THE PROVINCES

Wellington Independent, Volume XIX, Issue 2083, 5 July 1864, Page 3

THE PROVINCES

By late arrivals we have our files of papers from all the other Provinces to the latest

dates

The intelligence from Auckland may be summed up very briefly. Our contemporaries from lack of further war news, have been discussing the questions of " Direct Steam Communication ■ with Melbourne," " Irish Immigration," " Military Settlement," and " The Policy of the Ministry."

We learn on tho authority of the Southern Cross that the scheme of Military Settlement is now to some extent being carried out.

Our contemporary says : —

" The most recent proof of this is the fact that the first of a number of village sites for militia settlements has been fixed on at Mangapouri, on the Waipa, between the junction of the Mangapilco and the Punui rivers with the main sti'eam. This site, which was selected by General Cameron, in his recent visit into the Waikato country, is remai'kably well selected. There is a fine level plain at the head of the steam navigation of tho Waipa, which ends just below the falls ; the land is of good quality ; and on the other side of the river rises the mountain of Pirongia, on whose sloping sides fine land richly wooded will, no doubt, some da} r , not fardistant, be covered with pretty homesteads and fruitful cultivations. The survey of this new settlement, which is to be called " Alexandra," has already been commenced, Mr Gundry with a party of surveyors having arrived on the ground at the period which our information dates from. We are pleased to be able to state that Colonel Haultain, aided by the advice of Mr It. Todd, who came up from Raglan for that purpose, has selected another site for a settlement at Maungatautari. Its position is ai'ound the redoubt of the 50th, and its locality is indicated on. that part of the map, published by us, marked "To tiki o te ihi nga rangi," a native pa mentioned frequently in the course of the war. The land hero is also of excellent quality. Maungatautari village, formerly a native settlement of William Thompson's lies on the sloping sides of the mountain, with a northern aspect, and the situation is almost at the head of tho steam navigation of the Waikato below the falls."

A. very hot dispute is being waged between the New Zealander and the Southern Cross on the question of applying the confiscation scheme to Native lands in the Province of Wellington. The Cross had alleged that the recent fighting near Wanganui, would afford the Ministry an opportunity to confiscate the land, and the New Zealander is very wroth thereat. Some misapprehension, however, exists on the matter. It is not intended to confiscate the lands of the Wellington natives at all, and the late outbreak at Wanganui will simply result in a fresh frontier being formed in the Patea country, north of Waitotara, which is to be occupied by Military settlers. So long as the natives within the Province south of Wanganui keep as quiet as they are at present, there is but little probability that their lands will be confiscated, or that the war likely to ensue in the IsTgatiruanui country will spread further south.

Amongst minor items of news, are the loss of the schooner W arerly, at Waikato Heads, and the interesting fact that the memorial sent to the Queen some months ago by the citizens of Auckland, praying'that Her .Royal authority should be exercised to prevent the removal of the Seat of Government, " has been received very graciously." This of course is only a polite way the Secretary of State has of intimating that it has been pitched into the Court waste paper basket. The Tarauaki papers report a gathering of friendly natives, and complain bitterly of tho neglect shown by the Government towards the military settlers, who, it seems, are located during this cold weather in their tents, and insufficiently provided with blankets and cooking utensils.

In Nelson the Provincial Council haspassed resolutions recommending tho erection of a Patent Slip. The first resolution is to the following effect : — " That his Honor the Superintendent be requested to send down a bill to this Council, which shall guarantee interest at the rate of ten per centum per annum for ten years, upon any sum not exceeding £15,000, which may be expended in tho erection of a Patent Slip, and the works necessary thereto in the harbour of Nelson."

It is further recommended that when the preliminary arrangements are completed, instructions should be sent to the agent of the Province in England, to endeavour to get the work undertaken by English capital. The papers mention that BishopHobhouse.through continued ill health, has been compelled to resign the charge of his diocese. Four prisoners escaped fron Nelson gaol on the 26th ult. by knocking out some bricks in the kitchen fire place and getting through the aperture. They made for the diggings but three of them have since been recaptured.

Speaking of the Wakamarina diggings, the Haveloclc Jfa/'l of the 2nd inst. says : — • " We are enabled from a reliable source tc inform our readers that gold has been discovered in a terrace about two hundred yards from the Deep Creek, at a depth of eleven feet. The sinking, after removing about a foot of surface, is through a heavy gravel bottom on a soft slate, The prospect found induced tho Warden of the district to grant a prospecting claim to Magoifin and party, who arc confident that not ouly the terrace tho} r are working, but the others on tho banks of the Deep Creek and Wakamarina are auriferous."

There arc no news of other than purely local interest from Canterbury aud Otago.