PROSPERITY AND DISCONTENT. (From the "New Zealand Journal," Aug. 24.)

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 507, 19 February 1851, Page 3

PROSPERITY AND DISCONTENT. (From the " New Zealand Journal," Aug. 24.)

The Auckland Islands are gradually growing up into a hungry working youth—of labour and play ; they hare changed the name of their harbour from its poetical tmne nrnnc of " Sarah's Bogota" into the I tniinly title of Port Rosi, " in honour of Sir James j of (hat ilk," v"d be^in to clamour for »eg tablet and fresh piovißion*, which they now have to send for to Sydnty; but by-und-by New Zealand will supply them, while they are too busy bobbing for whales to find time to grow cabbage*. Here risen a new customer, who has something to take sway and no hiriii but blubber and bone to give' in return ; while New Zealand in the lust two yfars hae io increased her dealing direct with Britain, tlm •he no longer troubles Sydney with her ready money in exchange for produce, which it leeins was not hlwhjs ol the bcit quaity or loweit price ; aod whereas vessels from Sydney used to enter the ports of New Zealand heavily luden and return in ballast, they now arrive light and return with cargoes that make them heavy in the waters. Again, California has completely turned the balance of txpoits in fa*uur of New Zealand, that used to be only an importing country. On these matters, after a trial of three mouths only, the Southern Cross venturea to value itself very highly ; but, instead of legitimately foil wing up iU logic, by showing how thin good stau; ol things may be improved, and how an opening com- | merce may lead to the ultimate piospenty of its bet- J tleis it iit« down to groun and » ipe it« eyes, and to ■iglt nnJ " nurse its wrath to keep it warm," only following eveiy topic of con^ratulmion with a grumbling übi»e of the authorities under which, or, as iht* Cross puts it, in spite of which, the Colony is advancing ou the right hand and on the left. Where are tht»d people so oppressed as New Zealan ten ? where if a governor so tyrannical as Grey ? where such an uureaionrtble landlord as tho New -Zealand Company ?

where is a demon in earnest, if not in the Colonialoffice ? most assuredly there are evils enough in the stHte sociiil and the state political of the settlers in all our colonie-,. We <!o not blume tho New Z^alander** fir protesting wi h enrrirj against the iiety tyranny of office, whether in the Colonial internment or at the Colonial-office— but cvi bono ! Wli*t do these complaints teach, or who do they reach ? It is certainly unwise, in the smiie breath, to speak of astounding prosperity and stiugglinif wretchednosn ; of oppression and nnlooked for success, and attribute al! the evil, and the pv'l only, to their government. Besides, oar ■ouihern friends rejoice ton toon. California is an accident of which it is well that they bad the energy and spirit to nviil themselves, but the prosperity to be gained by a few merchants in supplying that moral swamp with physical comfoits can »c>irce!y overbalance the greater evil to the Colony of its reductions, which arc weaning awny some of its best men. The direct trade with England is excellent, but New South Walei has claims upon the remembrance of the colonists of New Zealand «• well mi England, and it it better to promote interchange thnn lieirin to boast of exe'usive deHling ; commerce cannot be all on one side. Let the best possible instiuctur* in the Cnlonv encourage them rather to out exert each other than to sit down and wat-tliei c cgies in scolding their form of governtneHt. The industrious Irish peasant succeeds, even under Iri^li landlordism ; but he hai no tune to feholit at monster me-tings, mid nmke one in chan ing the constitution. There is no question Mint under the w rit aspect of hit present sta'e, the colonist of New Zealaiiil finds the lines fallen to him in ple<isint places, or can ni'ike them so by ability a d industry — m-ver by grumbling and nsyina- hnrsli things which hurt not. Instead of hounding on the " war minister Palmerstoa" —so the SouthPMi Cross detf<;naie» our peace-piotest-ng foretell secretary — to VPtigP'tnce on Austria, and reating his brother colonists with the fervid appeal of a Ko'Sulh or other far off matter that < annot concern him, let him urge him to act in his own regular orderly way to frame pub ie opinion so that when rightly expressed it ihall not fill to tell with good effect in the reilreiB of grievances, or in the advanre of justice and riiht. Vu»ue declamations against the Governor or the Company may be gatheied from frothy patriots, who do nothing for their country but bring it under real tyranny and oppretninn, und so manage their uvu affairs that they become the slaves they falsely punted themselves ; but the rough work of a colonist cannot tll'ord the time for these amusement!. We have nothing to say in favour of ths Colonialoffice, but the Southern Cross muit expect still more of its miimßnHgein -nt, Us office-making for ihe sake of patronage, and all the ills that power is heir to : as for tho Company, of which the Cross complains with, no lets vehemence, its date is. out, it* day of power is nver ; and we believe that we shall hear at much lamenting over its end as wo have been used to hear complaints of iti incapacity Let the colonists forget the Company, and seek in themselves the causes of their evil, nnd keep their hearti up in the hope that they will succeed better under a direct government in England than under a Company who has laid out ih msandi where tbe Government has spent only hundreds.

RfT. Dr. Lang —The intelligence to day of the organized movement got up by Dr. Lang, and of which ■ome accounti had been previously received, for eatab - lishing the independence of the Australian coloniei, has not been regarded as so importunt in its character at the Melbourne papers would seem to represent. Thu entire proceedings of Dr. Lang on the emigration, question during his recent visit to this country /ire familiar to our Australian merchants through the Parliamentary papers on the subject, puhliihed about six months back, and which were of a description 10 preclude the. idea that be was likely to obtain in BUch future objects as he might contemplate any extensive support from his fellow-colonists. It appeared from thi se documents that hi* purpose in London was to obtain a bounty of £18 per head for all such emigrants at he mignt send to Moreton Bay with the view of promoling the cultivation of cotton. His reaßon for urging this grant wa* that a similar one hid been made in favour of a certain number of foreign immigrants who had been imported for the puipose of giving instruction in the art of cultivating the vine and other peculiar product:), but it wai pointed out to him that there wan not the slightest analogy between the two cases, and that as the emigrants he proposed to dcs« patch were of the ordinary kind, whose passage is effected at a coit of about j£l4, hi* requestsimply was that Government shuuld put £i per head, into his own pocket for every person whom he might induce to leave. Subiequently he tried in the same way to obtain grants of land, and although in each case the information wa* reiterated to him that his propositions were altogether in <dmissible, he despatched the ship Fortitude with 970 emigrants, with the a-surance to them that they would on arrival have a free graut of land equal to the amount they had paid far their pHisage-nioney ; while at the s»me time he wrote to Governor Fiiz Roy intimatmg that he had obtained the co-operatiou of lh« Government, and requestiug in consequence the various advan ages for which !>c had been negotiating here, but to which he wai wholly uneu* tilled. On the auivul of the vessel ut Mo re ton Bay it was found that *ickne«s had prevailed on board to «. moit fatal extent, and that the poor people were to be landed without the slightest preparation having been made for their reception. Under the circums>ancei, ration* from the Government store* were distributed to keep them from Marvin,*, and a lodging also was accord. d to them in the t-migmi n depot; but at the lime time Governor Fitz Roy tent home an account of the tranaaction, in which he charactensed it as " a gross fraud attempted to be pnctißi-d on the Colonial G verument." After these diiappointmetiu in hi* t-chemes Dr Lang, it will be remembered quitted EngImd in November last, leaving behind him a letter for publication in the newspapers full of the wildeit charge* about the discourtesy he bad received (although there is no evidence of anything but patient toleration of hi* evasive and impracticable importunitieiy, coupled with incoherent and wholly unfounded statements of encouragement given to the emigration of Romish priest* and PupUti in general, and terminating with a plain announcement that be vas returning with a view to avenge the mortification he had exptiienced by agitating for an iiqftiyliatf severance from the mother country and for ttye election of a " President of the United State* of Australia." In the face of these things, and of the fact of his weil-known wont of mercantile precision, which beems from the present account to have ended in his being impuxoiied for what the Melbourne papers term " some matter ol debt," it itt con till' red probable by parties ncqua Mod with the s ate of feeling in the colonien that even if sepirttioa were detired, the leadership of Dr. Lang would, in miny quarters, be likely rattier to retuid than to advance i— an inference which is also wai ranted by the •ingulai bittemegi of hi* secta'iHti «mmositie*. The moat interesting statement*, however, in connexion with the affair, And such as will throw most light on its progress, will be those which we mar receive from hit former position, where his influence will be be« located. — Timet, Siptcmlet 3-