The New-Zealander. AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16, 1855.

New Zealander, Volume 11, Issue 986, 26 September 1855, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 16, 1855.

Be ju»t and fear not: Ltt a!! the ends thou aim's: at, be thy CoaiUry*!, Thy God's, and Truth's.

The Provincial Council met on Saturday last, and passed* the Debenture Bill, with the rate of interest altered from eight to ten per cent., as amended by the Superintendent. Shortly afterwards his Honor entered the Hall, and delivered the following

ADDRESS:

Gentlemen of the ProTmcial Council,— I have to inform vou that I hive this tot* tented, on behalf of the Governor, to two Ac&wwn have been submitted to me by your honorable Speiker, the one for the further appropriation of the revenM for the last six months of the year 1855, and the otter empowering the Superintendent to raise a loan 01 25,000". by the issue of debentures. Understanding that, with the passing of these AM. the business of the session is closed, it remain* foi W to declare, as I now do, that this Council stands pro* rogued till the first dav of December, 1155. Wm. Brok-k, Superintendent On Monday, the petition of the Council, praying for a dissolution, was presented w his Excellency the Governor ; and, in compliance with that prayer, the following*™. clamation was issued in yesterday's "Government Gazette":—

PROCLAMATION.

By His Excellency Colonel Th^ s Gohb Bbownb, Companion otuie (L.S.) must Honorable Order of the W* Governor of the Colony of W ff Zealand, &c, &c. &c. , Whereas, by an Act of the W l ' Parliament, passed in the iifteenth JJj sixteenth yeais of the Reign of Her l ,r ~ s " Majesty, cap. 72, intituled, •« An Act log* a Representative Constitution to the cu % of New Zealand," the several Province* Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington,' son, Canterbury, and Ota u, are thereby e» bli.shed ; and it is enacted that for each « , said Provinces there shall be a SuperinteflJ and Provincial Council. . - .^ r And whereas by the said Act it is ?•>" p enacted that ieyery Provincial CjUIIC ffl tbe continue for the period of four years tro day of the return of the Writs for choosing * same, and no longer. Provided a l *,*}? ««. shall be lawful for the Governor of HJgJg land, by Proclamation or otherwise, to dithe same whenever he shall think it espe ! so to do * „( the O Now, therefore, I, the Governor £!» lony of New Zealand, do, by tins r«» r tion, Dissolce the Provincial Count- 1 * said Province of Auckland accordingly-

Given under my hand, and issued under the Public Seal of the Islands of New Zealand, at Auckland, in the Islands aforesaid, this twenty-fifth day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five. (Signed) Thomas Gore Browne, b Governor. By His Excellency's command, AnDIW FI\CLA.'R. Colonial Secretary. Gon save the Qoren !

fa had hopes that as Mr Semdl had laken up ... lion of (he Pensioner grievances (he 1 have been finally decided in .he 1 , „,r!viii«' al definite conclusions, and (he ° Enilv or ffivinalhem effect wee at once opP hhle the reporl of Iho select coin.nillec '«5 hVve nlaced •»« ,JouSo in full possession T.terealn.erilsoflhecns.Na.ul lhal, thereif the power e.f redressing II"' wrongs of r'peiilioners were in the Assembly, justice Lnull without delay have been done. We regret to find lhal all our expectations .II wn disappointed. The report.of the S Committee in I his ease, is the shallowest SfTof electioneer"!!? trickery which has ever K imposed upon «.public Assembly. The )01 , me mher for Chr.slduirch has, u. his place . ..' jiQuje, disavowed his concurrence with the areata porliou of U'O views expressed in th.il doaimeul; H «as not his reporl, it was, and is • ivt nolhiu? mora than an iugenioH<! address to the W?rieved pensioners by the <'l>rngn"S i. n! lv" i" Iho House; an attempt to brine the Fvrutive Government ami one member f ii \a particular inter iJis'avour with the lUtioners and with the Pensioner force. Mr. * Snvi'iutendeol Brown as well as the ;J»!lu*rs of the Committee, knew perfectly well lilt'***-'* , .-, , r ■• * /* i thai the Executive Government of Uus Colon) knew power whatever lo arant land in compensation lo any man or body of man. ind lliat no money can he lawfully paid ttl less it has been first specially voted by the llfflisa of Representatives. Whal then is the"' "object of recommending the case to ll,e consideration of the Executive Government ? Simply this, that the *' (outers" of Mr. Brown's peeress parlV might he enabled to delude, the Sowoner voters and affect the coming .election for the Superinlendeney, by disseminating the f.lse suggestion,that—as the House of Kepresenf.,iive.« had left the mailer in the hands of the Executive Government—if tho claims of the pensioners remained unsatisfied the fault won! IfcMiot \%ith Yir. Brown, but with the Executive. ft seems evident from the concluding paragraph of the Reporl, that the Committee were fjliv aware lhal the Executive Government lijuid do nothing. '• Tr.ev woitW s<hl as a fitcst remark, Ineir I eirnest kope that this investigation and reporl, ' Bay no! have the effect of raising expectations in the minds nf the Petitioners which may be dis.mnoir.icd." The red anxieties of the petitioners, the loss of lime, tho irritation, annoyance, and expense incurred by them in pursuit of redress, aieas Bflraing in lha estimation of the party compared with (he gratification of doing a little i-mstMef" to a political opponent, and ol teeping alive a grievance by which the supporters of Browfl and Campbell might profit. It used to be a matter of continual reproach by the 'Southern Cross,' that it was the policy of Sir George Grey to divide that lie might rule—to tit the North against the South in this Colr.ny, lost united they should prove 100 much for him ; vital shall be said of the progress parly (of which the 'Cross' is the orgaD) whii hj, no! confunt with fostering national antipathies, would recklessly evoke sectarian animosities for. elec(ioneering purposes and has not hesitated to disturb the. respectful loyally towards the Crown and Government of a whole Church, by Industriously circulating tiro grossest falsehoods villi regard to the oaths administered to the Governor on the .jth iusL; and this, with no other purpose, as we believe, than to deprive Mr. Whitaker, the candidate for the Superintauler.cy of the favour of some of his pledged gupportrrs| Veriiv, in this the nineteenth century, such pogr&S cannot be in the right direction, nor tan such a parly be considered as friendly to jieace and order,

The steamer ""Wonga-Wonga," Captain Bowden, which arrived from the Bay of Islands on Saturday, reports the American schooner " Fiidc o! the Seas," Captain Hodges, to have called at that port on her passage from Sydney to New York. Through that fortunate chance, at a time when our Sydney communication has been so vexatiously interrupted, we have been favoured with a copy of the llmjnre of the 6th instant, from which we have extracted copiously in our other colu. mn3,

The European intelligence is glorious, but imperfect. Sufficient, nevertheless, has been innde manifest, not only to give full confirmation to'the rumour received from the " Fiery Cross," but to induce a very strong belief that Sebrstopol had »t length fal en into the hands of the allies. The beaier of this intelligence, which dates to the 13th of June, was a clipper ship called the "Storm Cloud," which had arrived at Launceston, after a rapid passage of 71 days from Liverpool, The prospects of Russia were hourly darkening, whilst tht.se of Western Europe, and of mankind, Continued to become more arid more hopeful. In all probability, a fvw days more will suffice to put Usui possession of more perfect details, as the Kestrel, Yarrow, and Ileal her Bell were all about ready to sail for Auckland ; as well as the Bchooner Packet, which, under the command of Captain Clough, was coining down to load for China.

The salary of the Governor-General of New Sooth Wales has been increased from 5,000/. to ',0007. a year. A motion for this augmentation was introduced into the Legislative Council, by Mr.. Darval, and seconded by Mr. G. McLeay. ■h was strenuously opposed by Messrs. Donaldson, Parke?, and Campbell, who urged the propriety o postponing the question until the arrival of the »BWConstitution (which gives the coup dc grace to the Nominee element) from England. The motion, however, was earried, —the ayes being 22, the noes *9 Smaj writinir the foregoing, we have been favouied with a file of Hobart Town papers, from {he 31st ultimo, t.}' he 6th instant, received by the " r g Kirk.wood, arrived at Mnuukau. Their contents iUV . ni ., rfr explanatory of the previous intehigence:. and they enable us to present much fwra ample details of the continued successes WMeved by the nilied armies.

Among the many marvels of the: age in which W live, the conversion anil civilization of the natlve tribes of New Zealand may well be regarded ns not the least remarkable. It is quite true that W first seeds of Christianity may bavo heen sown **«H early period of the present century, and »W a lr.iuute fraction of a barbarous people may J£*e received a ray of Christian light; but more lia 'i the first quarter of this century had passed If 'ti?" d sliil tl:u New Zealnnders retained so much 1 their early savagery that they were yet regjrad as the Anthropophagi of the Southern vhh whom is was a daring attempt, to ■"'"'P, ami who struck terror and disgust into "«,s minds because of the inveteracy of their inerinciiH: slaughter, and the demoniacal ferocity wthwr cannihal orgies. n„. I' 1 '"' 11 a P ersotJ 0} tw ent >' y ears > tlll tllis * ias ,lis " Heathenism has abjured its gods. ] iaT fcUloGt sanguinary of the ancient Chieftains * renounced, with shame and sorrow, the evil nor ways. Peaceful industry has taken the

place of war and desolation. The Ministers of Religion are honoured ami revered. And the European husbandman and craftsman are wooed and welcomed to cast their lot amongst, an industrious, intelligent, and prosperous people. It we but look around us—if we travel one part. of these islands to another—do we not. witness the proofs of civilization at every step? Is it not first of all conspicuously observable in the altered dress and superior manner of nitive living ? But a short halt dozen years back, by far the larger number of the native frequenters of Auckland went about wrapped up in their filthy and inseparable blankets,'- (too many do so still) look at I their apparel now—many of them as they traverse the streets equally as well clothed as their European fellow citizens. From whence the means of such a beneficial change ? Entirely from the fruits of their own industry, which has led them to become farmers, graziers, millers, fishermen, seamen, sawyers, mechanics, labour ts, and universal producers and purveyors, to render assistance to, and enter into honourable competition with their European fellows in all the arts and occupations of life. It is to native industry and native wealth that Auckland owes her distinguished pre-eminence amongst the Provinces of New Zealand. The natives have shown themselves fully capable of profit ting by the extraordinary commercial agricultural and maritime facilities which the soil, the coast, the bays, the rivers, and the numberless inland waters of the Auckland territory every where afford. They are extensive proprietors of the numerous and well ordered moskito fleet of coasters of which Auckland is so justly proud. They have their balances at the Bank ; and their produce on their lands; —and, year by year, the progress of industry and the growth of civilivation is being energetically extended, It has been one of the peculiar features in the native tenure of the soil that the lands have been held by the tribes in common, individul possessions being the exception to that general rule. The disadvantages of such holdings are becoming apparent to the native understanding, and purchases have been made by individual natives from the Government, in order that by a Grown grant they may acquire an individual title, and farm their possessions to their individual advantage. Xhi-J circumstance, has, we believe, led the Bishop of Xew Zealand to propose a plan for carrying out, the distribution of the land upon an extended scale. The Government, for example, to purchase the land from the tribes owning it in common, — to lot it out—and resell it to such of the native owners as might be disposed to buy. Such a plan wo .Id tend to excite native emulation, and add materially to the improvement and cultivation of the soil. It would, likewise, give an immense impetus to successful colonisa! ion ; for, as the natives have not been slow to appreciate the benefits to be derived from European capital and skill, they would bo equally quick to discover that with more lan I on their hands than they possessed means to turn to account, it would be to their advantage to dispose of a part, and so acquire the capital and insure the co-operation of the European in the enrichment of their common country. Native land sales, under such circumstances, would no longer be difficult, for with the extinguishment ot'tho title of* the tribes, and the establishment of the titles of individuals, such transfers of property would prove as easy as they would he satisfactory. That the natives arc alive to the little value of land, in an unreclaimed condition, may be proved from the fact that within a few weeks Te Hapuku the Great Fish, as he calls himself, of llawke's Bay, has sold a tract of land in the Ahuriri o Government. On his arrival in Auckland for the first time, the European practice of renting lands an 1 houses struck him forcibly, and ho at once declared the superiority of having improved posses ions which returned an immediate income to la in» the master of extensive wastes which were not likely to yield him anything like a rental during his ii'e time. He, in consequence, purchased the fine schooner Erin, of 58 tons, and expressed an intention to invest, a sum of o'OQOL in the purchase of Auckland town property. And yet, with a population of some 80,000 of such natives in the Province of Auckland—men iuves ed with*.all the electoral privileges conferred by the Constitution of New Zealand—the question of the removal of the seat of government by the General Assembly to some of the Southern Provinces with not a tithe of the native population of the North—is considered to be a question of equal justice and expediency! Can it bo forgotten, by those who would advocate such a fraud, that Auckland is the only Colony of New Zealand founded by the British Crown ? That it is not a Colony acquired by conquest or established by cession, (in the contrary, it is a Colony built upon a solemn treaty, to which the honour and integrity of the British Sovereign have been as i-aeredly plighted to the Native as to the Britishborn subject. Upon the faith of that treaty, and upon the assurance of the Royal Proclamation, Auckland was constituted and purchased as the capital of New Zealand ; and with what degree of | conscience could the sacrifice of suchuiiiquestiona- > tfe vested rights be made \ It may be true that, for the present, (thanks to Messrs. Brown and Curleton, and their tail who opposed the Electoral Districts adjustment measure), the other five Provinces may be enabled to out-vote Auckland in the General Assembly. But, will they do their native brethren such gross injustice as wrong them of a right conferred by treaty \ The natives will not be slow to discover the wrong. At tli!! pace at winch their intellectual development proceeds.theire!ectoral privilegeswill,erelong, be exercised, and what excuse can then be proffered for filching the seat of Government from the most commercial, the most maritime, the most productive, the most populous, and infinitely the most wealthy of all the provinces ? We have as yet but dealt with the material portion of the civilization of New Zealand. Let, us now draw attention to another and gratifying instance of the onward course of religious advancements. On the 22 id of May 1853, the day on which the Revds. Messrs. Ashwell and Thatcher were admitted to the order of the Priesthood, a native teacher, named Rota, was ordained a Deacon of the Episcopal Church by his Lordship the Bishop of New Zealand, Archdeacons Abraham, Brown, and Williams, with a numerous body of the Church Clergy, assisting. The ceremony was one of an unusually interesting character, and the Church of Saint Paul was crowded in every corner, On Sunday last, another native instructor was ordained a Deacon of the same church, under equally interesting circumstances, and in the presence of a congregation w.iicli crowded every avenue of Saint Paul's, The native minister is a fine looking young man, —one who was the first to I.e. baptized fifteen years ago, and who by his faithful ministration as a teacher had established a claim to he received as a Deacon of the (.Lurch. Such an occasion was one which could not fail to be improved by such a man as Bishop Sehvyn. The sermon which he delivered wa.i a most impressive one—a striking outburst of zealous, fervid eloquence. The text was from Genesis, the 9th chapter and 12th verse—"God shall enlarge Japheth, ami ho shall dwell in toe tents of Shorn." Tracing the happy progress of the conversion anil civilization of the tribes, there was one dark and discouraging circumstance upon which Bishop Selwyn forcibly and feelingly expatiated. It was the infamy of demoralising the heathen whom we had come to reclaim, and amongst whom wo dwell, with i he vices of the European. It was not before the Europeans, but before the vices of the Europeans that the coloured races disappeared, I and heavy was the responsibility of those whoini dulged them, intemperance, once unknown, I was now on the spread among .the natives, and he should not bo discharging his duty to his God, his church, or the ministers around him, if he i did not firmly and fearlessly denounce such a I erring iniquity. Turning from this dark spot in the moral regeneration of New Zealand, the Bishop dwelt with I much satisfaction on the progress which christian i civilization had made within her borders. There ' are numberless evidences of this in the character and

condition of the people. We find, them not only seeking to become ministers of the Church of Christ, but ready with their contributions to enlarge the sphere of its labours. And with such a spirit animating the old and enlightening the young, we cannot but cherish the fondest hopes for the continued moral, social, and religious progress of New Zealand.