Telegraphic News.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 243, 15 July 1876, Page 9

Telegraphic News.

Auckland, Friday. The city everywhere shewed signs of mourning and there was a large attendance at Wilson's funeral. The barque Lady Franklin, owned by Lord and Hughes of Melbourne, got ashore at Kaipara, where she had gone to load timber. It is expected that she will be got off safely. Bich gold has been obtained in the Kapanga reef, Coromandel, for which an English company have been sinking for four years and have spent £40,000. Great excitement prevails there. A Maketu telegram states that a native after removing there got drunk, and smashed in the windows and sashes of the Telegraph Hotel because the landlord closed the house to him. He injured the landlord and lodgers. Wednesday. The report and balance-sheet of the New Zealand Insurance Company will be presented at a meeting of the shareholders this afternoon. The directors will submit the thirty-first report, with audited accounts, for the half-year ending May 21. The net amount received on premium account for the half-year was £92,277 ; losses paid and outstanding, £66,709; amount received for interest, rent, &c, £8772; profit for half-year, including £7239 brought forward from last half-year, and fully providing for all unadjusted claims, £40,077, which the directors have appropriated as follows: Dividend at the rate of 20 per cent, per annum, £18,777 ; re-insurance fund, £15,000, which will then stand at £35,000 ; carried forward, £6299. The directors inform the original shareholders, that the whole of the new shares offered to the public having been disposed of, this will enable the account of the old company to be closed. There will probably be a balance of 295. per original share divisable amongst old shareholders, payable in the course of the current half-year. The dividend is payable at Auckland on the 13th inst., and at branch agencies on receipt of advices. The Kingite natives have got a printing plant, and intend to start a newspaper. A letter, signed by eight Kingites, has been sent to the Herald, stating that Todd's murderer was at Kaipaha when McLean arrived, and remained till the Native Minister left for Auckland. The annual meeting of the Loan and Mercantile Agency has been held, and Mr. Browning was re-elected director. Wm. Lundon, brother of Lundon, M.P.C., was seized with aparalytic stroke while driving, and fell over on to the road dead. Bees addresses his constituents on Friday. There is considerable anxiety respecting the schooner Agnes, which left for Chathams three months ago, and is long overdue. Thursday. A schooner has arrived at the Bay of Islands from New Caledonia, and reports that a large French frigate had arrived there with nine hundred convicts. Farnall is announced for Auckland City West. Goldie, J.j M. Clark, and Hurst are spoken of. The Auckland cricketers telegraphed agreeing to the new terms for a visit from the English eleven.

Geahamstown, Tuesday. There was a conference of Borough Councillors and Chairmen of Highway Boards today, when the much vexed question of the management of the town water supply was settled by adopting the award of the arbitrators. Thereafter a telegram from Bowe, M.H.8., was discussed. The telegram referred to the local Bating Bill, and stated that provision was introduced exempting mining property from local rates. A long discussion ensued, during which it was stated that Grey had been the author of this clause exempting mining property. Ultimately a resolution was carried, to the effect " That this meeting is of opinion that mining property should remain as heretofore, and that it would be impolitic and unjust to exempt it from rates." ■Wednesday.

There was a severe gale last night from the North East, and a good deal of damage done. The framework of the new Congregational Church was blown down, entailing £2OO of damage. The Orange lodges celebrate their anniversary by a soiree to-night. Considerable dissatisfaction is expressed at the indecision and procrastination of Sir George Grey in the matter of choosing which constituency he will sit for. In any case, it is looked upon as certain that an abolitionist will be returned ; and equally certain that his successor will support him so far as native affairs and financial reform are concerned, whether elected at the Thames or Auckland City West. Thursday.

The Orange soiree last night was successful in point of numbers and other elements conducive to the enjoyment of a pleasant evening. Vesey Stewart was in the chair. Some of the speakers were conspicuous for intelorance and want of judgment. Tauranga, Wednesday. The Bay of Plenty Times this morning, accuses Hopkins Clark, a native officer, of making insinuations to local natives, damaging to the influence of Brabant, the lately appointed Besident Magistrate, and of endeavoring to obtain native signatures to a petition praying the Government to appoint Clark and Gilbert Mair to investigate the native titles instead of Brabant, on the assumption that the latter is inexperienced. The Times states that an enquiry into Clark's general conduct is absolutely necessary, and counsels his removal, Brabant being sufficient to perform all the duties connected with the natives. Alexandba, Tuesday. Tawhiao, with Major Te Wheoro, left Kuiti yesterday, for Aotearoa meeting, with a large party of natives. Napier, Friday. Simonsen's Opera Company opened last night to a good house, and were very well received. The season promises to be successful. Tuesday. At a Harbor Board meeting Ormond was re-elected chairman unanimously. A letter was read from Mr. Billing, for Henderson, contractor, suggesting an alteration in the conditions for the harbor contract. The Board resolved not to make any alterations. The question of a light at the Spit was referred to Kennedy and Vautier, to report at next meeting. A question was raised as to whether Kennedy was entitled to hold a seat, he being part proprietor of the Telegraph newspaper, in which the Board's advertisements appear, and are paid for. No decision was arrived at. The Simonsens' Company are drawing good houses. Matthew Talbot, an immigrant, was remanded to the lunatic asylum for medical examination. Thursday. Simonsens' Opera Company have played six nights, to the largest houses and most money ever known here. The Orange Lodge celebrated their anniversary last night by a ball and supper. There was a large attendance, and the affair passed off well. The Napier Gas Company have resolved to reduce the price of gas from 18s. to 16s. net per thousand to large consumers using 20,000 feet per month. The concession will only affect one or two customers. New Plymouth, Saturday. Charges of dynamite were placed under the Patterson wreck at Waitara and fired. The sight was grand, a volume of water being thrown to a great height. On the second charge being fired a large plate of iron and pieces of timber were thrown over 100 ft. into the air. The third shot fired had a good effect, and little of the wreck was then visible. On Monday the imbedded portion will be blown up. Monday. Mr. B. Chilman, Collector of Customs, has ratired from the service. Mr. Woon has taken his place temporarily. Greymouth, Friday. The Maori brings Captain Webster, of the brig Czarewich, from Bluff to Sydney. The vessel reached to within 500 miles of Sydney, when she met with f rightful weather. The pumps got choked, and the vessel was run ashore. She was leaking when she left the Bluff. Tried to make Jackson Bay, but failed. An official enquiry mil be held to-day. Monday. A fire occurred at four o'clock this morning at Henney's Hotel, Tainui, through a Mrs. Barret leaving her candle alight on going to bed. She was awoke with the place in flames. She was badly burned, and is now in hospital. The fire brigade worked splendidly, and saved all the house except an upstairs bedroom, which was completely gutted. The house was insured in the New Zealand and National companies. Thursday.

The report of the wreck of the Tui is unfounded. She sailed yesterday for Wellington via Westport, and to-day from Westport to Nelson.

Christchurch, Friday. In the Supreme Court, Joseph Catchpole, charged with arson, was found not guilty. In the case of Matthew Henry Poland, charged with manslaughter, Judge Johnston said the shooting of Annie Henderson by Boland appeared to have been purely misadventure. The Crown prosecutor thereupon declined to offer any evidence, and the prisoner was discharged. This concluded the criminal sessions. At a conference between the Chamber of Commerce and the Lyttelton Borough Council it was decided to prepare a draft Bill for the constitution of a Harbor Board for Lyttelton. There are rumors of more disaffection among the employes on the Canterbury railways. At a meeting of the Licensed Victuallers' Association last night the opinion was unanimously expressed that Mr. Stout's Licensing Bill was obnoxious to the trade, and it was resolved to telegraph to the Canterbury members, asking them to oppose it. Saturday. A woman named Sheean has been committed for trial for murdering her infant child by drowning. Mrs. Sheean said that during a sudden attack of faintness she let the child fall into a bucket of water, and was powerless to remove it till too late. Medical evidence went to show no marks whatever on the child, and that it could not possibly have fallen into the bucket. Mrs. Sheean only had two children before this, and both were killed, one being smothered in bed, the other drowned in a well. The Press this morning says it hears that an action for breach of promise of marriage has been commenced against a well-known squatter, in which large damages are claimed. It will come on for trial shortly, when some amusing particulars will be disclosed. Monday. Delegates from various friendly societies have adopted a series of amendments to the Friendly Societies Bill, and decided to have copies printed for distribution among the members of the General Assembly. The Gas Company this afternoon decided to double their capital in order to meet applications for extension of mains. Wednesday. At a meeting of the Board of Governors of the Canterbury College Tosswill corrected a statement made by the Hon. Mr. Stafford, that the revenue of the college would, in a few years,-be £IO,OOO per annum. Toss will said the revenue next year would be under £3OOO ; in 1880, £3500; and, under the most favorable circumstances, would not, years hence, exceed £7OOO per year. The Lyttelton Times this morning says that the labor market is never very brisk this time of the year, but there can be no doubt it is much worse now than it has been for some years past. The number who apply daily at the domain for work is very great—indeed, not long ago upwards of two hundred applications were made in one day. An instance of the abundance of skilled labor in the iron trade is afforded by the fact that in a very short time applications have been received from thirty men, all out of employment, for the appointment of engineer at Market-place fire brigade station. Dunedin, Friday. The Tablet of to-day characterises the statement made by certain papers, " that a Bev. Father of the Boman Catholic Church, Dunedin, has thrown off the trammels of the Church, and followed the example of Pere Hycinthe, of Parisian celebrity, by taking to himself a wife," as a notorious, cruel, and shocking lie, and states that actions for libel have been taken against the Evening Star and Tuapeka Times for publishing it. Monday. The Supreme Court sittings closed on Saturday, when Martin Birch, for sheep and cattle stealing, received three years. Miss Colville, having been criticised in Saturday's papers for her conduct and performance on the previous evening with the Press Club, made a speech on Saturday night, and a sympathetic appeal to the audience. Barnes, City Inspector, was assaulted again on Saturday night by a man named Thomas, who was acquitted the previous day at the Supreme Court on a similar charge. The tender of Hyslow has been accepted by the Government for the construction of two first-class and three second-class carriages. The price for the former is £325 each ; for the latter, £250. The skating rink is a great success. A skating club is to be formed in connection with it. Tuesday. The criminal action against the Star for publishing a " false, scandalous, and malicious libel" concerning the Boman Catholic clergymen of Dunedin will be heard at 2 o'clock today before Mr. Bathgate, 8.M., in the Besident Magistrate's Court. At the annual meeting of the Female Befuge a satisfactory report was presented. The charge against Bell, of the Evening Star, a criminal action for libelling a Dunedin Boman Catholic clergyman, is being proceeded with in the B. M. Court, and is creating much interest. The cablegram re the National Company having an insurance on the Gettwood is incoirect. They have not a penny on her. Wednesday. The Provincial revenue for the quarter, is £159,820; expenditure, £130,389. The Waste Lands Board has decided that a woman married after selecting on deferred payment, to a man not possessing an adjoining selection, must occupy or give up selection Each must occupy their respective selections' Thursday. A railway hand at Stirling named John Young was killed to-day by a truck passing over him. The railway earnings for last month were £9886. The Post Office Savings Bank returns for the quarter are:—Deposits, £43,466 ; withdrawals, £48,851. Talbot opened last night to a fine house

Rjverton, Friday. Mr. Robert Aitken's residence, Clifton Station, Waiou, was burnt to the ground. Mrs. Aitken and family barely had time to escape from the flames in their night-clothes Insured in the Victoria Co. for £IOO, which does not cover half the loss sustained. THE TEREMAKAU RUSH. Hokitika, Thursday ._ The rush at Tcremakau is now assuming large proportions. A great number of claims on Wi sideof theprospcctors' are on good gold. Some miles of ground not yet touched is expSedto carry tLsamelead. Over 800 sections in the new township have been taken up and are now fetching very high P™**' ™ five pounds being refused for some halt Cameron Bros.', Lyttelton, tender for Titan, steam tug, £4900, has been accepted. No satisfactory tenders for sailing vessels were received. SPECIAL TELEGRAM. 1$ (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Auckland, Saturday. ( The folloAving article appears in to-day's Cross The non-apprehension of the murderer •Winiata appears to have taken up a considerable amount of valuable time with the members of the House of Representatives bir George Grey has stated that if he had been placed in control of the Auckland police, as he ought to have been, he could have captured Winiata with the greatest ease." If this statement is correct, and we would not wish to cast doubts on the veracity of the knight of the Kawau, why did not he, in the interests of the human race, telegraph to the General Government stating his knowledge of the whereabouts of Winiata and the method (so easily described) by which he could have caught him* Many persons in Auckland gave such information as they had obtained to Mr. Jasper Broham or his subordinates, and several settlers aided in the search for the delinquent. We feel quite certain that if Sir George Grey had given the clue to the police force, they would at once have followed it out Sir George Grey has ever been ready to find fault with others He has, however, before this alluded to the 'maintenance of " peace, order, and good government" among the 60,000 or 70,000 persons of whom he is the elected head. Why then did he not give the police the office and let them know how to arrest Winiata with " the greatest ease." Sir George Grey takes up, and is entitled to assume, the position of chief elected magistrate of this province, and although the police are not nominally under his control, he well knows that he had only to suggest any reasonable and wise course of action to the Inspector of Police, and it would have been followed out with vigor and promptitude. Sir George Grey and Dr. Pollen, were in Auckland when the crime was com, mitted; Sir Donald McLean wasatNapier. Why did not Sir George, as Superintendent of the province, communicate with the Colonial Secretary, and lay before him the plan by which Winiata could have been captured? Anyone can be very wise after the event, for ex post facto wisdom is very cheap, and «if is a very short word, but is often very significant. If Sir George Grey were asked why he allowed some 180 rebels who escaped from the Kawau, and took up a position on the hill behind Omaha, to remain there when he had a large military force in the country, he woiild have to give a very long explanation of the circumstances, and use a considerable number of ifs in addition. We might suggest that if the natives had been foolish enough to have embarked on board a certain vessel chartered surreptitiously, in order to entrap and convey them from the neighborhood of Omaha to the Hauraki Gulf, when certain men-of-war were instructed to lie in wait under the lee oi the island in order to capture the vessel, then we should have heard very little of the matter. If our memory serve us aright, Sir George Grey tried very hard, after the escape of the prisoners from Kawau, to prove that some of their number, perhaps Tapiahana himself, were murderers and endeavored to show that his Ministers had done wrong in not bringing these men to trial then confined in the hulk at Auckland. That the Maoris who had been guilty of murder knew that sooner or later tney would be brought to trial if they remained m confinement, was an irresistible conclusion, and therefore they considered it advisable to make their escape on the first suitable occasion We would refer our readers to the blue books of the period, and the celebrated memoranda which marked that era of New Zealand affairs known as the memorandumiad. If Sir George Grey did not know, or had not heard that Taipahana was suspected of murder, he must have used much less detective power than he has since exercised in the Ohinemuri lairua and Piako questions. He was then the head of the Native department, for the colony had not at that time taken over native affairs, and the Native Secretary (Dr. Shortland) was much more under his control than that of the Colonial Ministry He could thus have obtained by his own action all the information possessed by the Government departments. But he did not deem it necessary to ask for this information until after the event, in the same manner as he now states in Winiata's case that he could have arrested him easily if, &C &c. It is very easy for men who hail from Otago, and who entered into possession of a valuable landed estate purchased for a few pence per acre from the natives, who have lived in piping times ot peace and never heard a shot fired in anger, to declaim against the action of Sir D. McLean, who has to consider the position of our settlers scattered along the frontier on confiscated lands in the provinces of Auckland and Taranaki ; but mil those eloquent new-fledged politicians agree to place their Southern land fund at the disposal of the North Island to carry out those military operations which would have to be undertaken to capture the murderer Winiata and other felons now located in that portion of the country held by

the Maori King party ? If necessary, we will add another. « Had Sir D. McLean demanded the murderer, and Tawhiao refused to surrender him, what then would have been the position of the Government? Are we prepared for war? Have we the means ? It may be said we would get the land now in the hands of the natives. If, a<*ain, their territory does not exceed two million acres of good land, and it costs us five millions of pounds to conquer it, and the contingent ruin of half the frontier settlers in the colony, we would ask our Southern members to consider whether this is worth while, and we are further prepared to guarantee that Sir G. Grey, if he were to step into Sir D McLean's shoes to-morrow morning, would, as Native Minister, strongly advise the Government of which he would then be a member not to attempt the capture of le Kooti, Nuku, Winiata, or other notabilities ot that genus, unless the House was prepared to sanction a war loan. A question of proportion itself. If Sir George Grey could not, with 10,000 British troops under his orders capture 180 escaped prisoners on Omaha idill —men who had no supporters—how can bir Donald McLean, with less than 200 constabulary capture Winiata, who is said to be protected by the whole force of the Ngatimamapoto and Waikato tribes ? We do not wish to stir up hostile feeling between the two races and we know, in despite of a recently packed meeting at Alexandra, that the Waikato settlers will bear us out in deprecating the Armed Constabulary being marched over the frontier to capture Winiata. We hope and believe the day will come when iawhiao will be recognised as the chief of his own people, and lie and they will be subject to the same law as ourselves ; but meanwhile we urge the exercise of moral suasion and forbearance, in the hope that our erring aboriginal brother may before long become amenable to reason and, yielding to the inevitable, perceive the necessity of the Queen s writ running throughout the colony it lawhiao shelters murderers, who not aukati him, and let him and his people have no communication with Europeans, and be debarred from trading at the towns adjacent to the frontier. This would be a cheaper method of reducing our native neighbors to submission than the expenditure of blood and treasure in the old style to which Sir G. Grey, judging from his speech as telegraphed appears desirous to revert The member for Auckland City West says if he had had the control of the police he would have captured Winiata with the greatest ease (we presume near Orakei)._ Will he promise that when he becomes Native Minister he will procure the surrender of Winiata forthwith, without causing any trouble or bloodshed?

THE THAMES OPINION OF SIR GEO. J£ GREY'S ACTION. (FROM our own correspondent.) Grahamstown, Thursday. As far as I can learn, public opinion is decidedly against the action taken by Sir George Grey. Everybody except his partisans condemns the fast-and-loose policy he has adopted, as unbecoming a man, much less a statesman and a gentleman. The Star— the only leader or representative of public opinion since the Advertiser has been like a house divided against itself—on receipt of the telegram giving the select committee's opinion of Sir George s double election, commented as follows : It will be seen from our telegrams that the committee of inquiry into Sir George Grey s double election have come to the conclusion that his return for the Thames was according to law and precedent. It will also be seen that Mr. Stout has given notice of motion that on luesday next Sir George shall declare for which constituency he will elect to sit. It remains to be seen what decision Sir George will ultimately come to after the very marked indecision he has displayed all through —whether he will still feel that circumstances compel him to represent Auckland City West, or whether he will once more change his mind and become our first representative, instead of our third. From what has come to our knowledge of manceuvering already begun even m this district, we believe Sir George will be guided, not by his own inclinations, nor by the wishes of Auckland City West or the Ihames, but by the advice of certain political jackals who are already on the trail to discover whether the chances of returning a candidate of Sir George's way of thinking are better here than in Auckland." Yesterday, when the telegram arrived stating that Sir George required further time to make up his mind, the Star had the following:—" Sir George Grey, as will be seen by our telegrams of to-day, has demanded a further period during which he may consider whether it will better suit the views of his own party that he should represent the Thames or Auckland City West. The further period allowed to Sir George Grey to decide as to whether he will or will not represent a constituency he had pledged his broken word to support, is limited until Friday next, at which time, unless a reason for further procrastination be discovered, he must make his election betwixt us and Auckland City West. Why all this delay, unless it be, as we suggested on Saturday, for the purpose of serving his party, we are at a loss to conceive. Surely Sir George has had time since the last elections to decide whom he will represent—surely he cannot forget by what means he deluded us into electing him ; and surely also, he cannot forget his promises made. His conduct is, to say the least, inexplicable, as might have been expected." The news in this morning's paper (conveyed in form of telegram to Dr. Kilgour) that Sir George had made up his mind to sit for the Thames, caused some surprise, coming so soon after his request for more time to make up his mind, and I have no hesitation in saying that the disappointment was almost universal when it became apparent that no chance would be afforded the constituency of redeeming their error To-night's Star contained the following •!_" Sir George Grey has decided to sit for the Thames, and has, we are told, telegraphed

to the chairman of his election' committee to 3ay so. It of course by no means follows that because Sir George has said a thing he will do it, for he telegraphed to the same chairman of the same committee once before, saying that owin"- to circumstances he could not sit for the Thames ; and now we find that he will, or we outfit to say says he will, as the two things by no "means mean the same. Circumstances alter cases, but the circumstances of the Thames are pretty much the same as when,_ before his election, Sir George Grey promised faithfully to serve us, which he promises now. Neither, as far we can see, have they ever been altered, but Sir George may have other circumstances affecting himself and party, and these may vary in a way we know not of ; at any rate, one thing is, or seems to be clear, and that is that after first of all soliciting our sufirages, and then rejecting them, Sir George Grey is going to honor us by condescending to represent us." .