7

A.—No. 15

OE OTAGO AND SOUTHLAND.

the Shotover, taking its eastern tributary to the western boundary of the Province of Otago. North —Present Northern boundary of Otago, till it reaches the West Coast. West—The Ocean. South —Boveaux Straits and the Ocean, and to include Stewart's Island. 8. " Land district to have a Crown Lands Commissioner and a Waste Lands Board, to consist of the Commissioner of Crown Lands (who shall be Chairman of the Board) and other Commissioners, who shall be appointed by and removeable by Warrant under tho hand of the Governor. 9. "All business relating to the sale, letting, disposal, and occupation of Waste Lands within limits of district shall be conducted by District Waste Lands Board." 10. "All offices specified in the schedule, and now existing in the Brovince of Southland, on coming into operation of this Act, shall continue to exist." 11. " The jurisdiction and operation of the offices of the Begistrar of Deeds and the Begistrar of the Supreme Court, both as regards the ordinary business of the Supreme Court, as well as to the filing of bills of sale and registration of mortgages of stock, and of the Begistrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, shall extend to tho whole of the area included in boundary of land district." 12. "In case of sale of railways in the late Province of Southland, tho proceeds shall be expended on immigration and reproductive works in the district; such expenditure to bo carried on under the direction of a local authority appointed for the purpose." 13. " No Ordinance of tho Provincial Council of the united Province authorizing the sale of the railways, shall be assented to by the Superintendent unless provision is thereby made for the expendit tire of the proceeds of such railways upon immigration and specific public works within the district, according to the previous section." 14. " In addition to the share of tho ordinary appropriations of revenue of the United Province, district to have absolute use of one of the land revenue arising within it, to be expended by the above-mentioned local authority." Schedule. Customs, Besident Magistrate, Land, Survey, Begistrar of Deeds, Begistrar of Supreme Court, Crown Solicitor, Begistrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, Railway Engineer, Treasury Accountant, Post Office.

Tho following letter was received from tho Editor of the Southland Times : —■ Mr. C. 11. Eeynolds, to Mr. J. L. Gillies, Sir, — Times Office, Invercargill, 28th September, 1869. I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of two communications from you of this date. The first intimating that the Commission had resolved to admit the Bress to its sittings; the second requesting that the Press " abstain from reporting or remarking on its proceedings." You must perceive that if due publicity is desired, there can be no restriction imposed. If the meetings are open to the Press, it must rest with its representatives to determine what should not be published, and when. Until you inform me that your second memo, is withdrawn, it will, I need hardly say, be unnecessary to send a reporter to take notes of tho deliberatious of a body which he is practically debarred from making public. J. L. Gillies, Esq. I am, &c, Chairman of Commission in re Eouuion. C. H Eeynolds. The following reply was sent: — Mr. J. L. Gillies to the Editor of the Southland Times. Sir, — Council Chambers, 28th September, 1869. I regret to observe you have misunderstood the purport of my memo., or rather that of the Commission. The object of our last note was not to preclude your reporter from taking notes of the proceedings, but simply that, until some basis of proposals of union was decided, premature conclusions should not be arrived at from merely preliminary desultory conversations. This was only asked as a matter of courtesy. Having nothing to conceal from the public, the Commission are ouly anxious that full publicity (but not partial) should be given to the public of all their proceedings. I am, &c. Editor of the Southland Times. J. L. Gillies, Chairman. The Commission meet at half-past 7 o'clock this evening. Meeting adjourned at 6 o'clock till half-past 7 same evening.

Evenino Sitting. Present —Messrs. Jno. L. Gillies (Chairman), W. H. Eeynolds, Jas. Shand, W. 11. Pearson, and Wm. Johnston. The following replies were made by the Otago Commissioners to the propositions submitted by the Southland Commissioners :— Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4. —Agreed to. 5. Eight members to be elected by the Provincial Council of Southland to represent Southland.in the Provincial Council of Otago until the general election. Although the Commissioners deem the number eight: a larger proportion of representation than Southland is entitled to, still they would waive such objection until a general redistribution of the electoral districts took place on the basis proposed by the Otago Commissioners. 6. The united Council, so constituted as above, to continue until the new electoral districts are defined, and the present Provincial Council of Otago expires (by effluxion of time, early in 1871). 7. The part of the Colony included in the Province of Southland, with any addition that shall bo deemed advisable by the united Council to make from the Province of Otago, shall be a separate