AUCKLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6290, 10 April 1882, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

tter c!- March 31st. ;hat bl ncemrlast the .-complexion of Native lat atiairs has somewhat changed, and plot and per counter-plot still goes on. Rewi has taken up )28 an independent attitude to Tawhiao, and the w 7 r c Minister mm well pleased to pit the ;wo one Maori Potentate against the other on the md X finciple of "Divide and govern." From 18 what I can learn Rewi is greatly piqued: that irs, .J-awhiao should have had a better reception 'his !« Auckland than he had, aud this explains his "— a«ei-ed attitude. No advances have been made Aer eit. her *>y Tawhiao or the Government prepaex- }' ato. ry to the Native meeting, though the former igh ls™u making extensive preparations for that hat &at'ienng. 1< rom what has trauspiredt here i 3 an reason to believe that Mr Bryce will attend the -I MaY meeting on the general invitation given, as the Cabinet do not feel it would be safe to • - m^' 6 tawniao and the Kingites severely alone. JLne wife of Tawhiao, Parahaurahi, came to Auckland to pay a visit of courtesy to the JNative Minister, but what purpose it was intended to serve has not been very manifest Mr Bryce has succeeded^ in disposing of at [ a least one Native difficulty—the obstruction to re . the snagging of certain portions of the Thames m, Klvf- Old Tukukmo, who has hitherto sucrs . cessfully defied every Native Minister from ay the late Sir Donald M'Lean downwards, has a at last yielded, and informed Mr Bryee he ral woul£ofer no further opposition to the work. eh The Native Minister accepted the olive branch, - c . but curtly mformed the chief that the time for 3n opposrtion was past, as it was his intention to n. go on with the work, whatever might-have as been the consequences. The Upper Thames lie t\ atlves, are very anxious to know whether jj this act of condescension on their part would ac condone the offences of the Ngatihako, who • m fired upon and wounded spme members of a ly survey party two or three years ago. Mr Bryce informed them that not even the Queen could pardon criminals until after they were brought to trial. The principals in the survey affau- would yet be dealt with, but he would take his own time to do it, and accomplish it in his own way, ' \ Mr Bryce has thawed down a little .on the . armoury business, owing to the unanimous conis demnation of his action in connection therea- with by the local Press. He is now willing to ie accede to the removal of the armoury from the c- city north to the new site offered by the muni;h cipal authorities, provided the latter rebuild it 1- of the same dimensions and material, and fc- affording the same'accommodation. This, of it course the city is perfectly agi-eeable to do g so that trpubte may be considered settled. - But scarcely had the .satisfaction-felt by is the Aucklanders at the result been expressed v than Mr Bryce at once dashed their joy :- Py noticing his intention of ■removing the I c Native;fends Court department from'Auck- i t land to Wellington. The members of the legal \ s profession were up in arms at onc,e and depu- A s tatiomsed him against the project, as also did 1 is the Chamber of Commerce, but apparently to i c little purpose. TheChief^rudge, Mr Fenton y has always been resolutely opposed to' the c transfer, and threatened his resignation if it •t were attempted; and I Ije.ar, a number of the 0 Auckland officials will resign ratherthan go to g Wellington. It certainly does' seem aii unford tunate juncture at which to remove the'depart- £ if ment, when there is a probability of the King t ,t country being thrown open and the work of f s ascertaining Native titles and subdividing Na- c tiye lands greatly increased. These considerai- tions are not likely to influence the Native * a Minister very much, as he regards his having t 1 immediate and direct supervision over the t department" as paramount. Mr Bryce's visit o to Auckland wjll be long remembered by the i citizens, but it will be principally in connection a with the armoury business and the contem- r . plated removal'of the! Native Lands Court ■? : department. ThajNative Minister is respected t ' . but if he ha's a choice he prefers 'to' be feared v rather than loved. His colleague,' Mi- Rolles- h ton, .on |he .other hand, has been winning V, golden .opmions on all hands, and been making s friends even in the }a,n%s of his political oppo- d nents, by hjs tact and jirbaiiity. The Colonial v r Treasurer, Major Atkinson, jis fplfowmg .the p j same judicious course. :' . - ''„ , Very general satisfaction is being felt by the n great bulk of the community at the vigorous s' 1 siens being taken by_ the Government in the tl outlying Native districts to prohibit the sale of c I intoxicating liqijors to the Natives, and thus n ; preyent them from becoming landless and de- a L woralised. Of course' a howl has been got up , v about " the liberty of the subject," principally si ;at the instigation of a 'few 'publican's and b I pakeha Maoris, with whom the liberty of the i b ■ subject simply means the Jibevby' to- acquire :it wealth .out..of...the', vices and'follies .of the iiv Maoris, and petitions are being got up to tlis « Government to abolish tho restrictions. The c< Government have, however, signified their in- w tentioß of not paying the slightest notice to H such appeals, but will let the law take its ci course. The lamentable state of things which A of. late years has prevailed in the lake country A ; could only lead to the extinction of the Natives vi :of thafcjdistrict, and the Governments vo been « ;; put in possession of evidence in connection therewith by tb<? American traveller, Mr m bnow, of Massachusetts (fcp whom I have re- w ferred in a previous communication), Eev. W. Ac Gittos, Eey. Shirley Baker, Mr H. B. Morton, en and other tourists in the Lake country, which gy has fprtjfi.qd them in their .determination to 'Ei S£|4v' enforce the prohibition against' the' N Native hem.or traffic. ' One good result from' cv this toU be that the handsome rentals from tn the Kotorua township and adjacent' land will T) not be mopped up in grog scores'. ' '■"' :> , Mr Snow has now started a Maori journal '■ H for circulation among the Natives, and in the cl( columns of whichthe temperance question will ha have ja prominent place. He has communi- «' cated with the leading .chiefs regarding the It matter, in order to get tKeir tribes interested, nr It is contemplated to rely upon the suJjscrro- h a tions of the Natives themselves, and 'to use « any surplus in enlarging and extending the tfi opeptiohs.of_ t the ioTirnal/jis no profit is R desired fro.m its publication. Aii questions of interest to the Natives-social; religious, and political-will be dealt \yij;)> in this &w org£ which wiU not be exclusively .dpvotdd't'oSm- ! perance matters. Whether /this ;phi%t/jrDplc scheme will succeed or not, time will tell Mr $now js of opinion that it is unwise to pauper- sei we and demoralise the Natives by doing every- ab iking atid finding everything for them; that if up they are to be saved ft.om t.heir own race-vices it can only be through themselves, and by infusing ha spirit of self-respect and self-reliances, gome wl time ago, Tawhiao's people bought a printino v/g ;plapt at a cost of £1000, with the intention of resuscitating the defunct Kingite political th. organ, the K.okioi, but as they have not among Lc themsslves ,the necessary skill to use it, and M: will no'ffejust thW pakeha^ the plant still lies '■ unused-Jifr Sno*has b,een reoommended to wr to try afid obtain the consent' of the Le to its being utilised for the 'scneme above thi referred to:: It cannot fa.c & matter pf indiffer- jbu ence to the colonists whether tjj'e Natives are : ' left landless and",be.sotted, to lapse into a s.tafe Ri of brigandage or otherwise. 'Due precautions *ej against guch a contingency are necessary,' aa a lap matter of public policy, apart from any higher pn considerations, for J. am assured by an officer av> of high rank in' the 'Nafciy.3 department, that ■' there is scarcely a single reserve get apart for wii the benefit of fee Maori people, Mt that im- foe mediately strong political pressure'.is'brouMit : fal upon the Government by part^ snQgulatirig ! 'dei in Native" lands to get the restriction of in.ajien- of abjjitj removed. » ''! As the elections of the licensing commit- wo tees under the new Licensing Act proceeded in 1 it was discovered ttet the Good Templars be- of came more successful in gettinsj their represen- his tatives returned. In the suWba md out- hai districts they have succeeded in getting a fair it. representation; but singular to say, in the ' centres of popujijtipn theyh.ave beep signally of defeated, as a rule. The new Act, by giving wi] local control, has had cno good effect in it 1 Auckland in improving ' the accommodation an and management of hotels. The publicans de( have not waited, as in some of the Southern otr cities, for a significant'hint'from the Licensing '', Committees to "put thei? houses in order,"but 1 ore have endeavoured to anticipajje any demands or which might be made upon them. The amount cai expended in Auckland in improving hotel-pro- '■■ be( perty within the past few months cannot be i oljl less than £20,000. The grog-shant/ pf the past; for has disappeared; and on every hajidaecpmmo-' '"- dationfor the travelling public js being made, dia as it ought to be, one of the principal considera- Cf a tions. .'■'■_ wh The vexed question of the management of AL our neglected and [destitute children has en- ills tered upon a new phase, by the Government eve assuming the management of the Howe street _ 1 Home. Latterly tho public were averse to is contributing so largely to the institution, being trie under the conviction that it was unfair to the md Auckland citizens that they should be taxed to eve carry on a work which was undertaken by the ear Government at its own charge, in the case of be Burnham iv Canterbury, and Caversham in sto Otago. The Committee of Management how- tic: ever, surrender their somewhat thankless trust 1 withhonour, as every liability haab'een proTnptlv at met, and the children transferred to the'cop- gre trolof the Government jvell clothed and found ' the in every respect. Indeed, there isa balance low .over, which the Ladies' Committee- v/j 11 re- i'ivi tain and expend in supplementing' the comforts pn granted to the children when removed t.o 2Q Kohiinarama. Those of the pupils' placed out bar *t service have £235 standing to their credit in 1 the Savings Bank. The remnant of the Naval fen Training tSciioqJ. (some 17 lads) will be placed fell in the custody of the #)#sfcer of the Home, and wh 4e.Q.Jt in the_ 'ordina^j way. There wa, is conajderable opposition bejng nianifested to brc ,the transfer pf the lads of the Howe street lav Honje to Kol^injarama on . account of ' the %arj institution being so isplat'ed, and as cutting pre them off from t^iose humariisijig social influences Bei at present being .brought' to bear upon them— 100

amongst them the Sunday-school conducted by Colonel Haultainjthe Band of Hope, by Cr Goldie;_ the singing classes, by Mr Frith : and the services held by the Rev. W. Tebbs, ineumaiV t° Sfc> Matthew's, and other clergymen All these voluntary agencies, owing to the distance of the establishment from town, will have to be suspended. The Government have requested Colonel Haiiltain and Captain Daldy (members of the late Committee of Management) to accept the office of visitors. It is rumoured that the new location for the boys is only temporary, the Government contemplating utilising a lunatic asylum (no longer needed) near Judge Gillies' residence, Mount Eden, for the purposes of a Home, and Parliament will be asked to sanction the diversion of the trust.

As to the Naval Training School, it is scarcely to be wondered at that it came to grief, having regard to the isolation of the institution, the wretched character of the buildings as to accommodation and conveniences, and the peculiar discipline prevailing there. The boys dormitory was a miserable compartment containing three tiers of hammocks, one above the other—a ship's lamp burning in it all night, in order to remind the lads of their maritime tuture. As a preparatory process for adapting ana reconciling them to the dingy forecastle of a coasting hooker, it was admirable in its way. me lads were also strictly locked up nightly, a practice which, in case of fire in a block of decayed wooden buildings, might have led to awkward consequences. It needs but little knowledge of human nature to know that boys so dealt with were likely to yearn for the freedom to which their Bohemian instincts predisposed them. _ Captain Breton, the late superintendent, is an honourable and upright gentleman; but there is reason to fear that°he endeavoured to reproduce too strictly the severe discipline of the Royal Navy, to which his professional training inclined him, and relied more upon the efficacy of law than love. The new master there (Air Hogan), I hear, intends to abolish the locking-up practice in the dormitories and to dispense with bolts and bars as methods of restraint or coercion. At the late election of members for the Board of Education, our ex-Mayor, Mr Peacock, was displaced by a young and rising solicitor, Mr Laishley, son of the Rev. Mr Laishloy, of the Thames. It will be remembered that as chairman of the Grafton Koad Educational District ne championed the cause of the school: committees, m claiming to be : " consulted" in the appointment of school teachers, and the a°itationhe headed was successful in making the Board secede from the high ground which it had assumed. The country School Committees out of gratitude to Mr Laishley for the service rendered, returned him to a seat at the Board where he is- likely to make matters lively for the conservators of yested interests. It is understood that he is making a seat at the Education Board but a stepping-stone to the General Assembly, so that the youthful and ambitious lawyer, who has confidence enough to have run Noah's ark at the shortest notice, will yet be heard of in the ranks of the Young ■New Zealand party. Mining affairs on the Thames Goldnelds are unusually quiet at present, and are likely to remain so until the Thames Deep-level Tribute Company, which has commencetl preliminary operations, had made some headway, and secured a degree of success. The mon< h's yield of gold is 35000z, which is considered a satisfactory result in the present depressed state of the mining interest. The Hon. Mr Rolleston Minister of Mines, has during the past week visited the Coromandel, Thames, and Te Aroha goldnelds. and disposed of considerable arrears of business in mining matters. He has also agreed to several public works which will greatly improve the means of communication between the several goldnelds. In the way of amusement there is little to note. MrHarkms played a successful dramatic season at the Theatre Royal. Jem Mace succeeded m his statuesque illustrations, being assisted by a small dramatic company The gods "turned up well in honour of that expositor of the noble art of self-defence, but the dress circle showed a beggarly row of empty benches. The Maoris were greatly interested in this modern " brave," and were wishful of «em& initiated into the mysteries of the P R Whether at this stage of the Native difficulty a knowledge of fistiana would avail them miich may be regarded as a moot point