AUCKLAND MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR THE MAY ENGLISH MAIL. VIA SYDNEY, [PROM APRIL 6th, to MAY 4th, 1861.]

New Zealander, Volume XVII, Issue 1570, 4 May 1861, Page 3

AUCKLAND MONTHLY SUMMARY FOR THE MAY ENGLISH MAIL. VIA SYDNEY, [PROM APRIL 6th, to MAY 4th, 1861.]

The scenes have been shifted rapidly at Taranaki during the past month; actors have bustled about the stage, but the chorus has been silent, and the spectators have been left to gather what they were able from expressive pantomime. If the drama indeed have a plot, the authors have concealed it with singular skill. It will doubtless be revealed in the last act, when every one will be made happy. What avc know is, that the Waikatos have retired from the seat of warfare, and that the Ngatiruanuis and Taranakis have also taken leave, and carried home their plunder. Terms of peace, which will be found elsewhere, have been offered to Ngatiawa and accepted, —not, however, by Win. King, but by his General, Hapurona, and by the greater part of his (King’s) people. The southern tribes, Taranakis and Ngatiruanuis have also had the conditions of their submission stated to them. Their first reception of these propositions is said not to have been either A r cry respectful or promising, but second thoughts appear to have produced some improvement, and it appears that, by sections, these scoundrels are coming in to make their submission. Wo know that his Excellency the Governor and his Ministers have returned to Auckland ; avc see that the troops, excepting a single regiment, the 57th, are being withdrawn from Taranakfas fast as possible, and are being concentrated* here. We observe that the Avomen and children, refugees at Nelson, arc being permitted to return to Ncav Plymouth, and that the settlors are again about to reoccupy the land —homes no longer —from which they had been driven ; and, most singular of all, avc find that the people of Taranaki, judging from the tone of the local press, are upon the Avhole satisfied Avith the ucav order of things, and disposed to make the best of the situation. What the next act of the tragedy Avill disclose, or Avhere the scene av i ll open, avc Iciioav not. The Waikato “question” must be entered on, and her Majesty’s Representative be brought face to face Avith the Maori Kingmovement. There appears to be no doubt that this difficulty Avill be firmly and fairly met, and there is room to hope, that, fighting having ceased at Taranaki, it is noAv capable of a peaceful solution. Ihe rime has come Avhen the relations between the Government of the country and the inhabitants of the aboriginal race must be clearly defined. There arc duties on the one side Avhich Avill doubtless bo fulfilled, and there are also rights Avhich must be insisted on ; another opportunity more favourable Avill probably never again present itself. The Governor will in a very short space of time have at Ids disposal a large military force, a little army indeed, and by its means, if need be, the authority of law may be established throughout the length and breadth of the land. The Natives, on the one hand, desire its protection from the violence and disorders, the murders and robberies Avhich are inflicted by one upon another, amongst themselves ; and the Europeans have a right to expect that the scenes which Avere enacted last year, at Tuakau, under the leadership of Thompson, shall never be repeated, at least Avithiu the settled districts. As avc have said, the public know really nothing of the process by Avluch apparent effects have been produced at Taranaki, and arc equally in ignorance as to Avhat is being done, or proposed to be done, in Waikato, As the results in the one case, lioavever, appear to have satisfied the public, there is no present reason to doubt that the more formidable difficulty Avhich yet remains may not be successfully overcome.

The meeting of the General Assembly, at Auckland, is fixed for the 30th instant. The locus in <jun is uncertain. It is a public reproach that the supreme legislative body in (lie colony has not a roof to cover it, or any sufficient place of safe keeping for its records, which are accumulating constantly, and which, if by any accident they were destroyed, it would be impossible to replace. It is to be hoped that the session will not be allowed to pass .without provision being made for a House of Assembly, for the erection of the necessary buildings for the accommodation of the Supreme Court, and for the offices of the General Government. The Ministerial programme of the business of tbe session, if it is arranged, has not been made public, and, we suppose, will bo disclosed only in the Speech of the Governor. The elections have, on the whole, gone against the present Ministry, and the presumption is that there will be a change, but, as we approach the crisis, the forms of the coming men do not devolopo themselves distinctly. Independently of the measures which may be considered to have a bearing upon party questions, there are some, relating to the administration of justice and to social economy, which will require attention, and there is, above all, the Native difficulty. Of the policy of Ministers in reference to these subjects, there is profound silence, and the public know as little of what is proposed in the future as they have been permitted to learn with regard to recent proceedings at Taranaki. The duty of the summarist, with respect to these matters, is simply to declare that all is blank.

Weather of the most unpropitious character has greeted the returning troops from Taranaki, and the men have suffered all the discomfort and inconvenience which, in a climate such as this, it is possible to subject them to. The barrack accommodation is of course wholly inadequate for the number of troops now in Auckland,- and consequently the men newly arrived arc under canvas, upon ground which is soaked in water, and in such a cou-

ditiou as to preclude the possibility of keeping even a dry blanket in the crowded tents. An immediate and vigorous effect is, we are informed, about to be made to provide huts for the men who have arrived and for those Avho are expected. Notwithstanding the large number of buildings which have been erected in the town and immediate neighbourhood within the last few years, the demand for house accommodation just now is greatly in excess of the supply, and carpenters and all those engaged in the different branches of the building trade are in active and full employment. The public works upon the Great North Road arc about to be resumed, and it is hoped that the erection of the necessary bridges &c., upon the line of road already cleared through the forest, the communication with the Mahurangi district will be opened and a ready market provided for the herds of cattle the property of the settlers which have, during the few years last past, been increasing rapidly on the runs and in the enclosures of the Northern Districts. Upon the Great South Road also, repairs and improvements are being actively prosecuted, in order that no interruption may occur, during the winter, to the extensive traffic which the progress of settlement has created upon this important line of communication with the interior.

We announced in our last summary the fact, that an old and wealthy corporation, the Bank of New South Wales was about to form a connexion with New Zealand, and that preparations were being made for the immediate opening of an agency or branch at Auckland. The public have since been surprised by a report that the Oriental Bank Corporation were about to withdraw their establishments altogether. The story has at present no better foundation than public rumour, and may possibly prove to be nothing more than a canard. The sudden removal of the branches of the Oriental Bank rnightbethe occasion of much individual inconvenience and injury, and even of considerable general embarrassment in those Provinces where no previous announcement of such intention had been made, or where sufficient time had not been given to make preparation for the change.