ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume VI, Issue 564, 8 March 1851, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

*»*We wish it to be distinctly understood that although it is our desire that this Journal should freely express the opinions of our Correspondents we are not to be considered responsible for their opinions. All Letters involving facts must be authenticated by the name and address of the Writer.

To the Editor of the Wellington Independent,

Sib, —I have been fortunate this year in securing the seed from a little patch of the Cyttosorus cristatus, usually called the dogs tooth grass. Five years ago I accidentally met with two or three plants of tbis kind, which had been mixed with other sorts of seed sent from England. By dividing the roots, 1 was able to get sufficient offsets to cover a rod of ground, when planted in rows: but it is one of the late grasses, and comes into flower just when the caterpillar plague usually visits us, i. c., at Christmas, and these insect pests are so ravenous, that, like locusts, they devour every green blade and stalk in their way. This is the only year they have not appeared in the Hutt since 1847, hence I have secured sufficient seed to scatter over the pastures of Rangitikei, and thus naturalize the most valuable sheep grass, which is indigenous to Engliind. I<ani not aware that it has been introduced by any other person ; but if if has, and that individual has any seed to dispose of, I shall be happy to give six shillings a pound for what he can spare me. All this, however, is merely introductory to the chief object of njy letter. The Cynosonis cristatus, among its other excellencies, has been found superior to all the other English grasses in tlie quantities of its culm or stalk, which has been found the best of all others for the manufacture of efraw bonnets, hardly inferior to that of the Leghorn plat— the stalks are slender, very firm and smooth, and the joints are, like the letters of bad correspondents, " few and far between." Sinclair, in his admirable work, Hortus Graminius Woburnensis, mentions that " the Udy of the Rev. Mr. Morrice manufactured q very beautiful straw bounet, in imitation of Leghorn plat, of the culms of this grass; which being submitted to the Socjety of Arts, obtained their medal" Every thing, even the most trivial, which tends to diminish our wants from the mother country, is adding so much to the prosperity of our colonists. And therefore. I shell be most liappy to give to any ingenious person, capabls of, and willing to make the experiment, a bundle of thjs straw. I will also put them in possession, if desired, of the best method of bleaching it, as detailed by Sinclair. I remain, jour's &c., ~ , , .„ ' w - Swainbox. March J, 1801.

To the Editor of the Wellington Independent. Mb. Editor,—Tn the last number of the Spectator we are indulged with another long tirade in the shape of a leading article, on the Faction couched in the invariable style of the Spector displaying throughout that intelligence, delioaoy' •pnjleraanlj feeling, and devotion to truth which have hitherto .characterised .the literary efforts of the Literary Dnttman, and obtained'him so very **

tensive a notoriety. With au impudence nil his own, the discomfited Spectator— leaving roads nnd sea wills and steam', about which lie cannot be expected to say much, his forte being scuirilily—describes the "cresl-fallnu" appearance of the leaders of the popular party whom he occasionally encounters on the beach—the crest-fallen appearance of the men before whom the Wellington Sjievtator beat a precipitate retreat!—the crest fallen appearance of tlie men who routed and broke up, and utterly dis. persed tlie entire Government army!— CredalJudeus! No, Mr. Spectator, if you mark any trace of aorrow.on the faces of those men, it proceeds from it natural feeling of indignation, you most probably have never and will never know anything about, honest men experience that they nud their fellow colonists should have to suffer under a syfltem of profligacy and despotism, and perhaps after nll,fn|len as you me, and now " in the sear and jellow leaf," so that little time remains for reformation, a feeling tikin to pity that you, " knowing what you are should be that you are," hardened enough to curry au erect head and unabashed front in the presence of honourable men. That people who know their inborn and utter baseness nnd glory in it, should strive for a perpetuation of mis-rule is natural enough, under a system founded ou justice, honest and able men would be required, and such people as the Spectator would not be wanted. Does not even the Spectator know that Sir George Grey, if he could get men of any standing in society—possessing any intellectual capacity, any modicum of respectability, or any reputation for honesty— r to come forward as advocates for lrresponsiUle .Government, his services would not be in requisition—dirty took are only required'for dirty jobs—ihe work accomplished, the filthy tool is thrown aside to rot in its congenial mud; just such a tool are you to the Government now, Mr. Spectator, and such a fate will assuredly be yours. You have long done the lying and dirty work for a contemptible set, and depend upon it those very men, base enough to hire you as their hack now, will be ungrateful enough to turn, upon you shortly, and heap on your hoary heart all the offences that have been committed by the entire lot—some bad bald re-renegading old man will lead you out before the altar, heap on your devoted head the sins of the party, and with the assistance of his toe send }'ou forth inlo the wilderness, the political scape-goat of the Government locusts of the colony. On looking carefully over the columns of the Spectator for some numbers back, a task requiring a Job like patience, the onlj indirect argument 1 have been able to discover in favour of our submitting to Sir George Grey's Irresponsible Government, consists in a magnificently lying declaration toecliing the grent and good things air George is to do for the Colony—the Wairarapa and other roads— the sea wall—steam—and heaven knows what (as if Sir George intended doing these things of his own private munificence), if the people will only be quiet and allow him to keep his Satellites in office —tax the colonists at pleasure, and spend their money on himself and friends—on hydropathic doctors —silly lawyers—impassable roads, and incapable surveyors. The Wellington Spectator has, as every body expected he would, now Mr. Fox has left us, commenced a viiulent attack on that gentleman, and once more brought up what he calls the " Duppa Compensation Job ;" now, if the Spectator is at all partial to jobs, I will give him one, and could give him many more, if I could find any satisfaction in disturbing people who are iv their last agonies; which I apprehend it would take a much cleverer fellow than the Spectator to defend by any system of logic which has yet been found to operate on men of sound mind and unprejudiced understanding. —Every body has heard the celebrated Capt. X—'s case—Mr. Brown, of Auckland, gave it a very extensive publicity. The facts are shortly these —the gallant Captain came from England to Wellington some three years ago, bringing with him sliirts, tro'wsers, nails, and arrow-root, but not being considered by his friends here exactly adapted to business, he was persuaded to apply to Captain Grey for a situation, Captain Grey having formerly served in the same regiment with himself—this he did, and his application was more successful than his most sanguine friends anticipated. Without reference to his ability, an office was immediately provided for him (that is, he was at once quartered on the public); a gentleman was removed from a situation he filled with credit to himself and advantage to the community, to make room for the gallant Captain, Who, having been in the army the grea'er part of his life, was of course admirably qualified, if not to discharge the duties, at least to receive the pay of a Registrar General; the Governor found the public with a capable servant working for some £-*)0 per annum, he discharged him and gave them an incapable one, for whom he made them pay some six time 3 the amount. Oh! Mr. Editor, we exist under an admirable form of Government, worthy of every eulo? gium the Wellington Spectator can pay it —here wa have a fair specimen of our Gubernatorial economy —an average sample of the manner in which the money of the public is expended ; now this, although by no means the most flagrant case that could be adduced, is, I apprehend,quite sufficient to convince every man not finding iniquity profitable, that the only guarantee for the economical expenditure of the public money, is to be found in a full, fair, and free representation of the people—we are not a rich family, we cannot afford to maintain useless hangers on. There are many circumstances, Mr. Editor, which reasonably lead us to suppose a large measure of justice will speedily be awarded us. The rottenness of the present system—the increasing interest taken by all classes of people in political matters— the unanimity and liberality of our most influential se.ttlers —the zeal and ability of the popular leaders —the universal distrnst of our present rulers—the recently awakened interest taken nt home in the Government of the Colonies—all these things are in our favour.

Iα old established communities, systems of Government, although perhaps oppressive, are so propped up by time-honored prejudices acd vested interests, that the machinery of Government dimly seen through an atmosphere of antiquity and mystery, is gazed on with holy awe—Government is far remq. ved from the eyes of the people—reforms move by slow marches—almost imperceptibly advances ; here, in our small family circle, every man feels himself immediately interested—he observes how often aud by what means Gubernatorial fingers find their way into his pockets, and he watches the expenditure of the money—he. sees nothing grand or mysterious in the apparatus of Government—there is nothing to dazzle him—he does not look on from the back boxes, he mounts the stage, examines the daubed decorations, the rouged faces of hideous hags, the spangles jand glitter, and estimates the utility aud worth of the entire things are in favour of the friends of liberty ._„ One" word more with regard to our last public meeting, in which the Spectator pretends to imagine he obtained a triumph; and I sincerely trust he may be "gain and againeqiinllysuccessful. Tforoneshallever feel grateful to the leadersof the popular party, because, setting class interest on one side, they nobly recognised the principle that no man should" be taxed without his own consent, given through his representative-*-™ the choice of whom the poorest man should stand on apolitical level with the richest colonist. I am the more pleased with the success which attended the discussion on the Memorial) because the labouring.c.lasses, whose rights were thrown promiuently forward, joined in ao noisy demonstration—allowed themselves to be befroyod into no outrageous conduct, but evinced throughout a propriety of demeanour and lovo of fair play, which afforded at once a convincing proof that a full measure of political freedom could be safely and wiiely entrustod to them, and a guarantee) of the speedy recognition .of thoir-rights. I am, Mr. Editor, X.

Totlu! Editor of tha Wellington Independent,

Sir,—Having read iv your paper a few weeks since, an account of eoi'tai'n sums of money, stated by Ihelfflliiiiftnh Spectator, to liaye been placed Bt the disposal nftho Local Government of this place, •for .the.construction of roads, &0., I become very anxious to sec Uio Karora (Jistrict namoil fts one of the places to l»e benefited theroby; but, f am sorry

to any, I did not (hid it amongst the rest. It is now soma two or three yeurs sincea deputation from this district waited upon his Excellency wilh a memorial, Betting forth the grout loss and inconvenience the inhabitants of the'district were labouring under from the very defective stale of the road. His Bxcclleney informed the deputation that the Government hail no funds at their disposal for that purpose, but as soon hs there was, something should lie done, but from that time to the present there lms been nothing forthcoming; the whole of the expense having been borne by the settlers, who from the very first com inenceinent of road making in this district, hnvpcou. tributed towards the work either in money or labour. ]t ie now six or seven years since the New Zealand Company contributed any thing towards the road ; from that time to the present the whole burden has been saddled upon the settlers, and at a lime too, wheu the greater part of the timber required for the tlovernmentworkshad to be conveyed alongthisroad, which from the heavy nature of the material used it is well known that the road suffered more damage during the lime those works were going on, than at nny time either before or since. It is now quite time that the Government did something, for the road has now become extremely dangerous in many places both for carling and foot-passengers, who .are iv dan go r of falling into the gullies in consequence of the slips and breaking away of the road. But that is not all, every hundred weight of goods conveyed along this road, costs at leas'.,one-fourth more for carriage than on any road near Wellington, although the distance be nearly double, and some of tlie more bulky productions, vizs, hay, straw, &c., cannot be got lo town at all, as no carter would run the risk of'trying to convey it aloug a road so notoriously bad, so bad indeed that if something be not done, and that speedily, it must cause the breaking up of this once flourishing and happy community. 'JMiere are at the present time four or five of the oldest and most valuable of the settlers leaving the district. Several families are already gone, and others will follow. These are all people with lnrge families, who after having spent six «r seven years and some more, are compelled to abandon their lands after the labour and expense of clearing, for the want of a road to convey their produce to market. Upon the question being put to several of them, " Why do you leave Karori ?" The answer has invariably been, "If there had been a good road 1 should not have thought cf removing.

As the Karori settlers contribute their share to the Revenue equally the same as the settlers in other districts, who are provided with a good road, they consider themselves equally entitled to tlie same accommodation. Hoping something will be speedily doiie, I am Sir, Your's, &c, A Kaboki Settles. Karori, March 3. 1851. To the Editor of the Wellington Independent. THE PUBLTC versus MONOPOLY. Sir, —The inhabitants of Port Nicholson have recently witnessed a rise in the price of bread of one hundred per cent. Within the short space of three weeks the 2tt>. loaf rose from 4d. to Bd., and at the present time it is being sold at Od. The bakers will tell you that they are not accountable for this variation of. price, but that it is owing to the fluctuation in the flour market. If you examine the prices current of the sister colonies, you will find that the difference of cost ef llour does not produce so great a difference in the price of bread; and for this reason, that amongst the bakers, as well as the traders, there is a fair average of competition. But in Wellington the reverse is the.case. Saint Monday is the day the bakers of this place have fixed upon to alter the price of the staff' of life, and in many instances the price has advanced without any alteration in the flour market. In fact this community is supplied by some four or five bakers, who, though respectable enough in their position, think more of blending together for the sake of an extravagant profit, than of carrying on a business at a fair living price. And let me tell you Mr Editor, that this jumping upwards in the price of bread is of serious consequence to the working man. His wages do not increase— his position is not improved—but on the contrary whilst some four or five men are considerably benefitted, its out of the hard earnings of those who with their families, suffer severely in consequence of this fluctuation.

: Now, Sir, if you would allow me, 1 Mould suggest the formation of a baking Company for the purchase of flour and the baking of bread. The Banker and Resident Magistrate should be made Trustees on the part of the Society, having such Trustees would create confidence in the Shareholders, and prevent n recurrence of acts which led to the downfall of the original Company. 1 suppsse £iQQ would be sufficient to commence with, and as the members would nil become consumers, the business wou'd soon be in a flourishing condition. The Shareholders might not realise large profits, but they would have the satisfaclion of destroying monopoly, and keeping the price of bread within proper limits. I believe you are favourable to the formation of such a Company, I therefore tmst that you will give this rough suggestion your valuable aid. I have no doubt but (hut within n fortnight, provided such a Society be really started, 200 subscribers would readily come forward. Other necessary mutters of detail mi<*ht be arranged at a meeting to be called at an early day. Your's truly, Pro Bono Publico. P.S.—T forgot to mention that the contract for supplying the troops, for the next twelve months, has been taken at 3Jd the 21b. loaf. This fact speaks volumes. Why should the inhabitants pay more.