A CASE FOE THE OF THE REBELLION ACT.

New Zealand Herald, Issue 75, 9 February 1864, Page 4

A CASE FOE THE OF THE REBELLION ACT.

A roitET-:srnxDi;?jT i>sics us our opinion mi the follow ins: facts : —He says a certain member of the House of Representatives, living no t, oni . lumdnld miles t'rom Auckland. lvcentlv paid a visit to Tauranca, r.ud on l.is return voliintarilv admitted to him (our correspondent) thiit lie 3 h:ul told the natives there that (he Government " were going to rob them of their lands." Further, that before returning, one of the chiefs made him a present of a valuable mere greenstone, and Maori mat. " T told them." said the M. H. I?., " that the Government were going to rob them of their lands and during the same conversation, "the chicf gave me a greenstone and a Maori mat." Such are the facts. :;nd now for our opinion. Ojslv thai a man should not be convictcd on his own admission, we think it would have been n proper case for the operation of the Suppression of the ,■ JJebrllion Act; but if independent evidence | can be obtained, no doubt the Government will I feel it to be their duty to put the Act in force, j The deluded chief, it would appear, lias so appreciated the untruthful information given him by the M.H.]t.. that he lias made him a valuable consideration for it. and will probably net upon his advice, the nature of which may be pretty well guessed. It is this indiscreet, not to say criininal tampering with the natives, that- has ill a great measure caused the present rebellion. The least that the M.H.E. can do i.s to send the mere greenstone, and Maori mat as conscience money to the Treasurer; and we will then undertake riot to disclose his name. [AVe have copied the foregoing from the Boitllicrii Gross of yesterday. For a jest it i.s too serious ; for truth too melaneholv. Either the subject shoidd not have been mooted at all, or it shoidd have been demonstrated beyond the possibility of mistake. The accusation "is one of direct ani deliberate treason; and if there be any grounds for so heavy a charge, the. traitor should be proclaimed, so that both the Government and the constituency so perilously betrayed, may deal promptly and energetically on the occasion.—Ed. jN'.Z.H.] Capt.TV. IButlkk, H.M.R., lias, we perceive, been appointed Marine Surveyor to the 3.'ew Zealand Insurance Company 'for the I'orL of Auckland. Tendkus from slaters, plumbers, and painters for the performance of work upon a house at Kcmuern, are invited by Messrs. Wood and Baber, architects, and must be sent in before :i p.m. of Friday the 12th instant. Kaii'aka.—\Ve are sorry to learn that the Kaipara natives should entertain feelings of timidity, in so far that they are unwilling to travel about the country alone, and yet we hear that such is the case. The earnest manner in which thegovernment interfered in their behalf, or rather in vindication of the law. when it; was reported that the three natives Wiremu, Hori, and liutene had been fired upon by Europeans has done much, it is said, to restore a feclin«- of confidence amongst them. In Mr. Eogan both Europeans and Natives enjoy the services of a resident magistrate whose presence is calculated ■ to ensure the maintenance of good feeling and of harmony in the district, and lie is e.vceediii'dy popular, and justly so, with both Europeans and Natives. ■Lhe Auckland Gas Company have given notice that a call of ten shillings per share has been made upon the shareholders, arid that it is payable on or before the 7th of March next. Albion Gold Mixing Company—The directors of this company have decided, we perceive, on recommencing working this promising claim. The Albion and the Victoria both contain the same line leads which have rendered ■No. 4 so rich and prosperous, and which hitherto they have been unable to work partly from the i disturbed state of the Province and consequent scaicity of labour, but mainly from the great influx of water into the shall. The powerful machinery now erected on 2s o. •! (Kelly's claim) from which claim £6000 worth of gold was taken last summer, has we dare say assisted iu enabling the Albions to reeommeuce working their claim. No doubt their example will lie followed by the equally neh and promising claim the Victoria. "\ ine Cultuke.—The following ingenious method of propagating the vine is from the Alhury Banner. Australia has now established itself as a wine producing country. So might New Zealand. As yet few attempts have boon made. We only know of' one instance, where a German wet tiler at 3J Mr. Alhiclz, has

produced an excellent wine from his own vineyard. The following is the now method ofpropagation : —Instead of adopting the old-fashioned method of planting vineyards by cuttings, Mr. Hudelot single eye, leaving onlv about half an ineh of the stem on each side. Those are placed in the autumn in damp earth, and kept thus till the spring, when they are planted out in the vineyards, and grow' with remarkable rapidity, producing fruit the second year, and a full crop in the third, whilst vines propagated in the old , manner require four and five years-—according to the locality, and the nature of the soil— | before they yield at all. and two or three more i before they are, 111 full bearing. Another udvaui tage of ibis new system is the f'acilityand economy j of sending these miniature plants from one place | to another. ! TirK CoMMissAiir.iT Dkvav.tmknt.—Demitvj Commissary General H. Stanley .Jones, C. J?., i after an onerous and arduous service of several ; vears, as well during the war at Tnrannki as • j latterly in that of this Province, is about to be ; relieved of his highly responsible duties at his I own immediate desire — Commissary-General . | W. Brake, C'. 8., the second officer of the 'i department-, now serving at the Cape of Good Hope, having, been appointed to succeed Mr. 1 Jones. AYe do not know at what time Mr. s .Tones is likely to take his departure from ZN T rw 1 Zealand, but, go when he ltiny. he mil be < regretted by manv private friends, and by others ; who in their public transactions have found in him a courteous and kind-hearted man. Capti'kk of a Swoudfish. —Yesterday lnorn- ' ing a fine sword lish, measuring at least seven - and-a-hair feet, the sword projecting from its " snout being about thirty inches long, was ' brought to the waterman's stairs and hauled ' upon the wharf. The fish was found alive, eu--1 tangled among the mangroves in a swamp up 1 the river. Tll towing it down the river (he boat • was followed by a large shark upwards of ten • feet- in length and which remained for some little ■ ' time near the foot, of the stairs moving about r , attracted 110 doubt bv the carcase of the swoivlj fish, which whs still in the water. One of the ; j watermen, Cook, immediately got a harpoon, but. ' i before he could arrive near enough to the brute, • | the noise and commotion by the crowd upon M the wharf attracted its attention and it darted ■ ; away. Sharks are now so constantly seen in ■ , the harbour, that their presence creates very • \ little astonishment-, and yet we perceive that 1 1 many persons continue to bathe, asusual. That ' : they do so at great risk of life they must be well • i aware. In the case of boys, however, mere chil1' dren as they are, it cannot be supposed that they ' should know the full extent of the danger they 1 incur, and we earnestly recommend the provision ' of public bathing places 011 the west and east. J : sides of the town for the use and safety of the ' citizens. As a matter of private speculation • they would, we should think, be most, profitable. : The City Rmpiri:.—To those who wish to f> ; know what the City of "Wellington (a settlement j in Cook's Straits) is really like, we append the I . following " answer to correspondents," which appeared in the ]S~cir Zealand Adrcrthcr of the i 20(h October last . A correspondent from AYel- . ; lington. who kindly forwards us (he extract. : says. " the accompanying is n. true picture of the ! "Empire City'":—" I>.S.M.—AYcliave received j a letter from a visitor from Cantcrburv. in which he contrasts Christ church with AYelJington. ! This is what, lie says of the ' Empire City':— ■ ' Wellington is a provincial capital.- it is a lung established town, and the population is si slow ' people; the chief street is the sea beach: the ■' houses are mostly shabby, :\nd the place alto--1 gether, T fancy, is like a fishing village at home. • only there are no fishing boats : there are about two large shi|is in the very fine bay : the population consists of soldiers, troopers, natives, and shop-keepers, with a sprinkling of servant girls, ? : and a few odd-looking policemen : also in the , streets, are prisoners at work, and they wear the ; Glengarry bonnet, which 1 do not- approve of, it iis enough to put the bonnet our of fashion. J ' | have not been able to find out how the people 1 manage to live, but it is certain they do live.' " 1 j ; Stoxk-cuvshino Maciuxk.—ln new coun- : tries where, men arc few and their handiwork r ; urgent, invention is always on the rack. !n , j Auckland, at the present- luonu-iit, every available man has been ordered out to "the front," | and with summer 011 the wane and winter on the advance; with our streets and highways ] : rough hewn and in nits ; and with extensive j | damages clamouring for repair, we are without , ! the labourers to prepare, or carters to convey. ~ j and roadmakers to spread the requisite metal. . j To aid our municipals in this sorry state of affairs, a stone-crushing machine, patented by a ' Mr. Appleton—and for some time employed. and with great- and beneficial results, we are j told, in the neighbouring colony of Yietoria — . was exhibited yesterday at Mr. Marshall's s«w j mill, Queen-street. The mechanism, diven by steam, is simple and powerful, and the stone is j, crushed with rapidity, breaking large blocks s into fragments not. quite so small or regular as j. that by hammer, but still of a size quite available for streets and roadways. The Colonial Treasurer, Mr. Fox, and the Chairman and j- several members of the City Hoard were present , to witness the operation, which they appeared " r to look upon in a favourable light, both as . regards economy and dispatch. Vksset.s l-'Olt Till-: W.Ul'A.—The following is a 1 portion of an interesting article 011 the presentstate of affairs in the Waikato, which appears in the Si/dun/ jllui'iiiurf Herald of 22nd lilt. " General Cameron, in New Zealand, lias been ' brought to a temporary halt, not by reason of any ilitlii allies in his rear. His conquests have gone ahead of liis transport appliances. I lis advance from Meienicre to Ranguriri, from l!angariri to the King's j A'illagc, and from there to AVhata Whata liaslieenso t rapid, that it is difficult for tin- Commissariat depart--1 incut- to keep up with liirn. Tt is true that his advance ! 11 os been up a navigable river, which is it great advantage in respect- of forwarding- supplies, But , there the navigation of t.lie river is peculiar, and rep quires a peculiar kind of craft, and they are nut im- } mediately available. Tho ' I'inneer' gunboat, which was built in Sydney, was specially designed for serp vice against Men-mere, and for commanding the lower reaches of the river, for Avhieh she is well . adapted, liut tile war lias now gut oat, of her reach. ' Tliu limit of lun- usufullness is at the King's A'illagc, , and it is with difficulty even that she can navigate < the river up to that point. Jt is up the AYaipa, the f chief tributary to the Waikato, that the army is now t advancing, hut though the water is deep enough, the , channel is so narrow that only a short vessel can j turn. What is wanted is obviously a set of steam j. tugs that, like our ferry-boats, can move either way without turning, and a supply of iron barges. jS.niie . smaller .steamers have been constructed in Svilnev, 1 and sent down to the entrance of the AVaikato'Rivc'r, where they are being put together. The first was 1 expected to be ready within a fortnight from the date 1 of ourlast advicev. The W.uipais said to be navigable a for 150 miles; this will insure a permanent- command of the country whenever Ave have a sufficient snpplv . of suitable little steamers. The river will evidently . hereafter be a highway of commerce, tor it rims T through some of the finest land in the eolonv. The ; Maori monopoly has hitherto kept all this fertile tractout of European reach, but Wiremu Kingi, in l'orbidding the sale ol the \\ aituva block, has destroyed 1 that monopoly for ever. Tim AVaipa lands are desB tilled before long to yield their rich harvest, to j fc European industry. The army that is now invading ! t the country in not an army of desolation. On the i 1 contrary it is winning land from the condition of t ) wilderness to the uses of civilisation, and opening to 1 commerce what an excessive regard to aboriginal I j rights has hitherto allowed to be closed."