DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume I, Issue 20, 2 September 1843, Page 3

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.

Supreme Court. Tiie half-yearly sitting of this Court commenced yesterday, for the trial of civil cases, )f which we arc happy to say, there were not lear so many as might have been expected. We regret that owing to the nearness of the hue of publication, we are not able to give lo full a report as we could wish ; however, Ive trust to make up for" this in our next jublication. The first case for trial was an action to •ccovcr £500, brought by Dacre of Sydney 10-aiust Thomson, as a partner of the firm if Dalziel and Co. Certain goods had been unsigned by Dacre, for sale, to the firm of Dalziel and Co., at a time when Thomson vas not connected with them. These goods, w a part of them, were subsequently sent in charge of Thompson to Nelson, where they cere sold on account of Thomson, and the udividual partners in the firm of Dalziel & }0., transacting business at Nelson, under he name of Anderson & Thomson. The ury in this case found Thomson liable for lie debt, although at the time the goods rere consigned to Dalziel & Co., he was no mrtner in that concern, and never has been. Tho Goods in question were consigned by )acve to Dalziel & Co., with -whom Thomson had no concern, and they were by Daliel & Co. consigned to Thomson & Ander;on for sale at Nelson. The verdict given in his case may have been equitably and morally ■iglit, but it was certainly not that which a ury of men of business would have given — Dalziel & Co. were alone responsible to Dacre: Thomson & Anderson were responsible to Dalziel & Co. and not to Dacre. It is a great defect in this Court that there are no assessors ; questions and matters requiring a knowledge of mercantile transactions are submitted to men who, though it may be well informed and disposed to decide fairly, are still totally unacquainted with "business matters, and are therefore as likely to decide the wrong as the right way. There ought to be assessors to determine such matters. A verdict was given against S. A. Wood in favour of Williamson &> Crummer for a promissory note amounting to £50. The next case was an action brought by Lewis against Heale Sinclair & Co., both nerchauts hi this place, for the recovery of ;lie amount of certain goods given by the ormer to Ilalswell & Sturgeon of Manukau ■ipou the Order of Mr. Mole, Manager to Messrs. Heale & Co. — The Attorney Gene'al and Mr. Berry conducted the case for he defendants, but no defence was made, ndced we do not see how it could be deended upon tho issue. — A verdict was given i'- favour of Mr. Lewis. A verdict was given 122 favour of Wilson >f the Bay of Islands against S. A. Wood, l pon a promissory note for £100. There fas no defence made. Brown & Campbell obtained a similar r erdict against S. A. Wood for a promissory tote amounting to £G3 10s. Od. Mair v. Wilson for £170 was undefended, u d decided in favour of Mr. Mair. Elmsley v. Cruckshanks for £106 7s. 3d, fas also undefended, and decided in favour •f Elmsley. The most interesting case was perhaps, hat of Captain Best against Ilargreaves, I or the value of a horse lent to, and injured" y Hargreaves. In a moral point of ' view, ' his was a -detestable case, the horse in ques- J 'on, -vras lent by one friend to another ; tho orse was injured, and the friends quarrelled id went to law. Witnesses were brought for- \ 'aid by the one side, to swear that the horse r as from the first almost valueless ; by the ther party witnesses were made to swear and 0 prove that he was tho finest animal that °uld be. It would occupy more than the aiits of our paper would allow, to report •ther the evidence in this case, or the elouent addresses of the Counsel on both sides, fr- Bartley conducted the case for the laintiff, in his usual zealous, and energetic tonner, he was peculiarly happy on this ccasion, and displayed not only a large toount of legal knowledge, but also a con-, 'derable acquaintance with horse flesh, and Ul "f customs. He kept the Court in almost 1 roar of laughter during the whole of Ms Peech. The Attorney General stood for he defendant, and made certainly one of the cs t speeches on this occasion, which we a? e ever heard him deliver. He repre3Qted in a very forcible manner, the unusual

nature of such a case, and endeavoured to rescue both parties from the odium of bringing a private thing like this, an affair indeed, of honour, before .a Court of Justice. We quite agree with the learned Attorney General in this very proper view of the case. It is the very first instance in which we have heard of a person in the rank of a gentleman bringing an action against another gentleman for such a debt. An extraordinary item in the damages claimed by Captain Best, was the sum of £2 for killing his own horse : £40 damages were given in this case.

Port Nicholson.— By the Brigand we have re«. ceivcd news from the above place to the 9th of this month, by which we regret to find that the late proclamation issued by his Excellency Mr. Shortlantl, has had, as we anticipated, the effect of instigating the natives to commit serious acts of aggression against several of the settlers, by driving them in some in stances, forcibly off their farms. The greatest discontent and confubion appear to prevail throughout. This foolish proclamation has been attended with llie most pernicious effects, as far as Port Nicholson is concerned ; and had Mr. Shortland been really anxious to ruin the place, no more successful plan could have j been devised than this proclamation. To issue a notice of this, kind to the natives, during the excitement and jealousy produced by the Weiroa massacre, was, to say the least of it, most unwise, and most impolitic. A caution in the native language to European settlers not to occupy disputed lands, appeared to the natives in the light of a permission, if not a request to remove the whole of the settlers at Port Nicholson, for it was well known that nearly all the lands at Port Nicholson were disputed by the natives. Besides several persons who have been actually driven away from their lands on the Hutt, we understand that the natives have given notice to nearly half the inhabitants of Wellington itself to quit. The Company's Agent and the County Judge are among the number of those to whom the now supreme natives, have given this friendly intimation. It is impossible to give any adequate idea of the extent of mischief' discontent, and actual distress, that have been produced by this measure of Mr. Shortlands'. borne people complain of this gentleman, because he does so little, but we beseech him to do nothing whatever, for whenever he takes it into his wise head to act, mischief follows. The people at Port Nicholson are now actually and literally without any Government, without any order or protection. Mnjor Richmond, who is now three years absent from her Majesty's service, and from his regiment, and who, notwithstanding receives and pockets his full pay, while others do his duty, has been sent by Mr. Shortland to receive some more of the public money at Poit Nicholson as Police Magistrate. This gentleman issues proclamations accusing people of being under arms for illegal purposes, and yet, when he is appealed to for protection by the Europeans against the outrages of, the natives, he will render no assistance. Why has Major Richmond been inflicted on the settlers of this colony ? Why does he not attend to his own duties, and in his own regiment ? Who is Colonel of the 96th, that he allows his officers thus to be absent from her Majesty's service ? What right has the public money to be spent in this manner ? If Major Richmond prefers Mr. Shortland's reserve to that of her_ Mjjesty, then let him resign his commission as an officer of the 96th, and do Mr. Shortland's work, whatever it may be. Officers on full pay should attend to the duties of officers, and nothoko town allotments, Banking shares, and Newspaper property in New Zealand. We wish Major Richmond well, but we heartily wish him out of New Zealand. Ixdustuy of the Nattves. — We were not a little pleased a few days ago in walking round Mount Hobsoii to perceive the change that had taken place in that quarter by means of the industry and exertions of our peaceful and valuable native population. No less than fifty or sixty acres of forest land are now being planted with potatoes by the Manukau and Waikato natives, who are I eager to share, in common with ,our other 1 native neighbours at Hauraki the advantages derived from supplying the wants of the I Europeans of Auckland. To avoid the expence and inconvenience of carrying produce from their old plantations, which are at j great distance, they have wisely determined upon occupying and cultivating the lands in the neighbourhood of the town, which the Government in their wisdom refused to purchase for a trifle some years ago, but which the natives would not now dispose of at any price whatever. We do not regret that the best lands in this district are still and will continue in the hands of the natives, they will in this manner be the more speedily brought under cultivation, and the natives themselves will have the better prospect of being improved. All these natives appear to be under the direction of a young intelligent chief called Webster. It was a very gratifying sight on Sunday evening to witness the solemn and decorous manner in which they all assembled in the open air to hear the young chief perform religious service. We wish those persons who abuse the natives as savages and monsters not fit to live, had just the same opportunity of witnessing their

conduct as we had on this and many other occasions, and if they were themselves possessed of any of the sensibilities of our nature, it might tend to change the tone of their opinions on this subject. We are very much surprised that there should be no resident Missionary in Auckland. Neither Church nor Wesleyans seem desirous of occupying this most promising field. We fear the Bishop of New Zealand is any thing but mindful of the interests of the natives. He appears to hide his light in a Bushel in a very small corner of his vineyard. Auckland would be a more likely place for him to live in than the extreme north end of the Island, where there are no Europeans and few natives. Much was expected of His Lordship by his own church and even by other sects, but all have been disappointed. • Mechanics' Institute. — Wo aro happy to hear that, the Rev. Mr. Churton has kindly consented to deliver a Lecture to the Members of this Institute " On tho Poetry of Cowper." The Lecture will tako place on the evening of Thursday first at 8 o'clock, at the Rooms of Messrs. Brown & Campbell. /' Maxukau Company. — We understand that the Home Governmect have sanctioned the Claim of this Company, and made them a Grant of 20,000 acres. This will be a decided advantage both to those who have purchased lauds from the Manukau Company, as well as to the whole Colony, in as much as it may now be expected that this , Company will immediately send out immiIgrants to settle upon their valuable lands. TempEraxce. — We understand that Mr, Langford' will deliver a lecture on tho principles of Temperance, at the Wesley an Chapel, on Monday evening, at 7 o'clock.

American Blight. — Amongst the most destructive enemies to garden productions may be mentioned the American blight, which has been lately introduced into this colony with some apple trees from Van Diemen's Land. The proper term is the appleaphis (A. lanir/era), it first appeared in tho neighbourhood of London about the year 17U5, and proved exceedingly destructive to young apple trees. It is a minute insect covered with a long cotton-like wool ; it breeds in chinks and rugosities of the bark, and at length almost covers the infected tree. It is said'>*that the application of the spirit of turpentine to the bark proves an effectual remedy, and wo know that it has been wholly banished from gardens where it had spread, by merely smearing the infected branches with oil. Sir Joseph Banks extirpated it from his own apple trees by the simple means of removing all the rugged old bark, and then scrubbing the trunk and branches with a hard brush. Mr. W. Salisbury in his "Hints to the proprietor's of orchards," published in 1816, gives it as his opinion, that this is the same insect which has of late infested larch trees. lie supposes it to have been brought to England by the Protestant refugees in the reign of Louis xiv., but he has assigned no reason for this extraordinary opinion, nor has ho attempted to explain why so destructive an insect had lain dormant for so many years, and at length suddenly extended its ravages in so striking a manner. He observes that some of the insects descend during winter to the upper roots, and lodge there — in cleansing the trees, therefore, these should bo examined, as well as the trunk and branches. — 0