AUCKLAND.

Press, Volume V, Issue 583, 12 September 1864, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

! We have again to notice an entire absence of news !in the Auckland papers. The Weekly News of the ] 3rd inst. in its summary of events says: — j The past week has probably been the most mark- \ edly devoid of military news of any we have had , during the last fourteen months. At Tauranga all is quiet, and, it yvould seem, settling down into a comfortable State of peaceful settlement with all reasonable rapidity. At the Waikato there is no sign of a single Native enemy, and the worst- signs of warj apparent in the districts so recently the theatre of our grand contest for supremacy, are recorded in the shape of courts-mart ial upon the delinquent soldiers, who have been guilty of nets of violence worthy of: the most sav»ge Maoris. Not even an old Maori lady ' -cms to have graced the week*' proceeding, by a ( -urrender ; but it must be confessed that the aspect l I ofaliairs seems to justify the popular opinion, that if i peace has not been made, yvar is gradually dying out ! from the want of fuel to maintain it.

it hiii....i ':i .--V .1 ...i :i.T i..' j, ~,,_ . ( ■■'"' •'.'"-'-' ',''' ! -' • , : i — ;j .1 iu..,1.y In!, t, !,.. .->,..-: i-.wui .it. or .. ~. or H.-t;!«... l u. i; t. J.,;,., , s „ , :# ~; .ju-.ee N. p ;-:.,ke of b,:.i i-.-s ; jiM as s>:u- ii..;iOt 'ii.iv be felt if f i!,,» ~ ..:.-ir.i«d ir .-.i the l-ronf 0 t the .M|| 4at Uili K.-iuuvit :.- to be U.k.-d upon ,„ a .-tep towards >c;ue or war. ine .-olony, how-ver, lias tverv reason a nope iliat the men of the Ist Waikalos" uu v 00 llowed rather to distingu.sh themselves in throwing "' ,p diu-hoMh.au int.-eiicliuiems v and in planting potatoes atlier than cannon in their new homes. What is gomg to be done at Taranaki no one now?, and «hat is, perhaps, even more surprisintr lobody professes to know. That something lm t urn up if lUicawber-liko wo only ivait long enough or it, even at Taranaki, may be pretty safely asserted - aid so far as appearances go this seems 'to be our iresent policy with respect to that province. Th ouference between Maori royalty and Maori uperstition at Taranaki can hardly" hist lon* and vnether it terminates in a furious onslau<r| lt '" v mt- post, or a break up llnally between the Northern Kid Southern reb<-1 3 , it can hardly be otherwise thin advantage to the cause of ultimate peace and )rder. it is said that tho General proposes going to -iiranaki soon, but it is not knowu what the views 0 f be commander-in-chief may bo as to a third Taranaki .•ampaign. Official Despatch.— The following despatch ;rom licr .Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for lie Colonies was published in a Gazette issued on the Ist instant :—" Dowuing-streot, 27th Juue, 1864 " Sir, —1 have the honour Io acknowledge tlio receipt of your Despatches Nos 17 and 32, of the sth aud 6th of April, the former endo,ing _ letter from Sir Dum-an Cameron containing a report of operations whuh luwe been successfully couductel by Colonel W'arreat New l'lymouth, resulting m (he capture of the rebel position,—and the Litter enclosing copies of letters and communications which had readied you relating loan important engagement which had taken place with the rebel JSaihvs at Urakau on the Upper Waipa. 1 have to express to you the satisfaction with which 1 have read these accounts, and 1 notice witii great pleasure the high terms in which Sir D. Cameron speaks of the gallant conduct of the officers and men under his command, and your own expectation that this engagement may aid materially in bring- " ing this lamentable war to a conclusion. 1 take this opportunity of observing that the inconveniences to which tho Australian colonies are exposed from the continued übseuee ol the small detachments of troops allotted to them have been strongly urged upon my attention ; and I must express my earnest hope that~ iv case your anticipations should be realised, you will not fail to take the earliest possible opportunity of restoring to New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and Van Die-men's Laud, the troops who have been withdrawn from those colonies.—l have _c. K_iy\'A_i» Ca-dwell.—Governor Sir George Grey' X.C.8., kc" .' Supreme Court.—The Criminal Sittings of the Supreme Court opened yesterday in tli Provincial Council Chambers, the iittiugs, &c, of the old Court having been removed there during the last few days. The general arrangement is a decided improvement upon the old Court, but there is a noticeable absence of light iv the Council Chamber, the Crown Prosecutor having been unable, as he stated to the CounV to see to read his brief in the latter part of the afternoon, unci the gallery appropriated to the reporters •of the public press being so dark as to render it difficult to read ordinary print. His Honor the Chief Justice dehvered a \ery lengthy charge, and strongly animadverted upon the state of the Gaol und Stockade, remarking that if such yvere the result, " of responsible government, it would bo better to be delivered over to the paternal Government of an Austrian despotism. His Honor, also quoted largely from a report made " in 1861, to his Excellency the Governor and tbe House of Representatives, showing the then state of ■ these prisons; and he pointed out that- with oar increasing population yve had increasing crime, bat no increase of prison accommodation to meet it. In the course, of his remarks, his Honor slated that the governor of the gaol received ouly £150 a-year, and tiad out of that to fiuii hie own house accommodation, ~" ibus greatly reducing the income, low as it was. In •' concluding his charge, his Honor strongly impressed upon tho grand jury tho necessity of an entire altera- - tiou in the present state of things as to the prisons of the province, uud reminded them that the suffering! of the prisoners were beyond and outside any punish- 5 I ment that tho law intended to inflict. At the dose of the charge the grand jury retired to their room, and the ordinary business of the Court proceeded. i The Court was densely crowded the entire day.-" ] Southern Cross, Sept. 2. Discovtitx of Coal.—A correspondent of tin Southern Cross, writing from Wangarei, aaji!— Within the last, lew years pieces of coal have oof*" ! sioually been found in the bed of the Wairohi- river* which joins the Wangarei river at the landing place here. This circumstance was sufficient^to convince - any one that a bed of coal was situated somewhere on the river's course, and various parties have from time to time endeavored to trace its whereaboutl, bat . without success, until the morning of Wednesday, the 24th August, when it was found by a Native, onnaoW land, cropping out of the bank, within a few yards.of a tributary of this stream, in the bottom of a'gulht - and within a feyv minutes' walk of the house of ItfV , Francis Wood, Whauwuau. The seam is up«r_rj_ol / tour feet thick, and the quality of the coal is excellent- f |It is well adapted for smith's purposes, as well al'for / - cooking, giving a bright flarno and great heat.. I* I seems to be very rich in gas, and to have the qualitiM of a good steam producing coal. It is apparently of i the same quality as the seam which was found at Hlkuranga some months ago, yvith the advantago- of . : beint instead of twelve mites distant, less than fottf miles from the wharf. No doubt it will be found | under all tiio land in the neighbourhood which is not • ' volcanic. Tho importance of this discovery to tb» , settlement and the colony at large will doubtless 1* very great. There does not require any outlay to W | made lor roads, provided the seam can be s_*ttckOß j the side of the hill next the Whauwlxaa, which » _,.. almost certain. The present good road will Wqu* . sutticient for the purpose of any amount of tra»*.> I being on a gentle declivity all the way to " I J-LECno- or Coloxel Haulxalv.—We are p& - i that Colonel Haultain has allowed iuinself to bejM» !iu nomination for the vacancy created in the J*Pj"|'- .- ! seut-xion of Franklin district by the death of WwjMl i iNison. The following letter, addressed to & e ™j"*- - man of the meeting of electors, who commuHU**W with Colonel Haultain, has been received, and, a w absence of that gentleman, has been hanoed | publication :—Dear air,—ln reply to your . the 20th instant, informing mc that it ▼_* J**™*?- , of tho electors of the Franklin district, " we^ - Auckland at a preliminary meeting on that «»7» **£ 1 should be put in nomination for ■ fl &s_*r f ": House of Eepresentatives vacant by tbe Ceattt friend, Colonel ffixou, I hare no hesitation cepting the invitation, only regretting should be such a vacancy to fill up ; and 1 yHJajjfr you will convey to those gentlemen - honor they do mc. I have, &c, T. AL Southern Lross, Sep. 2. ", g__' "•"