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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 14, Issue 707, 9 August 1869, Page 3

The Summary Trials in Disturbed Districts Bill, which provides for the more speedy trial and punishment ol rebel prisoners, has passed its second reading in the Upper House. cm David MoNiiO resumed his accustomed seat as Speaker on Juiy 2S, and as soon as prayers were over he, in feeling terms, returned thanks to the House for its adaress of sympathy on the occasion of his recent famuy oercavement. iiAir of Islands Coal. VVe are glad to hear that the coal mines of the "far jMorth" are progressing favorably. Great uu unities are now being sent away, ana more cuuld be supplied if vessels could be obtained to take it. T;ie quality, too, is greatly and constantly improving. Gum Digg-iis'G-.—Tno Kussell correspondent oL the iNew Zealand Herald sajs ihai the natives at the Bay of Islands have been busy digging gum all the winter, the pre sent higb prices being the great induce meut. Indeed, to them it is as good as a gold diggings, with the great advantage oi oeing ail prizes and no blanks. Vote ur Ballot lias now become the liw of JNew Zealand, the bill having passed tnrough the Upper House —passed, iuo, with bu, feeble opposition Jrom thuse who had rejected it several times previously. Jbor mis boon the Ooion < y is nidebleu to Mr K-jyi.olds, an Otago member, who made it his special mission. IHE Hokinka JJaily jNews gives currency to a report tnat Mr James Brown, late part proprietor of the Holiiiika Evening Star, is about to commence an action against Mr J. P. Jileiu, proprietor of the Weet Coast Times, for libel. The damages are laid at JB5,000»

A specimen of meerschaum has been found in the Maikatere district, near Auckland. A telegram from Wellington in the Oamaru Times says that Mr Fox offers the. removal of the seat of Government to Aurkland, as a bid for Auckland support. The Late Fire at Hokitika..— The sum of £533 9* 6d has been collected in Hokitika for the relief of the sufferers by the late fire. This spontaneous effort of liberality is highly creditable to the inhabitants of that town. . A WooiiLEN Manufactory.—The Matakana correspondent of the Daily Southern Cross mentions that a project is on foot to commence a woollen mill in that district, to be worked by water power j and that a site has already been selected. Colonel Browne's Knighthood.— Some surprise has been expressed (observes the Hobart Town Mercury) that the knighthood of our late Governor has not appeared in the lists already published from the London Gazette, but the reason of this is made known to as by a private letter received by the mail. The knighthood was tendered to Colonel Browne while in Tasmania, and was declined by him ; but on reaching England he was informed that it \va3 offered at the express request of her Majesty, and was intended as a special honor. On learning this, Col. Browne at once accepted it. Education in New Zealand.—With respect to education iu New Zealand the tables of the Registrar-General of New Zealand show that among the population of the colony, of both sexes and all ages, there were 45,411 unable to read or write, 15,3 96 who could read only, and 151,431 who could both read and write. To these must be added 6,433, respecting whoso ■state of education the schedules returned to the Registrar-General contained no information. The centesimal proportion of both sexes and all ages unable to read was 21*43 ; who can read only, 7*25 ; who can read and write, 71'35. The Hulk Prisoners.—Some anxiety was felt in town yesterday, from the fact of several shots having been heard on boird the City of Newcastle, but we understand it was merely the guard discharging their pieces for the purpose of reloading them. The same thing occurred yesterday. On both occasions the officers of the Challenger appeared to be on the alert, as a boat's crew was sent on board on each occasion. The prisoners are still overlooked by the Ngatiporous, who will retain charge for another day or two, when they will be relieved by a European guard, tli9 former guard going back to the iiast Coast. The hulk has taken up a vider anchorage than her former position. —Wellington Independent, August 5. Coromandel. —The Thames Times, 31st July, contains the following:—Some of the old Coromandel workings are turning out good stone occasionally, and those who best know the district, and who ara iot unacquainted with the Thames goldfield, are strongly of opinion that if it were submitted to a thorough prospecting it would give results scarcely inferior to tho.<e that have ensued at this part of the peninsula. Recent events tend to confirm this view of the question, one of the latest being the discovery of a very rich leader in the Nil Desperandum Claim, Hauwai Creek, next to the Kapanga Claim. The leader lies nearly flat, and without doubt is a feeder of the Nil Desperandum reef. A. parcel of the stone taken out of it was shown us yesterday by Mr Broad, and we vvere certainly surprised at its exceeding richness. The specimens will compare favorably with those from some of our claims of the Thames. We understand that the sum of £I,OOO was given for one-eighth share in the ten men's ground comprising the claim. Pauperism and Emigration.—The Daily News remarks that the emigration schemes whieh the House of Lords discussed the other night on Lord Houghton's motion, rest on an assumption which is demonstrably false. They assume that the cause of pauperism is over-population, l'hey start from the belief that the national Lruily is too big for the national income ; that there are more mouths than we can feed- more hands than we can employ; more labour than there is capital to keep it going. Yet, while labour i 3 being drafted away in one direction, capital is seeking nitlets in other directions, so that there is capital enough and to spare, and the difficulty is to bring it into contact with labor. Lord Overstone's calculation is, perhaps, true now, though it has not been equally true of the last six years ; but if it is only beginning to be true, how is it that there is not enough for all if the nation is saving a hundred and fifty millions a year out of its income ? Then, too, wages are increasing, and not long since there was such a demand fur labour in the great towns of the JNorth, that deputations were sent to the agricultural districts to persuade some families to migrate. Neither over-popula-tion, nor deficiency of capital, nor want of trade, can, then, be accepted as the true explanation of pauperism. There is now a tempora y depression, but our trade i 3 slid elastic; and if ill our depression we send away our surplus labor, what will bo our prospects when the depression is past, and a demand for labor is heard again on every hand? If the richest country in the world cannot do bettor, in a period of depression, than scatter its household to the four corners of the earth: if, while it can save and grow richer, its own children must go out to work, or starve, then there is something rotten in its stnte, and the Conscript Fathers of the Commonwealth cannot uetter use their time, cannot more nobly improve their high position, than by probing the evil to its source, discovering its hidden cause, and helping u» to apply its proper remedy.