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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 895, 17 December 1870, Page 2

The Independent Order of Rechabites, Hope of Wellington Tent, held a soiree in celebration of their fourth anniversary in the Presbyterian School room, Wellington, on the evening of the 13th December. The Advertiser of the 14th instant says ; —After tea had been partaken of, a number of well-known gentlemen addressed the meeting, and the choir sang several pieces during the evening in excellent, style. There was a large attendance, more especially of ladies, and great interest appeared to be felt in the proceedings. We take the following from the Even-, ing Post: —Everyone not in the secrets of the cabinet felt much surprised at the easy manner in which Mr H. Hezekiah Hall was sbufflod off when the great Julius had done with him, and this sur prise seems to have been showed by Mr Hall himself in a large degree. Evidently it was au unexpected denouement of the friendship hitherto existing between two " able and distinguished men " who were supposed to be guided in their conduct towards each other by that proverbial honor which exists amongst a certain class of individuals, and Hall naturally feels very sore at it; in fact, he can scarcely bring himself to believe that he has been cut adrift, and in a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald he hints at the legal responsibility of breaking with him, and his intention to demand his rights. Now, has he any rights ? Has Mr V'ogel committed the Colony to a four years' contract with him? In that case, he will most assuredly claim compensation, which we will have to pay. If all is far too astute an individual to allow such an opportunity to slip, and, unfortunately, the public of New Zealand, who had no voice in either the bargain or its repudiation, shall have to pay the cost. We can make up out' minds that although Mr Hall for the present is ignored, we have not heard the last of him. He will either receive a smart sum as compensation at once, or we shall have him become a second Busby on our hands. What the truth of the matter is, remains to be seen, Hall asserts that he has a contract, and Yogel denies that such is the case; which is most worthy of belief, it is hard indeed to say. It is commonly believed that when, w rogue* fall out, honest- men come

by their own/' but in this case, the qiiar* rel of Hall and Vogel will only take more money out of the pockets of the New Zealand tax-payers. Intelligence has been received in Wanganui that twelve armed men belonging to Titokowaru's tribe have been seen at Te Ngaero, by a member of a local force, who wa3 hunting in the bush. This person, whose name is in the possession of the Evening Herald, was interrogated by the Hauhaus about what the Armed Constabulary were doing at Waihi, and when he replied they were building block-houses, Tito's men said the pakeha might live between the bush and the sea, but that they, the Hauhaus, would have the bush. They also said that Titokowaru was living near Ngaere. The Herald adds that it would be well if something was done to ascertain whether Titokowaru has taken up his position on this side of tha Waingongora river. The national debt at the close of the last year, was £749,276,183, and since that the sura of £7,000,000 has been converted into a temporary annuity. The debt is now less than it has been since 1813. It is now no less than £120,000,000 below the amount it stood at in 1815, when the population was so much less than at present, and £70,000,000 below the return of 1857, at the close of the Crimean war and the Indian mutiny. The interest of this debt is £26,840,000 a year, but £4,500,000 is temporary only, and will expire in 1885. The permanent charge is less than it has ever been since 1812. Queer cases, in which Maoris are concerned, are continually cropping up. One has just been brought under our notice which was heard before the Resident Magistrate at Otaki, A. Ross, Esq., on the 2nd inst. Mr Frederick Martin, of Otaki, licensed victualler, purchased, some time ago, 6ome pigs, from the Mission station. These pigs bred, and Mr Martin soon had a considerable number running about along with his other stock on Maori land, for the use of which he paid the Maoris an annual sum. While attending the September sessions of the Supreme Court, Mr Martin received notice from the manager of the Mission station, that his pigs were a nuisance and must be removed. It was impossible for Mr Martin to return immediately and attend to the affair, and when he did get back he missed his pigs. Enquiries made led him to believe that most of them had been killed by the Maoris, however he discovered two of them alive in Maori hands. These he claimed, but the Maoris refused to give them, alleging that they had bought them during Mr Martin's absence, from the manager of the mission station. Mr Martin sued the Maoris for the value of the pigs in the Resident Magistrate's Court, but the case was dia« missed and he is endeavoring to obtain a re-hearing.—Evening Post, December 8, The old settlers of Wellington (says the Evening Post) did themselves honor in paying the last marks of respect to Te Puni, and the Government deserves thanks for assistance, without which it would have been impossible to carry out the arrangements for the funeral in such a satisfactory manner. The frank acknowledgment of Te Puni's claims upon the gratitude of the colonists, and the the manner in which it was alluded to by Mr M'Lean, must have had a very gratis fying effect on the Maoris who were present, and may exercise a salutary influence in other places. The ceremony in itself was a striking and suggestive one; vigor* ous civilisation laying the head of effete barbarism in the earth gently and with reverence —not, as is usual, with careless contempt, Epuni's burial in European fashion, with Europeans standiug arountj his grave and European guns firing ovep it, is typical of the not distant time when all the savagery and powers of obstruction yet latent among the aborigines will be buried in a similar manner, and the work of colonization proceed uninterrupted. It also suggests the thought of another hour sooner or later to arrrive, when the last Maori will be laid to his rest by European hand I *, aud his race, so remarkable for ita chequered character of good and evil—so much that is noble and striking, and so much more that is mean, evil, and revolting—will remain only in the history or traditions of the past,