The New-Zealander. Be just and fear not: Let all the ends thou aim’st at, be thy Country's. Thy God’s, and Truth’s. AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23,1862. PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1671, 23 April 1862, Page 2

The New-Zealander. Be just and fear not: Let all the ends thou aim’st at, be thy Country's. Thy God’s, and Truth’s. AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23,1862. PUBLIC BUILDINGS.

Amongst the few things about which outside politicians in Auckland are agreed is this one, that the absence of suitable public buildings is the disgrace of the Province. Both the General and the Provincial Governments may be said to be in lodgings, which are both inconvenient and expensive, whilst the public records of the colony and the province are exposed to the danger of destruction by fire in the wooden buildings in which they are kept, and to another danger also from want of proper classification and arrangement, for the accomplishment of which abundant room is necessary. The wretched condition of our Supremo Court House has been the theme of complaint at every session for years; whilst our prison, so far from possessing the conditions which would entitle it ,to be classed as a reformatory, wants even those conditions necessary for the safe keeping of the prisoners placed within its wooden walls. The Lunatic Asylum, even with the additions which within the last three or four years have been made to it, is able to afford shelter to its inmates, but no more; with the very best of dispositions on the pait of those charged with its management, it does little else than afford the means of mechanically separating the insane from the rest of the community. Want of space and of proper appliances for cure in such cases, tends to render nugatory the most enlightened efforts of medical skill. We want a decent Custom House, and w’e want commodious and roomy buildings for the meetings of the General Assembly. The necessity for the erection of some at least of the buildings we have specified is pressing ; the question to be considered was, how is tho money to be found ? It' is known that in the last session of the Assembly a sum of £SOOO was voted for tho erection of a Custom House at Auckland. Had this work been carried out, the cost of it must have been immediately defrayed by the Province, and that sum would necessarily have been deducted from the portion of the Customs Revenue payable to the Provincial Treasury for the year. The Council would have £SOOO less than they have had to appropriate to public works. The cost of constructing the permanent buildings which are now imperatively required in this Province would absorb every penny of its revenue for at least two years. There is no good reason why the cost of constructing ■permanent buildings should fall exclusively ou the people of this day, few iu numbers, and struggling with the difficulties of settlement in a new country. It appears rather that the payment should be distributed over a long period of time, and that, whilst those few now here are not absolved from making some contribution for the advantages in which they are sharers, neither should the many who are to come. A loan with a sinking fund is the means by which this fair distribution of burdens can be made, and accordingly it is proposed to borrow on Debentures, a sum of some £60,000, for (say) thirty years, and along with the interest to provide for the extinction of the debt by a sinking fund of two per cent, per annum.

It may be said that some of the buildings proposed to be erected —the offices and the buildings for the Assembly for instance—are properly charges on the Colony, and should be borne by the Colony. That is quite true; but there are political considerations which make it worth the while of this Province to go out of its way, as it has done once before in the building of Government House, to make secure its right to be and to remain the seat of government and the ordinary place of meeting of the General Assembly of New Zealand. Certain buildings are required, but it is doubtful -wlietlier, in the present state of parties, the necessary vote for their erection at Auckland could be obtained from the General Assembly, and if such a vote could be obtained, the direct charge upon the revenue of this Province which would be thereby entailed, would be felt severely. The subject is now before the Provincial Council, having been initiated by a proposal from the Colonial Secretary, at which the Council expressed some indignation, but nevertheless declared themselves ready to waive their dignity in view of the usefulness of the project. A Debenture Bill was read a second time yesterday, and considered in committee. The proposition for the management and supervison of the new works by a Commission has been made by the Superintendent, and accepted by the Colonial Secretary. The subjoined correspondence relating to this point has been transmitted to the Council: — Superintendent’s Office, Auckland, 16th April, 1862. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, of date March 26th, in which you point out the necessity of provision being made with the least possible delay for the erection of a Supremo Court House, Gaol, Custom House, Registry Office, and other public buildings in Auckland, and propose that provision should be made for the expenditure on such works by a loan with a sinking fund to the raising of which you state that His Excellency the Governor will be prepared to assent, I have submitted your proposal to the Provincial Council now in session, and learn that the Council are disposed to make the necessary provision by loan for the cost of the works specified by you and also for the cost of other buildings required for the service of the Province. As His Excellency’s Government must be largely interested in the providing suitable buildings for the several departments for which accommodation is required, I propose that a Commission, in whose hands the conduct generally of any works provided for by the Loan Act shall be placed, shall be appointed, jointly, by the Governor and by the Superintendent of this Province. I shall be glad to be favored with your views upon this proposal at the earliest possible moment, as the session of the Provincial Council approaches its close, and I desire to be able to inform the Council of the arrangement if approved. I liavc, &c., J. Williamson, Superintendc nt. To the Rouble. The Colonial Secretary. Colonial Secretary’s Office, Auckland, 17th April, 1862. Sir, —I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor’s letter of the 16th instant, in which you inform me that you have submitted my proposal to the Provincial Council now in session, and that the Council are disposed to make the necessary provision by loan for the cost of the works specified by me, and also for ! the cost of other buildings required for the service of the Province. It is a matter of great satisfaction to the General Government to find that your Honor and the Prdvin-

cial Council are prepared to co-operate with the General Government in the proposed works. Your Honor further proposed that a commission, in whose hands the conduct generally of the proposed works should be placed, should be appointed jointly by the Governor, and by the Superintendent of the Province, and you request to be favored with ray views upon that proposal. In reply, I have to state that the General Government will be prepared to concur in any such arrangement, and to name a person or persons to act on such commission so soon ns the necessary measures have received the sanction of the Provincial Council. I have, &c., Henry Sewell, For Mr. Fox. His Honor the Superintendent, Auckland. Coromandel Gold. —Those of our readers who are sceptical in the gold producing capabilities of Coromandel, have, just now, an admirable opportunity of overcoming their doubts by examining the specimens which may be seen by Mr. Keven’s permission at his shop in the Crescent, and which have been obtained from three different localities. The most interesting is a saucer full of gold and quartz from the Waiau Creek, some of the gold is pure and of a solid shotty character - in all there may be in this lot about 3 ounces of pure gold. The whole, Mr. Keven informed ns, was washed from the bed of the creek, and it has indeed the appearance of being considerably water worn. If prospecting at Coromandel were attended with no more difficulty than it is in Victoria, it would not be many, days before we should hear of the discovery of the reef itself whence these rich specimens of quartz have been detached, as it is, we believe it tobe only a matter of time and that sooner or later some exciting discovery will be made, and prospectors as a body will shake off that indolent custom of waiting to see what turns up, and the relative proportion of idlers aud workers will be changed. Until this takes place, we can scarcely expect that the peculiar difficulties of prospecting over forest lands will be surmounted. Yesterday, as the “ Dolphin” was working up to the Queen-street Wharf, having more way on her than was expected, her bowsprit struck the small Custom House office which is built on the end of the first J and smashing through the window, tumbling pape -s, and boxes into a most admirable state of confusion, was only prevented by her bows striking the | itself, from breaking through the opposite wall, which however she partly did, perforating the lining and starting the outside weather boards. The Military. —A company of the 40th regt. marched into Auckland on Saturday, and relieved the Rifle Volunteers from the garrison duty which they have for so many weeks been honourably discharging. We have been given to understand that another company of the 40th may be immediately expected, and that the regiment are to remain in Auckland throughout the coming winter. Latterly, there has been a forward movement among the troops engaged in formation of the road to Maungatawhiri. The 40th have vacated Beards’ Farm, pushing on with part of the 70th to Rhodes’ clearing and Pokenoe, the 65th occupying the 70th’s camp, and extending as far as Beards’. A great deal of metal has recently been spread, but from the state of the weather and the sloppy condition of the late cuttings further progress must shortly bo discontinued. We have been told that an early return to the Camp at Otahuhu may be lookod for. A winter station, however, is to be established at Pokcnoc.