AUCKLAND.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXI, Issue 32, 16 April 1862, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

[From the Southern Cross, April B.] We have no political events of any very thrilling interest to record in this summary ; but, nevertheless, the month has been a deeply interesting one. The colony appears to be in a transition state, and on the manner on which it possess through it our future probably depends. The stream of immigration which has been steadily setting towards our shores during the last few years has more than turned the scale of population in avour of tho Europeans, and in a short time the latter will, in all probability, so far predominate as to give a totally new aspect to the relations of the two races. Decided measures will then be easier, and a temporising policy will find fewer supporters than at present. Circumstances, however, are already so shaping themselves, that, in all probability, the final inevitable event will be considerably hastened, and we may even anticipate that in a comparatively short time New Zealand, or rather the northern provinces of the colonies, will be freed from those trammels which have hitherto retarded her onward progress. Foremost amongst the causes likely to bring about a change in this colony would be the discovery of a large and available gold-field in this province, and we have every reason to believe that such a discovery is not far off. Already have the prospectors at Coromandel reported favourably on that district, and it is likely that we shall see this winter a large influx of diggers both from Otago and the neighbouring colonies, induced by the private information forwarded to them by their friends, to try their luck in a country, the climate of which, more than that of any part of New Zealand, i 3 calculated to suit men accustomed to Australia. A generation will soon be amongst us who " know not Joseph," men who take that sturdy, common sense view of the New Zealand question which was taken by the old settlers in the old peaceful days, before treaties were made and blankets distributed, before law was introduced in order to its own prostitution, arid the prestige of the British name was lost because settlers respected that law though it never respected itself. The country will have much to suffer before it can pass* the trying ordeal which awaits it, but it depends on the Government to reduce these sufferings to their minimum, and we trust that it will face its duty manfully. The "new policy" is supposed to be already in full swing, but we must confess that we hear but little of its results. Ministers have been wandering about the conntry, and are gradually dropping in at head quarters. His Excellency has been in Auckland since the departure of the last mail, much we fear to the disappointment of Wellington men, who have been making great preparations to receive him in a distinguished manner. Civil Commissioners, Magistrates, and Interpreters are plentiful, as " leaves in Valambrosa," both here and in the South, and with some natives it would appear that a change for the better has taken place. The honourable Mr. Fox has, it seems, effected great things in Wairarapa ; ho has, on the authority of the Government organ, the New Zealander, made a convert in that district from the king's to the Queen's party. Mr. Manihera (Maunsell), has, it appears, submitted his private affairs to Mr. Fox for arrangement, and that gentleman acting, not exactly on the principle which was adopted by the Commissioners under the Irish "Encumbered Estates Act," has succeeded in impressing upon young New Zealand, as represented by Mr. Manihera, that loyalty is the best policy. We must transcribe the passage, which is uuique in its way, the more so, as the whole article from which it is extracted bears the stamp of Government : — " On this occasion Manihera, the leading chief of Wairarapa district, who has hitherto been a great supporter of the # king, expressed his intention to give him up, and to adhere to the Queen's cause for the future. We understand that this chief, who was formerly most friendly to the Europeans and tbe Queen's

Government had been driven over to the king party ] by the conduct of certain parties connected with the old Lund Purchase Department, and tho breacli of old promises made to him by its officers. His re-con- 1 version i 3 attributed to the present Government having . ] taken his case in hnnd, and shown nn interest in { | getting him out of difficulties in which ho had become involved in consequence, as he alleges, of the lato Go- 1 vernment having neglected to carry out its pledges." J The above needs no comment. The attack on the " old Land Purchase Department" is simply cowardly. Composed, as that department was, of men far superior to nny now in office, it is not strange that an organ of the Fox Ministry should seel: to cry down ' Mr. McLean and hia department, but we are surprised ' that they should evince their dislike in so contemptible a manner; that they should bring undefined charges : in such a form as to render a refutation impossible. Mr. Fox, the honourable, walks, it appears, about the country, and, out of the funds of the colony, pays off ! Maori gentlemen's debts, and we know what Mr. ■ Maniliera's debts are for, and then congratulates himself and us on his hopeful convert to loyalty. Pos- ! sibly the late Land Purchase Department did nothing • of the sort: indeed we believe that it was not their ! custom to do so, and possibly they had conscientious ' scrupies upon the subject and shrank from the idea of ' bribery and corruption. The truth is that our present ministers hold a very ! undignified position, and are not aware of the fact. They should not boast of acting as Governor's messengers and Governor's go-betweens, or talk of all the ; billets cloux which they have presented, and all the money which they have distributed in quarters where his Excellency would not like to bo seen himself. They should study "Gil Bias," and they would find that Don Eaphaellos should be quiet when they reach home, and lay aside quietly the sword and plume '• in which they have astonished the natives. ' The next session, it appears, i3to be held at "Wei- ' lington. At present the session stands prorogued to ' the 26th June. " Man proposes," but events often < render his plans futile, and we are inclined to think ' hia Excellency will find it impossible to carry out the < proposed arrange-nent. The idea of moving all public < records to the South for one short session is absurd in i in the extreme, if any work is contemplated ; nor is i anything to be gained by the change, save the gratifica- ] tion of Wellington vanity. If a Bession in the South ' were necessary, it would be far better to hold it at Nelson, but Auckland is the capital, and everybody' i who has tried has so far failed to show cause why she ' should not remain so ; and such being the case, the ' natural seat of Government is the natural place for j the general Legislature to hold their sessions in. Common sense will, we imagine, override Wellington clamour, and we expect to see all our old friends in Auckland again. : The natives still remain quiet. They stick to their king's flag and Queen's pay ; drill troops in tho Waikato, and mulct Europeans in full rimanga. Unless the gold-diggings should cause any disturbance, no outbreak need bo at present expected. In the North, king's emissaries have been at work, endeavouring to seduce the Ngapuhis from their allegiance, but have signally failed. One of these, a Waikato man, whilst urging the northern natives to join, stated the reasons which had induced them to set up the king's flag. It was principally owing to the fact that they had learnt that a certajn pakeha, Sewell by name, had gone to England and borrowed half a million from the English Government on the security of the native lands. The same native considered the king movement perfectly justifiable, under the circumstances, as the only possible means of preventing the foreclosure of the mortgage. This fact, for which we can vouch, is very remarkable, proving, as it does, that the king movement was not, as has been often stated, the result of a national striving after some form of self-government, but merely an extension and organization of that land league -which originally commenced at Taranaki, and which caused the disastrous war in that province, The soldiers are still engaged road making at the Waikato, and we are happy to say that, thanks to the system adopted by the General, and the good conduct of the men, there have been no disturbances of any kind, and the natives come and go apparently with every confidence. The battle of provincial politics has been fought rather sharply. On the night of the 20th March, the Council, by a majority of 18 to 15, passed a resolution censuring the Superintendent of the Province, and proving for his removal. Since then a petition, founded on this resolution, has been presented to his Excellency the Governor, praying for the removal from office of his Honour, which .has been signed by eighteen members, or a majority of one of the whole Council. The most curious part of the proceeding was that the minority voted for an amendment, condemning in as strong language as could well be used, the conduct of the present Superintendent as injurious to the province ; and the members of his Honour's Executive, Dr. Pollen, Mr. Brookfield, and Mr. Ball, joined in this censure. Thus, although a majority only went for a removal, the entire Council declared that in their opinion his Honour was unfit to hold office. > We have had an election to the Provincial Council for the City East since the dato of our last summary. The vacancy wns caused by the resignation of Mr. Creagh, who went to Otago as registrar of deeds. The candidates were Dr. Pollen and Mr. David Graham. Dr. Pollen was elected by a majority of 17 votes. The Government candidate has been rather severely handled for stealing a march upon the constituents, and there can be no question but the election was contested on unequal terms. We have had several fires during the past month. On the night of Saturday, the Bth March, there were no fewer than three fires in this city, one of them was pretty extensive, and the property burned was not insured. The other fires were extinguished before they came to any head. On the morning of the 13th March, the Auckland steam bucket, tub, and chair factory, at Mount Eden, the property of Mr. Bleazard, was totally destroyed by fire, and a very considerable quantity of materials, tools, and running machinery was destroyed. We are happy to be able to add that Mr. Bleazard has nearly completed the erection of a much larger factory, and that the market will soon again be supplied by the favourite varnished bucket. On the moiyiing of the 15th, two fires were discovered by the police and private watchmen, but were extinguished without difficulty, having been seen shortly after ignition. Inquests were held on the two latter fires, and one was pronounced to be the work of an incendiary. The insurance agents held a meeting, and a reward was offered for the apprehension of the incendiaries. We feel the want of a proper water supply, not merely in a sanitary point of view, for when a fire occurs there is the greatest difficulty to procure water, Now that our city is attaining large dimensions, we hope this defect will be remedied. We also require gas light in our streets. The sudden increase to our population which we may anticipate, in consequence of the gold discoveries in Coromandel and the North, will render the establishment of gas works, and a supply of wholesome water imperative measures of city conservancy. Selling- Ammunition to the Natives. — James Sanderson, a private in the Royal Engineers, was charged before Thomas Beckham, Esq., R. M. , on " Friday March 28, with a breach of the Arms Act, by selling twenty rounds ball cartridge to an aboriginal native named Taraiti, contrary to the provisions of 1 the same Act. The case lasted over Friday, Saturday, ' and yesterday, when he was commited for trial at the 3 next criminal sessions of the Supreme Court. It appeared that the transaction took place on the 28th 3 February last, in the bush at Pokeno, the prisoner offering to sell certain natives packages of percussion ■* caps. He received 3s. for the percussion caps, and 12s. » for the twenty rounds of ball cartridge. There were J five natives present at the transaction, who were examined. One of these deposed to handing the pack1 oge of powder, ball cartridge, and percussion caps to ' Mr Commissioner Naughton, of the police, who proe duced them in court.

The following letters respecting the natives are from the Southern Cross's own correspondents at Waiapa :— March 24, 1862. Since my last letter but little change has taken place in the aspect of affairs. I will, however, supply you with such matters of intelligence as tatty interest tho I

public, and lead them to see how matters stand in the Waikato. Some little fime since Reihana and a party of tho king soldiers went over to Kawhia, and fined a European belonging to one of the vessels lying there £5 for giving spirits to a woman. Anatipa Tuhere and Natihi Kairo, who reside on the mitli side of Kawhia, are said to have deserted the king movement. I believe our Resident Magistrate is trying to get the native who snapped the pistol at William Hamillon punished. The native says he did it "to put him (Hamilton) in fear " (whekaerehi). This offender does not bear a very good character amongst his own people. I hope the Government will support the magistrate, and teach the lawless natives that her Majesty's subjects are not to be put in fear of their lives with impunity. There are three disputes pending at the present time in thi3 quarter between natives about eel Weil's. It is very hard to say how they will end. Patene Potanue, who was the leader of the party that went to drire away Mr. Gorst, the Resident Magistrate, is very much disgusted with Win. Thompson. If Patene's story be correct, Thompson must be a very undecided character. Patene says Thompson told him to stop the mail ; then to let it poBS ; then to stop it again. Patene would not stop the mail a second time. Thompson has now written to him to let the magistrate alone, but to prevent natives bringing matters before him. Patene says he will not interfere to stop natives going before the magistrate if they like.