The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIX, Issue 1744, 20 February 1863, Page 3

The Daily Southern Cross.

LUCEO NON UltO. " If I have been extinguished, yet thero rise A thousand beacons from tin ipark I bore."

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 18G3. The Provincial Council resumes bu&iness today, after a rather lengthened recess, and we trust that the first consideration with members will be the interests of the Province. Many important measures will be introduced, requiring, in their discussion, the exercise of both judgment and candour, and it is to be hoped the Council will so "deal with them. We do not hope for unanimity on any I important proposition, nor is unanimity of opinion at all times desirable ', but the sole aim of criticism ought to be to make the measure under consideration as perfect as possible. The extension of roads, and consequent opening up of the country for settlement, will, doubtless, be among the first subjects for discussion, and we cannot well indicate a more important one. We require an extension of our cultivations on all sides, an enlargement of our borders and resources ; and without roads these results cannot be attained, It is not our province to dictate to the Government any particular line of policy ; and so long as they relieve the provincial income of the heavy annual charges for repairing portions of the Great South and North roads, Epsom and Kemuera roads, and devote the saving to the task of rendering outlying districts accessible, we are indifferent as to the exilct plan. We have, upon previous occasions, expressed our views regarding the best mode of making the lines, through settled localities, self-sup-porting j but if any other be devised, which will have the same effect, it is not worth quarrelling about. There may be many plausible reasons urged why the Great South Road should be" made an exception ; but we think the majority of the Council will not be disposed to make any exception in its, favour. The general prosperity of the province depends upon the judicious expenditure of the public money ; and we deny that it is a judicious expenditure of several thousand pounds annually, on the repair of the lines near Auckland, while so many valuable districts are lying waste because it is not possible to get' to them. The Drury railway scheme will ,also be brought under the' consideration of the Council, , and we - apprehend will, lead to the' expression n of conflicting opinious. We -reserve our comments , üßg^tne railway -project until .the,, proposition $f!the Provincial Government \s fcefcre us, wugn, we will know exactly 'what we have todiscusßj. remarking only that there should not; be any precipitancy manifest in arriving at a decision. We hope the subject will be maturely/consi- , dered in all its bearings by the Government before it is brought forward, and if so, there will be the less difficulty in arriving at a correct judgment .mpon the advisability of commencing the work. We believe also a project of water supply,' for Auckland will be laid before' the Council.'- ' If'weare correctly Informed j^hd' supply ' is to . bs ' had j froni the Goyernine'nt Domain., '^Should the; wortj be succe^fpiyt , carried:out, thei cost- will ' be -insignificant,- com,-,! pared with the cost of bringing the «water from* Onehuriga ; ' but- there" tp^U. tfoHbe Wanting 1 authorities ffiiedwrbjb&i no' adequate r supply can be ob^n^frpmTthS Domain,/ Legation,' 'frill likewise be/invited pnAnew, Tfl'wn [Boajd, ,Acti which, from' what "we haye .jeeri, lappe&rs,, to, be a coherency '.compared ,; wittou the/ wising Act. It will -baircostly hvwdrking, however*/ and we' believe jthe principle' of rating dn th*e will .be 'objected.' tq.^ , Ajbill^basedLoiiia' foyhmeift^^ to bVdohe in regard ,Tru»t properliflBg«?ie»)lyJbttV,^o niji^e of &£

Stater *A- mssms ffov,)ati^^ting i; ouji^-ation ,!^Qt^-', . country M Audcland \vjU s .lUcewised6mand,ithe attention -of the ; Ooundlj' t an(l t we l< iir6.-flhfelwU' ; receive ! th6ir best attefltion. ' rJn ,'cbncluaion,' 'hbJjo'tKe^iil'ebpnt' kMpn\6f iHe, PrqVhicia'l' Council inay'be clistingiusi^d fo^'mb^tib'n, and absence of political feelings pn«tne part of its members, • [ ,* r <

'_.$ , [third abtiole.]. . „; , u The possession of • Virginia, wad," from the first •breaking ,out of the oivil war, looked' upon' in both, North and South, as the grand' turning point in that great' struggle. Its invasion by General Mansfield made the real of the conflict; and. the impossibility of retaining any part of it formed the- most discouraging features in the Northern retrospect of. the first campaign. It was natural then, that the first efforts'in, the second, and more vigor Pus campaign of the 1 war should be directed towards the, .conquest of this large, populous, and most important state. It was accordingly determined' that the grand army in this war- should be that of the Potomac, whose field of operations was to be Virginia. Before attempting to lay before' our readers any detailed account of these operations, it will be necessary to give a ,sl)prt description of the field itself. Virginia, ,which is well known as the oldest and, most aristocratic of all the states of tho Union, may be divided into two nearly equal parts, which we will term for convenience sake, the hill and the plain country. The hilly district, which is traversed by several distinct chains of considerably elevated hills, — the most easterly of which is a continuation of the Great Smoky Mountains — is the western half of the state ; while the plain country lies between those hills and the Atlantic. This eastern plain is watered in a remarkable degree by a number of large rivers running from the hills in a south-eastern direction into the ocean. The most northern of these is the Potomac ; which, indeed, skirts nearly the whole northern boundary of the state, dividing it from Maryland and Columbia. The next is the Rappahaunock, running nearly parallel with the former, at a distance varying from 15 to 30 miles. Farther south is the York river, into which flows the Pamunkey at some distance from its month ; the York is about 30 miles south of the Rappahanuoqk, whilst the divergence of the Pamunkey is still greater. A few mile 3 south of these last mentioned rivers, are the James, and Chickahominay, the latter being a tributary of the former, and approaching much nearer the Pamunkey than the James, which bends considerably southwards. At the base of the triangle, or small flat peninsula, formed by the James and its tributary the Chickahomiuay, stands the city of Richmond, capital of the state, and indeed of the whole southern confederacy. The only other geographical fact with which we will* trouble our readers, is, that the small river Shenandoah, which runs into the Potomac at Harper's Ferry nearly forty miles about Washington ; flows nearly at right angles to all the other rivers which we have mentioned, only divided from them by the most easterly of the chains of hills ; so that troops marching up the valley of the Shenandoah, would head, — or in military phrase, turn — all the rivers, taking their rise from that chain of mountains. It was on the 9 tl» of March (Sunday), that General M'Clellan's army crossed the Potomao into Virginia. The passage was effected at Washington, and was entirely unopposed. The army which was massed upon the southern shore, was beyond all comparison, the finest ever seen in America; and indeed was such as has but seldom been brought together in the old world ; it numbered about i 50,000 men, splendidly equipped ; in the highest spirits ; full of confidence in themselves and leaders. Such an army seemed more than sufficient for the purpose. But the northern generals did not trust to that army alone ; their schemes were much more extensive than this. Arrangements had been made, by which at least two more columns of troops should penetrate into the state by different routes, all converging upon Richmond. One army was to be conveyed by sea round to the Rappahannock ; there to be landed, and from thence to advance from the east ; while another was to traverse the valley of the Shenandoah, and thence burst upon Richmond from the west. No scheme could have looked more admirable upon paper. Since it failed, however, critics have not been wanting, who have demonstiated, how it must infallibly have done so. Perhaps their acuteness may owe somewhat to recent experience. The southern troops were massed as was believed in great force at Manassas Junction ; and their great defensive works had contributed not a little to the long delay of MClellan in opening the campaign. Advancing by slow marches, a dis tance of about twenty miles, the army, of the Potomac found itself in front of the southern intrenchments. Their surprise and disappointment may be imagined at finding nothing except the intrenchments jto oppose their progress. The southern ar#ry,was gone. In what direction no one could tejl ; but' with, how fatal an influence on the projects of M'CleJlan, was evident to every one, Northern Virginia was impassable,' Not a bridge, not a culvert, not a yard of turnpike read r or railway embankment, was left undestroyed. The South ' had conquered by . retreating ; for, all advance, was mow clearly impossible. MClellan led his army back. to Washington, and set to work to frame an ew scheme of operations ; to'db him justice, he 'wasted not a day. An entirely new plan was 1 matured, and §et in motion within( less 'fchan a mouth" of his'disap : pointment MJanassas. It will be remembered ,' that betweenfthe'fYqrk.aud, James rivers, there lies <a,n irregularly, shaped . but narraw,-tracfc of .country,, kndtwn, fas^tbe Y.ork"t6wn> peninsula. 1 $}c extreme 1 eastern poWj; of this, tfce 'grand army was landed by the transports under the protection' bf r nbrtheVn | r gu'n-boats; wa, distance {of about ftfty_ jniles, from Richmond. J j Sweeping ,the whole width, 'of,. the peninsula befpre'him, and- protected on < both flanks; by thejaccom-,"panyinggun-boats, eM'Glellan ■ began tois-steady * advanceupon' the's'outhem r 'capital. ;! On the' 7th of April he "had* advanced 7 to'YorßpWrt, and -there,; where'Hhe iSr'nujSt 'narrow, 'found, Hrosejf .'opposed* by<a< southern asny ; r jManassas,-in a jqgst^prmida.manner. f jThe^parallelfwasi atiUVjtnp're*. remarkable, wlieft, after conductipgiuogtilaborioys rsiege" works-for' agouti # '^rtriig^^M'GiellKn 1 bfouM, lriffiself onejSutfday morning left' jester 1 f fg fe^tponj b«|st%t Slo|e^!l|e? a outh^ ]?l^\fski<ty^ fcs#W&f< tP^r^sl'^jimona/, lAfter/^ptrpying all. they; cquld^thafc.jWa^likely • •to fproyfc f of service to^hft invaders. JrNpthing » .jWasJeft tocbe done Jbuti'to^followij ,an&4this< accordingly 1 was !) dori|||mtbS fr/good deal of ■energy; J so'much' s&inde&f as to^eoable^some 7 divisions So] com^^^^ ■jfeftrfully steady^nd^gu^ir, 1 r.The sheer weight 3 p'f jflu $99bfmjt'<oir toVMHfa'! s?we4*Wt%

r jpointj /f Qt .Jbearing .down^ll .opposition vHampr** .^ovktOAVn }va3\thisiivo\vn witJii j scarcely a blow; and'.'iiow^ Norfolk, dir'the side o£Ub£ James Y iiver^ surrendered to the gun-boat fleet' > while the'retiririg soldiers Miouf 'MeriyJao/ ' To people not oti .the spot there, seamed 1 (^r;cely; aidoujt^liat; the 4 lipurs of Bichmond, as soiithera capital, yt'prjß .numbered ;,(and even those of the^most southern synipath'ies'fcould.only say, a a nation beaten ■is riot a nation' subdued." It may haye 1 seemed 'less"assured to-the Wctual conlbatants'; but' even the most, sanguine 'southerner things, must havpr seemed, l darfc e';iougUt .('MfCleJlan,, witli nearly 100,000 of the Sliest troops ever seen in .America, was within about twenty milesbf: their capital j General Halleck,< ably seconded by Pope, was advancing from - Tennessee with • 120,000 more ; and was no longer opposed by ( Beauregard who' had suddenly re'tr,ejited from Corinth. Qeneral,Gran,t, with,. about sd#oo' droops was . penetrating in the same jdirection, and had almost reached the head of the Shunadoah valley. Truly, affairs were not promising and almost the best, which we can imagine them to havo ' hoped, must have been that all their scattered forces might be able to gather for lheir 'defence round the entrenchments "of Richmond. On. the other hand, all M'Clellan's schetnes seemed on the eve of a full accomplishment. He was himself in sight of his prize ; he- heard that Halleck was-no longer opposed on the south-west; that, Grant was on, the point of descending from the Smoky, range on the north-west ; and ho could scarcely have doubted that he was on the point of repeating in the new world, the famous drama of the battle of Leipsic.

Total Abstinence Society. — The fortnightly meeting of the Auckland Total Abstinence Society will be hold this evening at half-past seven o'clock, in the Odd Fellows' Hall, ana to which the public arc freely invited to attend. Cobomandel Gold. — Yesterday Mr. R. Kelly, of claim No. 4 Driving Creek, brought up 260 ounces of gold dust, the produce, ot 1561b5. of stone taken from the claim. The report is generally satisfactory from tho diggings. Body Found. — Last evening the body of John Porter, whose death by drowning in tho Manukau has been already reported, was buried at Onehunga. It was found floating in the water on Wednesday night. The face was very much disfigured, but the body was recognised by the clothes deceased had on when last seen alive. Baptist Chapel. — Tho services on Tnesdaj r evening at the Baptist Chapel, Wellesloy-strect, were conducted by tho Rev. P. H. Cornford — the resident pastor, and who preached an impressive sermon to a large congregation from the text — " And the sea gave up the dead which were in it.'*— Revelations, 28th chap., 13th verse. A collection was afterwards made, and the sum of £5 2s. realised. One of the ' Okphetjs ' Boats Fot?sd. — We have been informed that a diagonal-built boat belonging to the • Orpheus' has been found by the Kaipara natives, near tho South Kaipara Head. In the boat was found a box of papers, some seamen's caps, (which the natives are now wearing,) and a small case containing threo medals. A native chief has possession of the papers and medals and will forward them to the Government. "

Proposed Bkchabite Tent for Auckland. —We call attention to an advertisement inserted elsewhere in tliia day's paper, to the efl'ect that " all persons willing to aid in establishing in Auckland a tent in connection with the Independent Order of Rechabites, Snlford Unity, Friendly Society, arerequested to attend the ensuing fortnightly meeting^ of the Auckland Total Abstinence Society, which will bo holdcn at the Odd Fellows' Hall, this evening, at half-past seven o'clock, when a statement will be made of tho measuros that have already been taken to promote the formation of the proposed society.'

Immigration Certificate Act. — The claims of the following persons, under the " Auckland Immigration Certificate Act, 1858, Amendment Act, 1861," are to be investigated this day at the Sheriffs Office : — John Stowe, arrived by the ship ' Shooting Star,' from Liverpool ; tyTaiy M'Laughlin, ' Martaban,' London ; Poter Paieo, ' Cresswell,' England ; Honry Hunter, ' Cornubia,' England ; Thomas Osborne, ' Cornubia,' England ; Robert Riding, • Eastfleld,' England ; William Han-is, 'Joseph Pletcher,' England; R. E. E. Plimpton, 'Ocean,' Melbourne j Joseph Eoblcy; Tliomas Welsman, 'Egmont,' London ; Henry Potter, ' Egmont, 1 London ; William Potter; ' L6rd Ashley,' London.

TOWN" BOARDS ACT, 1863. The provisions of tins measure niny be briefly summarised. It ropoals the existing Town Boards Act, defines the boundaries of the city, which is to be divided into wards for the purposes of the Act. The Board is to consist of six members and a chairman; and members may resign at pleasure. Provision is made for vacancy by death; and a member absenting himself for threo months from the Board is to forfeit his seat. One .third of the members are to retire annually, when successors are to be elected. The returning officer is to be appointed by the Superintendent, and shall compile rolls of the electors to be transmitted to the Supoi lintendent. Provision is made for elections, and tho qualification of» voters and members is defined ; and the mode of procedure at tho Board is likewise described. The minutes of the Board to be open, for inspection on paying Is. I fee, and the* meetings are to be open to the public. Power to make and levy ratos periodically on the annual value of promises, save those exempted under the Act. The Board may make any suoh rate prospectively, in order to raise money to pay charges and expenses to bo incurred thereafter, or retrospectively in order to raise money to pay charges and expenses already incurred. Section 37 requires an 'estimate to "be prepared by the Board, of the' money required , before making the rate ; and tho next "requires that notice of an intention to make the rate be published. The rate is likewise to be transcribed and kept : open for inspection, and copies or extracts may j be taken or made/ under a penalty of £5 in case of refusal by any one having the custody of tho statement or rate. The rate may bo amended from time to time. Persons aggrievod are required to* give notice to tho Board, and every person whose rate is altered, is entitled to notice. A valuation, of I<he net annual value of the, property rated is to be , made, the valuer, making a declaration that it has been done fairly and impartially ; tenant to supply information to valuer of th.c rent paid, under, a penalty of £5 for, refusal. . Section 46 provides that unoccupied, premises are to be included in the rates, anaVr if the „premises,, premises, are, t afterwards occupied during, the, continuance of. the rate, a proportionate -sum to be paid. : Owners and leaseholders to /pay, rates. • Provision is made for.colleotion and recovery, the rato book tq bo 'evidence}} Remedy, is nad against 1 persons quitting before payment a£rate» ; and tfie rates 'aretfo'Rei^portioned on the holder quitting. Rates duefjwinvowner maybe recovered from the . apcupier.^ho is entitled to [deduct tho -amount ■fifo.m, the .rent ?: The, oooupier, is, bound under a 1 penally, of* £6 to, disolose the name of the owner 'to the, .collector., >; - -», u. ' > . ' The. remaining sections of the Act provide for i the i making ajicV keeping of jfenoe's,! drains, and, sewers, f sewers^not , ,to be made funded a penalty.- - Power ,is- given -to, repair the, ;to£sB, .compel. the .flushing of sewers;, to,put,up the jnojjreo >pf the^ streets,, erect urinaja, water, l 'stre.ets, J andi apgpiAJi an' officer, of healthy Stagy •*■ ;ffi#Cfo& j&f^moyaj .ond^abajfment^ of, and jnspeqtion.of lodgingthoUses, of wiucn" a register is to be kep^.,Th©~ Board '^nay ' contract for lighting the city /providing fire plugs, and

Lclodk^may'-'bT j>ffi : \%iVyj™tW Bbar^ There aro borrowing powers provided, loans to 1)0 raised' wiih.tHe^aiiClfcibji'ofjtlid,' Superinien-. dent and his ' Execut^vb .^ouncil. v 'Th,ore, .is to' he all' annual balancing^ 'of 1 accounts, , and ari) audit. l»ower, t i»! given, to appoint ."officer^. There arp sections (smpowbring ilfe t , Chairman to make eohtraclir'and enter into bonds' in' his ■jowri name .on behalf of the Board; and members of tho Board are prohibited from becoming ( contractors.' The Superintendent is authorised, to dologatb'powers 'under , the Building Act. Bye-laws are, to be ( confirmed, and have the effe'et of lafc after appearing in Gazette.