The New Zealand Herald AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1864.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 60, 22 January 1864, Page 3

The New Zealand Herald

AUCKLAND, FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1864.

STKCTKMUR AGENDO. Give cvory man thine ear, but few thy voire: Take ouch man's censure, but reserve thy judgment. This above all.—To Uune ow»<oif be true; Ami it must f How. as the mj;hi the <l«y. Tliou canst not then be false to any man."

The lionoiiruble the member for Ellesmere who. in degenerate times, appears to be quite as gifted an adept in the art oi' ■•'michingmalleeho." as was his accomplished prototype, the Goddess of Discord, in the era of mythological malignity, has evidentlv attained his ends by the commotion lie has caused by throwing his modern apple of contention amid the '* somewhere" expectants of'' Cook's Strait." JJf/iti- pulehrion was the crafty inscription home by the apple Shine amid the assembled gods and goddesses of old ; and now, as then, the Xew Zealand gods having declined to become arbiters in an aii'uir of so delicate a nature, have sought to transfer the invidious oilice to other deities who, were they to accept the task, might possibly bring down as much mischief upon their heads, without the corresponding degree of pleasure, as that which was the reward of Phrygian Paris. There is an almost miraculous analogy between the revenge of the goddess of discord and the mischievous conception of the genius of Ellesmere. The stratagem of the one set celestials by the ears, the scheme of the other is producing quite an earthquake in Cook's Strait, where the decision of which shall be the J?ulchriori is throwing the expectants into convulsions, forgetful that the fraudulency which was visited so severely in olden times may possibly fall as heavily upon the would-be defrauders of the present day. The antipodean apple of discord, which he of Ellesmere has so dishonestly sought- to tilch, and which they of Cook's Straits so eagerly strive to clutch, is the seat of Government, wedded to Auckland from the loumlation of the colony... Classical history does not tell us where the goddess of .Discord plucked her apple. We have no knowledge of her having acquired it by theft. Not so stands the present case. A theft must be committed in the first instance, and as resetters three highly respectable personages are invited to become participants in the petty larceny, and render their names odious to after times by adjudicating on a subject beyond their ken. ' I

In this nefarious competition "Wellington has already written herself down as the predestined l J ulchrior of Cook's Strait. The lew charms, the petty claims to distinction which she fancies she possesses, have been blazoned as nakedly as those of the contending goddesses, whilst the pretensions of her immediate neighbours, Nelson and Picton, have been treated with compassionate sneers, as points of no earthly momeutfor consideration^'the solicited adjudicators. Aelson and Picton have hitherto observed a more becoming modesty ; but latterly there are signs that they do not intend to allow Wellington to walk over the course.

Xclson has a belief, and 110 very unreasonable one either, that if the vital" and vested interests of the Colony are to be subverted at tlie bidding of a small political clique, her "somewhere in Cook's Strait," whether agriculturally, pastorally, auriferously, or commercially considered, is in ever)' respect, equal in pretension, if not more so, than the windy gaps of Wellington. Picton, again, is of opinion that young and contracted as her harbour at present is, that she possesses quite as much table land for the foundation of a city, and has fully as great means of expansion, by cutting down and levelling hills, as Wellington has ; that' her situation is quite as central and infinitely less shaky than that of Wellington; and that between the superb and extensive reaches ol Queen Charlotte's Hound, with its many nooks and inlets, any comparison between the rocks and reefs environing Port Nicholson would be insulting. If the Heat of (Tovenimcnfc he doomed transported to aivjichcrc in Cook's Strait—if the weight, influence, and superior claims of the most important Provinces are to be set at nought—if Canterbury schemers are to be allowed to bolster up the non-progressive, in order that the career <>i the prosperous and progressive may be impeded in order to contribute to Canterbury's aggrandisement ;—then, wc almost incline to think that Picton is probably the best entitled to. profit, by the proposed spoliation.

We, in Auckland, four-and-twenty years smeo proclaimed to be the Capital of'i\ew Zealand, by the Queen, Parliament, and successive Secretaries of State, and who have not only held possession but have become largely colonized in consec|ncnoo of thai possession, have been under the necessity of laying bare the barren pretensions of YVellington to lay claim to the right of which, Auckland has been so nefariously sought to be stripped, not by the united wish of the colony, not because ol any defective inlluenee ot its population and position—but merely through the underhand manouivrcs of a Cook s Strait cabal, of whom an unscrupulous, disappointed, and some time discarded I rime Minister, made himself the congenial instrument and agent. In common with other of our Auckland contemporaries, wo have been somewhat roughly handled by our Cook's Strait brethren ol the Press, because in prevention of l'obbory wo round it necessary to make clear exposition ot "Wellington's incapacity to occupy the position of a fitting Seat of Government.

Is it our fault; that 'Wellington is so continually visited by earthquakes (hat no building of more permanent material than wood dare be constructed? Is it our built that so Utile inducement to cojonisation in the town and province of Wellington is to be found, that for the last live or six years a retrogression rather than a progression in the scale of ]>opiilation has taken place? Is it our fault; that, whilst Auckland has a fleet _ of some S.OOO or 9,000 tons of shipping oi her own. AY ellingt on does nor possess as many hundred tons? Is it our fault that Auckland boasts of Kawhia, Raglan, Waikato, Manukau, Kaipara, and Hokianga on the West" Coast, and Tauranga. the Great,' Barrier. Mtthurangi, Coromandcl. Auckland, Wangarei. ftussell, Wangaroa, Mongonui, and other first rate harbours on the East Coast, whilst "Wellington is possessed of Port Nicholson onlv? Is it; our fault that property is largely in demand in Auckland, and an' unconvertible drug in the "Wellington market? That I whilst real estate to the tune of £i:i,000 to ;£14.000 can change owners in Auckland in a week, sales can by no possibility be effected in Wellington, even at " alarming sacrifices," within any given time ? Is it our fault that: in self-defence we draw these undeniable contrasts ? —that we insist that whatever the claims of Otago to consideration as regards wealth, population, position, and political influence, Wellington can adduce none such : and that when by subtle cabal she forces herself into compari- i son with her more prosperous and energetic 1 neighbours; when she seeks to 1 akcadvantage ( ofa conspiracy to defraud and in jure them— that we must needs speak out? If she i will seek to do wrong to them and us, < she must be content to submit to the - exposure which we, in common with others, | have found it our duty to give, and which l we shall not fail to continue to give when- 1 ever occasion may require. (