The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 6, Issue 441, 6 July 1850, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

SAT.URDAY, JULY 6, 18 50.

By the Isabella, Captain Gedge, which arrived in our harbour yesterday, we have leceived Hobart Town papers to the 13th of June, and various other colonial journals. They bring no later news from England than we weic already in possession of via Sydney, and, as to California intelligence, they contain but little, and that little considerably older than what had reached us by the Shamrock. The local news in them has no interest, which would warrant our excluding for its sake any of the matter which this day crowds our sheet and supplement, and for the insertion of which we had made our arrangements before the arrival of the Isabella.

In returning, as we promised, to the Parliamentary Intelligence lately received, we may most conveniently arrange our additional notices into summaries of the proceedings of each of the Houses of the Legislature separately. In the House of Lords, the Earl of Mountcasiiell called attention to the important subject of outrages which had been committed on unprotected females in emigrant ships. He founded his remarks especially on the treatment expeiienced by some of the women on board the barque Indian from England to South Australia, which, (as wete clearly proved at a public meeting convened after the arrival of the vessel at Adelaide,) was of the most gross and scandalous character. Owing to the connivance of the captain, and the revolting licentiousness of the second mate, the surgeon, and the steward, " the vessel had been converted into a sink of iniquity worse than the worst brothel of London." One innocent young woman who complained to the captain, was taken on deck and had water thrown on her with such violence as to knock her down ; and a male passenger who stood up in her defence was also assaulted. Mr. Davis, the first mate, was the only officer on boaid who acted properly. lie was sorry to say that this was not an isolated case, for he had heard of other ships where similar profligacy prevailed, although it had not been made public. His Lordship, adverting to Mr. Sidney Herbert's emigration scheme, asked, Was it likely thai virtuous women would trust themselves on board vessels where such outrages might be renewed ? Or would Boards of Guardians feel free to comply with the circular of the Poor Law Commissioners by selecting " well conducted girls " to emigrate, if no protection were to be extended to them by the officers of the emigrant vessels '?.... Earl G rey said he had received no official communication respecting the Indian, but he had read an account of the meeting at Adelaide in a newspaper. The allegations weie under investigation, and he assured the noble Earl that the guilty parties should be visited with the severest penalties of the law. Not only were the officers of the vessel liable to punishment for abuses committed during the voyage, but the ship-owners would not escape. The Emigration Commissioners had power to hold back a large portion of the passage money, and they had not hesitated to exercise that power when abuses were proved. In one case he had himself directed them to withhold the sum of £500, to which the ship owners would otherwise have been entitled. The Surgeons were under the control of the Commissioners, but as the remuneration was small, there was some difficulty in getting competent persons to act in that capacity. He concluded by assuring the noble Earl that no effort would be spared to guard against such abuses. Lord Mountcashell has done good service in bringing this subject so prominently before Parliament and the country. We can scarcely coni ceive conduct more infamously base in itself, or more calculated to check one of the most valuable foims of emigration to these colonies, than that to which he referred, and which, — as he, with we fear too much truth stated, — is, practised to a greater or less extent in many instances which never obtain publicity. We hold it however, to be the bounden duty of all to whose knowledge such cases may come, to bring the unmanly and profligate offenders within the grasp of those laws which, we are happy to learn, are sufficiently stringent to deal with them in some measure according to their deserts. Lord Monteaglk presented a petition from Port Phillip complaining that the elective franchise is at present so restricted as to leave the vast interests of the squatters, and of professional persons wholly unrepresented. Earl Grey admitted that the grievance stated by the petitioners was a very re.il and substantial oue, but it was one which he did not think capable of being dealt with by the Imperial Parliament ; the minute information necessary to pievent the evil of creating too much or too little local influence being eutnely wanting There is obviously a great principle here conceded by his Lordship — viz. the absolute impossibility of a Legislature sitting in London having the knowledge essential to the enactment of regulations

applicable to the circumstances of a population at the antipodes. How far will the noble Secrei'ary be willing to ael out this principle in piactice ? Lord Stanley had given notice of his intention to bring the unfoilunate Dolly's JBiae collision, and Lord Roden's dismissal from the magistracy, under the consideration of the House ; but although he probably had done so before (he date to which our intelligence comes down, we find no account of it in the papeis before us. It would no doubt be a deeply interesting discussion on Irish affaus. On the presentation of petitions fiom the Cape praying that convicts might not be transpoited to that colony, Loid Brougham took occasion to condemn the conduct of the colonists as most cruel and unjustifiable in not allowing the unfortunate convic's on hoard the Ncplune to land after the sufferings of then long voyage. Lord Stanley said he certainly would not vindicate their having carried their opposition so far. The matter then dtopped. Ecclesiastical affairs had occupied apoition of their Lordship's time, but the explanation before us of the measures introduced are so unsatisfactory, that we must wait for our own English files to understand them fully. We aie informed that the Bishop of London intioduced a " Clergy Proceedings Bill," establishing a Court of Appeal in suits instituted against the clergy and others for heresy The Marquis of Lansdowne brought forward a new Ecclesiastical Commission Bill, of which we know nothing beyond the title. In the course of a conversation upon it, the Archbishop of Canterbury referred to the abstraction from the funds of the church, of £7,000 or £8,000 by the late Secretary of the Commission, who, after having long been a faithful servant, engaged in some speculations which, involving him in embarrassments, had induced him in an evil hour to appropriate the monies confided to him, in the expectation that he would be able to replace them Lord Harhowby, the Bishop of London, and Lord Stanley urged an augmentation in the number of Bishops. . . .The bill was read a second time. In the House of Commons, Sir W. Molesworth inquired whether any legal form of Government at piesent existed in Western Australia, and if so, by what law was that Government constituted'? The Act making temporary provision for its government had expired on the Ist August lajt, and any ordinances .since made by the persons composing its legislature must be illegal. The Attorney-Ge-nkral replied that although the Act certainly had expired, there was notwithstanding a legal government still existing in the colony, for that Act authorised the King or Queen in Council to create a certain species of Government, and that Government having been created, did not cease to exist when the Act under which it was called into being expired. . . Mr. Adderley followed up the subject by asking whether the Government of Western Australia possessed the taxing power *? The Attorney-General, amidst much laughter in the House, answered that the legislatuie was created for the " peace, order, and good government" of the colony, and that it had always been held that taxing was an essential p irt of good government. A committee was nominated to investigate the affairs of Ceylon and Lord Torrington's proceedings there. Mr. Hume, however, declared his belief that justice could not be done by that committee. Mr. Roebuck availed himself of the opportunity to vindicate Lord Torrington's conduct, in a speech which Mr. Hume denounced as tyrannical, declaring that his lordship's own evidence was sufficient to convict him. Here we again pause, although there are several matters worthy of notice in the Parliamentary summaries before us. As the Fairy Queen is now fully due, we may daily expect to receive our direct supply of English journals, which will enable us to lay these and other items of intelligence before our readers I more satisfactorily than we can do at present.

Tim Speech of His Excellency Sir Charles A. Fitziioy, on opening the Session of the Legislative Council at Sydney on the 4th of June, is a document which must interest not merely the friends of New South Wales, but all who feel anxious for colonial progress and prosperity. A summary of it, with extracts of the passages of most general importance, ivill, we have no doubt, be acceptable to our readers. After an acknowledgement of the goodness of Divine Providence in granting another abundant wheat harvest, and a cheap and plentiful supply of the necessaries and comforts of life, His Excellency thus refers to the exports of the Colony :—: — I am happy lo find also that the material resources of the colony continue steadily to increise. The total quantity of wool expoited in 1849 was (27,960,530 lbs.) twenty-seven millions nine hundred and sixty thousand, five hunched and thiity pounds, being an mc. ease on the previous ye.ir ofnoaily live million of pounds. The total quantity of callow exported was one hundred and fifty-four thousand one hundred and three hundied weight, (154 103 ewt.,) being an inciease on the previous year of nearly fifty-six thousand hundred weight. The Revenue Returns present an equally satisfactory aspect : — I have likewise to congratulate you on the prosperous btntc ol tie Public Revenue. The gross amount realised in the past year exceeded that collected in 1848, by the large sum of ninety-live thousand nine hunched and seventy fjur pounds, nine shillings, and

two-pence (£9.'),97'1, Js. 2ii.) Of this nmoiinf, tlic excess on the General or Ordinary Revenue was thirtyeight thousand thtce hundicd and twenty-, four pounds three shillings, and seven-pence (X' 38,321 :ss. 7d ), and on the Tcrritoiial Revenue, flltv seven thousand six lmndrrd and fifty pounds, five shilling, ami seven-pen, c (£<~)7,l)oO sh. 7d ), irrespective of the sum raised on iU security hy the sale of Land and Im initiation Drbentuies. The usual abstracts of lcceipt and e\pendituie will be piesented to you without del iy. Refetence is next made to the delay in the passing of the Austialiau Colonies Bill, and the probability that it would be proceeded with eaily in the Parliamentary Session of the present year It is intimated that the usual quinquennial census of the population will be taken next year, accoidingto a plan based upon suggestions piepared by the RkoistrarGeneral of England. It is mentioned that it is intended at the same period to take a census of the population of the United Kingdom and of all other parts of Her Majlsty's dominions, — so that there will be, for the first time, a simultaneously prepared and compiehcnsive refiun of the total number of human beings under the authoiity of the Butish Ciowti. After an allusion to the despatch (mentioned in our last) respecting the conditions on which a military force would be continued in the colony, the subject of immigration is lefeired to as follows •.—. — It will be my duty to lay before you a series of despatches from the Seen lory of State on the subject of immigration. 1 find by a return furnished by the. Immigration A»c»t, that the totil number of persons who ai-'ived in the colony during the past y ,n was twenty thousand eight hundied and sixly.five. Of these eleven thousand one hundred .md thuty-seven came to the bydney Distiiet, and nine thousand seven hundied and twenty-eight to U c Poit Phillip District 01 the whole lumber tints introduced the passage of fifteen thousand two hundred and ninety-tin cc wete paid wholly or m part from colonhl funds, in ihe pioportion of seven thousand eight hundred and sixty sii to the Sydney distiict, and seven thousand lout hundred ai^d twenty - seven to the l'oit Phillip Distiict: the territorial revenue in each dusliiot being charged piopoiliuuately with the expense. The following paragraph has special interest, and needs no comment : — The emigiation from this colony to California fiom the cailiest period to ihe present date has amounted to three thousand eight hundred and fourteen souls, of whon. three thousand three hundred and forty eight left the Sydney Disliict, and four hundred and sixtysix the Port Phillip Distiict. 'Ihe return from which this in'ormation is derived will bo laid before you I have caused <i communication to be made to the Land and Emigration Commissioneis lecommending as a prospective, measuie that emigrants receiving passages at the colonial expense should he required to enter into an engagement, pi. vious y to their embarkation, to remain in the colony for ccitun specified peiiods, or to rcimbuisc a propoitiomte amoun of thupa sage-money, if tb iy should desiii* sooii"i to remove iheieliom. Viewing the general chaiaeier of tin- emigiat.on of this description which has taken place, it does nut appear to me to be expedient to adopt any further measures, at ' picscut, »wth a view to impede i s course. The accounts which have been received of the baldly earned success of home and the disappointment and failure of many of those persons who have gone to California, have tended to oonfhin the labouring classes in their appreciation of the natural advai.tiges of steady employment and cheap living which this colony affords, and have already piodiued the effect of an almost enthe suspension of emigration to that country. Police Reform next claims attention. The system of Police is to be re-modelled with two ' important chaiges, — 1. The establishment of an efficient central department invested with complete control over the whole executive police of the colony ; and 2. The intioductiou from the United Kingdom of an organized foice, engaged for a limited period of service. The remaining paragraph lefers to a matter of local concern, but of the utmost importance to Sydney itself, — " A Bill better to provide for the Sewerage of the city, and to promote the health of its inhabitants." We have rpad the statements in this speech with much gratification, and cannot but lejoice in the growth and prosperity of this elder sister of the great colonial family of Australasia. The discussions in the Council down to our latest dates had little interest, with the exception of one respecting the English and the Colonial Banks m New bouth Wales. This subject had excited much public attention befoie the meeting of Council, having been the theme of numerous articles both in the editorial columns and the '• Original Correspondence" of the Herald. It was strongly contended that the Anglo-Colonial Banks have for some time been employing in a lucrative business a large proportion of colonial capital, in this year actually exceeding the amount of their own share-holders' capital employed ; and that, by means of these Banks, absentee capitalists in England annually drain the colony of from £80,000 to £100,000, in exchange for which the colonists " leceive nothing, or next to nothing." Taking this view of the case, Mr. Murray moved in Council a series of Resolutions declaring that "inasmuch as the shareholders in the Colonial Banks in New South Wales are for the most part, if not wholly, resident in the colony, those Banks afford a better and more tangible security for deposits of the public revenue than Banks belonging to an absent and comparatively unknown proprietary ;"— that, moreover, if there be any advantage derived by Banks from such deposits it should be conferred on those which are identified with the colony itself ; — and that, therefore, an Address be presented to the Governor, " praying that he will restrict the deposits of the public revenue to the Colonial Banks and the Public Treasury." The Colomial Secretary opposed the Resolutions. At the time those Bunks were established, the introduction

of English capital for the development of the lcsources ot the colony was hailed as a gioat boon. Although their operations might have pressed hardly upon some sections of the community, the hbeial assistance aflbided by them had "-avert numbers of settlers from ruin. Nothing could be more disastrous than to adopt vncasiucs which would pievent the further employment of English capital there. To require that no Government deposit should be made in any of the English Hanks was too much in these days of f ice-trade, ;md not accordant with even-handed justice, besides, the proposition was somewhat late, as the .separation fiom Poll Phillip, which was likely so soon to take place, would involve the necessity of an entiie change in financial airangements After a long debate, Mi. Murryy's propositions ucie negatived, but only by a majority of one, the numbers being, Ayes, 9 , Noes, 10. The motion theiefoie had a much faher chance of success than a " Hill to regulate Banking in New South Wales," f ounded on the same views, which had been ' "'tioduccd a day or two before by Mr. Marhn, "jt which, fiom its ciudeness and impracticability, was leceived so unfavourably that it was almost immediately withdrawn. The subject, however, had taken such a hold on the public mind that it was not likely to be dropped; and it seemed probable that (accoiding to a suggestion by Mi. Lvmij, concuned m by the Coi.oni \i. Si'crm'ary) a Select Committee would be appointed to consider the whole system of Banking in the Colony, with a view to the lecommendalion of .such legislative interference as the case might seem to demand. The Directors of the Sydney Railway Company had paid into the Trea.su ly the sum of XI O,OOO required by the Act of Incoiporation befoie they could commence actual opeialions. Nothing remained theiefore to pievent their immediately setting to work, and it was arranged that the " (iist turf" for the "Railway should be turned on the 3rd of July (Wednesday last) — a duty which the Hon. Mis. K. Stewart was expected to pei form. The Pirectois intended to celebtate with becoming honours this the actual commencement of the first i ail way in Auslialasia. Dr. Lang's (/rand "Australian College" pioject does not seem destined to have any better success than some of the other schemes of that bold and vesatile projector. Indeed, a disiuption has already taken place in the College. The Jleuild of June 5, contains a lengthened statement of giievances, signed by eight of the students whom Or. Lang brought out fiom England with a view to their employment in the ministiy. They complain of sundry indignities and annoyances to which the Doctor exposed them on the voyage and dining their residence in bib house since theii ai rival; but especially of his endeavour to inlcr'eie with the religions fieedom which ho had promised should be saciedly theirs Of the twentytwo students who came out with him in the Clifton, five weie Baptists, ten Independents, four United Piesbyleiians, one a Wesleyan, one a member of the Fiee Chinch of Scotland, and one a mcnibci of the Fiencli Protestant Church. Several of them went to the places of worship belonging t') the denominations with which they weic connected, and for a while all seemed so far satisfactory. But when Dr. Lang went to Melbourne, he left after him a letter addiessed to the Students generally, in which he informed them that he must " insist " that " they shall attend his ministiy," and " the weekly piayer meeting in the Scots Chinch on Wednesday evenings," and that '.' they shall not consider themselves at libeity to engage in any service or to attend any meeting, whether congregational or social, on the invitation of any other minister or mimsleis whatever, without the pievit»u.s concurrence of Mr. Qu/uifKor Dr. Lang." lie adds, "If any of the Students prefer spending the Sabbath with Mr. Ham or Dr. Ross, or anybody else, they must make up their minds to spend the rest of the week also with those gentlemen." Eight of the students diew up a leply lemonstrating against this attempt to coerce their consciences, and declaiing that they would not be compelled *,o deseit the churches to which they were attached. The tale is too long to permit oin going through it all, but the conclusion is that these students have felt constrained to "leave Dr. Lang and his College for ever." Meanwhile, the Reverend Doctor, having got out of prison by making .some "ariangement" with Mr. Wilkinson lespecting the <C 720 wi'h which that gentleman accommodated him in England, was figuring at our last dates in the character of a candidate for the representation of the Poit Phillip distiirl. There weie two vacancies and four candidates Dr. Lang, Mr. Ebden, Majoi Merciir, and Mr. L. Macalisimi. The Herald of the 12th of June has an account of the nomination, but the result of the election is not yet determined, as the Governor, by a Pioclamation in the Gazelle of the Mth of June, had extended the time allowed for the retui n of the wnt fiom the 25th of June to the 9th of July.

111-Reqwted Bravery. — We are infonncd that on Satin day night a seaman belonging to the Inckinnan, having got from a boat belonging to that vessel into the Alligator, in a state of intoxication, fell overboard from the deck of the schooner. A Tonga Native named Thomas Thomson .seeing the occunence sprang

into the Inchinnan's boat which lay alongside the schooner, and succeeded in lcscumg the man from a fate which would otheiwise have been inevitable. The geneious native then took him on boaul the Afhcjalor, paid him evciy necessaiy attention, and ga\e up bis own bed to him for the night. The only token of gratitude lie leuuvcd from the individual foi whom he had done so much was an accusation of having stolen from him some money and clothes — a charge which Thomson's good chalacter and the Known facts abundant ly lefutcd. The kind Native, howevci, was not deteued by this fiom continuing to aid the thankless fellow, but took him on shoie for medical assistance, and then helped him to get on bcaid the fnchimum again. We need not say that Thompson's conduct menls all commendation, the more because the object of his mtiepid kindness proved so basely unniatcful.

Be just and fear not Let all the ends thou anns't at, be thy Count) y'% Thy God's, and Truth*..