THE SOUTHERN CROSS. Tuesday, September 24, 1861.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XVII, Issue 1438, 24 September 1861, Page 3

THE SOUTHERN CROSS. Tuesday, September 24, 1861.

LUCEO NON UltO. " If I have been extinguished, yet there rise A tbouitmd beacons from the »pntk I bore."

One of the great peculiarities of the form of Government under which we live in New Zealand is, that it enables a man to play many characters at the same time, in the political drama. Most of our leading public men have two rdles, a provincial and a colonial one ; they play the former at home, the second when the General Assembly is in session and office is the prize. But the old home associations are too strong for most men, and few can rise so far above them as to regard their duties and obligations as colonial legislators as of greater weight than their duties to the limited population amongst whom they live and have thenbeing. In other words, most public men in New Zealand are influenced in their support of or opposition to any policy which may be proposed for the Government of New Zealand by these considerations :—": — " Is that policy one which will find favour in and benefit the province to which I belong ; and how can I face the electors, who have to elect me as their representative in a Provincial Council, unless I have previously done my utmost in the General AsseHftfly" to promote the interests of that province, even at the sacrifice of the interests of others." Men are constantly acting upon this piinciple : we are accustomed to their doing so. We do not expect an ignorant man from the south, with Wellington beach ideas, to feel very anxious that justice shall be done to old Aucklanders. He probably represents his constituency, and if so, we have no reason to complain ; , let him represent them ; but we have a right to complain when men are thrust forward from the mass, receive the support of our own representatives, and act upon the same principle. We have a right to complain, when Auckland men put a Southern man into office ; into a position giving him the power of influencing j the destinies of the whole of New Zealand, and we find that he has pledged himself in another capacity to use his lest endeavours to promote the interests of the Middle Island, without any mention of those of the island in which we live. Yes : we have a Postmaster-General, one of the leading men in the present Ministry, who, after having attained to office mainly we believe through Auckland votes, has pledged himself to his Canterbury constituents to bring about separation if possible, and to do his best to promote the interests of the Middle Island. The gentleman who, in his provincial character, intends to do these wonderful things, is the Honorable Mr. Crosbie Ward. He never spoke thus when votes of want of confidence were pending, and when an intimation on his part i that he considered it his duty to look first to the interests of the Middle Island would have made the difference between an adverse and a favourable division. He was not so open then. The Auckland members were to be cajoled, and cajoled they were. Mr. Crosbie Ward took office because men fondly, though as events proved, absurdly believed that he had the welfare of the whole colony at heart. Auckland men believed in him, as he apoke with unction and juvenile dignity ; they thought that he was a promising young man to be encouraged ; but they never imagined that he was inditing at the time such an address as the one which appeared in the Lyttelton Times of the 21st August. True, there had been a certain notice of motion, a sort of repudiation manifesto with which the House had been amused for some time previously, and which was laid on the table by Mr. Ward ; but it had been withdrawn judiciously, and men had chosen to forget it. It was regarded as a little ebullition of feeling excusable in a youthful member, with a name to make in the South and none to lose in the North, and not only excusable, but under the circumstances shrewd. It was a fine bid for Southern votes : an invitation to all men who dislike sinking ships to sheer off. For our own part we never looked upon the ship as sinking, and could afford to laugh at the would-be deserters who only returned to their duty when it was made worth their while to do so. Mr. Ward was one of these. He talks no more to us of the Northern Island alone bearing the expenses of a war into which our connection with Southerners has led us, since he was spoken of as Minister. But en famille amongst his friends at Lyttelton, he speaks from his heart. " His heart is in Lyttelton wherever he goes,'* and though Postmaster of New Zealand, the Middle Island is the sole object of his solicitude. He never ventured to state in the House of Representatives what he has stated in the Lyttelton Times, that the time has arrived for separation ; but he confides it to the trusty columns, seldom read by the public in the Northern Island. And there he stands revealed : — " I declare it to be my conviction that the time has now arrived when the Provincial Councils and the public may and ought to take the first steps]_towards achieving the [separation 'of

the islands of New Zealand into two colonies. Should you do me the honor of electing me, possibly in my absence, I pledge myself to use my best endeavours to promote the best interests of the Town of Lyttelton, of the Province of Canterbury, and of the Middle Island generally." Two points are raised in the passages which we have quoted. Firstly, Mr. 0. Ward regards this as the time and the hour for the South to work for separation, and secondly he looks upon himself as an instrument, if elected, to work for the benefit of the following provinces : Southlaud, Otago, Canterbury, Marlborough, Nelson ; the Middle Island in facb. The same man is holding office and has something to do with Wellington, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, and Auckland, but his great idea en famille is to look after the Middle Island. The interests of that land are to be paramount : those of any other part of New Zealand are of minor importance. What though Auckland may have been the victim of southern combinations, and the whole of the northern island a corpus vile in the hands of southern experimentalists ; what matters it 1 The South has sat upon northern grievances and squashed them ; taught northerners how they ought to defend their lives and properties ; and then returned home again rejoicing to the land of wild dogs, strychnine and scab, happy that they have no militia duties to perform, and without fear of seeing the fruits of years of labour destroyed in a few hours. Let us take the fiisi steps towards achieving the separation of the islands of New Zealand into two colonies, says Mr. 0. Ward. The Provincial Councils and the public can bring about such a result, and it is thenduty to do so. Now is your time. Our highly respected responsible Minister does not exactly state the terms upon which partnership is to be dissolved. It v ould be as well if he did. It would be as well, likewise, if responsible Ministers as a rule would refrain from coming forward in provincial contests : doing so exposes their nakedness or, at least, their barefacedness ; and finally, if a man comes forward and undertakes responsible offices, involving duties towards every man in the country, we shall always protest against his deserting his post and informing his immediate neighbours, men with the same interests as 'himself, that the welfare of one half of New Zealand is dearer to him than that of the other half, that Canterbury i 3 New Zealand, and the sole legitimate object to be sought by a responsible Minister, that of promoting the welfare of that province.

Breach or the Harbour Begulations. — At the Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday, Walter Baird was charged with a breach of the 20th clause- of the harbour regulations, by throwing the body of a dead horse into the harbour at high water mark. He submitted to the charge, and was ameiced in the penalty of 40s. including costs.

Breach of the Merchant Shamans' Act.— At the Resident Magistrate's Court on. Iriday last, John Hill, William Anderson, John Hume, and Daniel Wood were charged with a breaoh of the Merchant Seamans' Act, by wilfully neglecting then duty on board the ship ' Northumbeiland. 1 After heaung evidence at considerable length, Mr. Beckliam, E.M, dismissed the chaige.-*'

.^Tob Coromandm,; Ho ' — Those vho are anxious to piospect Coromandel thoroughly, have now ample opportunities afforded them, as we perceived yesterday that large placards vrere posted throughout the city, stating that tho screw-steamer 'T?h««nix' and the cutters ' Besiy' and ' Wanderer,' wer(f laid on the beith, to ply between Auc'dand and Coromandel thuce weekly. That gold exists in Coromandel there can be no doubt. We have seen several beautiful specimens of the glistening ore taken from thence, of the very purest quality. The extent of the gold deposits has yet to be ascertained ; and as the natives do not seem to be opposed to our testing the matter to the fullest, theie can be little harm in prospecting the district. We beg to call the attention of the authorities to the fact that very considerable injury to private pioperty has been committed lately by horse? being turned out loose at night in the city, with the view of grazing m the more unfrequented parts. These animals natmally enough find their way into private enclosures, wheie the pasture is more plentiful, and gardens have not uufrequently been destroyed in a night In one instance, we have been informed of a garden gate having been opened several nights in succession by some person, who turned the hoises into the pnvate enclosure, and inflicted very serious damage to the proprietor. We are not aware of any law that sanctions this, and there will be but little difficulty in putting a stop to it by impounding a few of the animals. If this be not done, a moie expensive process must be resoited to.

Papakora. — Concealment op lirth at least. — At the Kesident Magistrate's Court ou Friday, Mary Pollock was brought up on a warrant, charged with concealing the birth of her illegitimate child, at Papakura, on a certain day in August last. The only witness examined was Dr. Meiedith, of Otahuhu, who stated that he had been waited on by the accused at Otahuhu, requesting that he would give her a certificate that she was not enciente. Ho replied that he could not do so unless she underwent an examination, which he recommended her not to submit to unless it was absolutely necessary. Subsequently, on that day she admitted that she had been recently delivered of a child. A postponement was applied for, and granted, till to day (Tuesday), bail being taken for the appearance of the accused in three sureties of £300 each. Mr Merriman prosecuted on the part of the crown, and Messrs Brookfield and Beveridge represented the accused.

Caution. — Employment of Naval Deserters. In Friday's Cnoss we intimated that a prosecution would moat likely be instituted against a paity in this distriot, under the Act, 10th and 11th "Vic, cap. 62, sec. 11, for employing a deserter fiom her Majesty's navy, knowing him to be a deseiter. On Saturday last, such a prosecution took place. A bushman named Isaac Whalen, of Titirangi, was proceeded against by the officer commanding X M.S. 'Pelorus,' under the clause of the act named, for em ploying Thomas Singleton, of the ' Pelorus/ in contravention of the statute. The man Singleton obtained leave of absence from the 6th to the Bth Juno last, on the evening of which latter day he met the defendant in Auckland, and began drinking with him. This was resumed again on June 10, and on the 13th of the same month Singleton was engaged to work by the defendant, who w*s told that he was a deserter from H.M S. ' Pelorus.' Singleton was arrested on Sunday week. — Mr. Beckhain fined "Whalen £30 and costs, with the alternative of six months' imprisonment and hard labour. In default of payment, he was committed to prison. Mr. Merriman conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Beveridge the defence.

Rifle Band Concert. — We beg to call our readers' attention to the programme of the concert, to be holden this evening-Jn aid of the funds of the Auckland Rifle Volunteer Band. Last Friday we stated that a musical treat of an unusually attractive nature had been provided by the band committee ; but since then certain alterations have been made in the programme which add to those attractions. In the first part, the song " Gentle Annie" has been added ; and in the second part, the song "Jessie's Dream," a tale of the lelief of Lucknow, by Mr. Blockley, author of "Love Not," has been chosen instead of that previously advertised for a l»dy amateur. The programme is, however, rich in musical gems. The " War Song" from Horseley's new oratorio of Gideon, has never been produced im Auckland. It is arranged for male voices entirely, and will be rendered by fourteen vocalists, with orchestral accompaniment. This new opera it highly spoken of by the musical critics of the London press. Another gem is the "Drum Song," from the Daughter of tlie Segiment, the recitative of which has been assigned to Mrs. Oorlett. Donizetti's music in this song has been universally admired, and wo are sure it will bo given with becoming spirit tonight. These are only a few of the many exquisite selections the band committee have made fiom the rich store of operatic and lyric music at thoir command, and we earnestly recommend all who wish to enjoy a pleasant evening to attend the concert. We undei stand that Major-General Cameron, C.8., will be piesent in his uniform as Colonel of a Scottish regiment of volunteers.