WELLINGTON. [From the Independent.]

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 48, 1 December 1860, Page 3

WELLINGTON. [ From the Independent .]

Gold. —Yesterday morning, a man, apparently a shepherd, called at Mr. Shaw’s, jeweller, .Larahton-quay, to have some specimens which he had picked up about 30 miles from Wellington, in a mountain torrent, tested. There were two' nuggets, one about a pennyweight, and the

other six pennyweights, 'of the finest quality of gold and of a very rich colour. The man stated that he had enough to fill a quart pot of the same kind of metal at home; and that at the place where he picked it up he could have filled a wheelharrow. Mr. Shaw advised the man to apply for the reward, hut the man said that he would first secure a quantity for himself before doing so. The man returned immediately to his home. Conviction for Selling Arms. — Under the head of Wairarapa, will be found a notice relative to the conviction of Mr. Gillies in a penalty of £2OO for selling guns to the Natives. Mr. Gillies has given notice of appeal. ... The New Provinces Act. —The clause in the New Provinces Act which was thought to remedy the great defect in the Constitution and put the relation between Superintendents and Councils on a wiser foundation, is the only clause which Mr. Fitz Gerald, the first Superintendent of the oldest Province under the Act, wishes to see repealed. He finds that the election of Superintendents by the Council practically places the Superintendent at the 'mercy of a single member and otherwise renders him less independent than he would be were he chosen by the electors of the province : —“ There was only one thing he would wish to see altered in the New Provinces Act, that the Superintendent, instead of being elected by the Council, should be elected by the people. He could see many disadvantages from the Superintendent being elected by a small Council. He might find himself, on a division of opinion, entirely in the hands of one member; and altogether he would be more under the control of the Council than the people would probably wish. He (Mr. F ) believed that an alteration to this effect would yet be made in the Act, although, in the present temper of the house, the experiment would have been a hazardous one, as a clause might be carried which would virtually impair the operation of the whole Act.”