THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, October 7, 1843.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume II, Issue 83, 7 October 1843, Page 330

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, October 7, 1843.

Les journaux deviennent plus n6cessaires a mesure que* les homines sont plus fegaux, et 1' individuslisme plus a craindre. Cc serait diminuer leur importance que de <*oire qu' U* ne servent qu' a garantir la liberty : Us maiotiennent la civilisation.

Dl ToCttUKVILLB. > De la Democratic en Amerique, tome 4, p. 220. Journals become more necessary a* men become more equal, and individualism more to be feared. It would be to underrate their importance to suppose that they serve onlj to secure liberty : they maintain civilization. Db Tocquivillb, Of Democracy in America, vol . 4, p- 202.

From the intelligence received this week, from Wellington, as well as from the coast, it appears that Rauparaha is still at Porirua. Whether he does or does not really contemplate an attack on either of the settlements is a question of no easy solution ; bat we are sure that the preparations for defence which the late alarm has caused us to make 1 will be highly beneficial ; it will not only convince the old savage that, if he should come, he will be welcomed in a manner he never yet experienced, but it will also restore to the public mind that confidence which the late calamity had so completely shaken. Watchfulness and caution are, however, by no means to be abandoned, for, notwithstanding tbe present calm, the natives on all parts of the coast are strongly impressed with the belief that some movement is contemplated by Rauparaha, and they only differ as to the place to which his attention is directed. It will therefore be still our duty to be on our guard, especially as there is but little hope of our getting any protection from Government, or that any steps will at present be taken to bring the murderers to justice.

We have been told by a gentleman from Wellington that a communication has taken place between Sir Everard Home and Rauparaha, and that the latter has been informed that it is not the intention of Sir Everard to molest him. We have not learned the reason why the Wellington authorities have not attempted to take the murderers. It may be that they do not consider their force sufficient, as it is said that the position of the chiefs is a strong one, unapproachable but through a pass where an attacking party would be exposed to a most destructive are.

The accounts which we receive of the agricultural prospects of the colony are most cheering. Wherever the fern land was planted last year with potatoes, or has

received a short fallow, the appearance of grain is most promising. No one who has been in this settlement twelve months can fail to observe the rapid manner in which the fern is disappearing and giving place to grass, particularly where cattle have depastured. The increase and. condition of stock is also highly satisfactory, and proves beyond question the capabilities of the settlement for grazing. We have hitherto refrained from saying much on the subject of the progress of Nelson as an agricultural and grazing district, not because we doubted

jts success, but because we were not in possession of sufficient data, and we thought jit better to wait until we could detail facts rather than hastily hazard our own suppositions. We therefore purpose to give, at the earliest opportunity, a statistical account of such progress, which our friends at home may rely upon.

We regret to say that there is but little probability of Captain Fitzroy reaching New Zealand before Christmas, as the busi-

jjess which he has to transact at the Cape of Good Hope and at Sydney is likely to detain him some time. Our fellow colonists are therefore doomed to struggle on some months longer under the present do-nothing policy. No land titles will be settled, and, "consequently, no rents will be paid, nor can offenders against the laws be tried and punished for want of a jury. Maoiies guilty of murder will not be apprehended, and their countrymen will construe' the criminal inactivity of Government as a tacit

license to commit every description of outrage. What should have been a blessing has proved a curse to us ; and Hobson and his shuffling and mischievous successor, Willoughby Shortland, will long be remem.bered in New Zealand as the propagators of discord between the two races.

, In another column our readers will find a copy of the translation of a circular to the natives, written by Mr. Clarke by order of the acting Governor. Its chief object appears to be to guard the natives against " misunderstanding " the mischievous proclamation to which we have so frequently had occasion to allude. nis a rather curious circumstance that the universal construction put upon that document — by the Native in the original and by the European in the translation — should be called by the writer a " misunderstanding." Mr. Clarke doubtless is clever — too clever, we fear, for a Chief Protector ; but we apprehend that even his cleverness will fail to persuade people that he alone can understand Maori or English. If his salary for the current year were applied towards remedying the mischief he has occasioned, we think he would very speedily learn to express himself not only in language that could be understood by other people, but in language that no one could misunderstand. We should like to know what some of the Auckland people think of the concluding sentence : " The Governor's word is inviolate, and cannot be broken." Willoughby Shortland's word inviolate ! Does anybody doubt that ? Why affirm it ? Is there a " misunderstanding " about that too ?

We have been favoured with a copy of the following important Post Office regulation issued on the 15 th of May :—: —

" The Court of Directors of the East India Company having informed the Postmaster- General that they have despatched instructions by the mail of the 6th instant to their officers in India, to discontinue the detention which was understood to have taken place at Bombay of tetters forwarded by the overland India mails for China, the Mauritius, the Australian settlements, New Zealand, or other places beyond the Company's territories, and for the present to send on such letters to their respective destinations by sea from Bombay, as opportunities may offer, without payment of the transit and sea postage due to the Company, the notice of last month, No. 1843, relating to this subject is hereby cancelled. It is, therefore, no longer necessary to address such letters to the care of correspondents in India. " By command, " W. L. Mabek.lt, Secretary."

We rejoice that the attention of the authorities at home have at length been diiected to this subject. Unfortunately, however, they have commenced reforming

at the wrong end. The opportunities afforded to our friends in England to communicate with us are frequent, and are likely to become more so; but we hare often to wait for weeks for an opportunity even to send letters to Sydney to be forwarded thence to England. What we require is an arrangement by which the postage of letters from the Australian colonies via India, and thence forwarded by the overland mail, may be either prepaid or paid on delivery.

We have learned with much pleasure that the following valuable animals, the property of Mr. Alfred Saunders, and which were brought from England in the Tyne, have been safely landed : — 2 Southdown rams, bred by Beaven, Gorefarm, Salisbury Plain. 2 Southdown ewes, bred by Hooper, West Lavington, Wilts. 1 Leicester ram, bred by.J. Arnold, Somerset. 2 boars and 1 sow, Wiltshire porking breed, bred by Smith. 1 sow, Wiltshire bacon breed, bred by Gibbons.

We have been informed by the Rev. C. Reay, who has just returned from visiting the natives on the south side of the Straits, that a severe shock of an earthquake was felt in Queen Charlotte Sound, at about half-past ten on the evening of Sunday the24th of September.

The New Wesleyan Chapel in Bridge Street was opened last evening by the Rev. Mr. Aldred, who has just returned from attending the annual meeting of the miuis-

ters of that body* The building is of brick, and of ample dimensions.

■• We have received files of Auckland, Sydney, Port Phillip, Geelong, Maitland, Adelaide, and Bombay papers, which we shall notice in our next.