CITY INTELLIGENCE AND MONEY MARKET.

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 559, 19 February 1851, Page 3

CITY INTELLIGENCE AND MONEY MARKET.

[From the Morning Advertiser, Sept, 27.] The liberalisation of the tariffs of fo-. reign countries is a matter of importance and still proceeds with steady strides, whatever the opponents of free trade may assert to the contrary. A parliamentary return completed and made public » short time back,, gave statistical evidence of the extensive alterations made by mmy

erect them themselves.in nine cases out! of ten, therefore there- is little crying for carpenters. The Only carpenters employed worth-mentioning are'those at work for* the Association: they havveight shillings-pet day, but are entirely vbkl of all those little comforts that the Wellington tradesmen enjoy in a-godd dwelling and comfortable home. The greatest diffw culty found, here in building is the want of timber—l6s. per hundred feet is given to the sawyers at the pit in the Riccarton bush, and the timber there is principally kaiketia, and a little matai; an odd totara may be found that is'godd, bntf the few- ? that -are there too'frequently out ! seems to be absent alto■getheT—ii little white mairi makesup the sum total, and half a dozen pair of saw-vers-and wood-cutters are: rapidly felling ■ttlFdescriptions-of timber available to the 'public through the' Association, as half 'the timber in the Riccarton bush is the private property of Messrs. Deans, thus tirnbernt Christ-church will command the present rates for some time to come ; and then the price of timber will not have reached more than'half the price that it • did at the commencement of tho town of Russell, or will it approach to tho price given at Port Nicholson or Auckland ■ when those settlements coramencod. There is ono thing that tho Christ- = church settlers will do well to adopt, that is, stock their land with sheep and cattle. Lot agriculture find its own level; put the industrious labourer in possession of apiece of land, either with along -lease or right df purchase, nnd abun ''dance of grain will soon find its way into • the market, aiid the proprietor of land ■ and stock wilMmvo;a just return for his ; investment,' arid most probably acquire : that position at which hei aims, while the mind-dwells in pleasing-satisfaction at 'having contributed -to ameliorate the condition of the working man. And experience will ultimately show and prove, for years to come/thot the "Bhllfrog" farmer can no more exist: .in -New Zea- ■' lUiid than the.frog.itself. - i ■'-. : ' : '* ■''■'• • ;! ""' ' ' ■'■•■ .\A. - . P.S.-i-I- really think that! nc goods can be-now brought..from Wollin'gtoiv to ad- • vantage, that is M English manufacture, •as'tho. emigrants here are now- opening their extensive <stbck • of goods. All goods''have,- up" to-this/been /about 25 per cent;* above the Wellingtorrmarkot. •■ [From ,the Lyttelton-Times, Uan. 25.] We stated bur intention to- avoid politics as much as possible. "The news, however, which we are compelled to print to-day from the oth or colonies, forces two subjects upon our; attention; First, the Transportation question ; secondly, that of Self-Government. As to the first, we have given in another column Petitions which are in thb course of signaturo in the Australian colonies,—-colonies-which have tried the experiment of receiving convicts, in every shapo a»d form;--colonies which have enjoyed tho advan tagos of the white slave labour which it places at their disposal;-—which have oven grown rich thereby, and yet which deliberately cast it from thom,as an unclean thing. To explain the manner in wliioh the Settlers in New Zealand aro affected by this question, we have printed in full an article from the Wellington Independent of Jan., 8, to whioh we cordially subscribe. The other political question is ono which"forces itself more immediately upon our attention. It is'tho struggle which is going on at this moment in all theuNew •Zealand 1 Settlements, for the institutions-of the. land from which they have sprung. To our Canterbury roadors this is no new Vqiiestion. Long before the -colonists 'left it excited their deepest and niost auxious attention. The, question' ever in their mouths was to<be.consulted in the appointments, of tho officials in our Settlement ? —Are wo to-haye, acontrol over tho expenditure of our public funds ?—We knew that according. to tho government at present existing in New Zealand, we should have .neithbr the one nor the other. But we wore confidently assured of two things by the Association, first, that Lord Grey i had promised that as soon as our settlement bocamo rich enough to support its own Government, it should bo made a separato province; and secondly, that all-Appointments to government offices,, should; bo mado from amongst the Colonists themselves. With respect to representative institutions, we understood that onoof the first bills introduced into Parliament next ses.ion, would be a bill for giving .Representative Institutions to Now Zealand. The constitution given to New Zealand will be that under .which, weshall have to live. Tho other settlements, Auckland, Wellington, and Nelson, are earnestly discussing its details. They are meeting, and appointing committees, and making up their minds as to what they want. They are settling the'details of the .Government under which they desire to live. These opinions of the New Zealand colonists will go back Ao England;—they will be eagerly read by the Colonial party iv Parliament, by none more thon by -the leading members of tlie • Canterbury Association, Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Simeon, Mr. Adderley ;—they will be cited iv the .bouse of Commons,;"—thoy will act upon

••he Government;—rthey-will more or less influence the grcat-result—How>we and our children-are to be governed. We forbear at present to do-more than call themttention of our fellow-colonists to the importance of the question which is agitatiirg the public mind in the neighbouring settlements. Hereafter, we shall have to speak more immediately to the part which we shoulditake at Canterbury. Tlie Canterbury Colonists possess one great advantage in having organized themselves into*.a-society, and having elected a -working council beforo they left-England: and we hope their council will-.not neglect this most important of alkquesttons to the future prosperity of tho settlement.