COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY — COLONIAL VOTES. (The following is extracted from the debates in the House of Commons on the Colonial Votes.)

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 148, 30 December 1846, Page 3

COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY — COLONIAL VOTES. (The following is extracted from the debates in the House of Commons on the Colonial Votes.)

£30,000 for the charges of the colony 6f New Zealand. '"• " Mr. Williams called attention to a jjJapef recently printed, giving an account of tHe'cbirduct of the prisoners sent out to New Zealand from Parkhurst, from which the House might see what had been tlip good effects of the large expenditure upon those criminals. The conduct of the hoys was described in a letter from a missionary as being of the worst kind.. He should like to know to what purpose the bills to the amount of' £21,134 were to be applied? * " - ' Mr. Hope said, that although the vote was not iramed when he left office, he believed this sum was put down to make up the round sum of £30,000. This increased expenditure was necessary,.' to give JStovernor Gwy'ihe chance of retrieving the affairs of the colony,,.* Ifcwas absolutely requisitVhe shouTd"have funds provided on which he could draw in the first instance. The House might safely leave Go-" vernor Grey a discretion as to the amount of the draughts he should draw on the credit now given, as fiom his previons career there was no doubt he would justify the confidence Parliament might place in him. Mr. Hume wished to ask whether, when a colonial governor committed this country to a la,rge expenditure of money, any inquiry was instituted into his conduct by the Colonial Department ? It appeared, to him that any person sent out as the governor of a colony might expend what money he pleased without being called to account. He wished to know whether Captain Fitzroy had returned to this country, and, if so, whether his conduct while he was Governor of New Zealand had been inquired into 1 Lord J. Russell said that when the appointment of Governor of New Zealand was offered to Captain Fitzroy, that gallant officer held a permanent public appointment in this country, and had discharged his duties most satisfactorily. He believed that Captain Fitzroy had been influenced in accepting the government of New Zealand by a desire to benefit the colony, and that he had acted . with the best motives ; but he had been placed in a very difficult position, and he had certainly • acted in defiance of what might be termed the ge-nerally-received maxims of colonial' government, though he had no doubt from a desire to benefit the public service. He considered that Captain Fitzroy had committed grave errors, and the consequence of his conduct had been most seiious ; but that gallant officer had himself been the loser by those errors, both in interest and reputation. Captain Fitzroy had been recalled by the Government who had appointed him ; and he really thought that enough had been done in the matter. He was not disposed to institute any further inquiry on the subject. After a few words from Mr. Parker and Sit R. Inglis, Mr. G. W. Hope said that Captain Fitzroy abandoned an appointment in this*country worth £900 a year, and a seat in Parliament, in order to accept the governorship of New Zealand at a salary of £1200 a year. When the expenses of proceeding to such a distant colony were considered, there could be no doubt that, in a pecuniary point of view, Captain Fitzroy must have been an actual loser, even if he had continued to hold the appointment for a longer period. He believed, that Captain Fitzroy was principally influenced, in his acceptance of the appointment, by a desire to promote the civilisation and welfare of the aborigines ; and the injury to the high professional reputation he had long maintained, which resulted from hisrecal, was in itself as heavy a sacrifice as a man in his position could be called upon to bear. He could name other persons who had occupied similar stations, and who had fallen into similar errors, who were still suffering most severely from the consequences of those errors, though they had not been called to any pecuniary account. Mr. Williams observed, that this question seemed to be treated as a mere pecuniary matter ; but it must not be forgotten that, through the imbecility and total incompetency of Captain Fitzroy, the lives of some of the principal inhabitants of the colony had been sacrificed. If no inquiry was instituted into his proceedings, they would hold out encouragement to similar misconduct in future. Mr. G. W. Hope said, that in justice to Captain Fitzroy he must state that the loss of li f e to which the hon. gentleman referred took place- three months before the gallant captain arrived in the colony. Mr. Williams : The loss of the troops ? Mr. Hope : The massacre of Wairau.

Louis Philippe has raised the mayor of Bordeaux, the Cobden of France, to the peerage. , It i* . undented that Parliament w^l be prorogued mbflufcth* 2nd or ird Scpttmber,

DeATU OP LIEUTINANT-CoLONEI. . Robkrt Winchester, K. H.—We regret'to>: have to record the death of another Peninsular and Waterloo veteran, Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Winchester, late of the 92nd High*' ■landers, but retired on full pay, which took J)l^te<at -his residence in Edinburgh, on th* 123 rd instant.—Times, August 1. Captain Fitz Roy lad an interview with Earl at the Colonial-Office.—lbid. - >

Fall in the Price ob Bread. — On; Monday the first-rate bakers at the West-etfd-of the town lowered the 41b, loaf from 9d. to B£d. ; the second-rate bread from 7d. to 6|d. ; per 41b. In the Blackfriars road, Westmin--ster, Whitechapel, and other populous parts; the bakers offer very fair bread at s|d. and 6d. the loaf. — Weekly Dispatch, August 2*

America. —The domestic affairs of th« Union are interesting. Cougresa hafc.also been engaged in irreguU^aiacussiiint' tonch^ ing upon'the Oregon i^rtfjfhneNation of Texas, the Mexican war, &c. The proffer fey the British Government of~a friendly mediation between the United States and Mexico had been received with considerable favour, and formed a topic of wide discussion* iv th» public journals. The newspapers also dia* * cuss the claims of various candidates for the ' next Presidency. Scott, Calhoun, Benton, and others are named; and hints are even thrown out pointing to General Taylor, the victor of the engagements of Palo Alto and Reseca de la Palma. No doubt remained of the due payment of the August interest upon the Pensylvani»: debt.

Wool. — It would appear by the* official returns ordered by the House, of Commons, for the purpose of ascertaining the actual ira* port of raw wool, that of the Alpaca or Llama, tribe alone amounted last year to 1,261,9051b5, being more than double , the preceding year. This enormous increase is to be attributed to the patronage of the Court and . Foreign Powers, the portion of the wool being manufactured into Llama cloth by the Messrs. Ni» coll of Regent-street; and. the remainder exported abroad, principally through their instrumentality. This wool was scarcely heard of four years ago. — London Observer,- Aug 9. Our accounts from Canada by this, toail ar» of a most interesting, but, at the same time, most mournful and. harrowing nature. On, the- night of the 12th ultimo a large audience ( were present in the Theaire Roy^al. of Quebec. A, fire broke out dn the stage, and. spreading with great rapidity, the spectators becama alarmed. A iearful confusion arose from tha rush to the doors, the staircase from the boxes gave way, and the mass of human being* within the building were involved in destruction. Forty-six bodies, when the last account* left, had been taken out, but it was impossible to estimate the true extent of this fearful ca- | lamity. The news of the settlement of the Oregon question was received with great joy in Canada. From Cub* we learn that General O'Donnell had been superseded as Governor by General Ordoz, from the Fhillipine Islands. There are in Chancery six manors of th» late Miles Standish, worth £60,000 a year, waiting for a claimant. Thirty-three firms at Blackburn have sigj nified their intention to reduce their working days to four days a week. The Sugar Bill had passed, and received ; the royal assent. j It is confidently expected that ft Military | Brevet will take place, but it will probably b» confined to the Royal Artillery. The Lord Mayor entertained her Majesty's Ministers, on the 19th August, at the Mansion House. Lord Ranelagh is fitting out an expedition to explore some rivers in South America. The suspension of business of the Leeds Commercial Bank was known in Birmingham by means of the electric telegraph a quarter of an hour after. In the House of Commons a varietjftof measures have been forwarded. The only great question of domestic interest had refer* ence to the alarming condition of the Irish peasantry in Ireland as to food, the potato crop having again failed! The early recurrence of .the great national calamity is said to be a subject of grave anxiety, not only to Ministers but to all classes of the community. The Peel ministry contained five Englishmen, five Scotchmen, and one Irishman. Th« Russell cabinet contains eleven Englishmen, two Scotchmen, one Irish. Ireland is quiet. The magistrates dismissed for attending Repeal meetings, have been restored, and so has Sir W^Verner, removed for having attended some Orange processions. There is some idea that the Marquis, of Normanby will succeed Lord Hardinge *9 . Governor General- of India. Lord Elphinstone is spoken of as successor to the Marquis of Tweedale at Madras, and Sir H. Pottinger to replace Sir G. Arthur at Bombay. The. Mayor of Liverpool had r«fost4 th« dignity of knighthood, <

Mr. M'Lane, the American Minister, is about to retire, having succeeded in arranging the Oregon question. Report says that the Poor Law Commissioners have tendered their resignation to government. The Sir R. PeeJ.has been engaged to carry the remainder of the 65th Regiment to New South Wales, It is now admitted on all hands that the potato crop has gone for this year, at least as far as Ireland is concerned. The subscription for the relief of the -widow and children of the late Benjamin Haydon, the Ivstorical painter, amounts to upwards of £2000, exclusive of the annuity of Lady Peel already fixed on the relict. Leghorn has been seriously damaged by an earthquake which was experienced on the 17th August. H. M. Steamer Vulture has refurned from Chusan and Shanghai, having the Governor on board. The troop ships left Chusan on the 25th July with the 98th Regiment. On getting under weigh they were saluted with three guns by order of the Mandarins. The Wolf had returned without seeing the Pirate. Two men had arrived at Shanghai, being all that had escaped from the crew of a junk plundered by them, the rest were massacred. — ,Hong Kong Review, August 4. A report has been prevalent here for several days, that Keying has fallen under the displeasure of the Emperor, and been degraded several steps. The report has come through the Chinese, who say when he first came to Canton, he was above all men in the province, bnt now there are five or six as high as he. We have been unable to learn farther particulars as to the truth or cause of the transaction. We believe it is not the first time the opposite faction have found means to prejudice the Emperor against him, and we hope that now, as before, his star will again soon be in the ascendant. — Ibid, August 11. Sir George Grey, in the House, on the 13th July, on transportation, stated that the new Ministry would be likely to carry out the views of its predecessors, on transportation, but could not give much information on the subject, as he and his colleagues bad not yet had time to consider its great importance. The magistrates of Ireland, who on account of their Orange and Repeal propensities, had been removed from their office, are likely by the new cabinet to be restored. It is expected the coming harvest would be a good one, but not abundant. The grouting crop of potatoes [in Ireland was however, likely to fail pretty generally. Perhaps, if English liberality provide the Irish people with sufficient grain t that will 'ultimately be a blessing to Ireland.

The Heat. — The great heats which have prevailed within these two months have so diminished the volumes of the rivers of Belgium that the navigation of the Meuse and Ourthe has become exceedingly difficult, principally in and near Liege. To cite but a single place 1 , there is not above 16 inches of water in the Meuse from Arnoy to Liege. — Liberal Liegoise. •

Effects of the New Tariff, &c. — Throughout Germany, Holland and Belgium, ■where provisions are very dear, the rise in price is attributed in a great measure to the purchases for England, consequent upon the changes in our Corn- law and tariffs ; and which, among the manufacturing classes, are extremely unpopular. They view the effect of these measures as affecting them in three distinct and separate ways. First : The English say they will be provided with food cheaper than heretofore, which will add to the other numerous advantages which we have in the competition in our manufactures in neutral countries. Second : The price of food is raised upon them, which will take away from their advantages ; and, lastly, the example of England not only furnishes the parties on the continent, whose interests are best promoted by free trade, with a powerful argument in its favour, bet it also increases their motives for urging it. — Chronicle. Mr. Bice, the celebrated H Jim Crow," has been deprived of speech and the use of his limbs, by a stroke of paralysis. — Devonport Telegraph.

Reported Death of Van Amburgh. — A letter from Voonsucket, United States, appearing in a French paper, says : — " The celebrated Van Amburgh perished here, on Monday, in a most frightful manner. He had been exhibiting his feats with his animals in a meadow, near Scituate, and a young lady having asked him whether he dared to enter the 'tiger's cage at feeding time, he assured her there was no danger, and immediately ordered an enormous piece of beef to be thrown in. After a long contest, the meat was taken possesion of by t fine tigress, who retired with it to acorner. Three times Van Araburgh vainly endeavonred to take it from her. The tigress roared furiously, and lashed her .sides with her tail. Tlie audience began to be alarmed, but Van Amburgh reiterated his assurance that there was nothing, to fear,' and

continued his struggle with the tigress, who at last, (feeling herself wounded) threw herself on her rash antagoivst, knocked him down, and buried her claws in his throat. In an instant the theatie was deserted, leaving Van Amburgh at the mercy of the maddened auimal, who continued to vent upon him her rage until he became a lifeless corpse. After much difficulty the tigress was shot, and the mutilated remains of the beast-tamer recovered. — London Observer, Aug. 9.

Timber : sawn plank, per per 100 feet 0 0,0.. 0 8 ," Q Scantling do 0 0 0-.. 0 6.V0 furniture Wood do 015 0 .. 1 ld¥o Staves: N. Z. per 1200 2 0 0 .. 2 10 f & Shingles: N.Z. per 1000 0 0 0 .. 0 8' ft Whalebone : per ton .. 0 0 0 ..140 0 <X Finners 40 0 0 . . 50 0 0. Wheat : per bushel .... 0 0 0.. 0 3 fl> Wool: N. Z. per 1b. .. 0 0 8.. 0 1 Cf Do. Lambs' 0 010 .. 0 > 2,