THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, October 8, 1842.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 31, 8 October 1842, Page 122

THE NELSON EXAMINER. Nelson, October 8, 1842.

Les journaux deviennent plus nlcessaires a mesure que les hommes sout plus igaux, et I' individualisme plus a craindre. Cc serait diminuer leur importance que de croire qu' Us ne servent qu' a garantir la liberte' : ils maintiennent la civilisation. De TocausviLLß. De la Democratic en Amerique, tome 4, p. 220. Journals become more necessary as men become more equal, and individualism more to be feared, It would be to underrate their importance to suppose that they serve snly to secure liberty : they maintain civilisation. De TocauiyiLLE. Of Democracy in America, vol. 4, p. 320.

We do not feel at all inclined to let the question "of the Corporation rest — rather to be accused of " thrashing straw" than allow the indifference of those who ought to bestir themselves to innoculate us also. It is evident that, let who may be Governor, the councillors and advisers who they may, yet for us, at this great distance from the seat of Government, all that portion of the executive which is left in the hands of those at head-quarters will be carelessly managed, and with endless delays and interruptions, some avoidable, perhaps, but many also inevitable. It is in our power to remedy this evil, inherent, to a certain extent, in our position. A country, the population of which consists of scattered nuclei, must have local self-governments, or choose between anarchy and petty despotism. Representations to Governors through Government representatives, correspondence of months and eventual civil refusal, or partial and (from the delay) ineffectual accordance, is but a poor way of getting a place governed. There will still be quite enough of this when we have a corporation ; but let us have as little of it as possible ; let us at least have matters of purely local ' interest in our own hands, and then we can talk about the rest afterwards. We shall, too, obtain for ourselves an articulate voice : the corporation will always be the organ of speech for us. Power of expression will not be wanting in due time. We are now, except the press, altogether dumb ; there is no voice that we can call ours. Let us begin to practice articulation, howevfcf rudely at first ; we shall not find it wasted time or labour. To be able to speak in due time often saves the necessity for striking.

We learn by an advertisement in the Sydney papers that a company is being formed, to be called " The Great Barrier Island Mining Company, capital £20,000* in shares of £10. The great Barrier Island

is situated at the mouth of the Thames, north island of New Zealand, " and . was purchased in 1837, for a valuable consideration, from the natives, by Messrs. W. "Webster, J. Nagle, and W. Abercrombie," upon whose title tlie Land Claims Commission will adjudicate as on the rest. The advertisement states that, should not the titles be confirmed, Captain Hobson had " officially informed the proprietors that he was ready to afford them every facility in his power to enable them to work the mines." " The island has long been known* to contain quantities of copper and other valuable metals." "In the early part of this year, four experienced Cornish miners from Auckland succeeded in discovering rich veins of copper ore, which are known to continue across the island (sixteen miles). Their report was of the most encouraging description : nearly a ton of copper ore was brought away, and samples found to contain from 40 to 60 per cent, of pure copper — four times the average of the aggregate mines in Cornwall, and much exceeding the richest of South America." We sincerely hope that this will turn out to be something real. One dreads the very name of a mining company, if one has any money in one's pocket. Mining schemes are so tempting, and, unfortunately, frequently so fallacious. Of this one, however, the promise looks so good, that one ought to hope for the best — nay, perhaps were justified in expecting it.

On Tuesday the schooner Nelson Packet left the Haven for Massacre Bay, with a party of men belonging to " the class that provide the community with the important element of labour," who have combined what little capital they had and their labour for the purpose of working the coal veins in that district. It is intended also to burn lime there ; and, if things should go wel} with them, to add brick-making and timbersawing to their occupations. We feel the greatest satisfaction in announcing the purpose of their departure. The benefit to the settlement — the independent spirit which sets these men to work without the assistance of monied capitalists — and the certain benefit to themselves, all give us pleasure. We cannot doubt of their success. We believe that the Nelson Packet will return with a cargo of coal immediately. It was not determined at the time of their departure in what part of the bay they would settle, but the probability is that it will be at the Motupipi. If they will send their produce here and elsewhere (of whatever kind it may be) at the lowest remunerating price, it will be the better for all. There is an advantage in this enterprize, even to those who, at first sight, would appear to be injured by it — the holders of early country land orders. Should the coal vein which these men attempt to work turn out a failure, it will prevent the early choices from being misled ; should it, on the contrary, be rich and extensive, the advantage of having the ground broken and labour expended in making the necessary facilities for shipping the cargo, will, together with the fact of its being the earliest and best known, more than counterbalance any loss arising from the abstraction of any coal which there will be time to dig between this and the selection.

When Dr. Imlay visited Nelson in April last, he brought with him, as a present to Captain Wakefield, a hive of bees. These interesting and useful colonists aie,*as usual, among the busiest of our settlers. It is difficult to ascertain where they obtain their wealth at this season of the year, but they do find it somewhere, and return with wellladen thighs. The vessels from the Australia continent will most likely bring us some hives after the coming swarming season ; at least it is to be hoped so. If there must be luxuries, let them be " home made."

A singular and somewhat intricate case occupies folly the columns and attention of

the Port Phillip papers. Mr. Willis, Judge of the Supreme Court, appears to be rather an irascible gentleman, and finds an advocate in the Patriot and a castigator in the Gazette. In the matter of an insolvent (Mr. Snodgrass) some accounts had been called for between the insolvent and Mr. Carrington, a solicitor. Mr. Carrington, as far as we can make out, devoid of blame in so doing, represents his inability to produce them, in an affidavit, and is struck off the rolls by Judge Willis. Mr. Carrington makes application to the Court at Sydney, .appealing against the order, which is represented as illegal as well as harsh. His prayer is heard ; and it becomes necessary to serve the Judge with copies of certain papers touching the matter, to manage the transfer of the case o£the insolvent into the higher court. The Judge wont be served, bolts doors in the faces of Mr. Carrington and an attendant friend ; says, if they want him they are to como into the court, where he cannot be served, being on the bench, and then, in not the gentlest terms, tells them a bit of his mind. Afterwards an attempt is made to serve him in the street, and he construes a dropping of the papers so as to touch his body (an expedient adopted to effect service, on his refusal to receive them) into an assault. The charge of assault comes before the magistrates. After some very clear, also some very obscure, evidence, it is dismissed. The editor of the Patriot speaks out that this dismissal seems to him all wrong, and the next day gets a summons to attend the bench, to " answer certain questions." Mr. Kerr (the editor) goes, protesting against the authority, only out of respect for the bench 5 and answers " certain questions " unsatisfactorily, some not at all, and is therefore commilted for contempt to " gaol and hard labour for 24 hours "" — the warrant being not altogether the most formal in the world. Judge Willis (after delay from ill health) is got into court to hear an application for habeas corpus, and informality is the ground of Mr. Kerr's forthwith discharge. We pity Mr. Carrington exceedingly : whether originally right or wrong, he is evidently most severely suffering for fault or mistake, or neither. One thing is certain, the editor of a Port Phillip paper, as both Mr. Arden and Mr. Kerrcan witness, has no easy life of it, between the Judge and the magistrates. Pray heaven defend us from the like. Such doings would hardly suit our taste. One's bile would be apt to get up beyond gaol, tread-mill, or fining pointy The press, we suspect, will be found eventually at Port Phillip, as elsewhere, a wee bit too strong for either judge or magistrate, only not, it is to be hoped, " for the law."