CALIFORNIA.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 568, 24 September 1851, Page 2

CALIFORNIA.

Intelligence from California to the 12th of July had been received at Sydney, and its substance, with several of the details, fs given in the Herald. It mainly consists of a repetition of the sickening record of revolting crime and Lawlessness which the history o* that State has, especially of late, presented,— rendered more hideous by the characteristic boasting of the journalists and orators about the liberty and magnanimity of their own '•greatest nation." One relieving feature, however, is presented in the evidence of something like a resolution on the part of the authorities to make a stand against the murderous tyranny of the " Vigilance Committee*' That band of sanguinary inquisitors had killed another man, and Judge Campbell had boldly set their atrocity in its proper aspect in cCharge to the Grand Jury. The Mayor of San Francisco had also issued a Proclamation in assertion of the law, But the tone in which both were commented on by the Press auguirs badly for their producing much effect in the establishment of good order. As these documents are the most important of the extracts from the Califomian papers, we give them today, together with the account of the murder of the new victim of the " Vigilance Committee." We have other extracts illustrative of the horrible condition of society in California whicfc we may afterwards copy.

In our last we considered at some length the system of popular Representation established by the Municipal Corporation Charter, with a view of showing that, in its fundamental principles it is equitable, and, in its practical application, judiciously adapted to the circumstances, present and prospective, of the district for which it has been prepared. We adduced evidence, sufficient, we think, to satisfy every impartial mind, that, as far as was practicable, the balance has been held evenly between the several classes of the community, and that all the interests in the Borough have been so remembered and cared for, as that no one of them is sacrificed to any other, each having an influential voice in the management of the whole. We would now add to what we then submitted for consideration, a

few words more on the efficiency and independence of the scheme of self-government thus instituted,— points in which, accoiding to some, the Charter is worse than defective, inasmuch as it vests in the Governor a right of annulling by his veto the decisions of the Council. We have, on a former occasion, adverted to this objection ; but it has been so pertinaciously reiterated and made so much of, that we deem it expedient to expand a little ivhat we then briefly intimated in relation to itAnd, first, we would recall attention to the fact that, whether this reservation of power be right or wrong, the New Zealand Government is neither entitled to praise nor obnoxious to censure on account of it. In embodying it in the Charter, the Governor-in-Chief was exercising, not a legislative, but simply an administrative function, the mafer not bavin? been left to his discretion, but authoritatively determined in the Itoyal Instructions. It is therefore disingenuous and unjust to attempt to cast odium upon him for introducing a condition which, even if he disapproved of it, he was not at liberty to omit. It may further be remarked that, in imposing this condition, the Royal Instructions did not introduce any novel or peculiar limitation, but only carried out an established principle of the British Constitution -that the Sovereign's approbation is necessary to the completion of legislative acts. It merely reserves to the Queen, as represented by the Governor of the colony, the right of veto which HerMAJESTY constitutionally possesses at home, where a Bill, though it were passed unanimously by the Houses of Lords and Commons, is still liable to rejection, in the exercise of the Royal Prerogative. Is it any real grievance, we ask then, that the Auckland Municipal Council is not invested with an absolute independence in action which is not conceded to or claimed by the Imperial Parliament? Again, what ground of serious apprehension need there be that this power will be employed for vexatious or injurious purposes'? The objection can only rest upon the supposition that the Governor will use it arbitrarily* either through inability to form a correc judgment, or through a mere love of mischievous thwarting for its own sake. There will be very little temptation to exercise the veto for political ends, inasmuch as the Corporation will not be, properly speaking, a political organization at all, but rather a Body constituted for objects of local and practical utility, which may, and we trust will, combine the harmonious co-operation of men of different shades of political opinion. If the people of the Borough resolve by their Representatives to make a necessary bridge, or road, or drain ; or to enact rules for the prevention of fire, or the removal of nuisances » or in short to take any lawful means for the preservation of " the good order, health, or convenience of the inhabitants," it is in the highest degiee improbable that any Governor would fiustrate the ends of the Charter by interposing his veto. Moreover, it is perfectly fair, to infer the mode in which this right of veto would be exercised in the case of the Bye Laws of the Common Council, from the mode in which the similar right has actually been exercised in the case of the Bye Laws of the Wardens of Hundreds, We could confidently appeal to the experience of the Wardens in support of our views on this point. Has the right been exercised in any instance in a way to thwart or hinder their arrangements ? We may indeed ask, Has it been exercised at all, strictly speaking 1 The fact, as we have reason to believe, is that there never has been the slightest interference on the part of the Government with the Bye Laws, except when some illegality had been unwittingly fallen into in their construction ; and then the interposition was not an authoritative disannulling of the regulation made by the Wardens, but rather a friendly suggestion of such alterations as the Attorney-Genfral may have deemed necessary. In short, there has been uniformly a cordial disposition manifested by the Executive Government to aid in the promotion of the popular objects of the Ordinance under which the Wardens hold their office ; and we are warranted in anticipating that the same disposition, will be found in the case of the Municipal Corporation. We do not scruple, however, to advance a step further here. We can easily conceive circumstances in which the possession of this power by the Queen's Reprerentativc may be a most valuable safeguard of the public interest. There have before now been incompetent Common Councils, selfish Common Councils, corrupt Common Councils; and, although we in all sincerity believe that the Burgesses of this Borough possess intelligence and integrity sufficient to direct them to the selection of the most trustworthy men, so far as they know them and can obtain thei r services, yet it is, to say the least, possible that, at some time, there may be a Council disposed to carry measures — in the way of taxation, or extravagant expenditure, for example — which may render the power of the Government to prevent such oppression or maladministration a check of the utmost importance—a means of guarding and saving, instead of fettering or crushing, the interests of the people. Viewed in this light, we feel free to say that, had we the choice, we should piefer the continuance of the right of veto, — at least in the beginning, and until Free

Institutions aie moie completely established in the higher depaitments of the legislation of the colony, and the operation or their system of checks and balances is asceitained by experience.

A rumour that Gold bad been found near Hokianga has prevailed in this town for three or four days, and, it is needless to say, has excited some interest. It tests, we believe, chiefly on a passage in a letter received by Mr. John White from Abraham, a Native Chief, of which the following is a translation :—: — Fnencl, — There has gold been found at Omapere by FTikfrMNGi. A foreigner (European) came fiom California, and he showed his pieces of gold. lliKUiA\cr siid, I have seen this thing, thpve is plenty of it heie. The Euiopean said, go and get some. The woman wont and took an adze, and when she ariiveil she dvg 1 , and in the evening she bi ought threo pieces, and she sold one piece in the Day of Islands for £jO ; two pieces were brought by Wriiniiu lloi'liiana Taonui, and Dr. Day put them into the looking w aters, and he said it is real gold. The above letter from Abraham was accompanied by thf following, addressed by bis ia.her, Macquarrie Taonui, to him and his bi other Daniel: — August 2 illi, 18ot. Friends, bow do you do, — bore is my thought to you, — nevertheless this is only common talk to you, thatyou may have thoughts about tins gold lhat has now been found at Putahi. Wo have really the gold ; some of it has been brought hy Wu 1 1 \m Uoij^on ; asyptthobed has not been found. On Monday tht'ie is to be a Committee, you two must come, to thuilc how we shall procure food for us at Taiamau llikiuangi found it ; one piece has been sold in the Bay of Islands for £50. The character of Abraham, from whom this report has come is, we are informed, so good as to pn- elude the probability that he would wilfully misiepresent the fact; but the statement evidently needs fuither proof than the letteis afford, and it is most unlikely that if gold had leally been found the Government would be up to the present uninformed of it, although the discovery is alleged to have been made a month since. Without theiefore absolutely rejecting the tumour as wholly destitute of foundation, we must withhold our credence fiom it until we have it on more satisfactory authority. At all events, it will be time enough to discuss the manner in which a New Zealand Gold Field should be managed, when v . r e have proof that such a Field exists.

Mechanics' Institute. — Last evening the Rev. John Inglis delivered a veiy interesting and instructive Lecture, in the Hall of the Institute, on the " Unity of the Human Species," in the course of which he presented a necessarily condensed, but compact, well-arranged, and convincing view of the arguments by which it can be maintained that all the difuient varieties of mankind have proceeded from one stock — one oiiginal pair. We regret that the attendance was not more numerous, but heavy rain untowardly came on just at the hour of commencing. Those who were absent sustained no inconsiderable loss, as the subject, and the Lectuier's manner of treating it, would have not only merited but requited the attention of a larger audience.