NEW PLYMOUTH. (From our Correspondent.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume V, Issue 270, 29 January 1850, Page 3

NEW PLYMOUTH. (From our C orrespondent .)

Tnß New Plymouth ploughing match, races and rural sports, came off with great eclat on the 27th and 28th December last, and were numerously and respectably attended. Nine teams entered, and seven contested the ploughing match for three prizes of £5, £2, and £1. The three successful candidates were, Wm. Russell, T. Bayly, and J. Rundle, three lads who first learnt to plough in this settlement, and who performed the work in a most creditable manner. The races followed, and both the condition of the horses and appointments of the riders, showed a decided superiority over 1848. We doubt if they were surpassed at the metropolitan races. They consisted of the Taranaki stakes of 10 sovereigns, mile heat, weight 10 stone, under 5 years, 6 and over, 10 stone 7 lbs. Five horses started. The winner was a bay mare " Okiho," (owned by Waiaua, a native chief) taking both heats. The tradesman's purse of 5 sovereigns, mile heats, won in like manner by " Kosiro" also the property of a native, beating t^ree horses. The Maorie race for 5 sovereigns, milo heat. Five horses started. This was a well contested race, and was won by tho mare " Okiho," taking the second and fourth heats. The rural sports came off on the 28th and 29th, Dec, and consisted of wrestling matches, in which an aborigine William Beat, carried off the first prize of £2, throwing our best Devonshire wrestlers, playing in their own way. A running matoh for half a mile, contested by about twenty Europeans and Natives, was won easily by a native, Tomati Taua. A running match for 200 yards, two heats, won easily by Thos. Good, Esq., beating Tawa. A trotting match for two miles, won easily by a pony belonging to Arepa, (a native) trotting the distance in 7 mm. 52 seconds, beating " Nelly" and " Okiho." Besides which, there was climbing a greasy pole ; hunting a soaped tailed pig ; leaping, and moodling barrows blindfolded, and a variety of other sports, devised and superintended by a well known Hibernian gentleman. The natives joined heartily in the sports, and having been successful competitors, appreciated the liberality evinced by the Europeans towards them. Upon receiving the stakes, Waiau contributed 1 sovereign to the race fund, with the offer of a further subscription if required. But one individual objected at the settling to running against native horses, trained and ridden by Europeans, but ho could find no seconder. The " Pekin" for London, via Otago and the "Thames," from Auckland, arrived at Wellington on the 26th December.

The only paper brought by the "Ilia-mama," from the Sandwich Islands, is a copy of the "Polynesian" of December 22. Among the few matters of interest to be gleaned therefrom, is an article embodying a review of the "Right of Suffrage/ enjoyed by the subjects of his Hawaiian Majesty, in which, after citing the Constitution of 1840, which they state to be still enjoyed to its full extent by the whole people, they have the following : — " In view of the above facts, it was with perfect amazement that we read a com-? munication in the "Times" of the 13th inst., in which the assertion is boldly, but most unjustly made, that • the. people do not enjoy the right of suffrage., Wedfaallenge the writer of that coniiriUtiioation7 to:

produce a parallel to the universality of the right of suffrage in the Hawaiian kingdom ! There is nothing like it in anj other country. "Whoever pleases, is the language of the law ! There is nothing in it requiring a man to be of such an age, or worth so much property, or that .he pays so much tax for the support of government. — Who ever pleases may vote for a representative in the House of Commons in the Hawaiian Parliament. And if the writer of the communication alluded to, who professes to be j a naturalized subject, has never been re- j presented, the fault is his, and not the government's or the law's. His Quixotic onslaught upon an imaginary evil, and his bombastic appeal for assistance to accomplish what already exists, is most lamentably ludicrous ; while his ignorance of the subject on which he writes, is perfectly apparent, although he may have 'studied jurisprudence in an European university ?' That he may be vex*sed in the law, we will not deny ; but that he has entirely overlooked both the constitution and the laws of this kingdom on the subject on which he writes, is quite manifest from our quotations above/ Prospects op Hawaii nei. — There has never been a time since the discovery of this group of Islands by the illustrious Cook, when their prospects were so flattering as at the present moment. Their geographical position, in the mid-Pacific, has rendered them important as the resort for the large whaling-fleet that has usually visited them j and to this source, almost exclusively, have they been indebted for their commercial prosperity. Of exports, except the supplies for the ships which have resorted here, we had scarcely none. And of these, some have have had to be sent so far for a market, that the expenses absorbed the entire profits. But times have now changed. The wonderful discovery of gold in California, and the immense influx of population into that country, have opened up a bright prospect for these Islands, in an agricultural point of view; and it is impossible to look forward into the future without the most sanguine hopes of seeing them advance with wonderful rapidity in wealth and importance. Instead of sending our natural productions around Cape Horn, they are now sought in our own harbours j and instead of being limited to one or two staple articles, eyery thing that they produce is eagerly grasped, and a high price paid for it. The only drawback upon the matter is, that the present supply is exhausted, and that vessels which have resorted here for cargoes of produce for California, are obliged to return with but a partial supply, or seek in more distant groups, what we are now unable to furnish. Several vo&sels now here are obliged to go to NewZealand, New South Wales, and the Southe n Continent, for supplies which these islands could easily produce. —In view of this state of things, we earnestly call upon all who have influence in the government, to hasten the settlement of the land claims, and endeavour to meet the crisis that has arrived. There are many of his Majesty's subjects who are eager to commence the cultivation of the soil that is now lying untilled, could they but procure it. But no visible progress seems to be made towards the settlement of these matters. When will the subject be made to move forward ? If the present Government machinery organized for the purpose, is not sufficient, is it not the duty of his Majesty's advisers to recommend the immediate assembling of Parliament to take this particnlar subject into consideration? We believe it is, and hope to see it receive the attention which, without question, the present crisis demands. If seized with skill and vigour, the present emergency for the productions of these islands, will render them wealthy and prosperous j but if the right moment is allowed to pass unimproved, other groups and other localities will reap a hardest which, t>y position and natural facilities, belongs to the Hawaiian Islands.