TELEGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 50, 27 February 1874, Page 2

TELEGRAPHIC INTELLIGENCE.

l^ilO VINCIAL. ; ~ ::; Wellington, February !26, The enfluity on board the- MoDgol cojn- f menced to-day and will be resumed tormorrow. As fafas'tW evidence is ytt tak'.n it establishes the fact? that the immigrants Were put on hoard nt Plymouth in a very sickly condition; The medical- nun placed on board at . London had to be discharged at Plymouth for misbehaviour. | Auckland, February 27. - The Premier was entertained at a banquet laat evening in the Choral Hall. Over 125 persons were present, including, the Hon Dr Pollen, th-.) Hon Mr Richardson^ the Superintendent, and the Mayor. The Superintendent proposed Mr Vogel's health in eubgistio terms. {Mr Yogel, ia r< plying, eaid that when first he came to Auckland he had a very great difficulty to contend with. There was a -strong feeling that one who hsd only been inthe country a few yeara had no right to take a leading part in the management of the affairs of the Colony. He had now been eleven years in Parliament, which might fairly be considered a good apprenticeship. He deprecated a remark of the Superintendent, that colonies had ceased to take an interest in the affairs of Great Britain. It wouldrobpubliclife of its charms to him if anything were done to weaken ties between the colony and the Mother country. Science has brought this country nearer to the Government of* England than Scotland wa«rtt-few*years ago." •" There waV no' doubt' the time would come when, the colonies might be regardedds centres of the British Empire, which he hoped would bo indestructible. Some whb'beiieyed this were Working in England ; for 1 ''tfies' tight to invest Trust Funds in the colonies, but that was not permitted,, yet although allowed in case of India. W hen ihat was. allowed, it would mean not only the" enhancement of the. value of property in, the colonieej J bu^ would bring them iuto much, closer relationship with the Empire than they enjoyed at' present, . That might not come; to. pass in this generation, hut he thought ;that in the ycoiirise^ of time such a result would be brought about, and it was. possible there might arise a great Empire formed not only by closer union of the colonies with England, but,t.y union of all English- speaking countries" A large portion of Mr Vogel's speech was devoted to local matters,. He contended that Auckland had not been badly treated by the Cjlonial Government, and assured, them tbat there was no " down " upon it in othtr parts of '". colony. Those threats sometimes used, that if ; the demands of Auckland were not conceded' the would see that no lands were granted to the South under tbe compact of 1856, were nonsense. No doubt ' the compact had not worked -well for. Auckland, but some allowance had been made for that, and the compact could not now be upset. With regard to the removal of the seat ot Government from Auckland, he was one of those who ; opposed it strongly at the outset, .and he still believed that it was an ill-advised measure, and one productive of considerable evil, but he did not think now that the Seat of Government could ever be brought back to Auckland. He believed i 5 was firmly established at Wellington. If ihe question were considered de novo, he thought the Seat of Government would be taken to Christchurch, still he was of opinion thatit would be to the interest of the colony if Wellington were made a federal city, asat present the. existence of. the Provincial Government there Was a great source of mischief. Except fbr the difficulties arising out of thiß doable Government there waß no liklihood oi any; change being made inthe capital of the colony i' He reteired at consideiable length to the salutary change which had taken place in native affairs. The time was not iar 'distant when any native difficulty need not be apprehended, and that question he *Baid to be completely for ever Bettled. The Government were opposed to iative : lands being purchased by speculators and locked up. Land should be acquired solely by the Government in order to promote the advance of settlement. The Government were how prepared to handover 150,000 acres to the province, to be purchased out of the vote ot last tession for acquiring an estate for the North Island, lhe revenue derived from the confiscated lands should be devoted towards ' making roads through those lands. Mr Yogel spokeeulogistically of Mr RusseUin his negotiation of the new Californian service. When a separate naval station would be established in the col uy, or an admiral's station in Australia, Auckland would probably be made the head-juaiters of the fleet. From what he knew of the province of Auckland ho did not think it would prove a wheat-growing province. He was inclined to think it required come great industry to stand to it in the same relation /which .wool growing did to the South, which had proved the principal sourse of attraction '-topdpitiatipnj and* had supported other iridbstries.; He believed it was the mission of.

Auckland, owing to its geographical position, t> enable the who'e colony to participate in the benefits derived from the trade of tho South S<a Islands. The market afforded by those fertile islands would stimulate manufactures of the colony when New Zealand became in the future a large manufacturing colony, which its coal, iron, and other tc : ■sources so .idmi»ablv- fitted it for. The approai hing session, which would probably be short, would have to deal with tho electoral franchise. Government would propose manhood suffrage, coupled with r a residence qualification, and the abolition of the existing miner's franchise? It Vaß also probable, though not certain, tbat the House would be called upon to deal comprehensively with the licenfing question, as veil as the conservation of forests It would not be the desire of the Government to bring in a large number of bills; they wtre rather disposed to sty to the country, •« Best and bo tbankful." Ec would cer'ainly not introduce more bills than were necessary, or the country required. The speech occupied over two hours, and was very well received,