Shipping Slews.

Otago Witness, Issue 119, 27 August 1853, Page 2

Shipping Slews.

ARRIVED. August 19th, ship Maori, 850 tons, G. Pcther-j bridge, master, from Wellington. Passengers — Mr. and Mrs. T. J. White and 3 children. Mr. Mac- 1 Cellar, Mrs. Major Fulton, Messrs. Kay, Mr. Bolton, ! Mr. Every. Intermediate — Mrs. Street, Mr. andi Mrs. James Street and child, Mr. and Mrs. Baker and 3 children, Miss Headland. Steerage—Elizabeth Williams and William Basket.

Dunedin, Satuhda.y, August 27, 1853.

The arrival of the " Maori so late in the week (Friday), and her mail not having been forwarded until after we had gone to rjfless, prevented our giving in ourlast number a full account of the Elections which had taken place in the other settlements. In addition to the members returned, mentioned in our last. Colonel"Wynyard at Auckland, C. Brown, Esq., at;

Taranaki, had each Been elected Superintendent of the respective Provinces, after a contest. The members of the House of Representatives had not, at the dates of our latest intelligence, been elected, but we understand that the writs had been issued. Neither do we notice that the members for the Provincial Councils have been elected, except at Wellington. The election of Colonel Wyriyard, which is said to have been carried by reason of the pensioners and discharged soldiers being voters, is the only instance of the Government party being returned. All, however, are favourable to the cheap land question. The Members of the Provincial" Counoil at Wellington have all been returned on the cheap land' interest ; indeed, this appears to have been considered the only question of importance. A political ruse was practised by some who were anxious to gain seats for themselves, by pledging the candidates ; their ob- j ject, however, was soon exposed, and the pledge generally scouted. Dr. Featherstone speaks very strongly on the subject, and quotes the celebrated remarks of Edmund Burke. We see no mention made of the injunction case ; but His Excellency, as our readers will see, is leaving. New Zealand, and, as was anticipated, will in all probability not meet the General Assembly. What the effect of his departure may be, it is impossible to say. His Excellency has been legislating for us upon every point which it was desirable he should not touch, and has just left the only important one — the calling together of the General Assembly — unsettled. As will he seen from a despatch under the head of Wellington, the Charter of the Canterbury Association has been rescinded, and their power over the disposal of the waste lands determined. The Governor has directed W. G. Brittain, Esq., to continue sales under the Canterbury Terms of Purchase. The Charter to the Otago Association has been refused by the Duke of Newcastle ; hut the Terms of Purchase hitherto in force are for the present to be carried out. The "Nelson Examiner" takes occasion to notice the Labour question, and remarks upon | the total silence on this important subject by the then candidates for the office of Provincial i Council at Wellington. We, however, observe an advertisement in the " Independent/ signed { by four merchants, who are about to try the experiment of importing Chinese labourers into I that settlement. The idea is said to have orL~ j ginatcd with the Canterbury capitalists, who, according to the proposed arrangement, are to have half of them, the number intended to be brought from China in the first trip being 250. I The " Spectator," for once in its existence, is | on the right sider; and in a leader upon tWk subject it justly gives the promoters *of fHfe scheme a sound dres&ing for their utter disregard of the permanent interests of the colony by proposing to introduce this class of people, which can he for no other purpose but to supersede British labour, thereby enriching the capitalist to the detriment of the working man, and also points out the state to which society in New Zealand will be reduced if this experiment be carried out. The truth of the matter appears to us to be, that cheap land being a popular move, has been made an election watchword, and the natural result of destroying the immigration fund will be the introduction of the " celestials." The result is so evident thati we are surprised it is not at once seen. The flockmasters will buy their runs, speculators will buy large tracks available for agriculture : the first class will i not part with their land at any price, and the latter will want a great advance on the original cost; so that between the two the labouring classes will neither be able to acquire lands to cultivate, or have a chance of keeping stock. We have to call the attention of the*publicto a very important notice issued by the Crown , Commissioner, to the following effect : — PASTURAGE. i 1. All persons depasturing Stock on that portion of the Crown Lands of the province formerly known a* the Otago block are requested to send to the Crown Commissioner's office on' or before tho 10th September next, a return in, a prescribed form. 2. On and after the 13th September applications in due form for licenses to depasture stock I on the unsurveyed portion of the above lands ! will be received at the Crown Commissioner's office. * LAND SALES. 1. Surveyed lands will be sold on and after the Ist September in accordance with the terms of purchase of 1849. 2. All the unsurveyed land, with the exception of the 144,600 acres, which form the original Otago block, will, on and after the 19th September, be sold under the Government Regulations as unproclaimed lands. TIMBER LICENSES. Applications for licenses to cut Timber on unsurveyed lands are to be made on or after the 19th September. The effect of this first regulation will be, that

either every person having cattle must take out a license, which will cost him £5, or hand over his stock to some person who has a license, ■ unless the whole population can, as has been suggested, combine together and take out the license in the name of one or two individuals, and settle amongst themselves the quantity of stock each shall run. This will be a matter of no small difficulty in the suburban districts, but yet it seems the only remedy; for if individual were to apply on his own account, not only would the fee of £o be prosperously large, on account of the small number of cattle held by many of the poorer settlers, but 'the runs would, if granted to all, be so limited in extent as to render it impossible to keep the cattle from straying off them, thus leading to endless confusion. However this matter may be settled, the granting of the whole of the pasturage runs, even close to the town belt, for 14 years, will create a monopoly by which every man who is now in the labour market will be unable to invest his savings in cattle, unless he is content to fee the monopolists for the right to run them. Now, all this inconvenience and trouble might have been saved by proclaiming Hundreds in Otago, when the Ordinance relating to pasturage within Hundreds would have come into force, under which the pasturage is in commonage, — in fact, much the same as the Otago Pasturage Regulations issued by the New Zealand Company, under which no defined runs could be granted within the Otago Block, which in those days was understood to be all the country from the heads to the Clutha, but now we understand the Block is construed to be only the surveyed land ; so that, for instance, the hill on the east side of the North-East Valley, which has hitherto been used as a run by the settlers of that district, is not in the Otago Block. We have no hesitation in saying that this is morally, if not legally, a breach of contract with the landpurchasers. But it would really seem as if His Excellency considered laws, not as objects of public good and convenience, but as a means of torture by which we are to be goaded past endurance, and taxed to our last farthing.

Ocr readers will observe, in our advertising columns, that the Nomination of Superintendent for the Province of Otago will take place at the Court-House on the 6th September. There appears to be no probability of a contest.

Mechanics' Institution'. — On Thursday, the 18th instant, a very able Lecture was delivered by the Rev. T. Burns " On the lemains of Colsus. and the evidence they afford for the truth of Christianity."' The Lectuie was well attended, and gave universal satisfaction. The press of other matter prevents our giving it in full ; and it would not otherwise be possible to do justice to the subject.