NEW ZEALAND. THE NEW ZEALAND MEDAL

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 68, 28 March 1870, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND. THE NEW ZEALAND MEDAL

The Army and Navy Gazette says : " The heroes of New Zealand will shortly have their hearts set at rest by receiving the medal for which they have so long been sighing. The medal will, we are informed, be issued to those who took part in the campaign of 1846-47 almost immediately. We wonder how many survivors there are of the 1846-4-7 campaign. We certainly know one officer who is now filling a responsible staff appointment who served with the 58th in the first campaign, but we fear the gallant Rutlanders, as a regiment, will appear little more glorious after the issue than they do at present. Time works great changes, and those who fought side by side under the black standard twenty-three years ago have, many of them, long since gone to their last resting place." VETERANB EOB NEW ZEALAND. A correspondent writes to the Broad Arrow : —" Permit me through the medium of your coumns to draw the attention of the Home and Colonial Government of New Zealand to the fact that a well-disciplined force of men (pensioners) of good character and tried ability, could be raised in this country in a short time. £ hese men would only be too glad to avail themselves of an appointment, were it offered them, to enter the colonial service, say for three or five years, at a moderate remuneration (as they are iv receipt of pensions for services performed). Such a class of men could at all times be depended upon to act in cases of emergency. As the Imperial Government is determined to withdraw the whole of the troops from the colony, there would surely be^plenty of employment for a thousand or so of such men ; and as they are by profession soldiers, and know what discipline means (and let it be borne in mind it is a thing not acquired in a day or a month), what would be so valuable to a young country as a body of men of this description, properly officered ? And the officers could be readily obtained in the colony from among retired officers of Her Majesty's army. Their example would tend to produce a spirit of emulation among the young men of the colony, and make them strive to equal, if not surpass, these veterans in the art of war. And what so laudable as to be able to protect our hearths and homes ?—particularly in a country like New Zealand, where a bloodthirsty and semibarbarous race are ever on the watch to destroy the white settler. The colony, of course would have to pay a something for the services of such men, but would have the satisfaction of knowing that a body of trained soldiers were at its command, ready and willing at all times to protect or even sacrifice their lives for the goo t of the colony. " In conclusion, let me add that if a notification was given to Staff Officers of Pensioners that men of good character, while serving and subsequent to discharge, and in other respects fit for service, would be allowed to enrol themselves, I venture to assert that within a month 1,000 or more tried veterans would be ready for embarkation, thus giving ! security to the colony, -and relieving by that number over-populated England."

To divert to New Zealand flax. It is with much regret I have to state that the opening sales for the year in this article have proved very unsatisfactory, showing a fall of about £10 po?r ton, and even at this, little business has been done. The fact is, colonists are pressing forward in the cultivation of flax more than the young trade can support, and hence the present sluggishness in tho market. Last arrivals were, on the whole, fairly sorted as to quality, but the proportion of poor coloured fibre was great. Out of 1,350 bales offered at the sales, only 1,100 sold, the following being the prices : —Good, £40 ss. ; medium, £34 to £37 ss. ; ordinary, £20 ; lower qualities, £12 10s. to £14 os.