The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXV, Issue 3650, 31 March 1869, Page 3

The Daily Southern Cross.

LUOEO, NON trao. 11 1 km bug •xtlngaished, y.t tbm rln A thouwna biitoont from th» »p»rk I boro.

WEDNESDAY, MAJiOff 31.

The speech of Mr. Fitzherbert at the dinner given him before leaving England for this colony has been the occasion of opening up a new phase in the controversy between the colonists and the mother country. The colonial representative was, we all know, a man possessed of much acuteness of observation, and it is evident that he had concluded that it was useless to speak of England lending the colony the assistance of her army to put down the present rebellion. He does not, indeed, seem to have alluded to this as either a possible or a desirable thing, and he no doubt knew well the temper of those he addressed. What he did was to suggest in a very ' mild and persuasive manner that he hoped the sympathy so cordially expressed in England by all classes for our misfortunes would not wholly expend itself in mere words. He Beems to have instanced the substantial aid given by the mother country to some of her dependencies by a guarantee of their bonds, so enabling them to borrow money at a low rate of interest ; and he expressed the opinion that England would lose nothing and might gain much by pursuing the same course with New Zealand. The occasion and the speaker were esteemed of suificientimportancetocallforsome notice in the leading journals of his speech, and to them we must look for the fuller development of England's new theory of colonial government. The subject is perhaps rather a curious than a deeply important one to us at present. The people of New Zealand have for the most part, we believe, made up their minds to expect little or nothing from England for the future, and no new theory can j therefore affect them deeply, unless indeed it were one characterised by a return to some of England's older and less enlightened views on the subject. Yet,in looking to the future, even such crude theories as those of which we speak discover an importance not their own. Less causes have led to the decay of great empires before to-day, and we are not without some fears that England's new views about colonies tend directly to their loss, and to all the consequences that may be entailed upon her by that loss. TheTimeSjSis our readers will have observed, utterly repudiates the idea of England's helping New Zealand, even by the loan of her credit. Mr. Pitzherbert was anxious that the loudly-expressed sympathy of England should not expend itself wholly in words. The Times evidently thinks it would be a pity to allow the sympathy of England to go any further than words. It is useless, perhaps, to enter upon the question of the value of a sympathy of this kind, however highly it may be esteemed by the London journals, as the common sense of mankind can assign no value to it of any sort. What we are more concerned with is the view taken of the respective duties .and privileges of a colony and its mother country by advanced politicians in England now. The Times cannot praise too highly Major Atkinson's sentiment that, however terrible the ordeal we are now exposed to may be, it will probably be surmounted, and that we shall be all the stronger and nobler for having undergone and overcome our difficulties. " This/ the London press is ready to exclaim, "is the noble spirit which "we like to see ! This is the sort of thing "to make us proud of our colonists ! " With all respect for the London press and Major Atkinson, we think the remarks of both read uncommonly like twaddle. The twaddle of Major Atkinson is perhaps of an innocent kind, proceeding from a wish to make the best of a very bad bargain; that of our London contemporaries being utterly selfish and very contemptible, whether looked at in its moral or intellectual aspect. However good it may be to overcome difficulties and endure troubles, no man is idiot enough to desire to encounter them in his own person, and we should cei'tainly look on the man as or hypocrite in common life who refused to move a finger to help his friends out of trouble or difficulties, on the ground that they would probably get over them, and, if so y would be all the better for it. Yet it is this kind of thing that is not thought too absurd and contemptible for the London Times to retail to its readers when the troubles referred to are the savage murder of whole families of their countrymen and women. But it is not a little amusing to find that the idea is abroad in England that not only is the new way of treating dependencies cheap, as everyone will admit it is in mere money, but that it is sure to be profitable. The limes is certain that to send help in the shape of ships and soldiers to a colony in need, or even to help its failing credit in a moment of emergency, are "now traditions " of the Colonial Office, and not necessities "of a Colonial Empire." It cannot be too glad that the new reign of economy has exploded the idea of spending anything on colonies, and it sees no reason why the colonies sKould not he lt feeders instead of " drainers" of the mother country. Prom a writer so evidently devoid of any knowledge of his subject, it would perhaps be unwise to look for more than this, but anything more utterly silly it would be difficult to conceive. The idea that any country can i-etain colonies •n such terms for any considerable period is of course absurd ; but this ia not all. So far from reckoning on colonies as "feeders" who are treated as England now thinks she ought to treat her colonies, they ought fairly to be looked upon in a very different lightl They will not on these terms become '♦feeders" or supports of England, but the reverse. They will beai? her no goodwill, as they will owe her no gratitude ; but, on the contrary, they must bear her a grudge, and will inevitably leave her in no friendly way as soon as they find it for their convenience to do so. It was on no such terms that England' built up a colonial empire : it is on none such thatshejieed hope to retain it. If England has not yet • learnt the truth which all history teaches — that the only terms on which- colonies can be a source of strength to a ;ss&er country are thos^ol help and prbteitlg^iitt "time of, »ee,d, esveinat some cost— she^rß%et do aoby/the-josS'Of^all

for part at least of her colonies. For oar- ! selves, as we have said, we believe New ZeaI land has little or nothing to hope or fea* | from England for the future. So for as losing ! the confidence and the affection of our settlers is concerned, we believe that this has practically been done already, and nt great aggravation of of the mischief is now possible, so far as we are concerned. % But, with other colonies it lis not so as yet. The Australian colonies are not yet estranged, nor need they ' be so, unless England is bent on carrying out the new view of colonial policy. Unlike ourselves, they 4o not force England to be either generous or mean at once, and we hope she may yet take warning and re-consider the new policy. Unless she does so it is hopeless to talk of maintaining her colonial empire. When a country is too weak or too economical to be of any protection or use to her colonies, she must lose them, and, if this is recognised as England's position, this will certainly be England's fate.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the City Board of Commissioners was held at the Board •room, Canada Buildings, yesterday afternoon. Several letters were read. The usual amount of discussion took place, some of it between the Chairman and Mr. Stainei being of rather a lively oharacter. Mr. guinea ultimately left the table and proceeded towardsthedoor.butas though unwilling to leave the room he remained examining with much minuteness a large number of dog-oollara of various sizes which had just been supplied to the Board for the purpose of confining the necks of *U unruly and refractory cuts. At this auspicious moment the band belong* ing to Cremorne Gardens passed, playing with much spirit the well-known air "Marching through Georgia," which seemed to afford an opportunity of a reconciliation being affected. The whole of the members ruahed to the window. Mr. Staines told the Board they had no ear for music : but the harmony of the band restored the harmony of the Board, and all the members again sat down, inoluding Mr. j Staines, whose wrath appeared considerably mollified by the eootfaing strains of Almaok'a band, and the business wa3 proceeded with. It was reported in town last evening that aj oase of champagne had been stolen some days ago from the premises of Mr. Beebham; North Shore, and which was subsequently disoovered^concealed in the cellar of a house by Mr. Banki, _the district constable. A meeting of gentlemen interested in the formation of a salt-water bath at the foot of Hardinge-street wa3 held at the Star Hotel, Albert-street, when Mr. Brophy occupied the chair. Plans, of the proposed j bath were laid before the meeting, and upon the motion of Mr, Thomson, seconded by Mr. Symonds, a committee, consisting of Messrs. Hesketh, Brophy, and Alters, was appointed to wait upon his Honor the Superintendent for the purpose of soliciting a grant of the required site. The officers and members of the Auckland Rifle Volunteer Corp3 will hold their usual monthly inspection parade on Monday evening next, at 7 o'clock. After the inspection, his Honor the Superintendent will present the flagon and other prizes, and the corps will march out. A meeting of the oreditors of Mr. W. C. Hill will ! beheld at his office, Fort-streak, at noon to-day. The annual licensing meeting of Justices for the District oE Marsden is advertised to be held on Tues- < day, April 20th, at noon. Mr» Gillie?, we understand, was a p*sseng.>r by fcbe 'Eai,'le' for New Caledonia, where resides a brother of his, the owner of an extensive plantation. The annual tea»meeting in connection with the Edwardes-Btreet Primitive Methodisb Chapel was held in the school-room yesterday evening. A most liberal meal was provided, to which about 150 persons sat down, and— as the stereotyped phrase goes — did ample justice. After tea, a puolio meeting was held in the chapel, when addresses were delivered by the Rev. Messrs. Buller, J)avies,Macuioool, Cornford, Wallis, Maodonald, and others. Our report of the proceedings appears elsewkeie. We were in error in our issue yesterday in stating that the cricket match, England against th* world, was to take plaoe on Thursday and Friday next. It will take place on Thurhday anil Friday, the Bth and 9th April, in the Albert Barracks. An error appears in our issue, of ye^erday giving the result of the shooting at the Auckland Hamley Gun Club, which rendered the shooting incorreot, and the whole paragraph unintelligible. In shooting off the ties it is stated that " Mr. Aitken succeeded in bringing do^vn two of his number, while Mr. Hamley shot all, the third being wounded, bub rising again a-id getting off tbo ground*." It wivs intended to state that Mr. Hamley 's second bird in the first shooting fell wounded, but rose aq-un, and got away, which of course did not count in his favour. Tha following score, however, will explain :—: — Mr. Hamley 10 1 Mr. Aitken 110 TIES. Mr. Hamley 11l Mr. Aitken ... 110 We understand that his Jixcellency the Governor has been invited to become patron of the above Club. A coroner's inquest was held before T. M. Philsou, Esq , Coroner, at the General Cameroa Hotel, yeaterday, to inquire into tbe circumstances attending the death of a boy named Leslie Walker, who fell over the Queeu«Btreet Wharf on Monday last. After a number of witnesses had beeu examined, the jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death." A rider was added to the verdict advising that the police should be instructed to prevent small boys from fishing on the wharf. It is to be hopel that the rider addeJ to the verdict of the jury at the inquest on the body of the boy Leslie Walker, yesterday, will bfi given effect to by the authorities. Everyone who has had occasion to do business on the Queen-street Wharf must have been subjected to considerable annoyance by the host of small boya who resort there daily for the purpose of fishing; and, looked at entirely apart from a preventive of acci ients, it would at kaat be a pubbc nuisance put a stop to wore boys prevented from fishing on the wharf. But tho number of accidents which have occurred to lads engaged in fishing on our pier is very large, and but few weeks pass without adding some new case to the already long list of casualties, which, if not all fatal, ate still serious enough in themselves to warrant a stop being put to the practice. We may also take this opportunity of again drawing the attention of the authorities to the great waut of hospital appliances at the end of the wharf. There were no means of rescuing the unfortunate lad from the water until drags were procured from a vessel near at hand, and a boat lowered, and oars placed in it. A quarter of an hour was thus wasted, and the poor lad, who appears to have injured himself in falling, was, of course, past; recovery when taken out of the water, and rowed all the way to the watermen's stairs, although skilfully attended to by a medical gentleman from the North Shore, who happened to be near at hand. We do not hesitate to say that if the proper appliances had been where they ought to be, namely, xt tbe extremity of the jetty, the ' boy's life would, in all probability, not have been sacrificed to the parsimonious spirit of our Government. We are given to understand that no proper board of control over such matters exists ; and certainly think it; is high time, considering the great number of similar accidents which occur, that means were taken to constitute an effective body of such character. The Superintendent might appoint deputies to act in his name, and the mercantile interests and City Board ought certainly to share the responsibility which now is veßted solely in his Honor the Superintendent, on whom, considering the multiplicity of his duties, it ii not fait to impose the whole of such ones. We published a statement a short time ago to the j effect' that carbolic acid, sprinkled in a room, will effectually banish mosquitoes. We are now informed that it will produce the same effect on the, cimex, leotularius which swarms ia the wooden houses of the dirty parts of the town. Indeed, all the insect tribes seem to hold it in detestation, and a gentleman Who has lately travelled in Queensland, , a country. i« which . it is tcircely , possible to place the fooOwithowtornshing a host of ants, states^that after bathing his face and hands in a solution of the' ' acid he was never,. troubjed;by these,,", busy, little^ insects making a pathway itf his body during the night, ; *sia their cuitom, •■ „t .*; Th« footpaths ', Jn the Grkfton, and . ' Ky^erjpasi' Eoadf, and in"th¥ upper,p'»rt of Symonds^slreet^atft^ %ning^bhemg towed and ssoria giaTdbein^ljuff ffiyfay'&e |^el,f%]>w§T|r;'Btemr |6 «£jHg£

to Walk on, , *nd pedestrians are not without risk of ■evere tgtfta$ > 'Bt requTreMome kind of " blinding" before pe^le wilt be iii'duced'to leave the centre and trußfctheiiiselveson.it, We have been reqnerted to call attention to the time-table o{ the p,s. * Royal Alfred,' published in another column, from which it will b9 seen that she will make two trips from the Thames on Friday next, namely, at 10 a.m and 8.15 p.m. We hare been favoured with the following extract* from * letter written last September by a sheep-far* mer in Buenos Ayres, to a correspondent here, which may be ' interesting to many of our readers; The writer was formerly a squatter in this province:— We have had av ery fine, mild winter, and rain off and on for the! lust* three' weeks, which was just what we wanted to give us a lift well into the summer. The sheep' have been doing very well, but still keep low in price—about 2i. a head, mixed. Boiling down is the order of the day. They ;say by November next about seven millions will have been got rid of in this way, and this ought to nuke a difference in the value of .those remaining. I have a small boiler of my own, and have been working since April last. By shearing time we shall have) killed about 9,009 of our own, besides one or two small lots purchased. Of these, about 7,500 were old 1 ewes, which I culled add kept the ramfitm* I find in this way they give about 161b. tallow, which, with thejskt-i, gives a net return of about 4s, to 4i. 6d, per head. Wethers give 201b. In this way there is money to be made here still* even supposing wool keeps low, but I believe the real way to make sheep farming pay would be to follow your example and fence the land. It ought to 1 pay us even better than you, as we can keep three sheep to the aore, and if the land were fenced we could keep four at least. At present it is impossible ■ to keep free of scab, and having to close-herd and corral the sheep keeps down the iaorease terribly, besides the expense of keeping many hands. About eleven miles of fencing would enclose some 15,000 aores of this place-r-the river iencing nearly two miles— which would then keep, I think, 60,000 sheep. The fencing would not cost muoh, if any, more than With you. We shall never get prices like yours for our wool, but I think by ouring and culling, for which lasb the grease-pot gives us a good opportunity, the sheep would give 61b. in the grease, worth at ! home about Bd. per lb. Taking the increase even at the present rate, there would be besides the wool 15,000 sheep to boil dowu each year. The land would cost at present about £10,000. People here are all going into long woolled sheep. They might perhaps do here, as the pasture is bo rich, and they would not have to travel far for their grab. I shall leave it to others to try first. The finest olover meadow you ever saw in England might give you a faint idea of what this plaoe h like just now; but no grws I ever saw at home comes near this for richness in a good «e»son. I fear you will find the 73. tax very heavy with wool'so low. I see by the last accounts there has been another fall in the London market; when is it going to atop I—Qtago Daily Times, The death of the " lait man " of Tasmania is a touching event. In 1777* Captain Cook found the natives, as recorded by the surgeon of the * Resolution,' " a mild and cheerful race." They were sub. sequcntly numbered at 2,000, divided into several tribes, speaking different dialects, keeping to their own portions ot the country, and living on the pro- j duoe of their d&ily hunt. Evety cause that can lead to the destruction of a people conspired against them ; and now, in 1869, King Billy, so called "the last man," haß carried to the grave the name, the I sorrows, and the last remnant of his race. With whom is the responsibility of this extinction ? When kindly treated they were not ungrateful. There are instance* on record of friendly relations preserved with the natives, even through all their provocations. Dr. Boas, who was connected with the Hobart Town Press, states that he had intercourse with them, renewed .every year, and that they were useful in many ways. They eagerly assisted to extinguish the flames which were kindled too near his dwellingplace. They rather promoted his iafety by assisting in the pursuit of white robbers ; and, even when they had inflicted dreadful outrages on many other.*, provoked by extraordinary maltreatment, ttiey still preserved their kindness for him. Such is the testimony of one whose position enabled himjj to know both the good and evil of their character* We need hardly, however, wonder at the exasperation which made them the enemies of the colonists, and led the colonists to seek their destruction. Their contact wibh men, often of the most infamous character, who, having all the pride of race, were not one step above them in moral sentiment, ensured their speedy destruction. The appearanoa of a black man was regarded as a sourcs of danger. Small par- j ties were formed to pursue and hunt them down. "Five shot and one taken," was no unusual bulletin. Law or justice or public opinion could hardly be effective beyond the towns, and thus year af cer year the natives diminished until they were reduced to a few score, and this number, though incapable of any resistance to civilised warfare, were sufficient to keep the colony in constant alarm. 'Che campaign of Colonel Arthur to capture the entire black race, and place them in some retreat whpra they Bhould be prevented from mischief and preserved from oppression, was known as " the bkck war." The plan was to form a lino acioss the island and to sweep the natives on to Tasman's Peninsula, and so bring them into captivity.— Sydney Morning Herald. A Detroit gentleman, named Wilder, has recently invented a new propelliug power for street cai'3, concerning which the BtiroitJFret Press says : — "Air. Wilder's invention is destined to revolutionise the whole Bysteui of street railroad appliances for attaching a locomotive engine to the forward car in such a inaunei' that neither steam, smoke, nor cinders can escape ; and the noise made by the machinery i* not so great a3 that produced by the working of a Wheeler and Wilson's sewing machine. The boiler is fixed upon the platform, and occupies a space ot 20in. in diameter, with an altitude of 3ft., while the engine is completely hidden under the body of the car, and proteoted from dust, frost, suow, &c.,by a casing of wood and galvanised iron. All four of the wheels oE each car are driving wheels. The engine has a capacity of 6 horse power j and as the shaft makes two and a half revolutions to one revolution of the wheels, the latter will reach 15-horse power. This iucreaso of force is calculated to be of great advantage in starting the car and in turning corners. The economy of working, by comparison with horse cars, is said to be great." The following recipe for pickling pork and bacon may not be altogether unacceptable to some pf our farmers' wives. It is taken from the New York Tribune, and runs as follows : " Water four gallons, sugar or molasses two pounds, saltpetre two ounces ; salt six pounds, if coarse ; if fine, rather more. Boil all together and skim ; pack the meat in a vessel, and pour the pickle on cold, sufficient to cover the whole ; should remain in from two to four weeks before smoking. In corning beef I use the same kind, or the same pickle will do, if scalded, by sprinkling the same between the layers of beef, as it requires to make the pickle.. As often as scum rises on the brine, it should be scalded and replaced on the beef cold. By io doing corned beef will remain good late in the summer. When hams are taken from the smoke-house, and before auy flies coma about, they should be seourely wrapped separately in ao old newspaper, and tied up in a flour or some other sack, and hung or laid up U a cool, dry place, and by co doing you may have good hams during the year." The Order of Freemasons ought to te incontinently one the less if this anecdote be true:— "At the Clunes Police Court on Thursday, during the hearing of a charge fgainst a prisoner named William'B. Goudy, for obtaining money and goods on a valueless cheque, the prisoner had the bad taste to make Mr. Dowling, P.M., » m*sonic sign. Mr. Dowling, who wan about to allow the prisoner bnil, immediately remarked that, the prisoner having attempted to' influence him in ths discharge of his duty, he would decline to accept bail." Mr. O'Sullivan, the maypr pf Cork, wasin the theatre, on January 8 during the pautomime. The pieoe 1 contain* a number of local allusions, and at one containing the words, "Down with the Tories," the mayor rose and 'said " That's right— down with the Orangemen I" These words produced the utmost commotion loud hisswg. The mayor, greatly excited, repeated the words,' and nude hostile demonstrations at the gentlemen in th« , boxes , but was pacified by the boxkeepirv ' '