AUCKLAND.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 11, 21 May 1842, Page 43

AUCKLAND.

Affairs at Auckland appear to be in a bail way. In a petition presented to the Governor on the 25th of March, and signed by the principal inhabitants of Auckland, it was stated : — " That, whatever may be the opinion as to the cause which has hitherto operated in preventing capital and emigrants from coming here, the fact cannot be denied that such have not yet come — that business of every description for the last few months has rapidly declined, and is now all but at a complete stand-still; no description of property — land, stock, or merchandise — will sell ;' that the little capital hitherto brought here being all nearly expended, there are many working people out of employment, and threatened with immediate want; that universal despondency prevails, and great numbers are seeking every means of disposing of their interest to quit the settlement; in short, that a most serious crisis is taking place, involving the utter ruin and sacrifice of the present colonists; and that nothing short of the most energetic and immediate measures for our relief can save us. In speaking in these strong terms of the ruin about to befal the present settlers, we would desire to make a distinction between their ruin and the ruin of the settlement itself: as for the latter, your petitioners are so satisfied of the vast superiority of its natural advantages, that they feel the utmost reliance on its 'complete and ultimate success."

It seems that the petitioners are convinced that the reduction of the price of country land to five shillings an acre would tend to produce the required relief, as it would be an inducement to capitalists to purchase land and settle in the neighbourhood of the Thames. The Governor refused to reduce the price of land, and the result was a public meeting, at which a resolution was proposed auything but flattering to the Governor, laying upon his shoulders the blame of whatever had gone wrong in the colony, and concluding thus : —

i "That the acts of the Government have therefore been proved so unwise, impolitic, and destructive of the interests of all the settlers in New Zealand, that this meeting has no confidence in the capacity of his Excellency the Governor and his present advisers, and that the | colony will be utterly ruined if intrusted much •longer to their management."

Mr. Coates, who was in the chair, had refused to put a resolution of censure upon the Government, and left the room with some others.

The chair being then taken by Mr. Montefiore, Mr. Sinclair proposed a memorial to the Secretary of State for the Colonies,

" requesting the immediate removal of his Excellency the Governor and his present advisers from the government of this colony," which was carried unanimously.

This is rather good : —

At a late public meeting in Auckland, Mr. Henry Thompson proposed a memorial to Lord Stanley, containing the following modest proposition : —

" That, to meet this difficulty, your memorialists would beg most respectfully to suggest that, in addition to the amount already advanced by New South Wales, a further sum of not less than £100,000 be advanced as an absolute grant by the British Treasury, and appropriated to the general advancement of New Zealand.

" Of this sum, your memorialists would submit that £80,000 should be devoted to the introduction of immigrants into the northern part of New Ulster, but chiefly into Auckland land the Bay of Islands, and the remaining £20,000 should be expended on the public works necessary for the Colony."

Very pretty indeed ! For Auckland and the Bay of Islands, £80,000; for Port Nicholson, Nelson, and all the rest of New Zealand, £20,000 ! — New Zealand Gazette.

We find by the Sydney papers that the Tomatin arrived there on the 14th of April. The Right Rev. Dr. Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand, lady, and son, were on board. The Tomatin was bound for the Bay of Islands and Auckland. The lists of passengers given in the Sydney papers do not distinguish between those who were to remain there and those who were to proceed to New Zealand. We therefore give the list entire :—: —

The Right Reverend Dr. Selwyn, Bishop of New Zealand, lady, and son; the lady of the Chief Justice of New Zealand, the Rev. C. Dudley and lady, Rev. W. C. Cotton, Rev. T. WhiteWd, Rev. W. C. Reay, Rev. W. Cole, Rev. B. L. Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Lisle, Mr. and Mrs. Bainbridge, Mrs.- Smith and son, Mr. Farmer, Mr. James, Mr. Butt, Mr. Evans, Mr. Fisher, Mr. NicheU, > Mr."smith, Mr. Hunt, Mr. Alder, Mr. Trotter, Mr. and Mrs. Sooter, Mr. Geode, Monsieur Deloise; and sixteen steerage.