HOKIANGA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) March 25.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3019, 30 March 1867, Page 5

HOKIANGA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) March 25.

OrjK favourite liner, the clipper barque 'Lion,' Captain Howard, sailed for Sydney "on the 20th instant, with a full cargo of spars, junk, sawn timber, kauri gum, wool, and several p*BS ( engers ( by this well-established and direct route. The" vessel is to ,be thoroughly repaired and coppered in Sydney, and on her return to this place with,merchandise will j robab]y be ordered to the Mauritius for sugar, &c, some other clipper being temporarily placed on, the line. We have lost, the best and most influential chief in the' JJfbrtb, Ar^ma^Piijaka (Adam Clarke), who died on jthV 20tE instant at the township, Herd'a Point. .His remains were removed to Waima, tie place of .fiis tribe and former residence, and large numbers of natives have assembled, according to their custom. Be Married the daughter of Hongi, the most celebrated warrior of New Zealand, she having been the •widow of Boni Heke, who caused the war more than twenty years since; and' she still survives as the widow of Adam. CJarke. Bib loss will be severely felt by settler?, more especially at the present time, as, under his direction, the tribe were preparing to individualise their, lands, and adopt the manners and customs of the pakeha, with whom deceased was a great favourite —from his far advanced ideas of civilisation. Had he lived to complete his arrangements, Waima would have been a model for all other tribes ; and it is sincerely hoped that some one may arise who will have sufficient knowledge and influence to complete what he has so well begun. Capital, energy, enterprise, talent, industry, and perseverance in this district have rendered us commercially independent of Auckland. The necessity for this was caused by the uncertainty and lose mode of conducting business concomitant to most of our Auckland transactions. The same sjiii it extends also to provincial neglect or mismanagement. Illustrations of this have been published regarding the expense and annoyance caused to a Mongouui settler, and the glaring loss and injustice infliqte<X on Mr. Cocbrane and the province by the capnce of our authorities in withholding wasteland from those who are willing to expend capital, and become permanent residents in the North. There are now in this district 17 persons desirous of obtaining, land in quantities varying from 50 to 500 acres, with the iutention of occupying and improving the same ; but the restrictions, distance of land office, uncertainty of ■ucceeding in securing the intended locality, and delay, operate as insurmountable barriers to our progress, as very few have the capital and perseverance displayed by Mr. Cochrane, for six or seven, years, to obtain waste lands, on which several pounds, sterling per acre must be expended to secure permanent advantage. A law was passed about eleven years since by the legislature of the United States of America which enables every bond fide settler to obtain 160 acres for the purpose of residence and improvement. It is only required to register the same in the district where it is situate to secure the title, without any payment whatever beyond the fees of office — a mere bagatelle. Our Solons imagine they c..v secure settlers to the "Waikato or any other 'place they may in their wisdom think proper. These operations will, in many instance*, prove a delusion, settlement being a voluntary act on the part oi the settler ; and many will be attracted New Zealand) to the west side of the United States of America, to the 'vast plains of Monterey, rich valleys of Nevada, Napa, Los Angeon, and many other localities in Washington, Oreglea, California, and Sonora, where a site for a homestead can be obtained without the unnecessary difficulties created by the authorities in the province" of Auckland, which tend to expel, instead of retain capital, and industrious settlers.