The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2021, 26 June 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. SATURDAY, JUNE 26, 1875.

We understand that it is more thdn prp-i bable one good 'result will be attained, from tie visit of His Honor tho Super-; intendent.. .During his stay .here,, this' •week Sir George Grey consulted with the; District-Engineer, Mr J. M. McLaren, as to the Auckland Waste Landß Act, and; the provisions therein contained fpr the creation of districts for the sale of land,! and for the appointment of one or morej j fit.and proper persons to act as." Deputy; J Waste Lands Commissioners. Clause 10 j says _.«« it shall be lawful for the Superintendent from time to time to appoint one, or more fit and proper persons to,-act as Deputy Waste Lands Commissioner at any placo within tho. Province s,and any, person so appointed shall have" the same powers and authority a3 the Commissioner, and all acts ;done by such Deputy shall be as va'id as if done by the Commissioner; and the Superintendent may remove any person or persons so ap. pointed by him." Then in clause 15 it is provided that—" It shall bo lawful "for the Superintendent, fa his discretion, U create districts for the sale and disposal of land, and for the purposes of this Act such districts' shall be called Land Districts. And it shall be lawful for the said Superintendent to appoint offices at

such places as may be most convenient for tha sale and disposal of land within such districts, and to appoint officers or other persons for conducting such sales, and for receiving applications for the sale, letting, disposal, or occupation of waste lands, and for generally carrying into effect the provisions of this Act within such districts.'' These two clauses we presume are thoso which His Honor had in view when he broached the subject, and if he should carry out his idea when he has laud to be disposed of, the work of settlement will bo largely promoted. The General Government have acquired large tracts of country on the peninsula, some'ljof which is surely eligible for set"tlement; and we trust that the Superintendent will carry out the intentions of tho Act, and his own views on the matter in so far as to erect this district into a land district, in order that the available land may be thrown open for selection at the earliest possible opportunity. '

At the meeting of the Borough' Council on Thursday night Mr Rowe referred to some remarks of ours as to his conduct in. the double character of Chairman of tho Waiotahi District Board and member of the i Borough Council. As usual "Mr:' Row& was more forcible than logical : his impulses sometimes got the better of his judgment. . We made no assertion in the positive sense : we merely referred to a feeling which has been given expression to frequently of late, that Mr Rowe acted and^spoke in : jtlie Council more like .Ihe Chairman of the Waiotahi B.oard than a Councillor wibo had giren promises of what he would do for the Borough. RefdJfing ib'[someshingiw;e/did; noti.sayrMr Rowe said there was not a particle of truth in it. W^e. agree fwith Mm-in this, and we are further in "accord with him when he says that the interest^ of?the Borough and the-Waio-tahi District are identical; but wo deprecated certain actions on the part of Mr Rowo, which wo conceived to bo calculated to'bririg the two local bodies'into antagonism. Mr Rowe so far admitted the justice of bur remarks as to say that probably he would hot sit at the Waiotahi Board again. If he had stopped there we-should-not again have deferred to ther 'matter! Bufc we "may be permitted to remark that if Mr Rowe denies that he has given expression atfieetings of Cpun-.-cil to "eccentric"viewsnof at all compatible with what most people interested in the Borough conceive to be required of aCouncilloriYf^e: havo,,merely"to refer.; him to the reports of the Council's proceedings since ho has been a member of that body, the accuracy of which ho has not previously called in question. We are glad to learn that Mr Rowe is for the future to .devote, himself to. .the interests' of the Borough.

Refebrikg to the? statement ; t."of Tfifif George Grey to a deputation the other day, re the timber and water rights of the Tairiia Block, the substance of which was telegraphed to the Star, that journal says :—ln our telegraphic clumns will be seen a telegram stating how a great scandal has come to light a^;the\Thames, to wit that certain leases- over lands 'i at Tairua for 40 and 90 years had been completed the day "before the freehold was purchased by Government. The state-ment-is, simply untrue, and the Thames people are bursting with excitement over a mare's nest. A leader which we have written on the subject, we arc obliged by lack'pftnne/tgjhold over."

His Honor the Superintendent,. Sir George Grey, was furnished with a copy of .the, agreement re Ohinemuri goldfield^just as fhe: was leaving, tfie; Thames "for Auckland yesterday. We understand thai clause, 5 of; the .deed,of cession provides for' l the granting of agricultural leases.- This being Jho case we presume His Honor the Superintendent will now be- in a position to take the necessary preliminary- t steeps 1 for bringing into operation the leasing regulations!; oaf goldfiefds. ilt cannot be expected that this will be done at once. The goldfields in the North Island are in a very different position to those 7of rthe South; but whenever! facilities are "granted for the pecupatipn of land for agricultural • purposes within tlic ITaurakior Ohinemuri goldfields the advantages'will be incalculable.