Superintendent. The . Superintendent stated distinctly that is was his desire i that step 3 should be taken to utilise the endowments in the port of Onehunga but that,he would bo no party to their being frittered away on paltry worki. Tli3 Superintendent's desire was, that in dea ng , with the endowments a large comprehensive scheme of works should be undertaken. The Superintendent explained to him his views on the Railway, the Mangarei Bridge, and the endowments, and he was at liberty to state those opinions. They were these: that in dealingVith those three important matters care should be taken that they should as far as practicable be made to assist other. And it appeared that could bo done in this way. The Bailway to Onehunga must bo pushed to its completion; The sito sslected for the terminus was the Government verierve at the junction of Queen-street with Princes-streot. From that a light line mififht at a small cost bo run to the new wharf, near which he understood the Mangarei Bridge would be placed. Tho Mangarei Bridge he felt would be of great benefit to the town of Onehunga, and ought to be supported by the people of Onehunga; It was the intention of the Government to render assistance in the following manner. The Government were in possession of the confiscated blocks of Manajarei, Pukuko, audlhumatoa, containing, ho believed, speaking roughly, some 3,000 acres. Well whatever tax per acre the landowners in tho Mangarei district were prepared to subscribe, tlio Government he learned had promised to contribute an equal amount per acre. It was an extremely liberal and yet a prudent offer on the part of the G-ovcrnment, for he believed that tho value of the Gorernment land in those districts would be so enhanced by tho erection of the bridge that the increased prices that would be obtained upon the sale of confiscated blocks would more than repay tho Government contribution to the proposed bridge. Even should it amount to £1 per aero. Now with regard to tlio Superintendent's sehemo for utilizing the endowmtnts, he would show how it was intended to make them work into the Kailway system. It was well k*own that at present the largo steamers did not come beyond the Muff. It waß not the intention, for all that, of tho Onehunja pjopla to migrate to tho Bluff. If the Superin tendent's scheme he carried out there will be Still less reason for doing so. There is no doubt that sooner or later that large flat opposite the beach will be re<r claimed. That is all endowment property, and would pay for reclamation. The Superintendent's opinion was that from the main terminus of the Railway at tho foot of Q.uecu-streot a traffic line should be rua to tho seawnrd of the houses in Princes-street curving round (perhaps midway between high and low water mark) to the Bluff. In this way a large area would be reclaimed, and that tho most valuable portion of tho estate. Ho believed that the meeting would concur with htm that the scheme was masterly and comprehensive and desirable to he carried out. If the latter portion were once effected, that bugbear of a rival town springing up at the Bluff, to bo connected with Auckland by a road at the back of Epsom, would trouble their minds no longer. He had felt it his duty to make this statement, because from the tone of some of the speakers' remarks, it appeared that dissatisfaction with the Provincial Government to a great extent prevailed. He wai not going to deny that there had been grounds for such dissatisfaction ; but if such undertakings were realized as he had alluJod to to-night, he believed all would admit that a brilliant futur.3 would be in store for Onehunga, and that a Government that would push fo.-ward such matters would deserve well at their hands. * Mr. O'Brien' expressed liii surprise that the Bill which had been spoken of had bean printed and read the fir-t time without the knowledge of the inhabitants of the town. Mr. Kiaicwoon believed that the time had come when some sort of bill was necessary in order to promote improvements in the town. I\Tr. Bates recommended the meeting to express it# opinion strongly against the bill. He was opposed to taxation, and if the bill in question passed the Provincial Council they would be taxed very .h'^vi'.yMr. SaooKriELD in a very effective speech pointed out the injurious tendency of the bill, and moved, " That the members for the town be instructed to use their best endeavours to prevent the passing of the bill." Seconded by Mr. Redmond and carried. Mr. KiitKvvooi) said he would make known the wish of the meeting to the Provincial Council with respect to the bill, and would, so far as he could, act in accordance with tho wishes of those present. Sir. GALtAuauEitdid not believe iu the bill before the Council, but thought something cheap and aaay should be adopted for the improvement of the town. After some further observations with respect to the desirability of carrying out the Mangarei br dgo, and of having a post office built iu the town, Mr. O' Rokke proposed a vote of thanks to the chairman, when the meeting broke up.