NEW ZEALAND AFFAIRS.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume V, Issue 256, 24 April 1865, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND AFFAIRS.

(From the Australian and New Zealand Gazette). The intelligence from New Zealand is very serious, and it i» now high time that Sir George Grey was recalled, not only for having failed to pacify the Colony, with ample powers and means, but for haying deliberately neutralised the policy of his Ministers—a policy which had been adopted with his own approval, ratified by the General Assembly, and sanctioned by the Duke of Newcastle. That- policy was. as our readers are aware, to reduce the rebellious tribes to submission, to render this the last native war, and to provide a plan for the future administration of native affairs. A number of gentlemen, at great personal labor aud expense, pledged themselves to carry out this policy; the Colonial Legislature cheerfully voted what was required for it; and the Imperial Government, admitting that the Colonial Office was no longer able to.regnlate natiye affairs, handed them over to colonial authorities, and at the same time provided a force of ten thousand men to assist in putting down a war which, if not directly caused by the neglect of the Colonial Office, broke out under its rule, and under a system over which it and its agents claimed exclusive control, until it ended in a rebellion, when thor were very glad to drop a charge so dangerous. Mr. Cardwi-11, in the House of Commons, described the policy of the Colonial Government, and they have shown by their treatment ot the U aikato and Taurao<m tribes that indiscrimnate confiscation and extermination were no part of their policy, but that they desired to bring the natives within the control of British law, as the first and moat important step to the safety of the Colony and most important step to the safety of the Colony and their own civilisation, and, indeed, existence. What is the case now? With an able General and 10,000 men exclusive of half that force of colonial troops, Sir George Grey has undone all that has been effected. He has issued a proclamation, which it is to be hoped the natives will reject, offering them their lands and their arms on the mere taking the oath of allegiance—without any security for their accepting the Queen’s supremacy, submitting to the law, and booming peaceable citizens. His Ministers refuse to endorse this policy, but Sir George Grey acts without them. The troops are not allowed to m ove. The preparations to reduce the rebels in Taranaki—in which for two years they have been allowed to kill, burn, and destroy as they please—are suspended. Prisoners, whose capture entailed the loss of several officers and a large number of soldiers, are allowed to escape j and, what is more, to stir up rebellion in districts hitherto loyal and peaceable, all to gratify certain theories approved of by Exeter Hall philanthropists. We do not desire to see the natives exterminatedbut the enly way, as we have over and over again demonstrated, to restore prosperity to the Colony to cause the two races to live side by side in peace is to resolutely curb the warlike passions of the natives to show that the law will be as strictly and impartially carried out in their case as in that ot the white settlors ; and above all, to prove that armed rebellion, the open resistance to the troops by which many noble and gallant lives have been lost, is not a mere pastime, from which they are to be coaxed like petted children by a philanthropic Government.

Colonial Sbeeds ox ll Sheep. -A correspondent ot tho ** Australasian ” remarks as follows upon ” over-straining" in breeding sheep ICxpe rienco shows that the produce of imported stock arc superior lo the sires after aeelimatisniion—» fact that should ever have the improvers careful consideration, the surest test of their adaptability. The effects of over straining is to ba seen in many of our inported stock, in what is, termed the Negretti, with lap and wrinkles colouinlly speaking), leather-necked, the purpose and object being to secure a largsr covering of skin upon the merino size of body, tho sale of which has been encouraged by our colonial breeders more because it was new and original. To produce this class of sheep from the merino would take a considerable number of years, but from the overstrained coarser breeds with tho merino such will be secured in a much shorter time. The prospect of securing the carcase of our English breeds has had its effect upon continental breeders, the crosses showing them how easy it is to draw new characters typifying tho merino. The greater part of the imported sheep of the present time have this mark of overstraining. Tho whole of our colonial breeds, with few exceptions, have the coarser strain ; experience has always shown, when such meet in breeding for merino wool, the result is a failure, the sheep throwing more upon some particular point both in character and wool. That the merino character can ever reach the English coarser breeds in size and weight, maintaining the merino texture of tho woof, I do not consider liiiely. On the other hand, under the influence of soil, pasture, and climate, the coarser English sheep sink below their original standard, and in doing so the whole constitutional weakness is open to all diseases as well as hose arising from every other chance by epidemic. Although the coarser breeds fail to maintain their standard, the merino, on the other hand, can he so far improved above the standard that we receive, that they will reach above the fall of the coarser breed and what is of still more importance, they secure a greater amount of constitutional energy, imparting to the character of the offspring a much truer type of the parentage. The duration of life between the two classes of sheep are as eight to twelve years. I have seen merinos reach tho prolonged age of fourteen years, while I have no recollection of the coarser breed reaching much over eight. 1 have often endeavoured to fix some reason "for the cause why the merino, in crossing with the coarse* breed, cannot secure and exercise upon the offspring a much greater influence than it does, considering the coarser becomes weakened during the progess of acclimatisation. Whv it should not thoroughly identify itself more completely after years of crossing, has led me to the conclusion that the fact of over-straining the coarser breed for the purpose of mutton, so disorganises the anatomy of the physical construction of the frame, that the wool-growing powers of the purer type cannot incorporate so closely as to produce the soft silky texture of the merino wool, proving that the mutton-growing power of the animal so overstrained, is greater for the purpose for which it was brought, into existanee. In this I consider have we n reason how a n*»w tyne of the merino can so easily bo drawn from the cross of the coarse and fine breeds. Expebience of the V\ r oKT.n.■— Iti the memoranda of -John Richardson is the following entry; ‘ Mr Alexander told mo that walking some thirty odd years ago in the Temple Gardms, wishing that, he had £2OO a-yeav whereon to retire, instead of possessing his then gloomy prospec's at the bar, he met his friend, old Mr Strachan, the printer, then worth £IOO,OOO, and a member of Parliament, who, inquiring into his depression, bade him go and write down in his common-place book that he, Mr Strachan, in the beginning of life, when without any pecuniary means, had a prospect of doing some business, and went to Scotland and solicited five rich relations to aid him by lending him a £IOO a piece, which they all refused. He came back and struggled through without assistance, and you see, he added, what it has come to. There were two things Mr Strachan said, which in those days I could never beliere, that a man did not know how much money he had in his pocket, and was not hungry when he sat down to dinner. 1 always knew to a farthing what was in mine, and I never wanted a good appetite.

New Caxedoxia. —The aboriginal inhabitants of the neighboring colony of New Caledonia do not appear at the present day to have been reclaimed from cannibalism, although the French hare held possession of the island for the past eleven years. The turbulent tribe of Nenemas, to the north of Caledonia, says the Moniteur of January 29, are at present much disturbed by internal dissensions, and the French fishermen and cocoanut oil-makers in the vicinity have been threatened. The natives boast that they would devour the Governor if he should have the temerity to venture upon their territory. The occurrence is fresh in the minds of many when two ofleers of the Alcmene, named Devarenne and Be Saint-Pballe, were made a meal of by these anthropophagi, and there remains little reason to doubt the fate of the Governor at the hands of the Nenema tribe, if once in their power. Four tribes on the west side of the island are carrying on an internecine strife, and a recent instance has been made known to the authorities where five men had been killed and eaten. M. Cbarpentier, the Commandant of the district of Wagap, had despatched a courier to order the cessation of hostilities, and commanding the attendance of the offending cannibal chief to explain his conduct. The return of the messenger was awaited with impatience. There are two military posts outside the Port of France, but unfortunately they have no boats at their service, and cannot, therefore, in the least extend their action. The native population of the colony' numbers about the same us that of New Zealand, 50,000, and is scattered over a superficial extent of 1,700,000 hectares. One-half inhabit the seashore, measuring 250 leagues, and the remainder hide in the midst of the mountains, where the foot of the European has not yet trod, and the valleys ore all but unknown. A notorious miser having heard a very eloquent charity sermon, exclaimed, “ This sermon strongly proves the necessity of alms. I hare almost a mind to turn beggar.”

MitLBODRXK Items—Parliament has voted the sum of £IO.OOO for a bridge over the Murray at Lcbnca,—Tho Land Bill has received the Royal astent.—>The banks are issuing drafts on England by the outgoing mail at \ per cent discount.— Hie Queen Insurance Company of Liverpool has decided to establish brunches in the colonies.— Tho Supreme Court has reserved judgment in re the application of tho liquidator 'of tho Minrni Company’s estate to settle tho list of shareholders liable to contribute towards pavinont of the Company’s ’debts.—A' Co-operative Saddle and Harness Makers’ Company is formed hero. The New Zealander I's.) which arrived .’a-t, night was originally a blockade runner, and is intended for the Canterbury coasting trade. The Ladies’ Committee appointed to promote a search for Leichardt are endeavoring to raise £300;) to carry out that object. This Okitiki Rrsn.—The rush to Otitiki has assumed such a serious extent as to give very grave reasons for anxiety on the part of those who are engaged in the goldfields trade. Day after day sees ships and steamers leave this port loaded with diggers, and they are still flocking down from, tho country in large numbers. Hundreds have gone overland across the Canterbury boundary, and some have struck across the ranges in a straight line for the new goldfield. It is difficult to comprehend the reasons for this most hasty aid rash exodus. The Otago miners have never been in a better condition of regular and profitable employment than they have been for the last twelve months, and the most,favorable‘accounts from the Okitiki certainly do not appear to warrant the excitement that prevails amongst our miner population.—Otago Corrrespondent S. Cross. Fish Cprixg.— We recently paid a visit to tho establishment of our Mr Carter, of High-street who has lately started the plan of curing and smoking fiish. Hitherto, our townspeople, if they wish to enjoy the luxury of a dainty bloater, have been compelled to depend upon those im- s ported in tins, and which were not at all times to be procured at a reasonable price, or if obtainable, frequently proved anything but appetizing. Now, however, thanks to ‘the newly introduced process, we can be supplied with herrings and other fish, freshly cured, and fully equal to those imported from England. Possibly when the undertaking has been a little longer in operation, and experience has introduced some new improvements into it, we may find the Canterbury bloaters rivalling those of Yarmouth. The Dutch boast that Amsterdam is built upon herring bones, for it owes much of its wealth and extent to the money obtained from the fisheries. Perhaps, the future historian of the province will hav to chronicle the foundation of some township estalished upon the same basis. However, leaving the future, let us return to the present. The premises of Mr Carter arts situated in Chester-street Christchurch. On entering the premi-.es, we find a small brick structure, with a slated roof, tr'ansversed in the interior with iron Jiars, on which, as soon as the (senses. get accustomed to the dense smoke, wo find suspended rows of herrings and other fish undergoing the process of drying and smoking. The smoke is male by a large smouldering fire composed of manuka scrub and other materials which create stifln<r fumes, winch are allowed partially to escape through a very small aperture in the roof. The fi-di suspended in this style, remind one of Pugald Dalgetty s simile to the unfortunate parent of tho Children of the Mist. After hanging until they are sufficiently smoked on one side, the fish are turned, so that every portion shall be dulv cured. The fish are brought down to Christchurch every evening by Messrs Cobh’s coach, in quantities of 1121bs at a time, from Saltwater Creek. Mr Carter informed us (hat lie has already fonud a very large sale for the fish so prepared ; could he enlarge his premises, and ensure a greater supply of fish he might greatly extend his operations. The public are beginning so appreciate his exertions in starting tin's branch of industry, aud we hope that he will reap the reward of his enterprize. Wo should add that moki after undergoing tho process we have sketched, forms a capital substitute for kippered salmon—a hint which we throw out for the benefit of our readers north of the Tweed. In a lecture recently delivered by Mr. T. A. Read, in the London Mechanics’ Institute, on the “Post-office,” aud printed inextemo in the Phonographic Reporter, the statement is made that Auckland is the most distant port to which mails are despatched from the United Kingdom, the distance being 15,000 miles. The foreign packets engaged in the postal service travel about 3,000.000 miles a year, the average charge being 6s. 4d. a mile, or a million sterling per annum.