PROGRESS OF NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 56, 18 January 1864, Page 4

PROGRESS OF NEW ZEALAND.

[From the "Melbourne A^e." Till-: la.il Xew Zealand intelligence speaks of tho majority of tin.' General Assembly being in favour of removing the .scat of Government from Auckland to tin; neighbourhood of Cook's Straits, as a more central po.-ition ; and is at the same time proposed that there shall In- a Lieut.-Governor who shall always have special char#; of the .South Island, and who in the absence of the Governor, shall assume his authority over hoth islands. The progress of the South Island sinoe the discovery of tin- Otago is the cause ot the intruded changes, hut it is by no means certain that they will, in the ahove shape, be carried into e.'lect. For both Northern and Southern Xew /calami are advancing' so rapidly in population and development of resources that they will, ere he considered important enough to have distinct Governments and Houses of Representation. Another | twelve month may double the strength of Otago ; the I late e.xklorations of her west coast and interior give j lair promise. And the termination of the Maori war i may have just as great an iniluenee on the position ot Auckland. An extensive tract of country will be 1 opened in A\ r aikato for colonization, which not onlv embraces much fertile arable soil, but. it is suspected, mineral riches also. Gold, though to only a trifiinir amount, has been already found in tho "immediate neighbourhood at Coibmandel ; and that there axv auriferous veins in aikato is currently curreutlv believed, though, of course, not yet positively known the jealousy ot the natives having hitherto prevented prospecting, but. whether gold is to be found there in paying quantities or not, the large injlux of agricultural settlers will give a wonderful fillip to the progress ot Auckland province. Therefore, as north and south are advancing so fast that separation is already spoken of, and obviously cannot be far distant, no advantage is likely to attend a change of so temporarv a character as the selection of new quarters for a (loycrnment, and Parliaments sure soon to underiro division. Ii (In* islands were to renioin one dependency Wellington or Xelson, at one or other side of ot the Strait which sunders them, would, of course, be the most central situation, liut, it'they are to he two distinct dependencies of the Grown, it is not in Wellington, but in the most important settlement of Auckland that tilt' North Islanders nuibt have their l.e-islaturc anil Kvecutive; and thr South Inlanders, not in slcojiv pastoral Nelson, hut in husilin-, rising Olai;'o. IJiis view oi the matter is so vorv plain, and the rights ot tlio two settlements so clearlv marked, that tlio Otaijo members made common cause with tlio.se of Auckland in a removal which cannot he a permanent arrangement, To avert misappiehension in commenting uii NcwAealand (juestions it- is olten, though not very expressively referred to i as tho Middle Island. The term " South " heiiif>- in j that case reserved for the cumparativelv insiirniiicant Spot otherwisv known as .Stewart's .Island, and whose proportion to its its neighbors is somethin- like that of tin- Isle of Man' to the l'.riiish group. New Zealand is sadly in want of a fixed and satisfactory nomenclature; liut, until she has ii, it is the simple and correct way to distinguish her two great natural divisions as North and South.

New Zealand is on the eve of becoming the abode of a numerous population, and will, ere lonz, oreupv a first 1-ank place in the list of England's colonial possessions. There :s an admirable connncrcial position, and an abundance of line harbors and livers, and illimitable extent of well-watered, fertile soil for the plough, t as well as uplands adapted for sheep larming. The mountains are confidently believed to contain coal and iron, as well as !>okl: anil the climate is the best of any colony in the world—at least t!ie be.-t suited to the t-onslitution of the An-lo-Srxon, as it most closely resembles that of Eiiirland, while at the same time an improvement oil it. 'From those extiaordinary natural advantage's and opportunities, New Zealand has always been regarded in England as the future JJritish' of the South, ller career of prosperity is now substantially commencing; and her success and prosperity are certain to advantage us here ; just as the rise and advance,- of Victoria lurnished ail impetus to Australias in general. Indeed it is not improbable that the progress of Now Zealand may serve us in still more 'varied ways. Nothing call he more stupid and short-sighted— nothing more truly contemptible—than the jealousy woich neighbouring colonies oiten entertain' of each other't up-rise. How enlarged is the population of New South AN ales and her importance in the world's eye to-day, in comparison to what they were lifteen years ago and yet the Sydney men have not yet become ijuite reconciled to thesmlden and triumphant start accomplished by Victoria, in the benefits of which they have participated. Among ourselves, too, when the Otago gold-fields were discovered, there were not wanting croakers to assert that we were about to be cut out—to have the population of our gold-fields drawn away, and the business oOlelbourne transferred to other wharfs. Well, so far from those sage predictions being fulfilled, the development of Olago has proved of the most signal service to Victoria and .Melbourne. A lucraUve market has been opened there for the domestic produce of this colony, and for the goods imported by our merchants, business was dull ami declining when the now Otago trade set it right again. Those rival gold discoveries, it is not too much to say, have operated for us as a truly fortunate event. It'is only reasonable that it should be so. It is more profitable and gives more room and chances for enterprise to be situated in the vicinity of bustling civilised communities, than with wilderness beside- us. "Whatever fills up with civilised settlement the lonely islands and shores of these still remote seas, must necessarily tend to the service of Victoria, as well as any other colony already existing. Instead ofbeing jealous of tbenevv ! and remarkable progress of New Zealand, it is our I direcL interest to accelerate and contribute to it by every means in our power. Nor should the import- ! ant influences which may arise to us from the peculiar ' suitability of the New Zealand climate to the British physique lie wholly overlooked in these calculations. There is coo much ground for apprehending that the ' liriton may physically degenerate on this content. , We have a fine climate, on the whole, to lie sure ■ ! but we are not equally positive of its thorough ■ adaptability to the races of Western Europe. Up t .> I the present it iias been found trying and wearinir. The adoption of proper habits ami modes of life will i do much to remedy the evils complained, but still the iact is yatent that the children and grand-children of ' settlers in the older colonies are far Ironi boinu-. us a ! rule, as vigorous and muscular men as their i'lurope- j bum progenitors. Hence the value of a country next I doo;, where there is promise of the Europcad stiunimi

continuing from generation to generation undiminished —of a population closer than at the antipodes to supply us in the natural intercourse of neighbouring countries, with an occasional infusion of untliinned blood, and unreduced and unrelaxed bono and sinew—a population beside us from which to recruit the exhaustion by our hot winds of the original energetic tone and strain of old England. Nuw'jfo'i. land is the complement of these colonies, their other and in a climatic sense, certainly their better half! And, the sooner the proxinccs of New Zealand become populous and hustling the better, in every sense, for Australians—the better for their business now,'and their commerce and fustained development in the future.