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Otago Daily Times, Issue 2006, 4 June 1868, Page 4

The final Report of tho Select Committeion the Jtfoada Ordinances was lnid on tli< table of the Provincial Council, yesterday. by Mr James M'lndoe. It is as follow* : " Your Committee bavo been engaged in the preparation of a Bill, embracing the alterations they cons'dcr necessary in the ' iJo.k'b Ordinance, 1805,' but find that, as the •Session is near a close, they will not be able to have the Bill sufficiently matured to be submitted for tho consideration of tho Council this Session ; and, therefore, recommend the following Resolutions : —I. That the present system of l>ocal Boards be abolished, ami that .Uo'od Trusts, comprising large are3s, Insubstituted ; such Road Trusts to be incorporated, and to have, infer alia, the follow in;.' incidents, viz. : Permanency of tenure of im-mbcrs, power of taxation upon annual rental of property ; powers of clo3;ng and opening roads ; making byo-lawn and regulations, with a penalty for breach, thereof, not exceeding LSO ; and all other neoosmry powers and privileges.—2. That each lio.id Trust shall bo divided into Wards, for tho purposo of representation only, and that the boundaries of tho Trusts and War lt> bo defined and fixed by Ordinance of the Pro-, vincial Council.—3. That each Howl Trust should receive, as an endowment, Waste Lands of the Grown in proportion of onetenth of the acreage contained within tho limita of the Trust, and where the whole land within the Trust has been sold, scrip to tho extent of LI for every 10 acroa of land in the Trust, shall bo issued by the Superintendent ; such scrip to be available in tho purchase of unsold Lands in tho Province.— 4. That Hia Honor the Superintendent be requested to have a Bill prepared and submitted to the General Assembly at its next session, enabling this Provincial Council to endow Road Trusts out of the Waste Lands of the Crown, as specif ltd in tho third of the above resolutions."

The evening paper which gave circulation to an exaggerated rumor as to the hatching of Salmon Ova at tho Waiweri*, and then assorted the exaggeration to be a statement of fact. has again made a similar assertion, and hns coupled it with a round-about explanation of how it came to publish tho rumor. Our contemporary seems to bo unable to understand that a fake statement is not coavertcd into a truth, by the fact of its boing for a time believed by those who are entitled to bo tho firat to know the truth. Whoever told the somebody, who told the Government, who told our contemporary, that there were several thousands of fish alive at tho Waiwora on or before Friday last, made a statement which was without foundation of any kind. Our contemporary publishes n sentence as from a report; of Mr Pawbin, dated the 20th nltimo. It is, "Tho number of fish visible arc too numerous, to make an accurate account." That (sentence, according to our contemporary's reproduction of a statement which it says, "purported to be for Mr Dawbin," means that tbero were, before tho 20 h ult., several thousands of living fiah. How a person who left the Waiwera before Mr Dawbin, could bring information "for" him as - to the state of the ova thero, la a puzzle. Mr Dawbin's own account, (riven on Sunday last, in Danedin. was that the statement publi»hed on Saturday was an exaggeration ; and that, at the outside, there might have been from 700 to It 00 fry when he left the Waiwera.

Wo are informed that the brother of the Honorable Mr Pery, lato of tho Otago Police Force, whose body was supposed to have been found on tho beach at KastTa eri, is living at Waikava, and is employed in digging on the beach at that place.

The capital comedy of "Court Cards," and tho burlesque, "Paris," were played at the Princess Theatre last night. It is to be regretted that the waather has been so inclement that the Theatre has not been patronised aa ifc deserved to be. The burlesque alone is a credit to those who are engaged in ifc, and to the Theatre in which it is produced; and we trust yet that it will draw good houses. To-morrow night the employes of the Theatre tender a complimentary benefit to Mr Court. As lessee of the Theatre, he has done his utmost, even at frequent loss to himself, tojproduce a coa-

etant succession of novelties, each well placed Oa tho stage. Mr Cotufa -benefit will bo patronissd by His Honor the Superintendent, tho Speaker of tho Provincial Council, and His Worship the Mayor; *nd wo have no doubt whatever that, with their usual liberality, tho inhabitants of the city -will join in the effort to #ive a substantial recognition of the services Mr Court has rendered. This evening, the comedy «f "The Wonder," and the burlesque will be performed.

Wule&rnfrom the Goldfickls correspondence of tho Wakalip Mail, that "tho aubject of proclaiming the country up to the Wanaka and Lindis as a Goldfields District, as reoomTneri'lerl in the Goldfields Commissioners' report, was exciting some attention. I. can fully testify to tho necessity of such an extension of Ixraiidarics. At present tho miners aro merely tciiaute-at-uiJl, at tho pleasure of the pastoral 'tiuee of the runs. They may mine for gold ; but when they come to cut racca, to tut^r into larj;e ventur<B, they can only do ho on BuiFetajjce, and by tho permission o£ the owner of the run. Of course your reatlera aru well acquainted with the working of the law in tbeso m«tiern, but tho proclamation of this district into a Goldfii-M would bo advantaucdi;- in Euveial other ways btiaidtß that to

which I have pointed. A petition on the subject hni been forwarded to tho Provincial i.'ouiicil and the E, c t:i»ive, and I have no ■ ioubt the object Bought for will be u'timutvly ga-ned."

UmUr date May £sth, writing frmn OmmwcM, a correspondent of tho Lake Wakatip Jfaii obnerveß : —"I h&vo r-cently visit- d this town and district, and was quite truck with the progress making therein. Of ihe district, I need not wri c iMK-h at length, as your own correspondent bai dono it sumo justice ; but I hardly think he h.is dealt a full measure Tho population (mining) ia iucrcasijig, aud somo expensive speculations have been entered into. A large number o miners is working closo to ttio township, an i this haa the clTect of giving it the peculiar ar tii.it (Joldiields tnvu-ibips havo. However, it in also a commercial coutr.t for the w<-ll -to- do population of the Nevis, Banuockburn, Kawarau, and to some extent for the Cardrona, and that part of the country known aa tho Clutha, niLniug up to the Wanaka. Situated so favorably . a it is in the matter of goldficlds workings around it, I am not surprised at the faith displayed by tho residents of the town in its ultimate me and progress. Tho situation is also nn'excollcnt one, aa on looking at tho map will at once bo seen, as it commands three distinct sources, of trade from as many different districts. As soon as a liberal land lnwruk-H, land near Cromwell will betaken up for agricultural purposes. However, in Una direction they will never bo able to compete with ;ho Lake District."

The first meeting of the newly-elec'ed office-bearers and commi'.ttio of tho Fort Chalmers Mechanics' Institute, took pl.-icoon Tuesday evening—tho President, Captain Tiiouison, in the chvir. Tl.e minutes of previous meetings -were read aud confirmed. The principal business waa to arrange for a HeritiH of lectures and readings during tho winter mouths. Tho firat lecture was appointed to take place on the 9th hist., whoa tho Vice-President will deliver a le.-turo on Chemistry. With tho view of mikiug the Penny Headings more attractive, 't was resolved that a ringing cla-ta should bo formed in connection with tho Institute, aud .'aptain Thomson and Mr Stevens were appointed to maYo the necessary preliminary arrangements.

The correspondent of tho Lake Wnkatip Mail, writing from Twelve-Mile, Arrow, aider date May 2;sth. says—" mining affairs arc meagre at present, owing to the necessary preparations being tnado for the coming winter. The diumv.-e dor.c to the Kobinoor party is repaired, and the company increasci to seven, and I have no doubt they will bo rewarded for their great undertakings. Jf water will produce gold, the present season his been otio that should have given tho sluiccra a good chuieo. Messrs Campbell are elevating their race from 80 to 100 feet, in order to enable them to work the higher terraces. The different trarnroad claima arc in n, fair way for the winter's work. (3old has been struck in ;»ttrr.ice on the oppos tl' side of the Arrow to >h-> u«nal worked side by Messrs Tvler and Bradfield, although that fljdo was always supposed to be i;ojaur.feroua. The results thus f.»r have been very satisfactory; in fact gene-ally sp akint.', it has been very lino for this time of the year."

A special meeting of the Port Chalmers Corporation, took place in the Town Hall, on Tuesday evening, for the purpow of hoarim;, the report <>f a deputation which had wait-id on the Superintendent and Government ilitt day, regarding a subsidy. Tito Mayor, I) Ro'lfe, Ksq., presided; and there wt re present, M-shi-h Fernie. Fnii'is Mill or, O'Don oighue, Hamilton, and D .dsnn. The iniuutes of the la<t meeting having been r<>ad and confirmed, the Deputation reported the interview they had hail, from which it appenro 1 that no bonua was to he given to Port Chalmers, inasmuch aa LSOOO had been laid out in the formation of stive to, prior to the Corporation taking office. Tho report w.w warmly discussed by tho t» holo of tho mombers, and it was at last carried, that Mr Tayler. the representative, b-» asked to bring the matter before tho Provincial Council, with a view *o bringing the Corporation on the »amc footing r.» that of Dunedin, whereby the Port -would bo subsidised to tho half of amount of rates for three years. The Mayor reported, that the Crown grants for the reserves would shortly bo handed over to the Corporation Members were appointed to visit the reserves on Friday next, with a view of estimating th'-ir value, and report at next meeting. There being no other business, the proceedings terminated.