WELLINGTON.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 245, 25 July 1861, Page 3

WELLINGTON.

-.'.'•‘■i (From our own Correspondent.)

In thd early part bf last'week -w& 'received, via LylteltonV: startling, intelligence 'from’ the Othgo gold fields. There is now no mistake ahoht tlie productiveness;, of their diggings. The chief surveyor’s report to the Superintendent is confirmatory, and is well worth perusal.' According to his v T

Mr. ; Thompson is a sound practical man, and good geologist; lie has, gone and .judged for himself, and is a person not likely to be misled by others. Mr. TJead, as the first discoverer of the gold, is now’undoubtedly entitled to the £SOO reward. I hear that a great many Canterbury settlers are. le{iying'for £)tago.>The ; gold has hardly got sufficient ventilation to affect thii'p'hice r as'yet.: ‘ - On JTedriesdny TI.M fine s.s. 3/iranda, commander Carr Glyn (son of the eminent banker) arrived t here with Lieut.-General : ‘Cameron and Suite. Both the Generaland . Commander, as well as the officers, expressed their admiration of our noble harbour, well as the place. From appearance I "should guess that jtlie,General had pretty nearly seen, his ipcore years; he is, however, a very active inau. On liis landing, when proceeding to

Government House ( which... is ..handsomely and comfortably fitted up for officials and officers ships of war, the/frout gate w#s locked j ... the olff warrior ; wpijld not w;«it for the key, b,u| beundetjl ioyer like a: thr££-y.ear old.. GebqtlL Fho|n-„. much pleased with them,. • andGiasrordered several tionS j doubtless:-, for'the'i reception of more troops ; lie. also?.went up to Porirua and came down Ngahauranga, road (the romantic -scenery ', of which rerii;indedibim,ofy .hjS|-p s wn -lligh)and' country), and thence proceededup the Hjitt as far as the-Gorge, and inspected-the two blockhouses there., fit -was lys.. intention, to visit Wanganui, hut this is deferred for the present.. The Miranda;: !;sailed /.thisr morning Tor Auck>.. land direct. Mr. Fox had formed a .mimstry, witb exception of Postmaster; ssneral, r *. IV ard would accept: .It diffir culty that Dr. Featherston was join, although only ■Spro.-.teip.. J. fie .will.,be a. tower of strength of himself, being 'field in; such high esteem by nearly all parties. .iVei-, . ther Mr. Awainson nor Mr. Gilfiilaii-.would,, take office in, the Upper house, for good sub-;, stantial private reasons, but both gentlemen-; have promisad a fieasty co operation both .in the house and out. No one yetbaa fieeu, even named for the Lords - I hear by (a pm* vate letter*; which may be relied upon,, that the Governor lias • altered|bK : tactics towards; Mr. Fox, and receives Tiitri’' now. most -’grii- - ciously. The General bad adviseip tliev.Governor if possible to ha ver no War tliiS ! is the . general opinion of the military at Auckland. General C; wrote some time - back ,for 5000 more croopsiMr; Fox, is. to.ask the house foran adjournment for a month, to prepare his , plans ; :and>}f/ ; tliis. is not acceded lto, fie will resign; but there is no chance of a^refusal.. You need not be surprised to see, by the return;of ,tl)e, t Wengn of our M .P.9 on a short visit. It was ttie general impression here that Mr. J. C. Crawford received, Militia pay as Captain this, it seems, has not- , been the case for some time ; however,, thete is now. no mistake ut the General dispense ing with: his services altogether, and putting the militiatmd :r.-ihe command of. Major Dwyer,. - a w'ise step and-ft.saviug,t<r; the country. TheGeneral’s impression is, that military mep in, ; nay; not suitable. 'You will soon find that this will be : the case at /Wanganui and elsewhere. - Sjqce writing, the Airedale’s inatls from., the soulli. r have been delivered ; the diggings are a great- : fact; tlie Superintendent ami escoit arrived, at Otago with 600 ounces - there are ...IOOfH men at work, and nearly all doing well; gold,, appears te be- in abundance. , /d» much deplore; to learn- that pleuro-pneumonia liasbroken out in Otago in po. le.‘S than in thirteen herds several. head ; of.cattle bad. been killed- . and shot.! ‘ The Brevincial Council had.passedt an act preventing- the importation, cattle. from Australia or from- any province in N ew-. Zealand. The Canterbury; Council wera-do* be called together to pass a.similar act. Thefirst sod of the /Z'yttelton ami Christohurch railway was turned last Wednesday by bis. Honor the Superintepdenfe;;: there §pm«1800 persons present. The, Canpeflyiry. .. , (Fitzgerald’s, late Superintendent,“paper)-. re—;, ports tfiat-Mr. Godley ,is to be our new Governor ; 1 don’t believe it.

7’he Bank re Nfav Zealand Twenty - years since, in the .lit tie- settlement. of Korora- -: reka, at the Bay of Islands* -there was estab- . lished the;; Ne,W.': Zt^land^;Banking.Company. •its actual capital,w'as:.sihall~about £7,000-; — its-proprietary riot numerousone-half of .its.., shares was held in* (Sydneyv the one-half by •. residents of, the Bay of .Islands, the first and - at that .time) with. thev.exception; of Port Nichplsorii ; .Jdie; only place&where Europeans. werelocated* ; in these Islands. Without much ' pretension, * the usefulness of the little Bank was felt and admitted to be great —For seve*ral years; it.. transacted the exchanges, received the deposits, and discounted the “paper” oft the young community. When; ;theliead-quar- ■ ters, of; the Coverument were removed to -• Waitemata,-ir%hd all idea of .making Russell the capital of these Islands was, abandpped, a « branch of the Bank was opened at Auckland,,, ahd an attempt, unhappily wasiriade to transfer the priricipah : office; from*. Kororareka to this place. The> failure of this attempt decided the fate of hthe enterprise. • Directors at the Bay of Islands mismanaged its affairs, and, after a vain effort to right it-.. self and to carry on, the liabilities of the-i Bank to the public were.scrupuously discharg- . ed, and its affairs wound up. Ther shareholders were the only losers. The effort firmiv to establish a local Bank was premature. The population was small,, fluctuating, ai d non-producing. Their capital was smalt also, and a higher interest or a greater profit was obtainable from its employ* ■ ment otherwise than in the, purchase of Bank..’ shares. ■' ■-■» • ■ •

For three years or more, Auckland waswithout ness ofMiscouut arid ex'changevfibing,conducted . by individuals who managed it with considerable profit to themselves, and also with con-' yenipnee to, tlie public. It was the interest of; those-perstmsi of course',' to\retain their hold oft this- busiuessand some time, therefore,. elapsed before the Union Bank of Australia was induced to occupy the field from whichthey have since reaped <so much profit, and in which, it: must also be 1 admitted, they haverendered valuable aid in* developing the re--sources, of this Province, and of the Colony.. Thri idea, however, ‘ : of a local Bank has-; never been wholly abandoned; and from, time to time since, projects of that■ kind have 1 ->■' been discussed;—but none of them have had. strength enough to rise into the region o£

facts. The recent unexpected withdrawal of the branches of the Oriental Bank, theincon- ; venience to wiiicli that peremptory and unex- : ampled proceeding has subjected the cornmii- ! nity, aud the possible damage which the public I credit of the Cofbny abroad may suffer therefrom, seem to have alarmed the colonists into taking measures of self defence; and, accordingly, the Bank of New Zealand, the prospectus of. which is now before us, has been i fairly launched With, as it appears, a reasonable prospect of success and usefulness. The capital, we learn from the prospectus, is fixed at' £500,000 in 50,000 shares of j£lo”each, one-half of which it is proposed to call tip, in the first instance, by payments at fixed and convenient intervals. It is also proposed to make it, in the widest sense, a Bank of New’Zealand, and to offer to_ the people of all the Provinces the opportunity of helping to build up a colonial institution. The presence iu Auckland of the representatives from the several districts, in attendance upon their duties in the General Assembly, has favoured this plan; and we observe in the list of Provisional Trustees ’ the names of men who are themselves the representatives of the successful enterprise and of -the wealth of their respective Provinces. “ A reference to the Bank returns,” says the'Prospectus published periodically in the Government Gazettes of the Colony, will show the very large profits made from the deposits of the colonists. What foreign Banks have for many years done for nis with our own funds, we now propose to do for ourselves by local effort and management.” From the statement of the average liabilities and assets in New Zealand of the C/nion and Oriental Banks, we find that, in the quarter ending March 31st nit., there were of Notes in circulation 132,807 Z; that the deposits, more than half of which bear interest, amounted to 747, 12s Id, and that the coin held.by the Banks amounted to 224,2494’ 9s'9d. This latter sum may be taken to represent the capital of' the Banks actually employed. The money of the cMonists lent to these establishments in the shape of deposits, forms the bulk of the capital with which their business is carried on. There seems then no reason to doubt, that the new Bank, if once fairlv established, will secure at least its share of benefits, and that a portion cf the profits which have heretofore, been sent away, may be retained and added to the capital of the colony. Up' to. this time the progress of the new scheme has been' satisfactory ; we are informed that in Auckland alone, within a few days, 10,000 shares, representing have been taken upland that many more will be disposed of. For this result we were not prepared, seeing the difficulties which have attended attempts made to form, local companies for other purposes of apparent utility and promise ; but the fact proves the general favor with which the Bank of Now Zealand is regarded, and that the necessity for the exist-, once of Some such institution is felt by the people. There seems to be a tolerable certainty that in the other Provinces the shares will be speedily subscribed,; ami then,; the Act of/ncorpor/tion which is now before the General Assembly having been passed, the Bank of New Zealand will have become a fact.-r-New Zealander:, J une 26. - ■ *4- -

.,-’n3'iri|n obtained 9 lb. 4 oz. in Id nlaysi. .• ''5 j-do • 9 9 4 lb. 1 oz. in 4 do. 4 do . M 1 lb. 8 oz.' in 4 do. X do ' 99 8 oz. in 6 do. 3 do 99 2 lb. 6 oz. in 3gdo. 2 do 99 2 oz. in 2-|do.