AUCKLAND.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 2, Issue 72, 18 May 1868, Page 120

AUCKLAND.

fraoii qua oto coamsspoNDEjcr.]

Shortland, 4th May,. 1838.

The principal feature in uiinirig news is the rush to Waipatukaliu, whence reports of several discoveries of rich stuff have been received. That position is about twelve miles north from Shortland, or nearly midway between the latter place and Coromandel. In December a fair amount was obtained 'from ' smallr gullies, leading from one high ridge ; a>«l. on that ridge, in January, the first reefing claim was taken up by MTsaacs and party; a joint stock company have acquired- the claim, and probably it will prove a profitable venture, which is more than I expect of some other companies floated. Beyond that, nothing valuable was found for several weeks, but several times “ reports ” were published of discoveries, which kept the place before the public, and induced successive bodies of miners to visit and prospect it; it would appear that now the long-sought ore has been found in several places. On the extreme southern limit of the gold-field too, say fifteen miles south, near Puririri, . gold ha 3 been found iu two claims in more than payable quantities. Not having seen that part, I can only state on hearsay, but I have no reason to doubt its correctness. Thus gold is found in payable quantities in three blocks of ground only, while the whole peninsula (ex cept cultivations and other native re serves) is open to miners, from the Omahu stream (south of Puririri) to Cape Colville, with the sea on the oast, and the Hauraki gulf and Wailiou river on the west. Meanwhile, Shortland is growing daily, and its rival, or suburb, sometimes called Tookey’s Town, sometimes Graham's Town, is increasing oven more rapidly. Mr'R. Graham, once Superintendent of Auckland, obtained from the Maori claimants a lease of a large portion - of the flat north of Shortland, and has had it cut up into small building lots, and.sub leta.it, in some cases atVa yearly rental of 25s per foot frontage. . The Commissioner, Mr Mackay, issued a notice ■warning people that the Government had. the. sole right to lease the land on behalf of the Maori owners ” and about ten days afterwards the same Commissioner publicly acknowledged and confirmed Mr Graham’s lease. This. proceeding I do not pretend to - explain. Now, the lessees want roads making, bridges building, wharves, &c.; and apply to the Superintendent, who replies, “ no funds” ; so they are advised to form themselves into highway boards, and tax themselves, which is not a very palatable course ; but there; appears no alternative. The f Herald 5 suggests that the owners, who derive so much benefit, ought to come down handsomely towards the roads; but it is too late in the day to propose applying a “part of the rents” to that object. If the Government agent agreed to such a one-sided bargain as this appears to have been, the public are pledged to it, and must abide by it. When first the agreement was made, giving all the fees for miners’ rights to the Maoris, your correspondent thought the bargain only defensible on the plea of no other terms being possible; had but half the amount been reserved to meet the expenditure, the terms would have appeared more equitable ; had only a , quarter been so reserved, the terms would certainly have been liberal to the Maoris; but when all the fees for miners 9 rights are conceded, and the ' : same amount (£1 yearly) per head for cattle, and then to that is added the right to let building lots in the town, and afterwards! on any other part of the ground,! it does appear as if the benefits were all on one side. Those who object to Government interference inland have how an opportunity of testing their favorite remedy, “ free trade:iif land” ; and one of its first results is one speculator monopolising pearly all the available land for building purposes outside. Shortland, and tben putting his own prme on it, which is probably on the average double what ■ was charged for the town lots through Goyernment agency ;»although, in this vernmeat uot even -charging coinmis-

The weather is? showery, and the tracks barely passable,. More machines building, and'more'yet will be! required: Tile charge, is still 10s per ton f-»r large quantities? a- trifle less in. cine-or’r-tvvo. instances, where over a hundred tons. was.crushed from one claim. The rich stuff pays well at this pricey but many tons of stuff could be worked up at a lower.rafe, which now would only entail a loss. Several instances of ’which I have heard, the yield has been less than an ounce to the ton, but very rarely do the Auckland j urnals mention such cases; their correspondents have no ears for such news, but find no difficulty in obtaining information when the yield is from four ounces to the ton, to the almost fabulous, bnt I believe quite correct, yield of two ounces to the pound. (Vide Marfhkau claim.) A price list is now published weekly by a sharebroking firm, but I know of several instances in which shares can be bought at much lower prices (in one case less than half) than those quoted ! So much for the reliability of their price current! Some of the higher priced shares are in my opinion better worth the money than many of the lower ones. As I have not, nor ever had, any shares in the market, my opinion is not influenced by £ s d, whether it proves correct or otherwise. I shall not he surprised if we have a sbare : speculating-mania.

In Provincial news the wonder of the day is the appointment of Mr K. J. Creighton to the offices of Provincial Secretary and Treasurer. Mr C. was until lately editor of the ‘ Southern Cross, 9 in which journal anti-Provin-cialism was frequently and warmly advocated, both editorially and other wise; Mr C. also in the Provincial Council supported the Centralist party, and avowedly sought to upset the Provincial system. Beyond this, several articles on Fenianism—savouring of sympathy therewith—have appeared in the same journal during the last eighteen months. Now the same gentleman would have us believe that Fenianism is a thing not to he tolerated. He is, however, probably not the only Fenian sympathiser in receipt of Provincial pay—for, unless I am misinformed, the writer of the articles alluded to is also a Provincial official. At our (Auckland) indignation meeting Fenianism was denounced as a thing not to be tolerated if it came amongst us, whereas it is pretty well known that Fenianism does exist, and had very many adherents in this Province before the exciting news from Sydney arrived ; bnt I would not lor a moment have it to he supposed that any number of our Fenians meant to be partners with assassins. Their love of country, their patriotism, made them follow, almost blindly, to the cry of nationality, without stopping to enquire what their leaders were going to do, or how they meant doing it. Our speakers went out of the way to attack and denounce Orangeism, which was not in any shape before the meeting Even had it had been, there is a wide difference between a society which is pledged to maintain the Constitution and defend and support the Sovereign, and another which proposes to destroy both Constitution and the basis of society, the rights of property. Your indignation meeting appears to have been well conducted.

A complimentary ball to the Governor has raised some controversy and charges of exclusiveness. As Ido not know who was the complainant, nor where the line is drawn to separate the patricians from the plebeians, I cannot tell what ground exists for the charge. If no one was eligible who had not al ways paid twenty shillings to the <£, probably many . who were present would have been present. Poverty is not desirable in itself, but it is preferable to wealth ill-gotten.

Our Financial Reform Association have issued a report which points out how a very large saving , in our Governmental expenditure may be effected? yet leaving a very, large portion of our official army untouched. It appears as if they were afraid to grapple! with the departments. Our young bloods in Government offices receive from fifty to a hundred per cent, more than merchants 9 ; clerks; although the labor; care, and anxiety of the latter isihan inverse proportion to the for-; mer. w Good intentions are very well way? hut our Finai)cial!!Re i

formers will need something"more before they effect a sensible reduction in our taxation. The first ' step to wards economy is to get the taxation (customs duties, &c.) reduced* With less revenue available, our legislators would he obliged to curtail expenditure. ’ .

In Maori affairs we have had another war about land in the North, being the third or fourth of the kind since the .beginning of 1867., And this among the so-called, loyal tribes, Ngapubi and Rarawa. Meanwhile, Sir George Grey’s eulogists bad the audacity to speak, write, and print, that both races were here governed undergone law. Of course it is not desirable for the Government to attempt to punish the murderers for the blood shed in those feuds, as so doing would only involve us -in more Maori wars, which it is our policy to avoid ; but such events in a-country where we profess to govern should make us feel somewhat ashamed of our position, and let us down a peg or two. I believe the export of gold for the month of April was over 5,000 onnees, and for March a little more. •

? Plenty of unemployed hands here yet, but I hope to see a change in that respect shortly, as more machines get into operation. Wages vary from 5s to 10s per day; bread is 6d the 2-lb loaf; beef and mutton, 5d- to 7d per lb; butter, Is to Is 4d ; groceries are a shade over Auckland prices, so that living is not very high. We have over a dozen licensed drinking shops, and several more building. One theatre only yet, and I question if it pays. Our Warden’s Couit has a great deal of business, and lawyers must be making money rapidly.