WANGANUI.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVII, Issue 1800, 4 December 1862, Page 3

WANGANUI.

A coirespondent at the above place sends us tbe following*. " Tbe recent action taken by th? Superintendent, relative to the so-called reserve ou the left bank of the River, in advertising it for pale in building allotments, has raised a little hurricane of opposition on the part of a certniu portion of the town residents. Local politics here are a kind of sublime mystery, which it would take the acute intellect of a Talleyrand to unravel, and the matter is not at all simplified by the darkly hinted rumours of the influence of certain mysterious bodies yclept cliques, that are supposed to exercise a sinister influence, on all the political events of the day. Everybody here, appears to depend on somebody else, nobody on pain of the most fearful penalties dare assert his individuality, in shoit, scarcely a person in this sleepy hollow, has the moral courage like " Hal of tbe Wyud to fight for his own hand," or abjuring the support ot cliquery, to hang ou his own hook. Be that as it may, it is tolerably clear, that as regards the proposed sale, it is the oul-siders who are the most loud-tongued objectors, and mirabile dicta the Wangauui Chronicle is for the nonce, their monthpiece If one were to wade through the columns of that journal, and grind up all the wearisome reiterations and dreary platitudes, which its editorial oracle has uttered on the subject, he would, I fear, be very little advanced si far as appreciating; the real merits of the case goes. Shortly, it may be stated much ,in this way. Somewhere about the year of grace 1844, 0n the 16th day of May, a pianof tbe town of Wanganui was agreed upon, and a map constructed, bearing the signatures of GeOrge Shepherd, protector of aborigines, and W. Wakefield, agent lor the New Zealand Co. In that plan, if my memory serves me right, a considerable portion of land ou the north side of the river, was set apart as a Reserve- and a small portion being the land iu question, on the south side of the river, wa? also selected for a similar purpose. The only building which hasbeen erected there is the Red Lion Hotel, and when a couple of years ago it was, proposed to sell the laud, a regular row ensued — a public meeting was held, and a protest against the sale despatched to the Superintendent. Well, the sale was delayed, and by and by a memorial was got up wilh double columns, which the settlers might sign either for or against the sale. The majority it seems wished it to goon, the bench of Magistrates were also favorable and the members of the Provincial Council held the same views. Still somehow or other, no further steps were taken, until very recently ; but now, when the wishes of lhe memorialists are about to be gratified ; the opposition set up iheir hack, and vow that they won't stand it. The protest that the proposed proceeding is illegal ; that the Superintendent has beeu guilty of duplicity, and that tbey have been soid_ by tbeir representatives in the Provincial

■ Council. Taking the question on its merits, i I can't see that the Superintendent is wrong. . They " public reserve " on the south side was intended generally for the benefit of tbe settlers, : and as such the Superintendent is empowered to dispose of it pro bono publico. If the question is placed on the , ground of exoediency, the objectors have not a leg left to stand upon, as it is perfectly certain tbat the erection of a small township on the south side of the river, would not only prove of inestimable benefit to the settlers in tliose large i tracts of country extending from the Watiganui ) to the Rangitiki rivers, but would also advance ! generally the interests of the Province. It is the country that supports the towu, not the f town the country, and it is certninly very hard '. that people should oo.ne in with their produce, and find it impossible either to sell or dispose of it without crossing the river, a thing, which so far a> g.iods is concerned, U very often uot practicable Indeed as a settler said to me ' the other day " when a man comes here in the winter season with a load, and fine's there is a fresh in the river, he can do nothing but let his goods remain exposed in the dray, and for any use that it is under such circumstances, the town across the river might as well be on the other side of Jordan." Some of tbe good folks there it appears think the erection of stores on the left bank would hurt their trade, and of course it is needless to attempt to reason with a man imbued with this breeches pocket philosophy. I observe that in a recent article which appeared in your journal, you alluded particularly to the case of Atkinson, an up-river settler who had a mare and filly stolen from him by a band of armed natives, because one of their number had heen unable to obtain a verdict agiinst hitn for the sum of £o. Tbe Chronicle stated at the time that the man intended to pay the £5, so that he might get his horses hack, but Atkinson, whom I siiw the other day, declared that this was incorrect: — that he did uot intend to pay the native any money at all, and that he would apply to the Resident Magistrate for a warrant for his apprehension; and lhat if it, as he anticipated, was refused, he would consider the Government bound to compensate him for the loss he had incurred. "Justices justice" has long become proverbial elsewhere as well as in Wanganui, and a recent instance shows what a happy disregard of law is every now and then shown in their decisions. A person called F. H. Watts was recently cited before several of the great unpaid, to answer a charge of threatening another person (who shall be nameless, but who rejoices in tacking J. P. to his name) with violence. The prisoner deuied lhe charge, no appearance was made on the part of the prosecutor, and yet tinsapient expounders ofthe law, without entering into the case at all, actually bound over the unfortunate wight to keep the peace in the sum of £50. It is something new in the annals of jurisprudence lo have a case decided before trial, and reminds one of the days of the '* bold Douglas" and " Jeddari" juries wben they hanged a man first and tried him afterwards. A few days ago a woman perfectly deranged, was brought in from Raujj-itikei by hei* husband, and t.iketi to the Colonial Hospital for admis-' sion, when the man was told that if he paid £1 ls a week, and found attendance, she would be admitted. This he could not afford, being only a labourer, with a family of five children to support, so he wusoblijred to seekaccommodation for the night preparatory to his return home with his unfortunate partner on the following dav No one in the town would receive him, and he* had to cross the river and seek accommodation tbere, wbich he at last got in lhe Hotel. The poor woman was in such a state that her ravings kept the whole of the inmates awake all night, and compelled some of them to seek beds at a late hour ou the other side. I understand the Colonial Hospital provides gratuitous accommodation for Natives only. European settlers howaver poverty stricken, muH pay. but I can't help remarking that while i feei Dr Gibson would sketch every point in a case like this, still there can be no doubt that there exists an urgent necessity to make some provision for those unfortunate creatures, aias too numerous here, who are rendered helpless and capable by beinjr depr.v.'d of reason. -'■j — » «-_—_»_-— —