THE The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1875.

Thames Star, Volume VII, Issue 2044, 23 July 1875, Page 2

THE The Evening Star. PUBLISHED DAILY AT FOUR O'CLOCK P.M. Resurrexi. FRIDAY, JULY 23, 1875.

lir a paragraph! in yest^rday's'lssu^ *w,e" adverted to the subject of the agricultural leasing regulations for Ohinemuri, ■ aiidthi-iiieaiis whictoh"ad-be.enH:aVen*tp; • let His Honor Sir .George Grey knpw -that the regulations had ibeen received with marked dissatisfaction. His Wor-, shiprth^Mayor-J-it -was who 1 took upon; himself:: to let Sir. George Grey, know that the regulations as gazetted" were not generally acceptable, and thp Superintendent; with a/promptitude which shows that he..has.-the interests of the community at. heart, at. pnce put himself in commumcatipn With, Warden" Eraser with a riew to amend the regulations if it were found that such could be 'donewithout'prejudice to the Govern"ment 'or' tM 'Natives'. We may ;state : .Jhat the fees provided for by tiie jregula^; tio;ns are the minimum fees charged ; un>: ; der the Goldfieids Act in.any part of the Colony, and therefore the Warden who;; ■ compiled/; i the; regulatibpS may be ac>-: quitted of anything "like blame in. the..: matter. '. And- ; pf-^ fthese fees, itmay be said, if .. there ■ existedL. the : remotest '"probability that in the . course pf,,a.few „y r «ars. lessees ; Biight ac-? \ quire the fee-simple of their land; there-;-Would ■ be no ;:bbjectTbri to them' on the' ■ score :of excessive But-th^e ob);; J jection arises put of the peculiar circum-i : ■' stances-rattelidiDg- th^> present tenure of; ;■ the Ohinemuri goldfield by. the Gov.ern'^: ment, the probable difficulties whicE. ! stand in the way of the said Governmerii; • -completing the acquisition of the freeholdjj ■ and .the" vagueness of the clause which 1' relates .to the;acquirement by miners of: their-respective areas at the termination "of their leases. In the other Provinces where goldniihing; is an" established industry, and : in -which the agricultural ,:leases ,sy ; stem is in operation, the land'iis the property .of. the Crown, and thereiis no difficulty in the way of lessees acquiring the freehold of their ■ properties iafter^they haveimpfpved'the.sjime.. But at Ohinemuri the Natives .are still owners of the soil, and some diniculty niay yefc be experienced in completing the purchase of the'land, Under the; present regulations, therefore, persons takirig'up leases would have no i security whatever. They might occupy and improve the land ; build houses and cultivate the soil ; but at the end of 2T^eavs theypwould. have no: guarantee .that 7 the fee simples would be theirs—no hope of getting.:ev.en value fpntheirimprovemenfs. However, as far as possible Sir George Grey has done':his best to facilitate matter&;;.by.instructing.;..War;den, 7 .Fraser to enquire into the whole question, and if ppssible to.am'ehd the/regulations so a,s to make the provisions more generally' acceptable. If the area, available for settlement should be found to be larger than "it was represented! -no : doubt an increased^area to. each lessee .will;be allowed; the survey" fees'wilibe reduced, if pdssiblej and;son?evportion;;of : the disappointment expressed may be removed. Sijp George Grey, we learn, did.upt:wish : to encourage the cupidity of early appli-- - cants by-allowing';t6o' "much Jaiitude in the matter of area,; but it does not follow that,he had any desireitpiiinder the early occupation of the land available. On the contrary,l .we-believe••" that^he has hjen actuated by a sincere, desire to*promote settlement, and if only the difficulty that stands, in the way of acquiring the freehold could be removed, we are.sure that there ;j Would exist ,li ttlp;.. grounds, for ;complaint "inVthe regulations as gazetted.

A PflEss Agency - telegram informs ;us that there appears to be- a /misunderstanding as'to-the meaning of the;<Gr6vernor/s speech; re abplitipn of .Provinces. This i!S; - certain]yv-j^ather :_ inexplicable. Most, people put their own construction lipon words,._;an'd:.the Governor's speech appears to us to. be pretty plain. But the telegram;goes pn-to explain—not what: is conveyed in. the Governor's speech, but rather what seem to us to be the intentions of the Government, although such intentions were not very clearly-expressed, in the opening speech. It would seem that Ministers are prepared to go further than they were really warranted in going by the resolution of last session. „■' This does not surprise us jh the least. We anticipated that the ;_Government; would take time by" the forelock and submit such a measure as would not only provide a substitute foi': Provincialism in the North Island, but., would v be comprehensive enough to'meet the wishes of the people in the Middle Island, who, .with the " few /exceptions ■■;0f.6 constituencies immediately interested in the Provincial capitals, haye almost unanimously declared for the abolition of Provincialism. :The: Goyernment are; prepared ■ with a measure which will, meet the circumstances of North and South, and in thus anticipating the feeling of the country they will no doubt secure some supporters who would have been found arrayed against-them had it been proposed: to apply the abolition experiment to the North Island alone. Municipalities and Uoad Boards are to be substantially .endpwed--subsidised we presumeis meant -raiid" the ;land-.'fund•" will^be applied, in part locally and iti introducing population. It would; be iiseless to speculate on the details of the'measiire; to be submitted by: : :the ..Government..> No doubt; it will be open to amendment when its clauses come to be considered. The Government are not committed body and soul to details. It is their duty to submit the Bill; it will be for the collective wisdom of the House to elaborate its provisions

so as to make it generally acceptable to the people as a substitute for the present ejfeto^sy^;ton of? ; .; Provincialism, of which .^we have|j|aa' mu^more than enough.

;^^STE^D^y's"..Atic"l£]and telegrams cqn< i^y^^p^ed^; of information—or rather; :|)oliticdl; : go^ipr?r, : wbicli may be xnore; 7-pf similar impprt "winch have appeared. ; We allude toftbe paragraph which stated that Mr Stafford's' name bad been mentioned in connection . ;w.ith t.bc,,Groye.rninenfe v .., Jt^auid v ; l n.p.tsui;-. prise us to learn that Mr Stafford had accepted the office of Premierpnor that Sir Julius Vogel bad superseded Dr ■freatherstonq as Agent-General. The* latter Trill, we imagine, be recalled, or his; "appointment cancelled. That such will be deemed' ;a .necessity 7is ; pretty" evident dfter tbe disciostilres of the ebrrespbndence re immigration matters. Moreover, Mr Stafford has' statefd/iftjthe"debate oh ::the Address in'^£sls'that ori'allQuestion's on' which the Government would stand or fall they : would receive^ his 'loyal" and cordial 1, support.: '■ .t-'With Mr : Stafford; as Premier thfre -would be but a feeble Opposition." His accession to office would brinjj; ab^Qut a fusion of the. strongest, ele? inents"rin;r^tbe a^d the..;:Gjovern-. 'm'ent^C:"wqnld%'carry ' everything' before j:;;in ;; the' present,';;with a cer■■tainly;<of: ; ;a;:^m^jori^r ; iix::;the new, Par : ;-liamenfe:"Mr;S^ffof ;s6lfan-:unitnistak'a.ble;-"termß. The-'p'rinci-plfes enunciated^^;by/thei-presenl; Governmeht are identical^^ With .those which Mr .Stafford has; been"; advocatiug for years; andif^^^his'>snvic'ti6nßjshould rise superior '^?ipar|yv-::feeHia^j:;;he/.:.(^ui|d accept office |withput : sacrificing pnej-single point. The; S4e.bate"pti-^he,:^ddres^^ so far as; Tfr- has ■ gone, indicates: an.unusual degree >6f:;Strength on the Mini'ste"rial side pf the : House, and the ,OppPsitibii:have betrayed ;UDWstakable^signs ;^f^eakness in; thei 'which/I^ kri;^pjpurnmeiitv^^rhe h^^ ithing ;\i m '■■ -the^iAddress Vlwhichi ■cp^l^be: ? tiak©K;^is"iairjground for^ <iebate: ; this "iiipp^^s'fibjhky^beeii. doh6^or:-.the^ppb-;-sition wbuld nbt have attempted a stand at so early, a period, of the session,-when their-.■':.'rank's.' were conspicuous r,by the absence of prominent members.