AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 14, Issue 1142, 8 April 1870, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

L^Cbatinnedfemoorrespotiafincoitf last He a ald. ) As I told you before, the penny papers will not pay. . Tbey struggle on their brief existence by the. aid of job-printing, -which .ljerejs indifferently paid. , One ; penny pa,per. might pull through, if an alteration was ■ made in its:maTiagement ; but I am quite , satisfied that, most , Aucklandera have been surfeited with the coarse r abuse constantly .indulged, in respecting the present ministry.' On-itne •whole, the morel hear and see, the more I acquire 'a conviction that a highly conservative feeling exists in and about Auckland; Ministers, without effort, appear to be growing in popularity with all classes.; On 6 cause of this I take to be the fabrication of absurd canards, such, for in.stonce,as the silly assertion that Ministers fhave spent $400,000 or £500,000 in excess. of-mopey. voted. People are not altogether, fools here more than in other provinces, and do not fail to perceive for what object such lying statements are made. The (to me) by ho means surprising intelligence arrived on "the 26 th that Ropata bad-captured a pa and 50 Hau Haus in the Urewera wilds, and is now in chase of Te <KoOti;-he may never capture that wretch, but'Ropataiyill follow like a bloodhound 'oii'HisHrail. 'Ropata's pursuits have never yet ,'bejen without fruitful, results, as hia Wpri^erfiil chase of Te Kooti after Ropata capti^d^gqtapa sufficiently proves. That lie waa studiously kept in the background ! by the Stafford Government was, of course, to "be expected. Ropata was withdrawn frpm !? jbbsburity by Mr. M'Lean's discriminating inftueftce, arid under Mr. M'Lean's instructions achieved. all the success won at Ngatapa, after the Poverty Bay disasters; and the feet alone .that he was the man of Mr. M'Lean's choice was sufficient to account for hith being snubbed whose actual : services were a constant refutation of the pretended . triumphs of an unscrupulous commander,' who never hesitated to "go the 'whole hog" in support of his master 3. The country may be congratulated on the ' purchhae' of the Luna paddle-steamer. She originally, bought for the Bank of ISf.S.W., and is a, fine roomy vessel. Alongside of her the Sturt looks quite diminutive, jet the Luni draws very little more water than the Sturt;, whose place she will more efficiently BIX, As the Luna is in splendid condition, and. a very fast boat, the price paid, £10,000, , is considered by the "knowing .ones " in such matters, to be far below her actual value, Capt. Fairchild, so long and favourably known as commander of the Sturt, Has been transferred with his crew to the Luna. Capt. Faircbild's minute knowledge of our bar rivers has enabled him often to, navigate the. Sturt iuto rivers where sometimes vessels much smaller than the Sturt were afraid to venture. Latterly the Sturt has been in that condition that it would have created little surprise if she haJ foundered with all hands, and as she was condemned at Nelson seven years ago, she may be supposed to require to be broken up or all but rebuilt. The appointment of Capt. Fairchild to the Luna is meant, I presume, as a graceful acknowledgment of his great skill and. long service in connection with the shaky old Sturt; he will most likely be delighted with the Luna's capabilities, which actually lately made* the run to Tauranga from : ' Auckland in a trifle less than nine.hours and a half.. The Hon. the Native and Defence Minister is at present absent from Auckland ; rumour speaks of a visit to Tauranga or . Waikato.