COLONIAL NEWS

Lyttelton Times, Volume 1, Issue 2, 18 January 1851, Page 2

COLONIAL NEWS

INDIA.

Lieutenant-Colonel King, of her Majesty's 14lh Light Dragoons, has died by his own hand. A rebuke received by him in December last, and some severe remarks made "by the Commander-in-Chief ori some courts-martial, indicating a sad want of discipline in the regiment, are said to have preyed upon his mind till insanity supervened, and he blew out his: brains.

The Lahore Chronicle says that" The order for retaining Scinde allowances for the troops beyond the Indus, at the time the GovernorGeneral had expressed his anxious desire to assimilate the pay, is the real ground of the feud known to exist between his lordship and Si0. Napier."

The Governor-General and family are^at Chini, in the hills of Kunawur. The Cor mander-in-Chief continues at Sim]a; t all doubt to the certainty of his retirement in Novemb being at an end.

General Sir William Napier Las addressed « letter to the " Times," respecting the resignation of his brother of the command of the Army in, India. He says "It istvue Sir Charles Napier! has tendered his resignation on account of a diff ference between him and Lord Dalhoiisie; but it is not true that this difference arose about barrack building, or from any desire to make war, or because he disbanded the 66th Begiment/or that his language was intemperate and unbecoming, or that he resigned peevishly. The real cause of that step was a difference between him and the Governor-General on a vital point of public interest, accompanied by circum.'-

Stances which rendered it imperative upon Sir Charles Napier to resign the high office contended on him by his sovereign ; and he is prepared to justify his conduct to that gracious Sovereign and to the public, proudly confident that he has served both well, and would have served them better, if he had been permitted to continue such service with; that self-respect, which no man can relinquish without dis- ■ honour." I At Dinapore another explosion of gunpowder ■has taken place. The catastrophe occurred on Jthe 9th of July, in a fleet of thirty boats, ad- ' joining a sandbank on the Ganges. Nine boats have been saved, but those containing the pow""der were destroyed. No lives were lost.

On the north-west frontier of the Punjaub, the Afreedies are once" more disposed to make themselves troublesome. It was supposed early in July that amicable arrangements with the .hill men had been finally arranged, and Mr. <Brnnde Sapte, with Lieutenants Pollock and Miller, assistant commissioners, were about to proceed from Peshawur to Kahat. They were fortunately warned, when on their way, of a conspiracy to entrap and murder them, existing among the villages, and only escaped by a timely return. . Cholera has been prevalent among the 78th Highlanders at Bombay, and the 10th Hussars at Kirkee. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. The Queen's Letters Patent had been received for establishing a new Legislature. It is to consist of a Legislative Council, partly elected and partly nominated, of which the Chief Justice is to be president, and a House of Assembly, to be elected by the people. The details were to be arranged by the old Legislative Council, which was to meet the last week in September for that purpose ; and it was expected that the new Legislature would be called together in January.— Sydney Morning ~ Emerald. SYDNEY. "We haye received Sydney papers to the 4th —of December. The Sydney Morning Herald of the 16th of . November, criticises the alterations introduced ■■• by the House of Lords into the Australian .Colonial Government bill which they had just received. The most important of these consisted v.^of the_s_triking jout. the whqle_of..the provisions for creating a general federal government of all the Australian colonies. This alteration of the Lords 1 does not meet the approval of the Morning Herald, who in this respect probably echoes the sentiments of the majority of the population of New South Wales. It was, however, urged by those who opposed this scheme of the Ministers, and indeed by some of the most liberal of the colonial reformers, that it was to be expected that the federal Government would be popular in New South Wales; for that colony being so much larger than the others, Sydney could not but become the metropolis of the union. The other colonies, however, may ask what peculiar advantages would accrue to them by the proposed federation other than they-enjoy as portions of the British empire, and some constitutional lawyers foresee danger in teaching colonies that any additional federation is necessary, or that any federal assembly is requisite other than the Parliament of the Empire.

Tobacco.—A very fine sample of tobacco, manafacturecl by Mr. Pitt, of Maitland, has been shown in Sydney lately. Its colour, smell,make, and general appearance so closely resemble the American tobacco, that we have no

doubt much of it is sold throughout the colony,

as imported. Several persons who have used it, J^eelare it to be a very superior 'article, and we ~ are-^giad to learn that the manufacturer has a

ready sale for all that he makfes. Although 1 intended as a protection, the high duty of 2s. a pound on imported tobacco gives the colonial manufacturer such advantages that he ought to to be able to produce an article [which would command the. market. j The Anti-Transpoutation — The following is a copy of the.;petition of the C/Ommittee of the New.South Wales Association for Preventing the llevival of Transportation: —

.TO THE QU.EEN's MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. The humble Petition of the Committee of the New •.' South Wales Association for Preventing the Revival of Tranj-portation, Shewbtm, —That your Majesty's Petitioners beg leave to refer to an Address to 'your Majesty,

adopted by the Legislative Council of this Colony on the Ist of October, 1850, respectfully setting forth (with reference to the Despatch of the Eight Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies to His Excellency Sir Charles Augustus Fitz Koy, No. 174, dated Nov. 16th, 1849,) that the Council adopted, as its final conclusion, that no more convicts ought, under any conditions, to be sent to any part of this Colony, and that as there can be no security for the social and political tranquillity of the Colony until the Convict question is set at rest, the Council humbly repeated the prayer which was contained in its previous Address to your Majesty, dated June Ist, 1849, viz.—"That your Majesty will be graciously pleased to revoke the Order in Council by which this Colony has been again made a place to which British. Offenders may be Transported." .

Your Majesty's Petitioners beg to state that, by the_ Despatch referred to in the above-men-tioned Address, your Majesty's gracious promise was conveyed to the inhabitants of this Colony, that no criminals should be transported from Great Britain to New South Wales without the consent of the Colonists expressed through their Colonial Legislature. Your Majesty's Petitioners are nevertheless compelled, by the unhappy circumstances connected with the general policy of transportation, to call attention to the fact, that your Majesty's gracious promise will not be fulfilled by the mere revocation of the Order i n Council, unless securities be at the same time afforded to the Colonists against the indirect ingress of British Criminals.

Your Majesty's Petitioners humbly represent, that while they are firmly persuaded that the best interests of the whole Australasian group of Colonies would be promoted by the cessation of transportation to any portion of them, they see reason to fear, from language used by one of your Majesty's Ministers in the House of Commons, that some intention exists of nullifying, to a great extent, the decision of the Legislative Council of this Colony thus expressed (under the sanction of your Majesty's gracious invitation and promise) against the reception of convicts, "by taking advantage" of a power reserved in the Bill for the Government of this Colony to dismember the districts situated north of the 30 th degree of- south latitude, in order to continue transportation to that portion of this Colony, while it will also be continued simulta---neously-to-Van Dieman's-Land.-

Your Majesty's Petitioners humbly represent, that any dismemberment of this Colony for such purpose would involve a violation of the promise that convicts should not be sent to New South Wales, if the opinion of the Colonists, as expressed by the Legislature, continued adverse to that measure, while the continuation of transportation to Van Dieman's Land is likewise a violation of the solemn engagements entered into with that Colony, through His Excellency Sir William Denison, in the year 1847.

Your Majesty's petitioners further represent that the necessary consequence of such measures, if persisted in by the Imperial Government, would be to subject the whole of the Australasian group, and more especially this Colony, to an influx of criminals—many of them prematurely manumitted, hardened, and incorrigible,—while as regards New South Wales in particular, the obvious result would be, to render almost nominal the rescinding the Order in Council, which now authorises the deportation of Criminals from the United Kingdom to its shores, and in effect to make this Colony, despite its protest, and against its will, the great receptacle for the crime of the empire.

Your Majesty's Petitioners, therefore, humbly implore your Majesty's interference to procure the immediate discontinuance of Transportation to Van Diemen's Land, and to prevent any dismemberment of the northern districts of this Colony, for the purpose of introducing convicts or exiles from Great Britain: and further, to protect this Colony from Injury, under any other form or modification, from a course which your Majesty's Petitioners feel to be unjust, pernicious, and in every way indefensible. Humbly, but confidently submitting, that if the state of society in the Mother Country, aud a due regard to her own safety, forbid that she should retain, within her own bosom, the criminals whom her law now subjects to transportation, it is her bounden duty, as a Christian nation, to found for them some place of refuge—if on this _contincnt}.-SO_ren\ote_from__the_ several Colonies, of the Australasian group, and under such stringent and salutary regulations, as to preclude

their ingress into any of these Colonies, without the express concurrence and consent of the several Colonial Legislatures. And Your Petioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.

The following is a copy of the Petition to the Queen, which is recommended by the Sydney Committee for the adoption and signature of the inhabitants of all the colonies of Australasia. It is confidently hoped that at least fifty thousand signatures will be obtained to this Petition and similar Petitions to the two Houses of < Parliament, in time for presentation before the termination of the ensuing session.

TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. The humble Petition of the Inhabitants of the Australasian Colonies of New South Wales and Victoria, Fan Dieman's Land, South Australia, nnd New Zealand,

Sheweth—That it is the glory and happiness of your Majesty's petitioners to form a part, of your Majesty's empire ; united together by mutual ties of interest, affection, and duty ; proud of possessing the domestic and moral habits, the literature, the laws, and the religious faith of Great Britain; and conscious that the illustrious nation which has given them birth has impressed upon them a character not unworthy of herself. -

Your Majesty's petitioners humbly represent that as the glorious past belongs to the parent state, the future belongs to them; and among the bright visions of the future, there is not one more cheering than that which exhibits these colonies as the grateful refuge and pleasant home of millions of industrious and honest men, the redundant virtuous population of Great Britain and Ireland. Your Majesty's petitioners humbly represent, that the magnificent capabilities of these colonies, as fields for emigration, are greatly impaired, and your petitioners, as colonists, are grievously injured, by the wrongs inflicted directly on Van Diemen's Land, and indirectly on all the other colonies of Australasia, by transportation. Its appalling results to Van Diemen's Land have been disclosed by Parliamentary inquiries, and have been repeatedly attested, and depicted with expressions of horror, by your Majesty's ministers. Your Majesty's Goy_es«s-^_ ment has been pledged to its discontinuance, but, nevertheless, the exportation of convicts to that island continues unabated. Your Majesty's petitioners farther represent that the actual result, if not the avowed object, of the present system of transportation, is to inundate, through Van Dieman's Land, all the Australasian colonies, with the worst convicts of the mother country: and that such a policy is not only an outrage upon your petitioners, but a breach of your Majesty's most gracious promise, conveyed by the Circular Despatch of the Right Honourable the Earl Grey to the Colonial Governors, dated the 7th of August, 1848, that no criminals should be transported by Great Britain to her colonies, without their consent, expressed through their several legislatures. Your Majesty's petitioners farther represent, that the consequence of your Majesty's Government persisting in their present penal policy, will be to subject to a perpetual stream of hardened and incorrigible criminals, the whole of the Australian dependances,.and.to_m.ake_the_m, ,_ against their protest, the-great receptacle for the crime of the empire. And that your petitioners, must, in consequence, suffer most of the moral and all the pecuniary evils of direct transportation —evils which are not only the occasion of an exhausting drain upon their charity and benevolent institutions and" of'"enoiTrio"usly~iiP'" " creased taxation for police and goals, but the cause of social depravity, degradation, and wretchedness.

Your Majesty's petitioners further represent, that, although the social and moral mischiefs of the system render its merely economical results comparatively insignificant, they cannot but advert to the fact, that the criminals thus cast upon them are,.many of them, diseased in body or mind, are:most of them improvident and intemperate, and that a large proportion of \ them became a burthen on the industry and resources of these infant communities.

Youv Majesty's petitioners further represent that they desire to transmit an inheritance to their posterity, unincumbered by the pauperism and unpollutecTby"the crime, of the empire. . Your Majesty's petitioners humbly submit,

that, although the stupendous power of Great Britain eunbles her to continue these aggressions with impunity, injustice so revolting has aroused your petitioners to unite in solemn appeal to those eternal principles w rhich should preserve the weak from the oppression of the strong, and which should more especially control and restrain a Parent State from thus injuring her offspring. Among the blessings which our common religion has bestowed upon the world, it has established the intercourse uf mankind upon the basis of acknowledged duties—duties which are not less binding upon nations than upon individuals —and there is not one of them of greater significancy than our duty to our neighbour. And they submit, that

their relation to the mother country, as colonists, so Far from repealing, should render of stronger -.obligation, that rule of justice which it becomes Commonwealths, as well as private persons, to reverence and practice, and which commands them so to do unto others as they would have others should do unto them. ' Your petitioners therefore humbly submit to your Majesty, that the inundating of feeble and dependent colonies with the crime of the parent state is opposed to that arrangement of Divine Providence by which the virtue of each community is destined to combat its vice ; and is contrary to the principles of the sacred code promulgated by the great Legislator of the Universe.

Your Majesty's petitioners, therefore, humbly beseech your Majesty to procure the immediate cessation of transportation to Van Diemen's Land; and, farther, that your Majesty will be graciously pleased to abandon altogether a penal policy which your Majesty's petitioners feel to be so injurious, so unjust 3 and so oppressive.

And your Majesty's petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray, &c.

The Crops. —We continue to receive the most dismal accounts from all quarters from the farmers. The Wheat, with the exception of some portions in the immediate vicinity of Windsor, is completely destroyed, chiefly with rust. Tn most instances it will have to be burnt. — Sydney Morning Herald. New South Wales has been suffering from one of^ those periodical droughts which have been "the ruin of so many of its industrious and deserving colonists.— Wellington Independent. We understand, says the Herald, that in several districts of the colony, the sheep are being shorn without being washed, in consequence of the scarcity of water, and that thousands of lambs are being killed, their mothers, from scarcity of food and water, being unable to maintain them. Nearly all the wool that is arriving from Moreton Bay is in greare. Sydney Markets Wheat, 4s. 6d. to 4s. Bd. per bushel. Fine Flour, 12Z. per ton : second quality. 11/. Biscuit, 13s. 6d. to ISs. per cwt Potatoes, (new) 51. to 81. per, ton. Beef, by the carcass, %&. to 13^d. per lb.; mutton. Id. to VA&. per lb. Hay. new, 21. 10s, to 31. 135., old, 51. to 4/. 10s. per ton. Straw, 21. 10s. to dl. Butter, salt, 4d. to 6d.; fresh, 7d. to Bd. per lb.; cheese, 6d. to 7d;; bacon, sd. to - 554 d .; lard, 3d. per lb. Roasting pigs, ss. 6d. each. Fowls, 2s. Sd. to 2s. lOd.; ducks, 2s. 6d. to 3s. ; geese* 4s. 7d. to os.; turkeys, 7s. to lls.; wild ducks, 2a. to 2a. 7d ; pigeons, lOd. per couple. Cabbages, Is. 3d ; lettuces, 6d.; turnips, Is. 6d.; parsley, 35.; leeks, Is. 3d. to Is. 6d.; parsnips, Is. 3d. to Is. od. ; carrots, Is. 6d. to Is. Bd.; peas, 4s. 6d. to 55.; broad beans, 2s. 6d. per bushel; onions, 10s, per cwt.; eggs, 8. to lOd. per dozen.— Sydney Herald, Nov. 30, PORT PHILIP. The intelligence that the bill had passed by which Port Philip was separated from New South Wales, and created into the colony of Victoria, was received with every expression of extravagant joy at Melbourne. For four whole days business gave way to rejoicing. The Sydney press is somewhat nettled at this, and cannot comprehend why their Port Philip friends should be glad to get rid of them. But selfgovernment is self-government: and they of Melbourne as little care for being governed from Sydney, as do,the men of Sydney for being ruled from England. This seems to justify the Lords' amendment as to the uselessness of the federal government. AUCKLAND ISLANDS. The Governor of the Auckland Islands still appears sanguine of the success of the establishment ; although the place has a most uninviting and dreary appearance. On the 4th of Dec. 'the anniversary of the settlement was celebrated

with considerable spirit, though their great antogonist the elements conspired against them and marred the sports. The regatta was won by Mr. Dunderby's cutter, being better adapted for a gale than her competitors. None of the Company's ships had yet brought them any oil, though a considerable outlay was still going on. The people looked healthy and appeared reconciled to the place.

On the sth of Dec. the thermometer stood at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and during the morning there were several falls of a mixture of snow and hail, which will give an idea of the climate of the Aucklands, it being nearly midsummer. — Wellington Independent.