The Daily Southern Cross.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVI, Issue 3990, 6 June 1870, Page 4

The Daily Southern Cross.

LUCEO. NON UHO. If lli.we l>een extinguished, >et there lise A t*Vsaml beacons from the spark I bore.

MOXBAT, JUKE (>, 1370.

We iind that we were unjust to Eai 1 j Givuivillc, in our leading article of j Friday, wlion commenting on his Lord- i ship's rtiinaiks in reference to the demand for military aid to New Zca- J land. The report, from which we quoted, docs nob truthfully convey the sense of ■what the Secretary of State said on that occasion, although wo deemed the JUuropoa/i 2la i l, in. which it appeared, a sufficient guarantee for its accuracy. This is greatly to be regretted, inasmuch as very many persons in the colony will peruse the summary in the European Mail, who can have no possible chance of comparing it with the extended i % opoi4;in the ! London morning papers. As jo\irnalists, however, we feel it incumbent on us to sob ourselves and Iho public right as far as possible. There are too many real and substantial grievances to be complained of on ihe part of this colony against the Imperial Government, without adding imaginary ones \ and as we desir:; to deal with facts and realities, we are bound altogether to disclaim the inferences which we drew from the inaccurate veporb in question. The necessity for this explanation, and correction, will be perceived from the subjoined extracts :—

(European Mail. ) On his aooession to office, he thought it would not be fair either totha colonists or to the Home Government to hold out any prospect of a change of policy in consequence of the formation of a new Government ; and therefore his first act was to i-epoat the order given by the Duke of Buckingham. It was true that subsequontly they had received most melancholy news, sufficient to make the blood run cold, in reference to the sufferings of the colonists from the attacks of insurgent natives ; but there was nothing in this intelligence, sad as it was, to induce a change in the policy on which the Administration had deliberately resolved. If we were to accede to the request made by a party amongst the colonists for a retention of troops, we could expect nothing else than that, every few months, some similar occasion would arise, and a request of the same tenor would be made.

(London Times.) I f allowed tlie noble duke, anrlnriy first act, thinking it would not be fail* to allow the colonists to believe that the change of Government would entail any change of policy, was to repeat the order which the Duke of Buckingham had given. Ife is for adhering to that order, identical ■with, the Duke of Buckingham's, th.it I hare been sub jested, under somewhat varying circumstances, to a considerable amount of attack, and to all the criticisms of the noble earl this evening. We received news of the most melancholy character — outrages which made the blood run cold, and excited in this country the deepest sympathy ; but, horrible as these things were, we did not think there was sufficient cause for a change of the policy adopted in principle by two successive Governments. I remember, last spring, that .1 most important deputation of persons connected with New Zealand called on me, in order to persuade me to keep the troops. Some of them insisted strongly that they only wanted the troops there three or four months longer, in order to give them time to mnke the necessary arrangements ; but I could see no reason for believing that at the end of three, six, nine, or 12 months, which have now elap3ed, some si ■ ilar plea for their detention would not be found.

The reality from ihe Times is bad enough ; Lub ib is wanting in the atrocious charge conveyed by the condensed report, that the colonists woald | peiiodical ly incite the natives to | massacre some of tlieii' race and kindred tor the sake of securing I military expenditure in the colony. Lord Gran vi lie simply affirms the deliberate resolution of the Government that no consideration of sudden i emergency in New Zealand would induce them to permit the detention of the Imperial troops ; and that vesoj lution once come to, the reason which I led him to decline to assent to the I proposal by the colony was natural j enough. -To have ai'gued in any other way would have been an admission of error on the part of the Government which could not be expected from them. ' Therefore, the cast-iron, policy was rigidly applied ; and because disasters halve not directly followed, Lord Granville takes credit for the fact. There is no possible advantage to be gained by arguing this question over again. The Imperial Government have, had placed before them, in thY memoranda by Messrs. GLsborne and Fox, all that can be said, on the subject ; and if these^t papers, backed by the personal influence of the New Zealand Commissioner^ do not lead to a, change ,of policy, the efforts of a colonial newspaper Would be unavailing., Whether the Imperial Government have acted for

the good of the colony, and whether their policy tend-., to the unity of tlw Empiie, i\i.»oin to IV seen : ib is sufficient for iis> to know that, hnjipon whatui.iv, UeyonA an occ.i^ioii.il vi-.it fit ;i Hi'iUsh m.in-ot-wnr to our poitx, v,v ,iil> cut off fioin the motlioi- omniiiv ; and we ought, therefore, to make the best use we can. of our fveodo.u iVo-ii paienfcd control. Earl Granville !i,;.i us very good advice at pa-ling. "We caunob but admib that we have gob a very f t viv start in life as well ; and if we can manage to avoid borrowing money, and live within our mr-ans, no doubt we shall live to thank the English Government for their generosity, whatever the English people may think of the transaction. How the Times regards the idea of colonial independence at present will be apparent by the following extract from on article which appeared in that journal on the army estimates : — It remains to point out ho 7? this saving is. to be combined with the maintenance of an army sufficient for the purposes of defence. Anybody can disband an army ; but, though an army cau be increased on an emergency more speedily than a navy, excessive reduction would reflect no credit on the skill of the Minister. At present, however, we are in Great Britain and Ireland stronger than ever. The fact is that a change — one of the greatest and most momentous in its history — has occurred in the economy of the British Empire. ] t has been looming in the future for many years, and reflecting men have done their best to advance it, as removing the chief difficulty which besets the relations of the mother country and the colonies, in a year or tw o there will hardly be a regiI menb of Biitteh troops in the great depen- : dcncics of the empire. Malta, Gibraltar, Bcimuda, and a few other such places, which j are fortresses and not settlements, come into a different class, and a few soldiers may, peihaps, bo retained in some of the tropical colonies, whore society is, or> fancies itself, insecure. But the Canadian Dominion, Australia, New Zealand, the Gape will iely on thoir own resources, and organise their own defence. They have undertaken this duty with an alacrity for which even its advocates were hardly prepared. There has been no sign of resentment at the proposed withdrawal of British troops.'; the colonists, when left to themselves have raised corps for their own defence, and Englishmen will be as much gratified as Canadians at the boast that for I one soldier who was formerly to be found in Canada there are ten now. In the Australian "olonies there is but one opinion — i that the people ougut to maintain the defences of their own continent — no very difficult task, considering its remoteness and practical se'eurity. All this tends one way, and the present Government is only carrying into effect what its predecessors began cautiously a few years since. The withdrawal of troops will soon be complete. Mr. Cardwell was able to announce that Lord Granvillc and he have so reduced the forces stationed iv the colonios that, whereas the distribution of ISGS-Ogave 49, G5O combatants, and that of ISG9-70 gave 34,503, that of 18/0-71 places the number of troops abroad at only 23,561, the gi eater portion of whom form the garrisons of Gibraltar, Malta,, Bermuda, and Halifax. Tims in two years we have lecovered for our own use 20,000 men, paid, fed, clothed, and armed by the British taxpayer. This is not all. The colonial corps paid for by the m other country are to be disbanded; the Canadian Rifles, the Cape Mounted limes, the African Aitillery, and one of the West India regiments will cease to exist, or, at any rate, to be maintained at the expense of the Home Government. Another soui'ce of relief arises, as we stated yesterday, from the retrenchments Avhich Lord Mayo is making in India. In consequence of these changes we have now a regular army of 8G,225 men at home, and the Reserve Foi*ce added to these give us an army of 109,225 men. It would puzzle the Times, we think, to satisfy the BiilL»h tax-payer that he ■ has reason to be grateful to a Govern nienb which abandons all the great dependencies of the Crown to <! the for- '• tune of war," or their own devices, which is pretty much the same thing, and concentrates an army of from eighty to oue hundred thousand bayonets on English soil. We fancy the English tax-payer will be inclined to grumble at this specimen of economic coercion, and may be led to ask — " If " the army is not needed to protect the '• colonial possessions, of what use is it " in England ?"

"We vcgrefc that, owing to the pressure on our space, we are again compelled to leave over a full report of the judgment delivered ' by his Honor the Chief Justice in the Kanv/aeranga case, No. 14. A. difference appeal's to have arisen J between the Thames aud Auckland Volunteers as to the return match arranged to come ofF between them. In our issue of the 31st ultimo, we stated that at a meeting of the Auckland Rifle Volunteers, held on the previous evening, a resolution was carried to the effect that the Thames Volunteers be requested to postpone the proposed return match, until some future date. By some neglect or miachauce, it would appear, from the statement of the Thames Volunteers, that no notice of the desfred delay reached them, and on Friday they accordingly fired the match, only one representative of Auckland being present, and now claim the stakes. Wo have no doubt that the apparent discourtesy on the part of the Auckland team will be satisfactorily explained in a day or two ; but we trust that, in any case, the affair will be satisfactorily settled. If it be proved that the Aucklanders have neglected to give notice of their intended postponement, they ought certainly to forfeit the stakos. Probably, however, the Thames team, seeing that they have made such excellent score-!, can afford to be generous? enough to agree that the Auckland team shall fire at their own range in the same manner that the Thames team has done, in order to decide the match. A coroner's inquest was held at the Lunatic Asylum on Saturday last, at one o'clock, before Dr. Goldsbro', Coroner for the district, and a respectable jury, upon the death of a female inmate, named Mary Taylor, who had beenbv light from the Provincial Hospital about five months ago. After the necessary evidence was taken, the jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased died from natural causes. At the Resident Magistrate's Coiirt, Grahamstown, on Friday, the following judgments were obtained against goldmining companies :— L, Broad and others v. Franklin Goldmining Company, £50 ; H. Wright v. Lucky Hit Goldining Company, £S 3a. 4d. ; Rawlings and McColl v. Thame3 Crushing Company, £23 14s 4d. ; Lyle v. Queen of the East Goldmining Company, £20 Us. 7ct; Dowden v.Bell Rock Extended Goldmining Company, £34 19a. 9d.j Broad and another v. Ophir Goldmining Company, £34 6s. Bd. ; Broad and another v. Specimen Hill Goldmining Company,' £41 Ids. 4d. ; "Broad and another v. Gipps Land efoldinining Company, j £36 2b. Sd. , l *' To-day the firing by the Volunteer^ for prizes' offered by the Provincial Government begins. The Auckland, Ofcahuhu, and Ho wick Troops of R.C.V. meet this morning at Penro3e, when the ranges fired at will be 100, 200, and 300 yards. The ,1, 2, 3, and 4 Companies of the A.R.V. will also meet at the butts at Point CLevalier for the same purpose), when the ranges will be 400, 500, aud 600 yards. Three prizes in each division will be given : the first £12; the second £6, and the third £3, '> *' '

1 Messrs. Naughlon ami T. Ritchie sat s.h th.3 Police Court on Saturday. S,evera, drunkards were fined. Tfia being the iirst occasion of Mr. Naughton's appealing ou the Pencil since his retirement from the police force, Mr. \Veston spoVe, on behalf of the bar, expressing their sens>e of his past services. Messrs. .Toy and Bennett added a few words ; and Mr. Naughton acknowledged their kind expressions of feeling towards him. After this, reference was made to the spikes attached to the dock, which were thought quite unnecessary, and absolutely dangerous — unnecessary, because on serious occasions a sufficient guard was provided ; and dangerous, owing to the position in which they were placed. Dr. Tassell (present as a witness) had narrowly escaped being severely injured while passing. Air. Cunningham vas instructed to take steps in the matter. To the Editor of the Datly Southern Cross. — Sir, — Can you infoim me how tho contracts are managed for manufacturing the clothing for bhe different bodies of men now serving in the colony ? There are the Constabulary, the several corps of Rifles, te, and the native forces, all, of course, clothed at tho expense of the colony. Yet I never see in any of the public prints anything at .all bearing the form of an advertisemenh for tendeis for that kind of work. During the stay kere of the Imperial forces, I entered into, and carried through satisfactorily, several contracts for the Commissariat ; but have never known anything about the like for the Colonial Government until after it was done. I calculate I can manage that kind of \\ ork cheaper than most folks here. Any way, I think, in common fail ness, tenders should be advertised for, so that all might have a chance, let alone the question of ecs-nomy. — I am, &c, CONTRACTOR. The Rev. 0. M. Nelson delivered a very elofinent and inpies&ive discourse at St. Paul's last evening, from tho Gospel of John, x.vi , 12 : "He v>ill guide you into all truth." The rev. gentlemau ) ef erred to the fact of this being his first seinion, and expressed his earne.it hope that he Avould have the guidance of the Holy Sphit to enable him to adequately perform the duties that had devolved upon him in connection with his present charge. He also impressed upon the congregation the importance of supporting his ministrations with their prayers, and of ex ci ting themselves in carrying out measures of an educational and benevolent character. The attendance was large. Ib will be seen from our Thames correspondent's letter that judgment has been delivered against the plaintiffs in the important Lucky Hit case. ! It will be seen by our advertising columns i that efforts are being made to develop more fully the island trade with the city. To this end, attempts are being made to form a cottongrowing company, the scene of operations to be the Fiji Island*;. This id a speculation which, if managed with prudence, ought to pay a higher and surer pcr-centage of profit than many of even the crack claims at the Thames. Notice is given that Alexander Peyman, of Dunedin, makes application for letters patent for an improvement in the construe-, tion, manufacture, and erection of ■nrounhtiion wire-rope suspension biidges ; and tho same man, jointly with John Thomas Chaplin, make application for letters patent for a cerium adaptation of vulcanised indiarulber for tires of locomotive engine wheels, lailw"ay caniagc, and truck wheels. The Ilawhe's Bay Time% learns that Mr Rochfort, a barrister, at present residing in Auckland, has been appointed P evident Magistrate and District Judge for Hawke's Biy, with a civil jurisdiction up to £200. He will also deal with bankruptcy and probate cases. To-day, at 1 1 o'clock, the Revision Courfa will sit at the Supreme Court Buildings, before Laughlin OBrien, Registrar, to examine the" claims for the electoral district of Franklin. A letter appears in the London Times irom Colonel Hadfield, accompanying a petition to the Queen from the Ngatiraukawa claimants to the Manawatu-Bangitikei Block, whoso claims have been disallowed. A JVew Zealand Gazette contains the returns of the results of the firing of the Colonial prizes for 1870. A Wellington paper states that Edwin Rich, Estj , late of the Customs Dcpaitment, Napier, lias been appointed mail agent to proceed in charge of tho English mails by the ' Wonga Wonga. ' Tfe is understood that he will go through to New York with the mails. The following is the rota of attendance of magi&tiates "at the Police Court; during tho week commencing to-day :- Monday, June 1 6th, Messrs. J. S. Macfarlane and J. May ; 7th, G. M. Mitford and H. Morrow ; Sth, L. D. Nathan and D. L. Murdoch ; 9tb, J. Newman and C. H. Otway ; 10th, G. B. Owen and G. P. Pierce ; 11th, R. F. Poiter and Thomas Ritchie. "An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the Mount Pleasant Goldmining Company is called for Friday, the 24th instant, at the office of the company, Brown-street, Grahani3town. Notice is given that all debts due in the estate of W. A. Clarke, bankrupt, must be paid to the trustee, J. Mowbray, on or before the 20th instant. Calls are made in the following cjoldmiuing companies : -In the United Kingdom, a call of 6d. per share ; and in the United Star, Pnriri, a call of Is, 4d. per share. Under the heading of ""Wellington Gossip, " forwarded by a coi respondent, the Wtnufanui Chronicle says:-- " Ifc shows great want of public spirit in Wellington that the scheme to buy the fleet of the M.Z.S.N. Company has fallen through. Tho Dunedin folks have more brains and money, and «ill buy up the fleet to a certainty. Had ' old Barney ' stumped up, the new company would certainly have gone on, but he wouldn't. Yet it is a fact that the worthy old gentleman has lately been boasting that he possessed £23j000 in one bank and £13,000 in another, for which he was receiving no interest." An inquest has been held in Melbourne upon the body of a Chinese woman. The Southern Press condemns in strong terms the recent importation of South Sea Islanders, per 'Lulu.' "We have learned, by a gentleman who ' ai rived from Whanganui by the coach last jiight, that the schooner 'Rapid,' belonging to Mr. R. S. Lowe, of "Wbanganui, loaded with timber, from Pelorus to Whanganui, ia ashore on the beach between Ohan and Manawatu since Wednesday lasr, and likely to become a total wreck. — Wellinaton Post, , May 28. It may be worth the attention of our Volunteers that the aveiage of the scores, as shown by the firing in 18G9, is considerably lower than in the previous year, the figures for the past three years being as follow :—: — 1867, average 15-70; 1808, 21-43; 1869, 16.24 The same remarks applies to the other districts of the province. Oaptain P. H. Trouton, the manager of the A.S.N, Company in Sydney, was a passen. ger by the a.s. 'Auckland' on Saturday last. The Thames Advertiser computes the yield of gold, at tho Thames, from the Ist to 3rd June, at 1.76f10z. I7dwfc. 12gr. from 882 tons stone. The following figures represent the work of the Money Order and Savings Bank departments in this province for 1868 and 1869, dshow a very satisfactory increase :—1868:: — 1868: Money orders issued, 3,937, £16,978 19s. 6d; money orders paid, 3,741, 1 17, 159 10s. ; Savings Bank deposits, 1,835, £26,865 19s. ; Savings Bank withdrawals, 1,382, £20,401 125. Id.; interest paid,, £150 12s. 4d. 1869: Money orders issued, <>;429, 12s. 4d. ; money orders paid, 4,857, £21,794 18s. 4d. ; Savings Bank deposits, 3,571, £43,171 4s. Bd. ; Pavings Bank withdrawals, 2,251, >535,493 13s, gd, ; interest paid, £207 Sa, lOd,

We have r ceivcd the following letter respecting an important point omifted at tlie meeting held o«i Friday last : — "Sir, — There was one important point omitted to bo mentioned by tlic speakers in the public meeting yesterday, to which T wish to draw the attention of our members when the question is brought on iv the Assembly. We will soon have tiie electric telegraph line completed to Auckland, which should have been long ago, when information on any important subject can be conveyed to every important part of this colony in a very short time, which would be kept back for from one to three days should any other part be selected as the port of call in New Zealand than Auckland. — Wm. Rvrruw. — Saturday, 4th June, 1870." Owing to the very strong noitheily wind and heavy vain during Saturday last, shipping business was ent* -ely at a standstill. We v r ere shown on Friday a sjiecimcn of the fish commonly called sole, which is so highly esteemed in England for the delicacy of its flavour. The specimen in question was caught alongside the Queen-street Wharf, and is somewhat of a curiosity, fish of that species being seldom met with in these waters. We omitted to mention, in our issue of Saturday last, that the sitting in bankruptcy fixed for Friday was adjourned until the 23rd inst., at the request of the bar, who desirous of attending the meeting respecting the port of call. There was no Birthday ball at Melbourne, and great was the wail amongst the ladies and the growling with the gentlemen. Parsimony was alleged bj' some as the reason of his Excellency deviating from a time-honoured enstom. One of the grounds alleged is the recent death in the vicest^aj^faraily, and another that there wa^ room fit for such a reunion. We have to acknowledge the receipt from I E. Whitehead and Co., of Melbourne, of a , copy of their school atlas of the Australian colonies, which seems to have been compiled with great care from the most authentic sources. They are procurable at the low price of Is. in stiff paper wrappers, or Is. 6d. in cloth covers ; and 'will be found of a convenient size for carriage in boys' satchels. We are informed that the seamen of 11. M. ship ' Eosario' have kindly volunteered to give an entertainment on shore in aid of the funds of the Orphan Home, Parnell, some day in the early part of next week. Quite a lively little scene appears to have occurred in the Provincial Council of Otago on the 9th ultimo. A Mr. Ashcroft took exception to a Mr. Shepherd's spelling of the word "tire," and Mr. Shepheid in reply said : That lion, member had now endeavoured to teach him how to spell, and found fault with his spelling of "tire." In the Imperial Dictionary it was so spelt — (Mr. Ashcroft : So much the worse for the dictionary) — and he would sooner take the dictionary for it than the lion, member for Oamaru. The lion, member displayed so much learning to the Couucil, and especially to him (Mr. Shepherd), during the last few days, that he clearly believed that he was the author of an article which appeared in the Eoeninj Star instructing him (Mr. Shepherd) in his duty to his constituents. — Mr. Ashcroft : I have already told the hon. member privately that I did no such thing. The hon. member is no gentleman after The Speaker called the hon. member to order. He should withdraw such an expression. — Mr. Ashcrofc would Avithdraw it, but if the hon. member had been a gentleman (Laughter.) — The Speaker again called the hon. member to order. — "Mr. Ashcrofb denied that he was author of the article in question. — Mr. Shepher 1 had been given to understand another hon. member was the author of the article, viz., the member for the Laked. (Laughter, ) — Later in the afternoon, Mr. Shepherd, as a question of privilege, called the Speaker's attention to a " mendacious article" in the Eo?nin(f Star, uhieh he had been informed had been written by a member of the House, but he could not believe it. — Mr. fjaughton demanded that the person should be named. The hon, member had already referred to him as the author, but he publicly denied that he was. — The Speaker ruled that there was no breach of privilege contained in the article ; but if the hon. member fo'* the goldfields felt himself aggrieved by it he had his remedy by law. — -Mi*. Shepherd : If 1 have a remedy by law, you may be sure I will take it. A correspondent writes :—": — " Mr. Worthington deserves great credit not only for the admirable manner in which liis own school is conducted, but for the interest he shows in the cause of popular education generally. He has laid before us some information showing to what extent the public funds of the province of Otago are devoted to the suppoi tof public schools. Certainly that province is much ahead of ours in that respect, though possibly in proportion to our means we may not be much less liberal. Yet. after all, it is not from the mere amount of money expended in education that weare to judge of its benefits — in a social or moral point of view at all events. Of late years a very large and increasing amount; of public money has been expended in !■ ngland in the support of primary schools, and voluntary liberality has done much in the cause of education. Sunday schools too have been extensively patronised of late. Yet hear \\ hat the chaplain of one of our largest gaols in England says in his last official report : — ' We are often told that education Avill keep the people from the commission of crime ; " * but I have discovered to my sorrow that it is net an infallible preventive ef vice and crime ; sons of clergymen and ministers, sclmolmasters, architects, clerks, and commercial travellers have been under my care during the past year.' It appears that drink was the cause of this fall. In another place he tells that, of 724 Protestant prisoners, no less than 614 of them had attended Sundayschoo>|| each on an average 7 or 8 years ; and, to 4( © deplorable still, 81 of these had been Sunday-school teachers. Otago is a Scotch colony, and no doubt is imbued with that ardour in the cause of v literature which distinguishes the better classes in Scotland : and Scotland is for ever being held up as a pattern to other nations for the intelligence and pure morals of its people. The piety and moral.virtues of Scotchmen are supposed to be the fruit of the admirable system of national education employed by them since the days of John Knox. But if we aie to believo some of the most experienced and public-spirited magistrates in Edinburgh, as well as some of the Scotch Presbyterian clergy themselves, Scotland at this moment is in a most deplorable state morally considered, and has for years been getting worse and worse. Drunkenness, pauperism, and bastardy are on the increase, and all attempts to arrest these evils have yet proved abortive. There must, therefore, be something radically wrong in our social system in Scotland, and possibly in this colony too, which no expenditure of public money, however liberal, in. thp support of good schools, can enre. However much we may despise the wisdom of our ancestors, or plume ourselves on our ad- , vancement in learning and soience, there is reason to think that they were in possession of some principles more conducive to public and private virtue than those which are now in the ascendant among us. It is by no, means impossible that the venerable Scotch reformer, Mr. E. Chambers, may have con« tributed to demoralise the Scotch people, with the best intentions in the world. The gaol chaplain I referred to states that a taste for novel-reading had proved fatal to the virtue of many of the . youthful in-\ mates of the gaol. A novel is a tame affair unless it pourtray the workings of- the strongest and the worst of human passions. It is the staple reading of our modern youth of both sexes." Keeping the Field : A dispute once occurred between an English officer and a French,one,as to which of ;the armies they respectively belonged to won a certain battle.^*' I think the victory remained with ms," said the Frenchman, " for a very large portion of our force kept the field." — "A yery large portion indeed," replied the Englishman dryly,-— i *' the killed und, wounded,"