Dunedin, Saturday, December 23, 1854.

Otago Witness, Issue 177, 23 December 1854, Page 2

Dunedin, Saturday, December 23, 1854.

O"WING to the lateness in the week (Thursday evening) at which the public meeting for " the purpose of considering the bill recently passed by the Provincial Council to establish agencies in the United Kingdom and promote Emigration from the same," was held, we have not space to report the proceedings in full. The meeting was called at the instigation of the minority of the Council, who, finding themselves outvoted, desired, as was stated in the Council, to apply a pressure from without. The meeting was fully attended, and Mr. Reynolds having been voted into the chair, read letters from Messrs. J. Cargill, J. H. Harris, and J. Gillies, apologizing for not being present. Mr. John M'Glashan rd'se to propose the following resolution : — That it is essential to the interests of this Province that any system of Immigration to be established by the Provincial Government shall have for its object the selection of a class of Immigrants possessed of the highest qualifications in point of character and skill, and in no respects inferior to those selected by the Otago Association. In the course of his remarks, in which he censured the Provincial Council for not having, with more determination, maintained the Scotch character of the settlement, he alleged that for the prosperity of the Province there ought to be, and must always be, a ' Scotch ascendancy in tlie management of the affairs of the- Province. Mr. M'Glashan proceeded to make some further remarks of a national char-

acter, which produced great excitement, and a large number of the meeting rose to call him to order for introducing subjects beside the question, and for using language tending to irritate those present, and bring up class distinctions. A very stormy discussion ensued, in which it was impossible to hear one word, or for the chairman to preserve order. Cries for a division were raised, and a motion for adjournment proposed. Order having been at length restored, the motion for adjournment was put and negatived, and Mr. M'Glashan was allowed to proceed, but was interrupted with strong marks of disapprobation. Mr. J. Jones proposed the following amendment :—: — ■ ** That it is essential to the interests of this Province that any system of -Immigration to be established by the Provincial Government should have for its object the selection of a clase of Immigrants of good character, and thift no preference should be given to any one of this class either from England or Scotland, but thscthey shall be put on the same footing of equality:' And that two Agencies shall be established fo? the selection of Immigrants— one in England api one in Scotland ; and that neither of these Agencies shall have any control over the acts of the, other. A lengthy discussion ensued, amidst strong feelings of both approbation and censure, ex-pressed-by either side of the meeting, as each speaker proceeded with his remarks. The questions having been put to the vote, the amendment was carried by an overwhelming majority. Such, then, is the result of a meeting, to secure the satisfactory termination of which, no pains were spared by the promoters. The same thing had been attempted by petitions to his Honor to disallow the bill, and had failed, notwithstanding that arguments had been used which can scarcely be said to come within the strict line of truth. We most heartily congratulate our fellow settlers on the decision of this question in the manner in which it has been settled, and to compliment the Scotch portion of our population upon the manner in which they have rejected this appeal to, and attempt to excite, national antipathies to a class of fellow settlers. A cause must be bad indeed when it becomes necessary to bolster it up by such means, but in the present case there is nothing to be gained by such a course; there was no question involved in the Immigration Bill but one of justice and equality — whether, in taking funds from the pockets of all within the Province, all, without national distinction, should be allowed to participate, and it is highly to the credit of the community that the question should have been determined in the way it has been. No doubt many who were on the side of the minority at the meeting did not intend by their votes to be unjust or partial, or would not for a moment support the position of Mr. John M'Glashan, that there must be Scotch ascendancy in the Province, but they may rest assured that when national prejudices are appealed to instead of solid judgment, a dangerous course is being pursued — one which would damage a good cause, and render a bad one worse. The peculiar clanish views of the major part of our community, though attended with most beneficial results when confined to private life, would become a most intolerable grievance if it were carried into public affairs. If every social question which may arise is not to be tried on its own merits, but is first to be tested upon a national prejudice (whether proposed by an Englishman or a Scotchman), the result must be most mischievous and injurious to the interests of the community ; and we hope that the result of the meeting of last evening will not for one moment be put forward as a triumph of English over Scotch, which it was not, being merely the triumph of common sense over prejudice. In conclusion, we trust that henceforth all par- I ties will use their utmost endeavours to put down and discountenance any attempt to excite bitter or angry feelings between us, or to keep up national distinction, as founded upon prejudice rather than solid judgment. It is with much pleasure we chronicle the return of the " Star" to this port, after a pleasant and, we understand, prosperous trip to Wellington ; the more so, from some unpleasant rumours which were afloat concerning her, but which we refrained from repeating, feeling that bad news is quite soon enough told when it is confirmed. As was suspected, she had missed her port in thick weather, and did not get into Wellington until after the " Nelson" steamer had left for Canterbur)'. From the accounts' of all on board, she behaved remarkably well, being an excellent sailer, dry, and easy in her motion. She was a little overmasted at starting, but that defect was remedied in Port Cooper, which to some extent gave rise to the rumour of her loss. Her next trip will be to Moeraki and Omaru, which we hope will be as prosperous as her last. Presbytery of Otago. — We understand that this Presbytery held a private conference anent the new Marriage Ordinance, which comes into operation on the first of January Several parts of 1 the ordinance were objected to, and it was resolved that at next meeting oi Presbytery the Presbytery should express its opinion on the Ordinance, so as to have the objectionable parts removed. Meanwhile it was agreed that the proclamation of banns, hitherto the practice of the church, should be continued.