The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 233, 23 August 1848, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

|»,e just ami le.ir not: Let alt tin 1 ends tlioii aimt,'t at, be thy Country's, 'lliy (ion's, and liuth's.

~WED nVsDA Y?~A UGU S T 23. 18 48.

The Louisa arrived from Sydney, on Sunday morning — after a tempestuous passage of fifteen days, and with a considerable loss of stock — bn'nging intelligence to the sth instant. The Cattle brought down by the " Louisa." weie transferred to her from the " Lord Hobait" which had sailed from Twofold Bay for this poit ; but, after expeiiencing a tiemendous South westerly gale, the latter brig was compelled to bear up for Sydney, having carried away her mainyaid in the slings, and with the floss of the most pait of hei foie rigging. Theie had been no ships from England, since our last, except the Couniess of Yauhorough, i, lnch left the Downs on the 26th of March, and, consequently, was unable to throw 'any additional light on the question, of peace or •war. By that vessel Sir Thomas Mitchell, Suiveyor General of New South Wales, had returned to his post. We give, elsewhere, our continuative English extiacts, which will be found deeply interesting. The uni\ ersal impicssion of w ell informed paities. both in Sydney and in England, is that a general war cannot be averted. We ha\e been iiuourcd with peiusal of a letter from a gentleman, eminent as a man of business and a leading civil functionary of the City of London revoking a power to purchase Australian tallow, simply because he deemed an universal continental convulsion, a matter of certainty, and because he feared it would be difficult to effect insurances upon ships and cargoes from these colonies. There was a rumour in Sydney, that — with a degree of intelligence, so peculiar to the Colonial Office— at the eleventh hour, ordcis had been received to prepare for the coming storm, by immediate construction of fortifications in defence of Port Jackson. The prompt organization of a civic militia is currently reported, with numberless other warlike on dilsto which it would be premature to gne cunency. The mail by the May packet will, in all probability, prove a momentous one. Contiary to general opinion the election for the City of Sydney passed o\er with the utmost quiet and decorum. We have no doubt that peace and propriety weie in a great degree maintained in consequence of the admirable address lead, by order of Archbishop Polding, the Sunday previous, to every Roman Catholic congregation — an address which laid a stringent injunction upon its hearers to preserve the respect due alike to their characters as christians and as citizens. Mi. WVntuoith and Mr. Lowe, were the successful candidates, the former polling 1168 —the latter 1012 votes.— Whilst, for Mr. Lamb, theie weie 950, and for Mr. Bland but 874 voices. Mr. Wentworth's address to the constituency, on the day of nomination, was a specimen of noble, nervous, eloquence, devoid of all meretricious ornament — a manly and a magnificent refutation of the calumnies which an unscrupulous faction had industriously heaped upon his political consistency. The v/itlienng scorn with which Mr. Wentworth tore to tatters the hollow pretensions of the patriot Lowe, were worthy of the oiator who, but two short years before, had been lauded, in the eloquent but empty flattery of that slippery senator, as " the great son of the soil !" Mr. Wentworth made no humiliating retractations — entered into no specious apology for backslidings real or imaginary — he spoke out and home, defending his opinions and his actions, because the former were at least sincere, and the integrity of the latter capable of demonstration. His appeal to the electors in behalf of his late colleague Bland was a touching example of constancy in friendship ; indeed, throughout his address Mr. Wentworth seemed impressed with the truth of the axiom, that " a false friend and a coward never served a good cause." Hoav incontestibly he proved the conectness of his views with reference to the resumption of Transportation — the question which had been endeavoured to be made the instrument of unseating him — the following sentences will suffice to show. We quote them, because, as w r e have, already, more than once asserted, we feel firmly persuaded the cursf of exileism will spread its noxious influence beyond the confines of Austialia. He had been appointed chairman of a certain com. mittee of the Legislative Couno.il, appointed to consider a ques'ion put before them by his Exc 1 ency the Governor, fiom the Secretary of State, as to whether it was desirable that transportation to the colony •hould be icbumed or not. The ciicumstancea of the colony were at that period diiTtrem to what they werp now, and veiy different to whit they were at the time when transportation was discontinued to this colony. At that time the committee had to consider that there was a colony to the sonth inundated with criminals, who were constantly forcing their way hither— that it was proposed to erect a new penal colony to the north, from whidi a similar itream might he expected to arise. If then they were in any case, without any power to prevent, to be inundated with criminals in this manner, he thought, au I the committ. c thought, that it would be betier to have the evil of convicts, with the benefit of a commissaiiat expenditure of £400,000 a-year— with the condition that one h'tlf of the police expenditure of the colony should be de« irrayed by the Home Government— that for every convic^ exported three free emigrants should be sent out — th n all the evil without theie benefits. They found that whether they woild or no, convicts they mu3t have, That if thej came indirectly, they would

b e iia Jmimitigated cvil — if they c.ime directly, they would be accompanied by a direct good. He believed that the system proposed in the much abused Tiansportation Report would have bsen for better than that which had been s'nee adopted. The colony, without deriving any advantage, would still receive convicts under ario her name. (Cries of no, no.) He re oeated it that it would, u^d the clamour raiSid at the first proposition having ceased, the second proposilion, the deceptive of the Secretary of State, nvolvmg all the evil and none of the good of the fir<t, was silently adopted by those who had been most violent in their oppoiition to the return to the system in any shape whatever, The Legislative Council which rejected the proposition of the Transportation Committee had adopted the system of exileism, each exile being accompanied with only one free emigrant. Even his friend, Mr. Cowper, the very champion of the ami-transportation movement — had silent ly acquiesced in this proposition for ihe introduction of exiles. (Cheers.) 'Why, then, did they raise their voices against him only for ihe part he had taken in j the matter ? Why was he singled out to be the mark of obloquy for Joing that which all beside had done? Why did they not clamour down othen with this charge ? Why not affix it on their idol, Mr. Robert Lowe, who was as deeply in thelransportation Report hs he (Mr. Wentworth) was ? Why not fix it en Mr. Robert Lowe, who was as deeply in the adoption of the exile proposition as he was ? AH, all the blame in this matter was to be visited on him, as if he were the beginning and the end of all legitlation upon it. (Cheers.) He would not say that he despised the clamour i hat had been thus raised against him; but this he would say, that lie despised the equity of the people who could heap this clamour on his naked head alone. (Cheers) But he conttnded that not ot.ly WjS the clamour against him in pailicular unjust, but, that it wasutteily without cause of reasoH. He contended that the tenor of the Transportation Report was a,jain*t tlve resumption of tianipoitation, provided the gjvernuient would consent tliac it suoulJ be altogether discontinue Ito this colony. Provided that the hiine government would act bona fide in the matter, an I not pretend to consult them, wlnle its mind wa^ made "up that convicts shou'd come to ihe colony, wi.elhe' the colonists would or no. 'ihe report dist nelly stated that the op nbn of the colonists was ufavorahle to the "ivception of convicts in »ny shape, in any way, if it could be altogether avoided. But there was also another condition attached to the importation of convicts here imposed by the icport, and that condition was that they should be all aenc into the interior, wheie th?y could not come in contact or compete with the mechanics or operatives of the towns. (Cheers.) They might not see what the advantages were that would have|ansen from this system earned out in this way ; but he could (ell them that had the recommendation of the report been adopted, that instead of about .£1,5J0,000 being realised in the colony by the wool and tallow produced in it, that sum would have been doubled, and thus afforded oniploy* ment— diffused wealth ai.d prosperity through all classes of society. New lesounes would h^e been opened. Enterprlre invigorated by the certainty of Buccsfs, would have advanced on new fields, and in the active circulation of a hpallhful spirit through the colony, the industry, and the exertions of all would have met their icivaid, and he whom they were now hissing and hooting at would have bpen owned their best fnen -I. (Chr-ers and groans ) What would be the resn't of the system they had adopted in preference to that which he had proposed- In a few years they would have thousands of exiles in the rolony — convicts in reality in character and disposition, but who would not go into the interior, but remain in towns to compete with the laborer and ai tisan there. Instead of creating wealth, they would be mere consumers of it. In the provinces : — Mr. George Oakes has been returned for Panamatta 3 heating the Macarthur. family, in their representative Mr. William, by an excess of seventeen votes. Mr. James Macarthur, on the other hand, was returned unopposed for his native Camden — as was, Dr. Nicholson, in like manner, for Argyle. The County of Cumberland chose Mr. Charles Cowper and Mr. Nelson Lawson — Mr. H. GK Smith being left considerably in the minoiity. For the Cumberland Boroughs Mr. Bowman resumes his seat unopposed. For the county of Northumberland the return of its late member Mr. Dangar was deemed secure. For the Northumberland Boroughs, Mr. G. R. Nichols, the celebrated Sydney attorney, had been elected by a sweeping majority of a hundred and five voices. In Cook and Westmoreland, Mr. James Martin, solicitor and ci devant editor of the Atlas, a protege of Mr. Lowes, had beaten Mr. Cheeke, Commissioner of the Court of Requests, by a plurality of eight and forty votes. In Bathurst, another Barrister, Mr. Darvall, a crown nominee of the late council, opposed the previous representative, Mr. Francis Lord ; against whom Mr. Darvall employed some flowers of rhetoric to which we should have imagined no gentleman would stoop, and which, in our opinion, were unwarranted even by electioneering license. Mr. Lord, however, took the lawyer's measure, fitting him with as much good humour as good taste. The candidates polled equally eighty seven votes. Mr. Darvall being elected by the voice of the Returning Officer alone. It is said a scrutiny is likely to take place, as much fault has been found with the manner in which the electoral lists had been prepaied. Bat, after all the ardour and excitement of election, it appears to be questionable whether the present Council can ever hold legal session, in consequence of the contumacy of the Port Phillip district, in refusing to elect representatives. That perversity, says Mr. Lowe, is fatal to the existence of the assembly. On the other hand, the law officeis of the crown entertain a diametrically opposite opinion, insisting that the Council is free to act, as though the refractory constituencies had been disfranchised by Parhamentaiy command. To say the least, the position is a perplexing one, and most discreditable to the blockheads by whom the project was conceived. We furnished our readers with a precis of what had transpired, in our issue of this day week. The suicidal imbecility which prevented any election for the district taking place, has since been followed up by a piece o t the most reckless effrontery with reference

to the election for Melbourne, which shows how utterly undeserving' of the privileges of Britons they must he, who could act m the manner described. Will it be credited, that in the city of Melbourne, the capital of the much trumpeted Port Phillip, and future metropolis of the expectant piovince of Victoria, — will it, we repeat, be credited that two hundred and ninety five maniacs could be found to insult the majesty of England and to exhibit their own ribald buffooneiy, by recording their votes, in favour of Karl Giey, the Queen's Minister for the colonies, and a Peer of the Realm, as their representative to the Legislate c Council of New South Wales ! This is a flight which surpasses in audacity, the silliest orgies ever indulged by idiots in their wildest saturnalia — and we have no doubt, ere long, the witlings will reap the fruits of their sorry jest. What attention will henceforth he paid to any remonstrance, no matter how well founded, coming from such a quarter 1 What consideration will their petition to the Queen for the removal of Mr. LaTrobe receive 1 Is it not more than probable that the outrage avill be repaid by disfranchisement of Melbourne, and a refusal to separate Port Phillip from the middle district 1 ? It will surely, at least, call the attention of the minister to the supeiioi local advantages of Gpplong — a port, in the estimation of all observant strangers, infinitely better adapted for the capital, than, that which has been planted at the extremity of a shallow, tortuous, salt-water ditch. It is exhibitions such as this of Melbourne, that endamage the cause of the colonists — the prudent and the practical being too geneially and too unjustly punished, in dealing with the impertinencies of knaves and fools.

We commend to the careful perusal of our readers the eloquent speech (which will be found in another page) of Sir E. F. Young, the new Governor of South Australia. It is a document which does equal honour to the head and the heart of the speaker — a noble exposition of a Governor as he should be. Let the Colonial Office apply the maxims of her delegate. Let England act up to its magnanimous assurances, and then indeed the vague dictum of Sir Robert Peel — " The Colonies an integral portion of the empire," will be fully realised. Thrice fortunate South Australia. — Blessed with a ruler of such just and gen erous sentiments thou must needs be as happy as prosperous ! We must however, dissent from one portion of Sir Heniy 's views. It is that where a bint is thrown out relative to " titular and hereditary distinctions." This would be to cast the apple of discord amongst us indeed, The cravings of a mock aristocracy are already too insatiate, and to feed them with '• honours aud privileges" were a deseciation of the one and an invasion of the other which would tend to engender envy, hatred, contempt, and all uncharitableness. A century hence such questions may be entertained.