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Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 83, 29 July 1846, Page 3

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IMPORTANT FROM AMERICA. ..[From thg Morning Cjiro«ici,b, March 5.] We have received New papers .of the J.2th, ult., brought by the London packet ship Switzerland, which has arrived in the Margate Roads. The House of Representative* had passed the series qf resolutions for the year's notice of the termination of the Joint-occupancy of Oregon Treaty, by a majprity of 163 to 54 vote Sj only three members of the house being absent. The,following are the resolution? themselves ;— ,J I. Resolved by the House of Representatives of the United States of America iaQjngress assembled that the President of the -United States cause notice l o be given to the Government of Great Britain, that the convention between the United States of America and Great Britain, concerning Jhp territory of the north-jvest coast of America, west of ■he Stony Mountains, of the 6ih of August, 1827, signed at London, shall be annulled .end abrogated in twelve months after giving said notice. " 2. And be it further resolved, that nothing herein.contained is intended to interfere with the right and discretion of the proper .authorities pf the twocontractiijgpartiesto.renewpr pursue negociatioas for an amicable settlement of ihe controversy respecting the Oregon territory." The debate was closed by a jspeech from Mr. Adams, who persisted in the view that there wai no doubt bat England would 'in the end concede l peaceably all they ..required. It *eem« beyond a doubt, that in consequence of the temperate manner in which the speech of the President, at the opening of the session of congress, assuming the right .to the whole of the Oregon territory,-was received and, commented on in this country, the war party in America have been led to presume that every thing w.ill be yielded to thijie arrogance. The question wss immediateiy -to be brought to the jest by a division in the senate; and at the last dates from Washington it was estimated that the resolutions would even pass that assembly by a majority of nine or ten members. Some doubts, however, seemed to be entertained that the publication of the diplomatic correspondence which was laid before the bouse oa the ,7ih ult. might not give another turn to the matter. There ia no question but that the mercantile part of the community in the United Stated are earnestly opposed to a ruptur e with England} bat there is jast 'as little that the war firebrands mistake the calm forbearance hitherto shown for pusillanimity, and expect to carry their point by arrogance and bullying. The only palliation made for their conduct even on the other side of the water is, that it is a part of their party warfare, with the.yiew of influencing the next tial election, and jipon this principal the peace of the world is to be from time'to time jeopardised, if all surrounding jstates do not submit to the in»olenc e and aggressions of the model republic: Just before the posf left Washington, on the 10th ult., despatches said to be of great importance had been received from Mexico. The report was, that .the Mexican government had actually declared war, and all the public offices had Wen in a state of great hustle. General Scott, in whom great confidence has been .reposed in cases of emergency, had been immediately sent for by "the Secretary at War, with whom he jremained several hours closetsd.— Standard. Reversion op the Corporation in the Birkenhead Djcks.—We understand that the arbitrators who were appointed to fix the value of the reversionary interest of the corporation of Liverpool in the Birkenhead Dock Estate, have decided that the value of the reversion is one hundred and J thirteen thousand pounds 1 We have also heard that the arbitrators have decided that the Woods and Forests are entitled to from fifty to sjxt,y thousand pounds for the properly which they surrender I to the commissioners of Birkenhead.—Liveipoo] Times. Denmabic—The King of Denmark has just ordered the teaching of the French language and singing in all the colleges of the Kingdom. All scholars will be obliged to .learn these, and these and'there will be au annual examination. The

King of Denmark inteede sending, the comtte, Galatbea to tjae JJu-.obar ]sl s, io order to examine, tbeir natural production*, and how far they. are. adapted fer commercial settlements. The Galathea will visit' Batavia, Singapore, the Chinese pots, which are open to European vessel*, and Manil a, and thence sail to Ifew Zealand. ' A strange chase and capture of a thi-f occurred ou the Edinburgh and Railway. A traveller, on arriving at Edinburgh, mis-ed bi« pocJEct-buok, contain-' ing £7CK). On making "kn>wn hi. lose, a stoker lold him il)at a man had followed hirafrpra the station, and hadimmedi.iieiv afterwards returned .and taken his place in a train for Glasgow. The Gentlemen ordered an expre-s engine; and, though some time wa.s loet in getting Up the steam, the engine came in sight of the train whnn approaching the inclined plane which leads into Glasgow. The whistle of the express engine was violently blown ; and the conductor of the passenger-train, in? ferring danger, remoyed to the other line "f rails. The express shot past, and got to the station in lime to admit of arrangements for apprehending the pickpocket. The train then came in : the suspected person was seen and identified by tlje siqker who had accompanied the gentleman, and the pocket-book and money was found upon his person. The owner, overjoyed at recovering his property, offered a handsome reward to the sjoker which waa resolutely refused; and the gentleman therefore enclosed £1,00 Jo the directors, requesiing them to take pay for the express, to reward their servant ad libitum, an d if there was any change to forward it to him. The directors returned the whole sum, stating 'that they would make no charge for the engine, and would themselves reward the stoker. Thu manoeuvres of dis'iilers to smuggle their whisky have u/tan displayed nTiK-h inventive genius. A celebrated London distiller continued for a long time to bafflj the officers of excise, by sen.ling out larga quantities of spirits « that had never seen a guager's face" in tin cases which were made to resemble in shape the natural protuberance of a pregnanj; woman, and which -were worn by accommodating Jamsels under their clpthes. At last, the distiller, growing bojd, from tie frequent success of the experiment, tried his device on too extensive a scale. The suspicions of a knowing guager were edited oa s eing thirty-six women, all eseeinte, in Mr ****'§ premises. The guager poked their persons with his wand! and speedily ascertained that the apparent fecundity of the fair phalanx Fas in truth derived from thirt3'.-six tin vessels, cunningly fitted to their persons the contents of which were speedily seized in her Majesty's name.— Ireland and her Agitators. "' A rather novel piece of fraud has just been detected in the fair partner of an individual who has for some time past been in the practice of disposing of her butter, along with many others, weekly, to the Brechin Grocery Association—the qualities purchased from the different individuals being all deposited in one place. On finding for some weeks that a portion of their .stock was neaily made of single whkh, when cut, wa3 found°to be nothing but a large quantity of water, the salesman determined to discover the delinquent. Having adopted the necessary steps, by depositing separately the quantities brought from the different parties, and tried each, the usual quantity of water gushed out from that sent by tb,'e lady abore mentioned.—Aberdeen Herald. Eighteen railways are proposed to he constructed in connection with the cite road, county of Cork, the capital ot which is put down at over eight millions sterling! A machine has been invented by ingenious njan in Nprfqlk to supercede the use of gales on railways where they cross the public roads. It.is so eimstu.cted, that an engine or carriage approaching it at the distance of sixty or seventy yards will cause itio open, in casa of the accidental absence of the attendant, and when closed it entirely conceah the railway from the sight of horses.. There is littla doubt that, \yh§n Sir Ifc. Peel retires |from public lite, it will be wifh a peerage. In the meantime, he is forming an extensive connection with the aristocracy of the land. His eldest daughter (Viscountess Villiers) will be the Countess of Jersey, shquld her husband and she survive the present ear| : and it is now said that Ins second daughter is abqnt be marripj to the Marquis of Hereford. It appears from a statement iii a Frankfor{ journal that the present peace establishment of the Austrian army is 369,000, but that the effective force is really only 251,000. "

• c From the" Englishman." Teb. 28. ''Letters received to day from the fron*tier state, that ihe treaty was already signed on ihe 9th instant. The portions of : the country already mentioned in the. two proclamations are cdded, and the Sikhs agree to pay ihe expense of the war, estimated at two crores of rupees-, •which are stated to be already packed a , •Lahore, where the Governor Generalwas expected to arrive and to receive the mo<ney on the 20th. Our letter say country between the Sutlej and the Beas is the most fertile in the whole Punjab; it give us two or three hill stations. The unfortu-' nate Sikhs have been made to pay for their .amusement. The territories confix cated on this side the Sutlej will yield twenty -lakhs a year, and 1 think those between the Sutlej and the Beas twice a* much." Another- Teller says — Khalsas may make a disturbance again, but 1 fancy they will not fight, having had more th&n they liked at Hureeke: our loss has been very heavy certainly. In , the despatch of theFerdsha affair they put down the numbers of killed and wounded at 3,250, whereas a true account was 4,250! pretty well out of 15,000." We understand the terms of treaty be-, tween the Governor-General and the Sikh authorities were dictated under the walls of Lahore. The sum which the latter have agreed to pay as compensation for •their late invasion of the-British Territory, is equal to about jS200,000; a sura, we imagine, inadequate to reimburse us fully for our expenses. But it is good policy not to push a powerful enemy too tar in money matters, especially as the sum was to be paid forthwith, ENGLAND. The Oregon question is settled, so far as to be left to arbitration ; which seemed to satisfy the people of England. The New Corn Laws have passed the House of Lords, by a large majority. The Great Liverpool, steamer, 2,000 tons, is lost off Cape Finnisterre, crew and passengers eav.ed. The Spanish soldiers sent by the Governor to protect the passengers, plundered them. The master of the steamer shot himself in despair. . : £100,000, or £150,000, have been voted for the relief of Ireland, in purcha-> sing food for the famished districts. ; This is the tenor of the news repor'ed in town by the Anita. When we calculate that the Com Law Bill could not have passed the House of Lords before the end of March, ancj:£fkat April, May, and June are allowance for news to reach not by Bengal, but by China, and AnjerVwe suspect the news of'the Bill having passed the Lords, means the Commons; and that the Oregon news means simply, that the projected Corn Law had satisfied England that the Americans would consent to arbitration, not that .they had done so. ''With respect to the Indian news, there is little to doubt its authenticity. Military.—ln consequence of the present ■unsettled state of our relations with the United States, orders have been transmitted to the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich to be in readiness to furnish a powerful armament, consisting of various pieces of ordnance of different calibres, gan-carriages, ammunition, &c, for the various ships of war and eteamvesseU at present stationed on the coasts and rivers of Canada, and the lakes that form the boundaries between that colony and the United States. More than 300 pieces ordnance, with the neceesary ammunition, will have to be got ready for this purpose.

24th—This corps at Cork has orders of readinees for embarkation to New South Wales, but will in the first instance proceed to Chatham. 65th—Major Wyatt, Ens. Barton, and 50 men, proceed by the Premier to Van Dieman's Land. The price of grain in the United Kingdom has not been affected by the change in the Corn-laws. The protectionists had foretold a great and immediate fall in price. Owing to the great purchases in the stocks by the agents of government, wheat had risen a little on special days, but were on the whole pretty steady. An Officer on-Full Pay cannot act as a Magsstrate.—The . law officers of the Crown have decided by an especial provision of the Mutiny Act, that no officer on full-pay can act as a magis- • trate. Under this decision, a very serious occur, renca had taken place at Woolwich. Sir R. Webb, the Medical Director- Generalof the Ordnance, a magistrate for the last thirty years for the connty of Kent, has been accustomed to attest all the Artillery recruits. Amorgst others thus attested was a man who having relations "in the Law," claimed hs discharge upon the ground that he was not legally a soldier. Several others followed his example, and the matter being referred to the Attorney and Solicitor General, it was ascertained that the claimants were right. They were ordered therefore to return their arms and accoutrements to store, and unless they preferred to be re-attested, they would receive their discharges. As the clause in the Mutiny Act rendering all magisterial acts of full-pay officers illegal, is of general operation, it is said that a ,new Act of Parliament.was to have been passed.in Feb-. ruary, legalizing all former acts of full pay naralor military magistraes, and repealing the section of the Mutiny Act in question.