Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, JULY 29, 1864.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume IV, Issue 185, 29 July 1864, Page 2

Hawke's Bay Times. NAPIER, FRIDAY, JULY 29, 1864.

To the ingenuous and thinking mind, in its search after truth, it must always be a source of great comfort to find that others think alike with it. Particularly when (as, alas ! is too often the case,) such a one is, or seems to he, alone in its views and opinions. Now, this comfort will always appear truly precious, and of greater value when springing from distant and unexpected sources. A striking instance we have just now, and we present it “ without note or comment 55 to our readers. Our views as to the injurious tendency of sheep runs, (save to iheir immediate holders,) and the hindrance of the same to the real progress of any Province, are well-known. The Commissioners appointed by three of the Australian Governors to settle the vexed yet important question of the

, seat of Government will soon be in New Zealand. those gentlemen,— Sir Francis Murphy, the Speaker of the Victorian Parliament—in the early part of last month paid a vast to his constituents prior to his departure for New Zealand ; when be stated the reason why he had paid so early a visit was, because he had undertaken to act on a Commission in New Zealand which would necessitate his immediate departure'jLvom the Colony on his return to Melbourne. He intimated that it was probable he would be absent three months from Victoria, and that the* general election, which was expected to take place in September, might come off prior to his return. Sir Francis Murphy, is an Irishman, as his name indicates, and has been long known as the consistent champion of local self-govern-ment.

The following remarks on a subject which we have found it necessary, frequently to advert to, will be read with pleasure by that portion of the public not engaged or interested in pastoral pursuits.

Sir Francis Murphy, addressing his constituents, observes.—“ On what did the wealth and greatness of a country mainly depend ? It was not on the broad extent of its lands, nor the richness of its mineral wealth—it was not on the vastness of its lakes or rivers, or its harbors and large extext of seaboard ; its wealth depended mainly on its population, and without population this country would be as worthless as it was 20 years ago,-when it was ‘'only a vast sheepwalk.”

If we mistake not. Sir Francis has become already a favorite with our readers, and we doubt not that the views above expressed would find a response in the breasts of our legislators if their private interests and the public interests were identical. It is worthy of notice how very closely Sir Francis agrees with our town member Mr. Colenso. Our Commissioner continues :—“ Look at the vast and glorious country that had arisen in the far west, which was still able to stand firm and hold a foremost position among the nations of the earth, with her energies comparatively undiminished, notwithstanding the devastating war, which she had so long suffered. It was because she was able to fill up her towns with a population drafted from England, Ireland, and other countries. And what induced persons to go there ? It was certainly not the high rates of wages, for wages were higher in this colony than there’; it was not the facility of access by its nearness to the centres of population (although that might have some influence), but it was the facility which was offered for settling on the public lands—because every person could yo there with a certainty that he would be able to obtain a piece of land which he could call his own ; and it was this that made America great—the ease of acquiring land and the certainty of prosperity ” If we are not greatly mistaken the self same sentiments, though perhaps not so eloquently expressed, will be found enunciated in sundry leading articles of the Independent, during the early years of Dr. Featherston’s administration, when that journal was vainly endeavoring to inoculate the Provincial authorities with the same view.