On Auckland Letter.

Otago Witness, Issue 1584, 1 April 1882, Page 8

On Auckland Letter.

(FF.OM OUB OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

March 17th.

Tho threo Ministers now in Auckland— the Hons. Whitakor, Bryco, and Rolleston— have been kept busy during the past fortnight with deputations, and in listening to and staving off ! requests on any and every imaginable subject, and at last they were obliged to take refuge in flight to the Waiwera Hot Springs, whence, rejuvenated and with " clean hands," they have returned to do battle with importunate deputationists. The decision of the Judges in annulling the Franklyn election came on the community as a furprise. The new election will be regarded with much interest, as affording a test of the strength of political parties. Major Harris is again in the field, and in all likelihood Buckland and Luke will be again to the fore. If Luke stands, and thus divides the Liberal vote, Buckland will have a very fair chance of winning ; but everything hangs on such a contingency. There is some talk of inviting the Mayor of Auckland (Mr J. M. Clark) to contest the seat, in order to give him an opportunity of getting 'that place in the councils of the Colony which he lost at City East. ' . • . . . Mr'Bryce has been unfortunate in his official relations with our City Council. The Council is endeavouring to form and beautify a City Park, which shall be a credit to Auckland and a source of pride and pleasure to the citizens. To do so they are spending many thousands of pounds. In the park unfortunately stands, blocking the view of the westward portion of the city from the terraces, a huge scoria building, formerly used as garrison hospital when the Albert Barracks were in existence, bufynow devoted to the purposes of an armoury, and up to which has to be left a, cart-road, which destroys the appearance of the park. To get such an eyesore removed was the first 'consideration, arid the Council, therefore, to put the matter beyond the possibility of doubt, strained a point, and offered a more valuable site for an armoury and L 1250 to boot. [ The Native Minister declined the offer, holding out for £1650, and the right to as much of the debris, stones, &c. of the ' old rattletrap as he wanted. The councillors, in discussing ' the terms, ' grimly remarked that they had heard Mr Bryce was "a hard man,", but they knew it now. Another effort was made to meet him half way, or bring him to terms, but with as little success as at the outset. Against their better judgment the Council offered him a splendid site with double frontage and abutting on one of the leading thoroughfares out of the city— in fact, far too valuable a site for such a purpose, and on which the erection of a armoury was likely to depreciate the lvalue of villa residences in the vicinity. Mr Bryce was "not that sort of man." Simply ordering the Council's messenger who brought the missive enclosing the offer, to wait for his reply, he returned an answer expressing surprise that such a proposal should have been made after the expression of his views previously, and brusquely added that he could not see any useful purpose was to be served by further prolonging correspondence or negotiations. The beauty of the thing is that the City Engineer estimates that the armoury could be pulled down and reerected for £1000 ; but nothing would satisfy Mr Bryce but the £1650, and "as many of the stones as he needed for' the re-erec-tion of the premises." There the matter ends for the present, and the Council, it is said, will now give the Native Minister "the pound of flesh" for which he stickles, by pulling down the outbuildings of the armoury and selling them by auction ; as the terms on which the armoury i/s held simply accord the use of the actual Bite of the building. The Native Minister' came to Auckland with so high a reputation as a statesman and a man that the above little episode has given a rude shock to the popular impressions. It has not I even been hinted in palliation that there was ! "a log to roll," or that the Council had any other object in view than the beautifying of the people's park and the promotion of public enjoyment. The manner in which the negotiations were ended has caused quite as much soreness as their actual failure. The "iron hand," however permissible, and indeed justifiable, in the case of seditious Maori rowdies at Parihaka, is but a poor way of treating the municipal authorities of one of the leading cities of the Colony, only intent on promoting an object of public utility, and everyone regrets that the hero of Parihaka should have shown such a lamentable lack of tact and i tomper. I A movement is setting in among the suburban highway districts surrounding tho city proper for amalgamation with tho city proper if satisfactoiy terms can be obtained. This action has been hastened by 1 their being scourged by typhoid and scarlet fever through lack of proper drainage and an efficient water supply. They also see that with the cessation of Government subsidies they will be unable to overtake local wants without increased taxation, while they are destitute of the endowments with which Auckland is so bountifully provided. By joining the city they would share in these latter and obtain the benefit of the water supply, as well as get their drainage connected with the city sewerage system, Some of the City Councillors are opposed to allowing the suburban districts to share these advantages, but it is hoped that broader views will prevail, as their union with Auckland proper would give her a population of nearly 40,000 in all, ana a status both in the

Colony and abroad which could not but be beneficial to her interests. It is a moot point whether the districts are not entitled to share in the city endowments even as matters stand, since they were granted to Auckland in the olden time, and at a period when < her extended boundaries comprised them within her limits.

Considerable interest has been taken in the proceedings of the Senate of the New Zealand University. The local Press was unanimous in its denunciation of the views of the Chancellor as propounded in the inaugural address, and which, if carried out, would practically have disbarred undergraduates engaged in acquiring a profession or trade or livelihood in participating in the advantages accorded by the University. Sir G-. M. O'Rorke succeeded, however, in carrying resolutions which relieved them of the disabilities under which they were attempted to be placed, ■ and by which the rich were favoured at the expense of those less fortunately situated. To the Auckland students this was a matter of the highest importance, as few of them are able to bear the expense ,of keeping a term at a university, or able to devote themselves>exclusively to a university career. The came objections hold good with respect to the proposal to establish an Auckland University at the present time, as simply a useless, waste of money and effort in order to gratify the amour p?'opre of its citizens. In years to come, with the progress of the province and the distribution of wealth, such an institution will be a necessity in the natural order of things ; but at the present juncture the machinery and expense would be disproportionate to the practical results. As Mr Habens very justly remarkedkat the Senate, a University started without revenues and endowments, land dn the strength of an expiring Parliamentary vote of £1500, was likely to prove an abortion^ and lead to failure and disappointment to all concerned. During their stay here several of the Otago members of the Senate have taken part in social gatherings or other local amusements, and made the acquaintance of the citizens as well as of Auckland scenery, of which- -latter they spoke in the most eulogistic terms. ■

Land speculation is still rife, and has at last culminated in the disposal of a block in Queen street, by auction, at £332 per foot— a figure far above the highest price obtained during the land mania succeeding the Waikato War. Business men assert that the speculation in land is rapidly reaching the limit of safety, and it is only a question of time when 'a reaction will set in against the- fancy prices now in vogue, as they cannot admit of reasonable interest on the investmeritsV As a sequel to the mania for land speculation; a mania for company-forming is setting in, equally as dangerous. Some of these enterprises have' hung fire, others have scarcely even reached that stage, while in not a few the shareholders are likely to have a very chastened experience as a dividend. Perhaps the best satire 'on this tendency to company -forming is the 1 actidri of a Te Aroha settler who has floated his farm as a

company.

The Rqtorua Natives ( have been both gratified and Surprised at the success of the sale of the Rotorua township. Two of their number came up to Auckland as a deputation, to wit* ness the sale, in order to 'report to their fellowa on the whole affair. The amount obtained for the 99 years' leases is < practically equal to the p4pe of the freehold. • There >is' some conster« nation among the purchasers owing to its being now stated that the. purchases are, subject to the duties of the Native Lands Actj which will mean for the investors doubling the rental for the first year. It is a , matter iov congratulation'that the interesfa'iii the Rotorua township have been so widely', 'diffused, the "investors hailing from every' prqyince in the Oblony, and even from, Australia!/ The effect of the sale on the Native mindjgenerallywillbeto lead them to open up f resh" tra6ts of country for settlement and colonisation;,' but, after the prices obtained, they are not likely 1 to part with the freehold of their lands if they can by leasing obtain a figure equal to the fee simple. In that' respect the remarkable success, of the Rotorua land sale may act' as a barrier t to the extinguishment of the Native title. ' ,

Colonel Reader, Commissioner of the Armed Constabulary, is at present inspecting the stations in Auckland and its vicinity. It is shrewdly suspected his visit is intimately connected with the latent dissatisfaction which has been recently manifested by resignations from the force. Nearly a dozen constables have been at last recommended for -promotion, which shows that the complaints of the men have not 'been groundless— one r second-class constable getting his grade of first-class after an honourable service of nine arid a-half years. Sergeant Pardy has' been promoted to sergeant-major in recognition of his services in capturing Plummer, and this in some measure alleviates the severity of the punishment which fell upon him by the retrenchment scheme, when he was reduced from sub-inspector to sergeant. The above measures will do much to remove the smouldering discontent which was growing up in the ranks of the local force, and which could not but act prejudicially on its discipline arid efficiency.

In the way of amusements there is little to record. The Mastodon Minstrels have given place to the legitimate drama,and Mr Parkins, supported by a specialty company, is playing to fair houses at the Theatre .Royal. 'The new Opera House is rapidly approaching completion, and as Mr Abbott, tne proprietor, nas lately made a tour of the Australian Colonies in order to pick up the latest wrinkles in operatic and theatrical management, it is believed that nothing will be left to be desired in this place of amusement. It will be fitted up with patent folding opera-chairs, after the style of the leading New York theatres ; but generally, Mr Abbott has taken as his model the interior arrangements and fittings of the Bijou Theatre, Melbourne. The public are looking forward with some degree of curiosity td see what effect the new place of amusement will have ~bn the fortunes of the Theatre Royal, and ' as to whether there is to be a "holy alliance" as against theatrical companies, or free competition and " war to the knife."

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