LATEST FROM THE SOUTH.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 64, 18 September 1862, Page 1 (Supplement)

LATEST FROM THE SOUTH.

Bv the overland mail from ■Wellington, we glean the following intelligence : Members were leaving, and the Assembly was drawing to a close, although several important measures were still undecided. The Mative Lauds Bill had passed, but With its provisions considerably modified. The report of the select committee on the Taranaki petition was brought up on the Oth and ordered for consideration on the 10th. Its purport was that Taranaki be restored and reinstated; that A'200,000 be raised by loan to enable the Governor and Ministers to carry this vote into effect; such loan to he raised on the security of the General Government, but to be a special charge as between the Colony and Taranaki on the revenues (land and ordinary) of said province. 1 he Close of the Session.— Some most important measures have yet to bo either introduced or passed through their final stages ; and business of a weighty character is being either most lightly or most hurriedly dealt with, members one after the other hastening to their homes. The grand question as to the parties who shall retain office having been decided, matters of more interest to the public are decided without discussion. A Militia Bill is to bo introduced on Monday, and one more affecting the interests of the settlers could not have been brought forward : yet it has been left to be decided in a thin House, and when some of the most able members have left the Province. This system of Ministerial Besponsibility, as it is called, does not seem to work very well, seeing how the time of the session has been thrown away, and the real business of the colony has been neglected, owing to the faction-fights which that system originates and encourages. — Advertiser, Sept. 20. "West Coast. —"We are informed that His Excellency the Governor has written to the Otaki and Wanganui natives to say that

he will visit the former place on the 10th, and the latter on the 17th inst. The Upper Wanganui king natives would be glad to see His Excellency, but they want him to come to them, not for them to go down to meet him. If the mountain will not come to Mahomet, we suppose Mahomet must go to the mountain.— Advertiser, Sept. 20, The W. B. Deans, J. Leys, arrived yesterday from Otago, making the run in 50 hours. The Captain reports the arrival at Port Chalmers of the s.s. Aldinya, the damage she had sustained not proving of a serious character. The Tuapeka was being abandoned for the Hartley gold fields. The following is from the Daily Times of the 30th ult. : The one absorbing topic since our last has been the new rush to the Duustan diggings (or Molyneux river). The first wild excitement of the rush may now be said to be over. Dunedin has been drained of all or nearly all its loose population; the old gold fields of Tuapeka, Waitahuna, and Waipori, are almost deserted by the miners, and a sort of calm lias followed. But although the excitement is not sustained iu the same way, there is still a considerable movement going on, although in a more moderate fashion, Numbers of people continue to take the route for the new diggings, and the steamers which run from Dunedin to Waikouaiti are filled every day, while the roads that lead out of Dunedin are alive with traffic. The discussion of the various routes has become a matter of very considerable interest. Some stick to the idea of going by sea to Waikouaiti, and thence up the Shag Valley ; others the route from Dunedin. No less than six different roads have been enumerated and described, including one from Invercargill by way of the Five Pavers Plain ; but it is more than probable that some track shorter and easier than any at present known may be found out. The Government has despatched a gentleman to inspect the road. No news has yet been received from the Duustan, and all the rushing is therefore entirely on the strength of the statement of the prospectors, Hartley and Peilly, which is, however, it must be confessed, pretty well supported by the substantial evidence of the eighty-seven pounds of gold, and is further continued to a great extent by the report of the Government prospector Stubbing, who with his party was working the river bank some miles lower down the stream. Considerable anxiety has been occasioned by the haste with which people went off at the first of the rush without sufficient provisions, as it was known that there were no stores in the neighborhood, or on the road, and the few stations were but indifferently supplied : having little, if anything, to spare beyond what would supply their own people. There was known to be a store at the Hindis thirty miles away, but the quantity of goods was not believed to be enough to be of much avail in supplying the wants of the hungry thousands who might be expected ou the ground. The Government put forth a placard warning people not to start without a fortnight's provisions, and the Press, dayafter day, reiterated similar warnings, but without any perceptible effect. Of course, storekeepers and others have not been idle, and it is probable that some supplies besides those from Hindis, will ere this be on the ground, although the high price for carriage will necessarily make everything exceedingly dear. As much as A2OO a ton has been given for the conveyance of merchandise from Dunedin. The effect of the rush has already begun to spread, a large number of persons having come from Canterbury on the receipt of the news by the Omeo. The effect upon Dunedin is peculiar. A strange disorganization has been produced, people are leaving their employments on every hand, and a considerable rise in wages has had to be submitted to by* employers, in some cases to the extent of fifty per cent. Some” of the restaurants have had to shut up for a time, being deserted by their cooks and waiters. From the other diggings there is hardly any news, beyond that people are leavinggood claims to rush away, and that the storekeepers and others who live by the miners, are preparing to follow their customers. One result of the new rush has been to stop the operations for getting off the Victory, all the hands having deserted. Several of the vessels in harbor have also lost many of their hands. Five shillings per hour is the present rate of wages for discharging cargoes at Port Chalmers. Of course it must be borne in mind that this employment is of a very unsettled character, there rarely 7 beiug above four working days per week. The Star of Tasmania, which was ashore at Oamaru, has been got off.