(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Friday, 19th June, 1868.

Otago Witness, Issue 865, 27 June 1868, Page 1

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Friday, 19th June, 1868.

. "Notwithstanding the near approach, of •the Assembly, there is nothing stirring in political circles. Not only is there no- ; thing to be observed on the surface, but -there is nothing beneath. Amongst the in iome of the Provinces, ■there may be a faint attempt at agreement .-as to the course to b"e pursued, but it is very faint indeed ; while amongst the leading men of either House, there is no •consultation, every thing being left to the i;ime when the Assembly actually meets. No one knows anything about the .'Ministerial programme, and Mr Fox, the man generally regarded as the future leader of the Opposition, not being yet in Parliament, is prevented -fronf making any movement, even if he felt disposed to /do so. His election will take place at ftangitikei next Monday, -when he will, for force, have to make a speech, his published address to the •eiectors, announcing himself a candidate, being a strictly formal one of a dozen lines° We scarcely expect, however, that Mr Fox will deal otherwise than in generalities— that he will merely state principles, tvisely leaving the mode of ihose principles for conference with other J. Two heads are still better than one, although that one be Mr Fox's ; and leaders alike of the Ins and the Outs .still consider that in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom. There is throughout New Zealand a growing desire for a chaige of some sort ; but in what ■way that/change shall be effected, is the point it 1 c carefully discussed. A •change of some sort — absorption, modification, or enlargement— either of Provincial or jbentral powers, ia looked for next and whether it comes or not, a great deal of discussion thereon must certainlyfcnsue. Comected with the approaching session, 1 send yoti a copy of a letter from a xiewljf elected. M.H.R., no less a personage tjan General Mete Kingi. It will be read pith considerable interest, if only for the ifcmarkable naivete which it displays. If European constituencies would only exprjss their pleasure at meeting their representatives in the same practical mamer, there would be no more complaifts of a lack of sympathy existing Taetfeen them ; the representatives would be highly delighted, I am sure, to visit evay village in their district, both before aaqafter every session, on the same terms; mere especially if the discontented would folpw the example of the Hau-haus, and ■mie up for the lack of a "complimentay gift" by speeches "full of complimentary words." / WnsGXsm, 6ch June, IS6S. ITO Dr Fe.vthersto;x\ — Salutations. Oh, ijy friend. You have, perhaps, heard that 1 Hve been elected to tie great Parliament of lew Zealand. In the month of May last I did. a visit to the Waitotnra The Ngarauru fibe, to the number of 200 men, assembled 1 Pere Kama to meet me. I received a mnplimentary gift to the amount of LS 103, pgether with au embroidered mat. My econd visit was to the Upper Wauganui. me Wan^anui tribes assembled at London. There were 800 people present at the meeting [f the 17th May. We took up the Mntona lag and it was unfurled on the staff. I re[eived from these people the following preenta :— LI3 in cash, one greenstone mere, n embroidered mat, anil a stringed mat. !vly next visit was to Rnngitikei. The Ngaipa, Rangitane, and Muaopoko trills assembled at UrataumaiM. They testified their regard for me by a payment of LlO. to which fwere added three greenstones, and an emfbroidered mat. I next went to tne upper ,'Wangaehu, and met the people at Matatera. The proof of their respect was, L 9 in cash, •and an embroidered mat. My fifth visit ■was to Te Reureu. in the upper Eangitikei. where the Hau-haus belonging to the Ngatiainaniapo, and the Ngatipiklaho tribes assembled to meet me. The .speeches which they addressed to me were sull of complimentary words. I then went on Pourewa, the settlement ot the Ngatiteupokoiri. The people collected and handed to me the siun of LlO. Altogether I have received L5O in cash, four embroidered mats, two greenstone clubs, and a number of Bmall greenstones. .Ended. I want yon to inform •me when the great Parliament of New Zealand will open, in order that I may be prepared. - -From your attached friend, Mete Kixgi Paetehi. You have heard of the four murders that have taken place at Ketemarae and "WaiM, d? jtricts in the Taranaki Province, about 30 to 40 miles northward of Patea. It was at first supposed than there was -only one victim, a Sergeant Oahill, who

was residing on one of the 60 acre allotments laid out by the General Government for a " military settlement. Afterwards came the news that he -was only one of three, Squires and Clark being with him, engaged on the Bth- and 9th in sawing timber for Child's house. They were all suddenly shot, and then their heads and bodies were hacked about in a manner which would only pander to a morbid taste to attempt to describe. By how many this was done we scarcely know, the intelligence of these murders, and the mode of committing them, having been brought into camp by natives. On the 10th a trooper named Smith shared the same fate, while out catching his horse, within glass range of the Constabulary redoubt. The hapu to which the murderers belong is known and their residence is known, and the necessity for bringing them, if possible, to justice, must he admitted on all sides ; remembering r ?*-* this is not a case of Colonists pushing then way beyond the limits of settlement in search of pasture, but one in which men have been induced to settle by the direct invitation of the General Government, on land laid out by it for their occupation. Colonel M'Don-, noil at once came on to Wellington, to know what was to be done. Possibly,, fearing another Pokaikai Commission, he did not care about acting without positive orders ; besides which, the residence of the murderers is in the bush, difficult to get at, and requiring a greater force than the 100 to 110 men scattered in the redoubts around Patea. 500 men for six months was what Colonel M'Donnell wanted, but the Government demurred at running into any expenses that could be possibly avoided, feeling sure that the Assembly wonld not stand it. Still, something must be done, or, at any rate, attempted. I do not know what view the Government took of the murders, but that taken by outsiders is, that they are not a part of an organisation, but simply acts of retaliation for the confiscation of their land. No one is surprised at these acts of retaliation ; the surprise is that there are not more of them. That there are so few such acts shows the necessity of not letting any of them go unpunished, or they will be indefinitely multiplied. M'Donnell has been allowed to enroll 80 Europeans for three months, and 50 Natives ; whi 7 e Yon Tempsky's Company of 80 is to be removed from Auckland to help them, giving a total force of little more than 300 men. Looking at all the circumstances, the Government could scarcely do less than they j have done, and in what they have done they have considered economy as much as anything else. As to tne result, I hope it may be all that is desired ; hut we have so often had great promises which have ended in almost nothing, that I am always now content to wait for very moderate effects. Our great fear was that the Government would authorise nothing ; but this, I am happy to say, is not the case, although it is just as likely that the south may find fault with what the Government have felt it their duty to do. Having alluded incidentally to the Pokaikai Commission, I may mention that I when the Commissioners went up, Col. M'Donnell liacl provided a tent for their reception, and was disposed to treat them as courteously as uv.der the circumstances he well could. He did not know any of them, except Mr Cracroft Wilson, by sight, having seen him somewhere some months before. He welcomed them in the customary form, "How do you do, Mr Wilson?" a shake of the hands following. The next he was told was Colonel Cirgill. " Oh, how do you do, Col. Cargill ?" followed by a shakft of hands also. That was enough, the third he knew must be Mr George Graham, so on him he turned his back, and became deep in conversation with Mr Wihon. " How do you do, Col. M'Donnoll ?" was heard from Mr Graham, and unanswered ; and when it was repeated, the hand b ;ing at the same time held forth for the ordinary friendly shake, Col. M 'Donnell turned sharp round, exclaiming. " I'm surprised, sir, you should want to shake hands with a demon in. human shape." They both, however, got better friends afterwards, Mr Graham hiving explained that it was your Mr Macandrew, and not himself, who had made use of that very strong express-ion If the Assembly are as disposed to dispense with the Steam Mail Service this session as they were last session, they will find the way in a great measure cleared for them by the notice ■which Mr Hall has given to both Companies, that present contracts will cease in September next. There is little ordinary news to communicate. Our Council is still in session,

and the Patent Slip" dispute is still unsettled. Another public meeting was held last evening in support of the contract with Mr Owen, entered into two months ago by the Superintendent and his late Executive. They plumed themselves on having got the Province very nicely out of the mess it was* in, with reference to the Kennard .Contracts ; but the present Executive ' deaire to. 'ignore the Owen contract altogether,, the consequence of which is,' that the erection of the slip bids fair xo be again postponed to — to — to the Greek Kalends. - I did not want to use that phrase ; but, stereotyped as it is, it expresses the idea better than any other. The Governor is hourly expected in the Sturt, the last news of which little steamer being that she had looked into the "Tron pot" at Napier. The S.E. gale that has been blowing Wednesday and yesterday, has probably prevented her showing up. Sir G. Bowen is, I hear, a bad sailor, and if so, his voyage in the Shirt is not to be envied, considering the very rough weather His Excellency must have experienced.