The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 4, Issue 283, 14 February 1849, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

Be just anil (ear not: Let all the euils> tlioii aims't at, be tliy Country's, Tliy God's, and Truth's.

W ElTifE s7) A~Y, FeBRUAKYH-, 1849.

Our contemporary is at issue, with the Nelson Examiner and ourselves, as to the "feasibility or practicability" of connecting the Northern and Southern settlements by means of Steam Navigation. The Examiner puts forth calculations betraying the grossest ignorance, and carrying their own refutation on the face of them, whilst we indulge m idle hallucinations; our contemporary, meanwhile, being sole and infallible arbiter of the matter. Mr. Elliot's estimate of the annual expendituie of a 300 ton steamer, is admitted to be loleiably near the mark; although our contemporary (and, in that point, we think he is

coucct) would have charged ten per cent inteiest, instead of five, on the iirst cost of the vessel. However, Mr. Elliot is so much in excess (as he, himself, avows) in his estimate of fuel, that the one surcharge will more than counterbalance the other deficiency. All parties, then, are nearly agreed as to the probable expenditure of the vessel. It is her possible receipts that are the points at issue. To discuss these calculations — stigmatized as "so truly absurd, that it seems mere waste of woids to take the items seriatim," — our contemporary wastes a column and a half. Flour is the first stated source of revenue which he challenges ; giving Ins own calculation of the alleged amount of supply required for Auckland, at the rate of eight pounds a day [a week we presume] for a population of seven thousand inhabitants, which would still leave the annual consumption very inconsiderably under fifteen hundred tons. "To supply this," writes our contemporary, " we have Sydney and Van Diemen's Land, as well as Nelson ! A most cogent, conclusive, and commeicial argument, truly ! leading, we apprehend, to this inference, that because New Zealand possesses no means of intercommunication, whereby the surplus produce of one settlement may be placed at the disposal of the other, no effort should be made to create a home trade ! Our own internal industiy is to be disregarded, because, forsooth, the foreigner possesses the superfluous means of transit which we lack, and the endeavour to acquire which is to be sneered at, and, if possible, swamped ' Our contempoiaiy aiseits that this year i\e shall not, "probably," require more than one or two hundred tons of foreign flour ; and that the " chances" are, not an ounce by the time the steamer could be in operation. To speculate upon " chances" and "probabilities," were probably quite as absurd as those speculations which our contemporary so dogmatically condemns. Upon what data his own speculations of our future probable supplies are founded, we know not. We are acquainted of no extraoidinary stiides made by agriculture in this province ; nay, a very intelligent correspondent of ours, one "practically devoted to rural pursuits," assuies us that "labour is so ruinously high, and of such a very inferior kind, that settlers are under the necessity of discharging their servants and letting their ploughshares rust." How a diminished cultivation shall furnish an enhanced production is a problem too hard for us to solve, unless by a diminishing instead of an increasing population. California, indeed,may stiip us of a few loafers, but, excepting that, we have heard of no Malthusian device to reduce our p filiation or to render it stationary. On the contrary, the emigrants for whom the Gover-nor-m-Chief made provision, in June last, may now be shoitly expected to arrive amongst us. OLago, moreover, is in course of active settlement — and Canteibuiy may, ere long, be ex* peeled to commence ; so that there will, for some time to come, be quite as many mouths to feed as acies under tilth to furnish bread. Nelson has the stait. She has the soil, and she is about to receive more labour. We cannot, therefoie, look upon a thousand tons of flour per annum, conveyed from Nelson to Manakau, or from Manakau to Wellington, in the impossible light in which our contemporary regaids it. The next item, pounced upon, is beer, and that, although the Examiner expressly admits " the article of beer might not be exported so largely as was estimated, as breweries are now thriving, we believe, in both Auckland and Wellington, but barley would form a substitute almost to an equal amount of freight." Our contemporary alleges that "we have now so many breweries of our own that a\ c could supply Nelson, and still have abundance for our own wants." If this be indeed so, how is it that we have continual importations of Sydney beer, immeasurably inferior to that of Nelson ? This, siuely, is paying a poor compliment to the Auckland beer. Beer may not | find a market. Barley, we have no doubt, would. A thousand tons of merchandize, passing from settlement to settlement, and thereby more easily 1 circulated along the coast, and, thence, into the , interior, is an item of freight which our contemporary "cannot imagine." Because Auckland, is at present, " overstocked A\ith goods of almost every description," lest anymoie should be steam-borne from NeTson, our contemporary would close the port against that settlement, theieby depriving Auckland of the means of getting nd of her glut. Sydney, Ilobart Town, Melbourne, Launceston,and Adelaide are all, at times, more or less glutted — yet one can easily " imagine" the exchange of " merchandize," and the consequent tiaffic constantly taking place between those ports, to their mutual improvement and benefit, and the rapid extension of their several shipping and ship-building interests. All our settlements are almost entirely dependent upon second-hand goods fiom Sydney. With a regular and available means of intci communication this would not long continue to be the case. Our principal poits would receive their shipments direct, and our meichandize and our intercourse would be derived much more generally from the mother country. At present, however overstocked with goods, Auckland continues to be the lecipient of the sweepings of the shops of Sydney and of Hobait Town, some of which, were a steamer

running, we might oblige our Nelson friends with. "So far," as our contemporary " can see, the productions of the southern and noithern settlements are so much alike, that there really exists almost no necessity for intercourse with each other ; in fact, there is rather an identity of interest and occupation which is more nearly allied to opposition than to mutual dependence." If this argument mean anything, how else can it he construed than in a spiiit the most decidedly hostile to any attempt at intercommunication ? The settlements are, at present, hermetically sealed against each other, — Keep them so ! Their productions are alike — their interests and occupations rival — such, we take it, aie the deductions to be gleaned from our commercial instructor ! What ! Are not the occupations of Paisley and of Manchester similar ? And, yet, what are the principal freights of the magnificent steamers, to and fro, between the Clyde and the Meisey, but the products of their respective looms? From Adelaide to Moreton Bay, are not the occupations of the settlers similar, and, yet, is traffic unknown, and " almost no necessity for intercourse with each other" a fact ? It is the fortune of all who seek to "benefit their kind, by adventuring upon untried expeiiments, to be lidiculed, or to have their ardour damped. Stephenson, the father of railway travelling, was scouted as a visionary. Prejudice and nairow mindedness prognosticated failure to the Liverpool and Manchester, and each successive line. Fulton was all but insulted in his first steam trip — Henry Bell was sneeied at, as an enthusiast. At an aftei period, when steam was proposed to supersede the Leith and London Smacks — it was denounced as preposterous. Sir John Tobin was looked upon as a madman to dream of connecting England and America hy such a means : — and, to come nearer to our own shores, the '• Shamrock," running, with so much profit, between Sydney, Melbourne, and Launceston, was doomed a failure until she triumphantly demonstrated her success.' So, also, the "Juno," fiom Sydney to Adelaide, which was denounced a crotchet of Mr. Benjamin Boyds, and, which, after a few costly trips, was confidently predicted to return to repose upon her shadow amid the translucent waters of Darling Harbour: — her success has been pre-eminent. It is a stale truism, that the means of communication create communication. The fact has been demonstrated in every age and in eveiy clime ; obscuie spots, unknown not many years since, have been dragged into prominence and importance by steam. As a pointed illustration, take the marvellous prosperity and unequalled progiess of the United States, mainly attributable to steam, which, by rail, canal, and liver, pushes the arm of industry, throughout a comparatively thinly peopled leiritory, from the majestic city of New York to the solitary prairies of the Far West. We differ, totoceelo, from our contemporaiy. We see nothing so common in northern and southern productions or interests as to render our intercourse almost unnecessary. On the contrary, we conceive it cannot be too much enlarged or facilitated. We want to understand each other — to act in concert with each other —to know and to feel that we are Englishmen embarked in a common cause, and that the prospeiity of Nelson, Wellington, or Otago cannot operate to the injury of Auckland, or of each other, hut very, very much the reverse. We cannot arrive at that conviction, nor can we act upon it, whilst we are nearly as much isolated from each other as from the land of our nativity. What means of communication have we? With Sydney or Hobart Town our intercourse is regular, but, with each other, no certain medium yet exists. Even should Mr. Elliot's calculations with respect to flour, beer, and merchandize be, in some degree, erioneous, there will arise branches of commerce and sources of profit which neither he, nor we, can foresee. The timber trade (no kauri glowing in Cooke's Strait) will far exceed his estimate, and, as a proof, we may cite the " Margaret Brock," arrived at Wellington with a hundred and thirty thousand feet of timber from Hobart Town, which our onw forests of the north could have better suj^plied.

Auckland, on Monday, was tolerably well sprinkled with placards, conveying an invitation that intending adventurers to California should meet at the Victoria Hotel, to appoint a Committee to treat with the owners of the brig Susan, who, " for a consideration," were willing to lay on their vessel for the gold coast. Shoitly after eight o'clock the Billiard Room of the Victoria was closely packed ; from eighty to a hundred persons being present. Mr. Hyam Joseph, by general acclaim, was called to the chair ; to which questionable position Mr. Joseph was half lured, half led. Having lead the placard and stated the object of the meeting, Mr. Joseph said he believed there were several persons prepared with resolutions. Of California, he himself knew nothing. The accounts were very seductive ; — but tales lost none of their attractions by travelling. He would recommend his fellow-colonists to exeicise judgment and discretion, lest it might be with them out of the frying pan into the fire,

Mr. Alexander Wright moved that Mr. Joseph do leave the chair ; as, by his own account, he knew nothing of the business in hand : — he could not tell either the latitude or the longitude of California, — whether it was hot or cold, wet or dry, or anything, in fact, about it — and he (Mr. Wright) and others in that meeting wanted to know all about it ! It was (amidst a Babel-like tumult) explained, that this was a meeting of finance, not of discussion, the real question being, to ascertain in how many eyes dust had been thrown, and how much of the needful could be stumped up, so that the Susan might be set in motion. Mr. Joseph, who had vacated, was again clamorously leinstated in the chair, Mr. Wrights motion having met with no seconder. No resolutionist appeared — no plan seemed to have been devised — and confusion reigned triumphant. At length some gentleman got on his legs to suggest that those persons desnous of proceeding to California should put their names to paper. Upon this hint a few slraggleis did so ; — and it was, then, elicited that the owners of the Sus \n luished sixty passengers at thirty pounds each (£1800). Hereupon the Chairman stated, that if gentlemen would J wait a few days a first class vessel would be laid on at, at least, one third less. Upon this Mr. Partington made an attack on the owneis of the Susan, charging them with wishing to take advantage of the ignorant men of Auckland. This called Dr. Foibes to the rescue of Mr. Beit, whom he characterised as a most worthy man, a merchant of Hamburgh, London, &c, who had asked a price for his biig which she could earn elsewhere. It was re- , peatedly but vainly inquired at whose instance the placaid had issued. No man acknowledged its parentage. The Chairman having announced eleven names on the emigration list, the indefatigable Mr. Wright moved, and Mr. Partington seconded, that those names be read. This was objected to by the signers, but canied by acclamation. The names read were — Mr. Mallett Mr. James Cullen " M« Alpine " F. Ring " Abrahams " T. Mouzani " Henry Williams " R. W. Brett " W. Newington " J. Codlin and James Walker. • A very ardent Californian addressed the meeting, expressing his own impatience to reach the scene of action, and reap the glorious harvest that awaited him. " Gentlemen," said he, " you have all read those grand and {flowing accounts, and a.s you are all here to uake arrangements for going to California" Here the orator was drowned by tumultuous and emphatic shouts of "No, no," and by Mr. Wrights exclamation, " Nothing of the sort — we have only come to laugh at the fools who want to go there ! They will be no loss to the colony — not a man will regret their departure !" Another speakei observed ihat there were plenty present who would gladly go to California if they only had the means. For one, he was heart sick of British colonization. It was a fraud. He came to New Zealand, seduced into the belief that he could acquire land in it ; but not an inch was to be had, unless at a ruinous price ! This man spoke with sense and judgment. He gave but utterance to the sentiment which is the nearest to every colonial heart. He showed how deeply the land oppiessions rankle — how the despotic imbecility of the Colonial Office is estranging every English feeling, and rendering Britons weary of an allegiance which is punished with pains and penalties unknown to the more enlightened States of Ameiica, into whose provinces the best blood of England is incessantly poured. Much conflicting colloquial dialogue followed. But, in older that something might be done, the eleven were formed into a committee, and Dr. Forbes was once more energetically addressing the chair, when a voice from the crowd inquired, " Will you be in this raffle V This gave the coup de grace to the meeting — speaker, chairman, and audience were all convulsed by the vis comica of the interpellation, and the assemblage dissolved forthwith. The raffle, by the way, was a most appropriate one — a brace of pistols — such weapons being absolute necessaries to a Californian outfit. Although there may be more than the eleven amongst us, it is evident that the yellow fever is exceedingly mild in New Ulster. The meeting was one of mirth and ridicule, the common sense of Auckland being far more than a match for the delusions of California.

In reference to California, our attention has been called to a matter to which we beg to direct that of government. We are infotmed by a gentleman, who asserts his knowledge of the fact, that in Mobile, and other slave holding ports, it is a practice to entice African seamen from ships, and afterwards to sell them as slaves. California is a slave holding province. It is hinted that Maori seamen are expected to ship in vessels hence. Now, it is fai from improbable that the coloured rcu ..-rs of New Zealand, and the other islands ot tiie Pacific, might there be lured ashore, and sold to slavery. We, therefore, implore the government to take immediate steps for their protection. Let any shipmaster entering thejn in his vessel, be tyound in heavy penalties for their safe return.

II is an old Indian practice, and, she >i<J v once, be enforced here.

Yesterday afternoon, His Excellency the C - vernor-in-Chief, accompanied by the tL'j, C. A. Dillon, Civil Sectetary, Dr. SincHr, Colonial Secretary, C. W. Li^ar, Esq., Suiveyor General, Captain VignoUs, Private Secretary, &c, &c, left town on a tour of the Waikato, which will, it is anticipated, occupy a period of ten or fourteen days.

Programme.—-On Thursday, 15ih February, (by the permission of Lieutenant Colonel Wynjnrd, C.8.) the Bund of the 58lh Regiment will peiform the followiiii; pieces of music, within the enclosure of the government grounds, from half-past four to halNpast six o'clock :— Overture 0p... " D. Anna Bolena " Paeini Waltz *' The Gar anl " Koenig Song.. •' The Banks of the Blue Moselle "...Rodwell Cavatina Nel 0p... " Ed.varJo X Christina "...Ro>i<iiji Quadiille "The British Navy" Jalhea Sou? "The Lasi of Tathis Mill" Melange 8 ill-A O . " The. Bondman " BalfL ll J v !lu "La Fig.ia del Re imento " Ju 1/ui Ana..' De non 1-eno " Op. Bi nco Fernando.. Bell, u