SUMMARY.

Colonist, Volume IV, Issue IV, 9 August 1861, Page 1

SUMMARY.

The principal event connected with Nelson Bince our last summary is the sitting of the half-yearly Supreme Court; at the commencement of which, the Honorable Justice Johnston delivered the following address to the Grand Jury:— Mr. Foreman and Gentlemen of the Grand Jury of the Middle District — In meeting you for the first time in this spacious and handsome building, which has been kindly placed at the disposal of the Supreme Court for these sittings by his Honor the Superintendent and the. Provincial Government of Nelson, 1 have much Satisfaction in publicly acknowledging my appreciation of the respect they have thus manifested to the Court; while I also profit by the opportunity in order t' express my th.nlcs for the" cordial courtesy which'they have always displayed towards myself since the grave duties of the judicial office first devolved upon ms. It is my most anxious hope and desire that a full, candid, manly, and intelligent sympathy and cooperation should always be cultivated among tht? Legislative, Executive," and .Administrative depart, ments of the Colony, both general and local; and that whatever may bo the difference of men's opinions and feelings upon other matters, either political or social, all parties and department, men of all shades of opinion, .all classes, and. the representatives of all interests, will at all events agree on one point, viz., the essential necessity for preserving the administration of Justice, pure, independent, and impartial, beyond the reach of personal, local,'or party influence. —and thereby secure the best ultimate guarantee of their civil aiii political liberty and rights. I think it right to mention that at a Conference of the Judges of th»-&rpre'm"e' Court lftld recently at Auckland, many questions and nutters of the greatest interest respecting the administration cf justice were taken into consideration, and a number of reports and'memoranda were transmitted to hi* Excellency the Governor, in the hope that the attention of the Legislature may be directed to them, and bucli action may be taken respecting them as it may deem fit. The establishment and procedure of a Court of Appeal, Error, and Reserved Cases, both Civil and Criminal, composed of the three judges sitting together, a revision of the Jury system, a system of prosecution of offenders, an inquiry into the condition of gaols, the necessity for a proper penal establishment, and various other matters of similar . character were made the subject of reports and' suggestions. Moreover, among a seriei of new rules of practice and procedure settled by the judges, and now actually in force, provisions were made which, along with a short legislative enactment on the subject of interim injunctions, will, in our opinion, probably prevent anything like serious inconvenience arising to the community, even where the business of the Court has greatly increased,—in places like Nelson, where immediate access cannot at all times Ibe had to a Judge of the Supreme Court. Should the Jury system be rovised, rules of practice might easily be introduced for the purpose of giving the minimum amouut of inconvenience to the Jurors, with the maximum of convenience to the public; and further arrangements cau easily be made, by means of which a considerably larger amount of business, if it tfiould arise, could be easily discharged by the Judge On his periodical visits. „...-- The Calendar and depositions which lie before me do not seem to calljfor Any general observations as to ' the condition of the community of this district, the prevalence of crimes of any particular class or character, or the want of measures of prevention or prosecution. : There :is one case, indeed, of the very gravest possible character, as affecting the administration of justice generally, to be disposed of at these sittings—a charge against a constable for the odious and abominable offence of procuring the conviction of an accused person by deliberate perjury. But with that case you will not be troubled, as the Grand Jury found a true bill at the last sittings.qf the Circuit Court in this place, although no previous' charge had been made before a Magistrate during six months which had elapsed since the commission of his offence. With respect to that proceeding, I feel bound to remark that, although it is undoubtedly legal, and the Grand Jury were bound to'deal with the bill so presented to them, —it is a course of proceeding not to be encouraged generally, inasmuch as it may lead to great oppression and hardship, since it deprives the accused of the advantage of knowing, or having a precise statement, such as-the depositions in ordinary ca«es afford him, of the substantial evidence to bebrought against him. Circumstances may justify this mode of procoeding, and in this particular case it may turn out that there has been some valid reason for deviating, from the ordinary course. Still it is right the Community should feel that the presenting of an indictment to a Gr&nd Jury without prior notice to the accused, or preliminary proceeding before a Magistrate, is a step which, in ordinary cases, would not be deemed justifiable, but would expose the prosecutor to suspicion and animadversion. ' The first of the cases for your consideration to which I will direct your attention is a chirge against an aboriginal native, named Arapata te Waretuturu, for the manslaughter of another native named Manahi te Poka at Mptueka. You will probably find that on a day near the end of last year, the accused and the deceased were seen together apparently in an advanced state, of intoxication, and a quanel having arisen between them, the accused took a stick out of the hand of the deceased and struck him with it about the head. The deceased fell down and was dragged along. A medical man was called in some nine days afterwards, and he found an injury on the head of the deceased, from'which he never recovered. It is alleged that he died in consequence of that assault about three months afterwards. .. Your first care will be to see whether the medical evidence satisfies you that the deceased died in consequence of some.injury received from an external source. Your second, to consider whether there is reasonable evidence that the injury so received was ; caused by the accused, With respect to the circumstance of intoxication, I must tell you that voluntary intoxication is no excuse for an offence committed under its influence ; unless, indeed, it has proceeded to such an extent as to produce fixed, permanent in-, eanity. There is no ground for such a suggestion in' the present case. Then, supposing you see ground; for thinking that the death of the deceased was; caused by a blow or other injury inflicted by the accused it is my duty to tell you that every killing ig, by law, considered murder, unless there be circumstances which prove it to have been justifiable,, or excusable, or which negative malice, express or implied (which is an essential constituent of the crime of murder), and therefore reduce the act to the inferior crime of manslaughter. There is no kind of pretext that I see, on the face of these depositions, for suggesting that the act of Arapata, the accused, was either justifiable or excusable; and the only question left is, whether the offence was in point of law, murder or manslaughter. There seems to be no ground fof suggesting express malice, or any actualdesiro or intention on the part of Arapata to kill Manahi; but that does not get rid of the question of murder. For the law wisely cays that all persons must be presumed to intend that which is the probable and natural consequence of their acts, and will not ordinarily tolerate the suggestion, for instance that a man who has stabbed another through the heart, or shot him through, the head, or injured him with a deadly weapon, did not intend or wish to kill him, and had no malice against him. But out of-tenderness towards the frailty of human natnre,' the law engrafts an exception to this rule, and says that if the act which. caiißcs death was done on sudden provocation, in heut of blood, without any circumstance of deliberation, the offence shall be manslaughter and not murder.- lam not sure that there is any ground for such a-supposition in the present case. But besides this; if the naturoofthe weapon and the amount of violence used by the aggressor were not such that it could be reasonably expected that death would be caused or accelerated thereby, but circumstances not likely to be contemplated rendered the injury mortal, the offence would bo manslaughter and not murder. If the persons charged with the prosecution of this case, lay before you a bill of indictment for manslaughter only, as they may deem themselves justified in doing under all the'eircumstances, you will probably consider, if you are satisfied that the death was caused by the act of the accused, that there is, at all events, a prima facie case of manslaughter. If the indictment be for murder, it will bo compatant for you, if you think, the circumstances reduce the offence to manslaughter, to find a true bill for manslaughter only. I need not remind you of the great importance of ■conducting criminal cases Hike this, in which persons of

the native race are implicate!—in till their stages —with tlio utmost vigilance and carefulness: for I _ am convinced that there is nothing which will tend to give our Maori fellow subjects more instnictrro suggestion* of the bluings And benefits which they may expect lo derive from cheerful'submission to the'authority of the British crown, tha;i the contemplation of the enlightened, impartial, and vigorous administration of criminal justice, whereby they may fed sure that their lives, liberty, and property will bo effectually protected, at the same time thac the inno;:enfc will be vindicated and defended against false accusations, and punishment will be awarded only where criminality is established by satisfactory evidence.

The second case to which I shall alludo is a charge against a person named Christopher Lunge, for assaulting Emanuol Eban, with intent; ,to do him grievous bodily harm. Ifc would appear from the depositions, that some quarrel or grudge had existed between the prosecutor and thy accused, and that early on the morning of the 30th January, Eban, the prosecutor, being in pursuit of a cow, went into a stockyard not far fro vi, the house. I do. not quite understand from" the deposition, whether the prose-' cutor claims any right to the stnekvard in question, or whether it is admitted that it was rightfully in the occupation of the accused.

When the prosecutor got into tho yard, the accused, who was inside, proceeded, after some words not, unimportant for you to notice, to attack him in a violent manner with a stake, and inflicted injuries upon him which you will hear described, using at the same time language which will be very material for your consideration as to tho question of justification and intention. I shall suppose that the stockyard was in the lawful possession of the accused, Lange, as against the prosecutor, Eban, The law with respect to trespassers is this: If you find a trespasser in yonr house or on your land, and you want him to leave it, you must first request him to do so, and if he then refuses or neglects to do so, you may proceed to use force to eject him; if he broke into your close with violence you might use force at once: but you are not at liberty in either case, to use any more force than is reasonably necessary to remove him. If he resists, and uses violence, you may proceed to such further force as is necessary to remove him, but for any excess above that you will be responsible. It will be for you to consider under all the circumstances of this case whether you are quite satisfied that the accused was lawfully in possession of the yard, and that what he did was done merely in defence of his lawful possession of it,-and that'there was no excessive and unnecessary violence used for the purpose of removing the prosecutor. If you are quite satisfied of all these matters, you would find no bill; but if'3'ou think there is evidence to show that the assault was not committed in defence of possession, or that it was in excess of what was necessary for removing the trespasser, you will then have to inquire, if the indictment be for a felonious assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, whether-such intent existed. You will have to consider the weapon used and the character of the assault, and see whether grievous bodily harm was likely to arise from the assault; but you need not be very scrupulous about finding the intent, because if you find the assault with the intent alleged, and it should -turn out that the circumstances ignore the intent,'the Petty Jury have power, under a modern statute, to find a verdict of unlawful woundin? only. If the indictment be for the misdemeanour ot unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm, without alleging the felonious intent, the only question will bo whether there was excessive and grievous bodily harm. The next case is one of horse-stealing, alleged to have been committed by two men named InghUra and Allen. The outline of the case seems to be that early in 1860, a person named Jones bought a horse with particular marks, at Nelson—that he entrusted it to a man namod Hargreaves, who placed it on a run called Thompson's run ; and neither Jones nor Hargrcaves afterwards disposed of it. Now the same horse is traced to the possession of the prisoners, or one of them, in the mouth of July, 1860, and was afterwards missed off the run. If 'you are satisfied that the horse dealt with by the prisoners in July was the same which had been placed on Thompson's run some months before, and that it must have been stolen off that run within a few mouths before that time, you will conclude that the prisoners were in possession of a stolen horse soon after it was stolen. If so, law and common sense alike suggest that if these persons hud become honestly possessed of tho horse they would be able and ought to give a satisfactory account how they became possessed pf it, and, in order to bo satisfac-. Tory, the account must be'either supported by distinct evidence, or be consistent with the evidence given. In the absence of any such account on a charge being made, and especially if you find that either of the prisoners used language inconsistent with innocence, you will have little difficulty in finding a bill. The last caseto which I have to call your attention is that of an indictment against a person, named Thompson, for stealing lot sovereigns from the person of a mariner named Burbono.

In this case the evidence as implicating the prisoner is purely circumstantial; but, as you must know very well, circumstantial evidence" may be as satisfactory, or even more satisfactory, than direct evidence; and you have merely to" exercise your common sense as you would in tho ordinary affairs of life in order to determine whether such a case is made out before you that thg prisoner may fairly be put upon his trial. The nature of the case is this—that the prosecutor, a seafaring man, was drinking at a public or accommodation house at Blenheim, one night, about last Christmas time; that he had 104 sovereigns upon his person ; that ho fell asleep in the public house in a state of intoxication; that on waking he missed his money ; that the prisoner was in the same place with him when he fell asleep but was gone when he awoke. Furthermore, it would appear that the prisoner on being accused of the theft shortly, after, went away from the place, although he had made arrangements to work there for some time. Moreover, it will probably be shown that shortly before the prosecutor's loss the prisoner had been acting and talking as a man who had no money, but required to borrow some for the supply of his immediate wants, and that shortly uftcr the prosecutor's loss and his own departure frmn Blenheim, he was dealing with considerable sums of money both in gold and in notes. The gold of course cannq£ be identified, and of course he could easily procure notes for gold. Thus, you will find then that the prisoner had <m opportunity of committing the robbery: that ho was one of a very small number, some or one of whom must in all probability have committed the robbery: that from apparent poverty just before the robbery he come 3to comparative wealth just after it, and that in spite of reasons for remaining where lie was when the robbery was committed, lie went away when he was accused of it. If you think that these circumstances amount to more than mere suspicion—that they make out &pvima facie case against him, you will, no doubt find a true bill agaiißt the prisoner.

It may perhaps, seem unnecessary to some of you, that I should go so minutely into the facts and tho law respecting cases of so little complication or difficulty; but remembering the fortunate paucity of criminal cases with which you havo to deal, and the facility with which the most experienced are apt to overlook matters of trite and ordinary character when out of practice, I beliena you will think I have not trespassed on your patience by the remarks I have offered for your consideration.

In this address nearly all the cases are somewhat largely dwelt upon, so that they require very little comment from us. But to this remark we must make one exception, and that is the case of Eban versus Lange for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. We copy the following evidence :—

Emanuel Benehar Ashley Eban, sworn :On the 30th January last I went to fetch in some cows for my daughters tomilk. I saw the cows, and went to fetch, them, and haviug brought them towards my stockyard, they went across the stream' to tho hill.

As I was going out of the stockyard I heard the pri-' sonor's. voice—he was behind me. He said something about his stockyard. When he said so, he held a large manuka stake over my head ; it was about an inch-nnd-a-quai-ter in diameter and six feet long. I looked him in the face, and said, ' Strike,' and he immediately felled me upon the rail of the stockviii-d. When he struck mo I was leaving the stockyard. Prisoner war, in the stockyard. I heard Mrs. Eban'a voice, and when she came I got up, and ho knocked me down again. She stood and said, 'If you strike again, you mi-ot first strike me' He immediately knocked her down with the same stake. She got rup and seized him by the shirt front, and called upon ma to fly for my life, as she felt sure he wanted to murder me. I said I felt sure he had broken my arm. I hesitated leaving, because I thought she was in danger, but I did go away. When about three chains away, I looked buck and saw Lunga throw my tuife into the stream and hold her beneath the wate?. I turned back, and he left her, and commenced again to beat mo with the stake. I tried to get over a stile, and in doing so^ho knocked me over the fence. He knocked, me. .and, Mrs. Eban, and: the fence all down together. He then took me by the hair and beat my head against some planks. I struggled to gp-fc away, and he draped me up the- hill by the hair. He then, having his knees upon me, tried to' run the end of the stake into my throat. He also renewed a fracture which 1 had previously had in my ribs. My daughters also now came to my assistance. Prisoner swore, and said he would kill me. He suid, ' I told you before I would <lo it, and now, danui you, I will do it.' A fortnight before that, he had said, 'He would kill mo.'

Emma fiban, bein* sworn, said : I am the wife of tho last witness. 1 remember Lange having assaulted my husband. I was looking out for the and heard Lange's voice from some part of the stockyard, and then 1 saw him rush'across with a large stake in his hand. The next I saw was tint the stake had fallen on the back of my husband's neck. I did not look any more, but ran down to the stockyard. I got between prisoner and Mr. Eban, Mr. Eban was apparently stunned; he said Lange had broken his arm. Lange again raised the stake, and I said, 'If you strike, you must strike me.' lie then struck me on the temple. Prisoner then left me, and pursued Mr. Eban, who was walking slowly away. I caught his dress and tried to stop him, when he threw me into a ditch full of water, and attempted to hold me down. He foliowod Mr. Eban, and struck him several tiroes. I also followed as well as I could, my clothes being wet. Lange got Mr. Eban down, and knelt upon him, and said he would despatch or murder him. I called my children, who came from their beds to my assistance. Lange was then .dragging Mr. Eban up tho hill by his hair. Mr. Eban suffered sovcrely from his injuries. Lange called to his wife to bring his pistols that he might shoot all of us.

The Judge, addressing the prisoner, said: You have been found guilty, after a very patient inquiry by the jury, of having committed a very aggravated assault indeed. I cannot allow your most serious offence to pass without a severe punishment. You must, while undergoing your sentence, from time to time think of your extremely bad conduct, and resolve to amend ifc in the future. Had the injuries which you inflicted gone but a little further and produced death, I must tell you, that you, undoubtedly, would have been indicted for, and in all probability found guilty of, murder. I believe that you, like many other men but partially educated, have a very vague notion of the right of property. You appear to have thought that, because you entered into some negotiation 0 to purchase the land on which the stockyard, where your assault commenced, is situate, the property was yours. And, in this stupid, confused idea, you also seem to have thought that you could exercise that supposed right, by any amount of violence you. chose to exhibit. It should bo well known that the law will not permit the use of any unnecessary violence. In this case it would not signify if you had the best possible title to the land, and therefore I consider your offence to bo a very serious one. Nevertheless, most anxious as I always am to temper justice with mercy, 1 shall not, in passing judgment upon you, sentence you to so long a term of imprisonment as I have the power of doing, but, taking into consideration what Mr. Kelling has said of your character and past conduct, which in the main appear to have been good for a long term of years, I shall sentence you to be imprisoned in her Majesty's gaol, at Nelson, and to be kept to hard labor, for the term of six months.

Now this six months' severe punishment millions of our honest, hardworking fellowcountrymen in Great Britain would gladly undergo: they would have less work to do (for we are not wrong in saying that one hardworking man does more work than any three of the • hard-labor ' prisoners); they would be much: better fed, housed, ana clothed. The good character given in this case by one of the grand jury is rather singular, for it can hardly be imagined that the very recent antecedents of the, prisoner could have slipped that gentleman's memory. However, W3 hope that the 'severe punishment' will have the beneficial effect the Judge desired it should.

The judgment in tlie inexplicable case of perjury was two years' imprisonment with hard labor. The motives to the crime are unaccountable.

The native Arapata te Waretutura who was indicted for having killed one Manahi te Poka, contrary to law, was sentenced to imprisonment for one day. We gave so full an account of this case on the inquest that it is unnecessary to reproduce the evidence given at the Supreme Court. It seems the deceased was suffering from a complication of diseases at the time he was assaulted by the prisoner; in addition to which the prisoner had good grounds for jealousy of his wife's fidelity. The judge complimented the natives on the straightforward way in which they had given their evidence, and could not help contrasting it with much of that given by Europeans. There was one case of horse stealing which resulted in conviction ; sentence twelve months with hard labor, this light sentence was given on account of the wandering and excited state of mind of the prisoner. The judge strongly impressed on thpse present that they were not for one moment to imagine that horses or cattle could in future be stolen with so slight a result.

The only other criminal case was for robbery of 104 sovereigns from the person of & Greek sailor, employed in our coasting trade; sentence nine months with hard labor.

The only civil case of public importance was Cross versus Robinson. This case took up one half of a session of our Provincial Council, and was carefully cooked up to damage our Superintendent (the defendant). We dwelt so much On the case at the time, that it is unnecessary to cay moire on the point than that it is the last of a series of

charges against the Superintendent which have fallen to the ground, and gained hini credit and covered his opponents—not with shame, for they are beyond that—with the contempt of every fair man. This paltry party spirit came out before the judge, who checked the counsel—a recent arrival—and whose observations, at the request of tho judge, we forbore to report. The judge said that having read the pleadings the plaintiff had not made out a case : the suit was withdrawn.

We cannot forbear expressing a hope that in future, reporters, or messengers of the Court, whatever they may do in the Provincial Council the Magistrate's Court, or at the elections of.the various Boardswill show less indecency in interfering with the proceedings of a. Superior Court of Jus-; tice. We are surprised that the sharp eye of the Judge did not observe such aberrations from decorousness,. and chastise it in his usual powerful style.

In our last summary we stated that a small schooner had been despatched to the Buller district on the West Coast with stores, &o , for. sornel fifty or sixty Maoris who were digging for gold in the Buller river; at the same time we spoke of three or four men who had proceeded in an open boat to the same region. The schooner has since returned, after encountering the severest gales imaginable, and by her we learned that the open boat party arrived at their destination before the schooner. The stores taken by the schooner were sold off at once, and she returned for more, bringing two pounds weight of beautiful gold paid to have been collected by a Maori some sixty years of age without the means and appliances usual to European diggers.

A corrrespondent thus writes :— 'Two days after the Jane left Nelson we reachedCollingwood, where we remained till the following Wednesday evening, when we set out for the Buller. The whale-boat which left Nelson on a similar errand had called at Collingwood and left again before t?o raached there.

On tho following Saturday evening we entered the mouth of the Buller; the whale-boat's company, which had reached there safely, coming out to pilot us in.

The arrival of the charterers of tho Jane with a stock of provisions was a welcome occurrence, end two pouuds weight of gold,' less three dwts, was parchased from a decrepit old Maori, who stated that he procured it a considerable way up the river, at tho rate of, about 5 ozs. per week, the means adopted to obtain it are said to have been of the most primitive description. This Maori has advanced money to others to enable them to procure necessaries to proceed up tho river, which looks like great confidence in their ability to procure gold to repay him what they have borrowed. The gold is of splendid quality, in thick scales, inclining to nujjgetty, and several nodules of plantiuum are observable amongst it.

' The Maoris are out prospecting (and I believe sue cessfully) some four or five miles from the river; this will be a very convenient distance, and a store could be taken on the ground without much labor being expended in making a road. I like tho appearance of the country, very much, and there is some good land for agricultural purposes. It is a noble river with a good entrance. 'This place will go a-head finely if properly managed. We want a road or track cut to the upper part of the river. This would tiring the richest part of tho diggings within easy access instead of having to go in canoes by way of the river twice' the distance and talcing three or four days to accomplish it, —I hope that the Government will not let the resources of this promising country remain unknown through inattention, and truly ' delays are dangerous.' . i .■■,.' ' We have been here for upwards of a fortnight unable to proceed up the river for want of a canoe, and because of tho heavy rains which have fallen since we reached here. The Maoris are busy constructing' them. We are very eager to reach the gold regions, but the weather, and . dilator!ness of the Maori will enforce patience, although it will not check our ardor. The Maoris in the meantime, are looking forward for provisions by the next arrival, though they have little money to pay for goods, and many of them are engaged fishing fer eels. They bought nearly all the flour brought by tho Jane at £2 per 100 lbs. The whale boat party of live men have gone up the river, and have ascended about seventeen miles during the last 12 days. Another party going up about the same time had to return, from shortness of provisions : they accomplished their return home in a few hours. The Maori who sold tho gold said that in fine weather he could reach the spot in less than two days.'

The schooner made but a short stay in Nelson, and started with a fresh cargo of provisions. The schooner Gipsy likewise sailed on the same day with provisions. As the weather improves it is expected that a move in that direction will be made by many of our European population. In connection with the West Coast we give the following extracts from a report of Mr. Skeet to the Superintendent on his • exploration of the valley of the Tadmore for the purpose of finding an available coiftitry for the formation of a road in that direction to the West Coast:'—

After my examination of the ranges at the back of the Batten and Wangapeka rivers, I was satisfied that no low country or pass existed in that direction, through which a road could be carried that would b'i available at all seasons of the year, on account of. the snow. A dray road in that direction being impassable" and even a bridge track could only be constructed at an immense expense and would have to pass over a range covered with snow for many months in the year.

Having on that occasion traced the Wangapeka to its source amongst the snowy peaks, to the south of Mount Arthur, I felt convinced that the low country lying on either side of the peak known as the Devil's Thumb, and bearing S.W. from Nelson must be at the head of the Tadmore; this supposition proved to be correct.

tiie south fork, and passing round the head of the Tadmore found a small river running S.W., and joining the IJuiler, which here runs from the eastward, just as it enters the monntain. This river I called tho Hope, On my return, I examined tho Valley on both side 3of the Tad more. The right bank is the best for the construction of a road, presenting few impediments if the line is kept some distance from the banks of the river. It may be necessary to cross the stream at one or two points in the upper part of the valley to avoid some deep water-courses, but tho impediments are few and I have no doubt if tho country is carefully examined, they nviy ba availed altogether. The left bank is intersected by several steep spurs running down to the stream.

The dintanco from the termination of the present dray road to the junction oF the south and Vest forks would be about seven miles, taking the ranges at this point. Tlirea miles more would bring the road into th« valley of the Hope, just above its junction with the Buller, and the direction of the road would bo neirly S.W. and • consequently in a straight line with the course of the Buller from this point. I

. Mr. Skeetha&again started,"accompanied by Mr. W. Campbell, with a determination if. possible, to solve the question of the practicability of making a communication between the Wangapeka and Butter.. They are well supplied for a lengthened stay on this interesting exploration.

From the Colling wood gqldfietds. we have nothing novel to record. Some diggers at the Wangapeka diggings are doing tolerably well. The netws from the Bullej will be found elsewhere. In connection with the Gold Fields we reprint the following communication from the General Govern-

ment :—

To John Neame, Esq., and others, Collingwood. Crown Landa Office, Auckland,

6th July,' 1860. Gentlemen.—l do"myself the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your memorial, dated the 6th May last, urging upon the consideration of his Excellency's Government &c importance of establishing an agricultural settlement within the limits of the Nelson Gold-Fielda. • ;

Tho Government foel convinced that, even if a vote of money for the above-named purpose wefe to be proposed to the House of Uepresenfcatives, it would not bo sanctioned. Indeed, it appears so doubtful whether the Gold-Fiolds' revenue will be sufficient to meet the claims upon it, that GoVernment are taking into consideration the advisability of transfering the management of the district to the Provincial authorities • who, it is hoped, would tajce proper f*wns for the develop, moirt o? tl® mineraj resources <tf the Golden Bay District, ij> whufh they #re so deeply interested. It most bo remembered that aSeady considerable advances hare been made fro# the Provincial Chest for public worts upon the Gold-Fields; the repayment of which judging from the experience of the past, m»y be delayed for an indefinite period. Aa therefore the power of carrying into effect the wishes of yourself and your fallow memorialists is altogether dependent upon the obtaining of a further advance of money, the Government entertain no hope of having the means of complying with-your request. I hava &c,

HENJRY JOHN TANCREf). « Tho reason of the General Government taking the management of the rather unmanageable and expensive gold-fields into their own hands, it will be recollected was from the factious and unscrupulous opposition of a little knot of select politicians in the Provincial Council of Nelson, one half of the time of the whole session of which was consumed in this wonderful feat. May all such nefarious work meet with a like termination.

Of deaths and accidents we have to record several. One from a slight accident in, the toe, which was neglected for a few days when death resulted. "He was a young man named Bartlett, recently arrived from England. A man,.called George Woods, was found dead on the ranges between Fox Hill and Wangapeka; he was supposed to be an Irishman and slightly deranged. A young man injured at a thrashing machine likewise died a few days after amputation of the-leg had been performed. A young man named Harris was drowned in the Pelorus river, he two had not been in New Zealand a long time. An accident accident occurred to a young man named Leishman who was violently ruptured whilst working at the Dun Mountain, but by the prompt attention of the medical gentleman at the hospital he was speedily restored. One of the seamen of the Glenshee named Dudley, fell between the ship and the wharf and broke his thigh, he was conveyed to the hospital, and is progressing favorably.

A new Wesleyari1 Chapel has been opened at Stoke, a few miles without the city, at > which sermons were preached and collections made; a tea- meeting followed. The Chapel, we hear, through the liberality of the public, has been paid for.

One ship, the Glenshee, arrived from England on Friday, the 2nd August, after a disagreeable passage of 151 days—an unusual time, even foe the class that shipowners are in the habit of despatching to New Zealand. She was detained. 21 days in the Channel, and was once struck by lightning. She brings a lighthouse for this port, besides a very heavy cargo. She has likewise brought a few valuable she,ep, with little loss. Some interesting extracts from the Glensheo's log will be found in our shipping columns. She brought no pas&esgers.

In going to the head of Tadmore Valley, I took the range between that river and the Motnpiko, and froni the top of a high tree on this range I obtained a good view of the whole district, and was enabled to take baarings of tho different points in the valley below, I found it bearing S. W. for about six miles from the termination of the present dray road; here the river divided m%\, three forks, one coming from the S. E., one from the S.j and another from the W.; the latter had its source on the main range near the source of the Dart, which runs north into the Wangapeka. Prom the source of the Dart the main range slopes gradually down to tho S.,' is free fromsnow,and terminates at the Buller, near Devil's Grip which benra S. W. or in a straight line with tho valley of the Tadmore. The peak was just visible over the ltrner part of the main range and must therefore be in the Martire Valley, or the Owen. I directed my course for the junction of the S.E branch and reached the river about half a.mile from tha point, I then traversed the range between that and

Wb Ji&vq very little to record in the way 'of anpiwm&its, except that the San Irancisco Miastrelfc paid us a visit, and gave #wo antertammenis, which we»e much redished by a good attendance of people in spite of the most inclement weather. It Ts expected that these public favorites will pay us another visit on their return from Auckland.

The Volunteer ♦ movement' is in a state of stagnation here. A few members of No. 1 company now and then meet for drill; bull we have heard nothing of No. 2 since their dinner j and the Naval Artillery

...; ... - Aug. 9/61. seem to have gons to limbo. The prize offered by No. 9 was pretty Well contested. The range was 100, 200, and 300 yards. The following is a list of the competitors:— 100 200 300 Total Afthur Baigent, ~ ..7 7 4 18 James Rutherford .. .".74 5 16 John Rickets .. .*." 8 5 8 16 Joshua Bird ~ ...6 6 3 15 Charles Martin .. ~ 84 2 14 Roderick MRae ~ ..6 5 g 14 George Rutherford .. .. 7 4 3 14 W. W.Barnes .. ..8 4 I 1 is S. Baigent .. ..5 6 2 13 Joseph Ratt .. ..7 6 0 13 C. Haling .. .. ..- 9 3 0 12 S. Hoult 5 4 3 12 J. T. Catley 7 4 1 12 T. Tunnicliffe .. ..6 3 8 12 Jo3eph Baigent .. ..6 5 2 12 .Andrew Ruthoifprd .. ..8 0 3 11 Henry Tunnicliffo .. ..3 7 1 U !W. Hildreth .. .. .. 5 5 0 10 I George Small .... ..6 2 2, 10 John Sigglekow .. .. 6 4 0 10 William Kerr .. ..7 1 2 10 Our police court has presented very few novel features this month, with the exception of some cases of assault on the police and a 'regular row' among sundry young fireeaters, which were visited with the usual penalties in such' eases made and provided.

The Odd Fellows have held, their halfyearly meeting, and speak cheerfully of their prospects, and thankfully for the good they have beeri-a^le to effect. The present balance in favor of the society is £1665, the bulk of which is lent to the,members at an interest of ten per cent, per annum; the balance on the Widows and Orphans' fund amounts to £290 3s. 2d., which is likewise lent out to members.

The Agricultural Association intend to erect a building for their own especial use. To enable them to do this the subscription will be raised. The two Building and LaUd Societies are getting on famously. One of them has just completed the second year of its formation. The Savings' Bank goes on swimmingly; we refer to the abstract of the * Statistics of New Zealand,' in another part of our paper for the amount paid in from its establishment to the end of 1860. Some lectures in connection with the Young Men's Christian Association have been given; the neat-little building belonging to this Associaflqn » neatly completed.

At the election of three members of the Board of Works the Secretary, Mr. J. L. Bailey read the report and balance-sheet; from the latter we extract the following:— REOEIPCS. £. B. d. Balance in ha»d from last year .. IQ4 811 . Third and Fourth yean' rate ... 964 10 9 p Vtpte. of Provincial Council.. .. 600 0 0 i) „ „ forHttv&> road .. .. ..'■;; 400 0 0 Debentures, TYafalgar-street sewer.. 1200 0 0 Town's shire of Dog-tax .. .. 56 5 3 . Contributions tor special objects, &o. 3S 4 6 3863 9 5 EXPENDITURE. Contract Work .. .. ..1459 9 5 Laborers and Overseer .. .. 637 11 10 Salaries ... .. ~" .. 220 0 0 Carting, Tools, Printing, &c. .. 475 3-2 Cash in hand .. .. .. 1071 5 0

8863 9 5 The land and buildings in the city of Nelson are rated at £388,123.

In our advertising columns will be found a prospectus of a Bank of Hew Zealand— a great desideratum for the colony, and a safe speculation for the capitalist, large or small, especially to those in England who are desirous of getting a little more than,3§• per cent, for their money. It will be seen that the first men in the colony—in station, ability, and wealth— are at the h«&d of it, which of itself is a guarantee of success.

Of the Dun Mountain Railway we learn that there is every probability of this undertaking being completed by the end- of the present year, that is, from Brook-street to the mines, a distance of about eleven miles, and that this work will possess the somewhat remarkable feature of having been constructed considerably within the original estimates.

As we stated in a previous issue, the contract for laying the permanent way has been let to Mr. Dodderidge Gibbs, Manager of the Metallurgic Company, Parapara. Four out of the eleven contracts for earthwork, bridging, forming, &c, are completed, and the others are in such a satisfactory state of forwardness as to leave no doubt that they will be completed by the end of next month.

Notwithstanding'the unusual wetness of the season and the extreme steepness of the hill sides round which the cutting is made, the works have stood remarkably well, in fact, the slips and subsidence have Jbeen very trifling.

We understand that it is the intention of the Company, in addition to raising and shipping chrome ore, to supply the town with firewood, fencing, lime, flagging, &c, which there is little doubt they will be able to do at rates considerably lower thau those hitherto charged for these important artioles; the Company's property extending over many miles of heavily timbered land, besides containing an almost inexhaustible supply of the other materials named. This, though of course intended as a source of profit to the shareholders, will be a considerable boon to the town and neighborhood of Nelson; as will also the reduced rates of carriage for both goods and passengers, when the li#e has been extended from Breok-aireet to fhe Fort, which work will be commenced immediately on the Company's bill being passed by the Legislature nsw in session. .

We have every reason to believe that the next wool ships will take home a portion of the large quantity of ore now reai^jr for transit from the mines to the port. ' We may now fairly congratulate Nelson on being the first province possessing a railway in New Zealand, and trust it will prove but the precursor of other like undertakings, having.the same most useful.end in viewr, viz., to develope and make available the grea.c mineral and other resources of the colony. "