The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 586, 26 November 1851, Page 2

The New-Zealander.

The ceremonies appointed for the formal introduction to office of the First Common Council elected under the new Charter, took place on Satuiday, in accordance with the progianime copied in our last fro n the Government Gazette ; and, passed off in a manner which could not be otherwise than highly gialifying to the genuine friends of duly-re-gulated local self-ftoverniiient. The Supreme Court House was fitted up for the occasion with an effectiveness which, considering the compaiatively limited resources available here for such a pmpose, reflected great credit on the taste und energy with which VLr. sheriff Hekrfy had presided over the preparations. The dock, witness box, &c, were removed to afford better accommodation ; the walls and roof weie overspiead with decorations principally formed from the beautiful New Zealand fern -palm -tree, intermingled with flags ; the table, bench, &c, were covered with scarlet cloth; r< served seats were provided for the functionaries engaged in the proceedings, for Naval, Military, and Civil Officers, for the Clergy, for Justices of the Peace, and— though last-named, we need not say not least important in adding grace to the seene — for Ladies, a large number of whom were present; the body of the Hall was appropriated to the public generally, and was densely filled by a compact mass of the inhabitants of the district, (about an equal number to those within thronging around the entrance, unable to obtain room in the building) ; and the whole presented a very striking and pleasing coup (T ceil, rendered more impressive by the recollection of the occasion which had drawn together so numerous and respectable an assemblage, — one the importance of which seems to be generally felt. Precisely at noon his Excellency LieutenantGovernor Wynyard took his place, his Honor Chief Justice Martin ocenpying a seat on his right, and the members ot the Executive Council and a number of officers in full uniform being grouped behind. The Oath of Allegiance (the only cath required by the Charter) was then administered to the fourteen Common Councillors of the Boiough. The completion of this part of the proceedings wai announced outside by a flourish of bugles. The LieutenantGovernor then called on the Councillors to cltoose their Mayor and Aldermen, which, (after ha\ing retired for a short time) they did, presenting the names which we anticipated in our last, viz., Mayor, Mr. Archibald Clark, of the Middle Town Ward, and Aldermen, Mr. Patrick Dignan, of the West Town Ward, Mr. James O'Neill, of the Suburban West Ward, Mr. William Powditch, of the Epsom West Ward, and Mr. William Mason, of the Tamaki East Ward. The Royal Proclamation and the Charter of Incorporation were then read in extenso by the Clerk of Councils, Mr. Coates ; after which his Excellency the Lifuten ant-Governor read the following

ADDRESS. Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen, — As you have now become qualified to enter upon the discharge of your official duties as the llepi'csentatives of the newly-constituted Body Corporate, I avail myself, with pleasure, of the earliest opportunity to deliver into your custody, to bo preserved amongst the records of the Borough, the Charter of Incorporation by which the District of Auckland has been erected into a Municipality. The Deeds of Transfer necessary for conveying to you the Lands set apart as Endowments towards the support of the Institutions to be entrusted to the management of the Corporation, will be placed in your possession so soon as your Town Clerk shall be appointed, or some other person shall be authorized to receive the same, and the several sums of money applicable to the maintenance of these institutions will, as they become due, be paid into the hands of the Treasurer of the Borough, when an officer shall have been I appointed by you to act in that capacity. You are probably aware that, under the provisions of the " Land Fund Appropriation Ordinance,' 1 passed in the recent Session of the General j Legislative Council, it is competent for the Governor of the Province, at his discretion, to authorize the application of any proportion not exceeding one-third of the gross proceeds of the Sales of Crown Lands effected within the limits of the Borough, towards such purposes as shall be signified to him by, or on behalf of, the Corporation. Since your election a Sale of Crown Lands has been effected, realizing upwards of £1,400. I shall have great pleasure in authorizing the application of one-third of that sum to such public purpose, for the benefit of the Borough, as may be signified by you in that behalf. Accompanying the Proclamation and Charter, you will find a Schedule of the Lands to be shortly transferred to you ; a detailed statement of the Expenditure on works not yet completed, with an Estimate of the probable Amount required for their completion ; and much useful information respecting the Public Works and Institutions to be committed to your charge. As the management of the local affairs of the Borough will henceforth be vested in the Inhabitants themselves, I confidently anticipate that a powerful stimulus will be given to its improvements, from the increased zeal, economy, and efficiency with which its affairs will in future be administered. 1 am quite aware, Gentlemen, that the duties of tW Oflice-Bearers of the Corporation will trespass largely on their time and attention, and entail upon them responsibilities inseparable from the exercise of every important public trust : — ; but I think, Gentlemen, it cannot fail to be a matter of gratifying personal distinction to yourselves to be selected from upwards of fourteen hundred Burgesses, to fill the office, and discharge the duties, of the first Council of the first Corporation established in this country under the immediate sanction of the Royal Authority : and 1 feel assured that you will be stimulated to a zealous exercise of the high trust reposed in you, by the consciousness of possessing the confidence of" the great body of those on whom the Elective Franchise has been conferred The objects of the Charter, and the principles j on which it has been framed, have already been fully explained in the published Despatch of the Governor-in-Chief, a document which I would recommend to your careful consideration. How far the Charter, in its details, is calcuated to effect these objects, time, and experience

alone can determine : but I have no doubt that the Provincial Legislature, by whom alone its pro\isions enn be altered, will give due weight to any recommendations for its modification or amendment -which the mature practical experience of the Council of the Borough may lead them to suggest. Looking, however, to the liberal principles on which it has been framed, — the varied and extensive powcis conferred by it, — and^ to the already numerous and rapidly increasing population incorporated under its provisions, — 1 feel assured that the Auckhxd Chartkr will organize a Public Body, who, co-operating with the Government for the furtherance of the common good, may be the means of securing, not only for the Inhabitants of the District, but for the community at Urge, many important advantages which neither the Government nor the Corporation, alone, would be enabled to accomplish: and I express the sentiments of the Governor-in-Chief, as -well as my ovn, when 1 assure you that it is our sincere desiiu not only to aid the Corporation in their own particular field of local usefulness, but cordially to cooperate with them for the advancement of the colony at large. I have now only to express to you, Gentlemen, my confident expectation that, when the various Incorporated Settlements of New Zealand shall have started in the race of honourable rivalry, the first Council of the first Corporation will take and maintain a place no less distinguished in the field of practical usefulness : and I will conclude by expressing to the Burgesses at large, through yourselves, their chosen representatives, my sincere desire that the Corporation of the Borough of Auckland may be distinguished by a long, useful, and prosperous career. (Signed) K. 11. Wyntakd, Lieutenant- Governor.

The Charter and other documents referred to in the Addiess were then presented to the Council ; the Band of the 58th played " God save the Queen ;" the Guard of Honour presented arms, and a salute of twelve guns was fired from Fort Britomart. Thus terminated the proceedings of the day, the only drawhack to which was an alarm produced hy a sudden sinking of the floor, owing to the great pressure of the crowd, which broke down one of the supporting beams, and burst two pillars of brick, on which the weight rested Mr. Sheriff Bekrey, however, with much presence of mind intimated that the floor was not very safe and requested the multitude to avoid stamping. Excepting this interruption (which produced less excitement than it mght have done had the real danger been geneially known) the whole passed off in the most regular and agreeable manner. The Address of the Lieutenant-Governor was judiciously adapted to the occasion, and has been received, so far as we have learned, with general satisfaction. The immediate transfer to the Common Council of the entire third of the proceeds of the Land Sale on the preceding day, was most opportune, as giving the Corporation, on the very day of its inauguration, some money wherewith to commence operations, and piactically refuting the ill-omened apprehensions of the enemies of the Charter who, amongst other stratagems to inflame public feeling against it, suggested that because the Goveunor was not absolutely bound to grant as much as one-third of the proceeds, therefore he would not do it. The reference to the possible • existence of defects in the Chattel, which the Provincial Council may remedy on the suggestion of the Council of the Borough, was also well-timed ; as was the expression of the disposition of the Government to co-operate cordially with the Corporation, not only for the promotion of works of local utility, but also *' for the advancement of the colony at larjje." The services which the Common Council may render to "the colony at large as well as to the I Borough/ can scarcely be commenced better than by the immediate adoption of steps to protest against the New Zealand Company's iniquitous claim for £268,000 from the Colony,— as referred to in our last. We should not like to see our Common Council assume the character of a controversially political Body ; and we trust it will not permit itself to be wheedled or driven into an identification of itself with the views or aims of any merely political party,— but this case is one which falls within its most legitimate province. It is right that the Auckland district, speaking through its first really representative organization, should pronounce a prompt and emphatical condemnation on a monstrous claim, which, if enforced, would be absolutely destructive to its progress. This may be done in general terms, without embarrassing thedeclaiation with any details which would require laborious preparation, and which may with propriety be left as the work of the Provincial Council. A plain straightforward denunciation of an attempt to inflict a great and crushing wrong, is all that is required, and may be conveyed in a few words. In such a course he Corporation Council would have the unanimous concurrence of all classes and political parties. The Corporation is now fairly launched, on a more tranquil sea and with more prospering gales than many looked for at the first announcement of the Charter. But upon the men who have been chosen to work the vessel will depend the character and success of the enterprise. The eyes of the public will naturally be fixed upon the proceedings of a Body which, in this first year especially, may so materially advance or mar the welfare of the Borough. The Charter, whatever may be its defects, is, we have always maintained, capable of being so worked as to produce extensive and important advantages to the community. That it shall be so worked is only what the Burgesses are entitled to expect from their representatives. It is worthy of observasion that no individual who declared a disposition to frustrate the Charter has been sent into the Council. There are indeed some Councillors who have made no public avowal of their views respecting it, — an omission which we think their respective constituencies ought not to have permitted while the elections were pending ; — but we anticipate that these gentlemen will not prove obstructives, for we cannot believe that any man of honourable mind would have accepted office under the Chaiter with an intention of using his power to defeat its objects, — at all events, unless he had explicitly declared that intention to the Burgesses before his election. We await the course of the deliberations of the Council, however, with a strong desire that it may be our gratifying duty from time to time to point out zeal, wisdom, impartiality, and efficiency, as the attributes by which it shall be characterised, We understand that the first meeting will take place on Saturday, in the Council Chamber, which the Lieutenant-Governor has courteously granted for the purpose. The Charter provides that all the meetings shall be open to the public.

Our gentlemanly contemporary the Southern Cross, in the course of the two or three columns of comment on the Nuw ZeaLANDKU, its Proprietors, and its Editor, in which it revelled in its wonted style on .Friday, dogmatically enunciated this apophthegm of deep wisdom, for the edification of the conductors of newspapers generally, and of our rather refractory and indocile .selves in particular :—: — "No newspaper will e^cr l>c permitted to arrogate a claim to ouiclo and govern public opinion. No Pros*, whatever the talent, integrity, or independence of its conductors, should aspire to lead a people. Its province is to point out and give expie&Mon to public opinion — to suggest, not to dictate — to indicate ideas, not to strive to enforce dogmas." This ex cathedra deliverance of the judgment of so profound a critic seems to call for a few words of notice from us, for whose edification chiefly it was pronounced. The Cross does not especially shine in clearness of discrimination between things that differ, and may not therefore have perceived that there is a wide distinction between " arrogantly claiming to gove'io^ public opinion, ' and honestly striving ffo " lead" it, by a faithful record of facts, and a candid course of argument. The former would bo not merely an unseemly and reprehensible, but an absurd and self-des-tructive policy ; for the public would soon rise in arms against any overbearing dictation of this kind on the part of a journalist, and the presumption of the attempt would ensure its discomfiture. But there is a sense in which the readers of a newspaper not only yield, but expect, to be " led" on public questions. We mean, they are both willing, and (in a majority of instances) desirous, that their newspaper should not merely present to them true and adequate intelligence on subjects of interest, but also that its conductors should submit for their consideration such views and conclusions as their study of those subjects have led them to I form. Editors may be supposed in many in&t mccs to have opportunities of collecting information from publications, documents, correspondence, and other sources, which many of their readers do not possess ; and moreover it is their professional duty to give more time and thoughtjto the examination of the information they obtain, than readers busily engaged in other pursuits, can devote to the various relations and bearings of public affairs. No right-judg-ing person therefore will regard an Editor as stepping beyond his province when he states the opinions at which lie has conscientiously arrived, —at the same time that he lays before his readers, as fully as he can, the facts and reasonings on which he has founded those opinions, respectfully inviting them to investigate for themselves, and adopt, modify, or reverse his conclusions, as to their own judgment may seem fit. There is no arrogant dictation here, but the simple performance of a duty required at his hands by nine out of ten of his readers. To say that a newspaper is to do nothing more than "give expression to public opinion," is to talk sheer nonsense, so far as practical purposes are concerned. "What is " public opinion \ " Amidst the diversified and often contradictory views taken of public questions, how is '•public opinion" in the aggregate to be ascertained'? Or how is it even to he formed, except, to a consideiable extent, by the comparison of the sentiments of different parties as they are exhibited in the discussions of the periodical press \ Is a journalist to have no head, no heart, no conscience of his own, — or, at least, to keep them all in abeyance until this frequently vague and fluctuating thing called "public opinion" becomes fixed and palpable, and then to " give expression" to it, no matter what its character or tendencies may be ? This may be " independence" and literary morality in the estimation of the Cross, but it is not either in our estimation. We must add, the Southern Cross is one of the last papers from which such remarks should proceed. It would be difficult to to find in the whole range of Home or Colonial journalism a print more offensively characterised than itself by a dictatorial style, and a habit of bitterly attacking those who do not bow to its dicta as little less than infallible. We need not travel for proof beyond the very question in connexion with which it propounded this dogma. When the Auckland Municipal Charter was proclaimed, how did the Cross labour to " guide" or rather bully the community into a fierce and blind hostility to it! The public were told to "make a stand against it,"— to " repudiate" it,— to " refuse steadfastly to have anything to do with it :"— a " public expression of opinion" was called tor in order to " g;et rid of the measure;" and the "inhabitants of Auckland" were admonished not to" cast themselves prostrate beneath the grinding wheels of the Corporate Juggernaut tendered for their acceptance.' WasJ there no " dictation" here ? Or was the -attempt to "guide and govern" less "arrogant" because, as the issue has shown, it was ludicrously powerless ? Or did, our contemporary, "express public opinion" when he advocated an instant rejection of the Charter, without any trial of its operation, or any attempt to extract from its provisions whatever measure of good they could afford, pending its improvem ent ? The transactions of yesterday week and of Saturday have unanswerably decided that point, and decided it, we need not add, to his very small comfort. Hence' we suspect, the " overflowings of bile" with which the columns of the Q*oss are nowsurcharged. Its dullest adherents must see that in this important matter the would-b& Dictator has proved impotent as a director, and deceiving as an exponent of " public opinion."

Monganui Coal, —A few weeks since we mentioned that encouraging indications of Coal had been found at Monganui, and that Captain Butler, of that port, was engaged in steps for turning the discovery to public advantage. That gentleman, who is now in town, has left a specimen of the coal at our office, and several other portions are in the hands of persons competent to test its quality,—which, from what we have heard, we anticipate will prove satisfactory. The Government, as we are informed, not only have the matter under consideration, but already have adopted measures to ascertain

the value of the coal, and (should it be found desirable to pioceed) to purchase the land fiom the native owneis. There seems no doubt that the mineral exists in large quantity, as it is found cropping out in seveial places, all of ■which have the great advantage of being so near the water that there would be the utmost facility for its cheap and expeditious carriage. We shall watch with lively interest the result of the investigations now in progress, as the value to this distiict of a good coal-mine in so favorably situated a locality could scarcely be over-estimated.

Proposed Yacht Club. — It will be observed by an Advertisement in our other columns that a movement is in progress for the formation of a permanent Yacht Club, and that a Meeting to make arrangements for the purpose will be held on Friday evening at the Masonic Hotel. The proposition is interesting not only to those who may derive gratification from its more immediate resulis, but to the public at large ;— as, both at home and in the other colonies, such Clubs have been found to exeicise a beneficial influence in improving the style of boat-building, and introducing advantages which, in this district — where eveiy advance in the efficiency of the instiumeuts of our important coasting trade is so much to be desired — would be not merely agieeable but profitable also. The success of the proposition would therefoie be likely to pioduce solidly valuable lesults, besides adding new animation and beauty to our waters.

Lectures ok Intemperance. — Last evening, the llev. J. 11. Fhstciieb delivered the sixth of the Course of Lectures on Intemperance, in the •Primitive Methodist Chapel, which was filled by a .respectable and attentive audience. His subject was u Intemperance as it affects Morality," which he dwelt upon with point, impressiveness, and eloquence, in a three-fold aspect: 1. As Intemperance weakens the checks to Morality ; 2. As it augments the foice of the tendencies towards Immorality; and 3. As it hinders the effects of the means of promoting Christian Mo«rality. The devotional parts of the service were engaged in by the Rev. 11. Ward (Minister of the Chapel), Rev. A.Macdonald, Rev. J. Lnglis, and Rev. T. BuDM/n. It was announced that, on Sunday next, Ser■mons on Sabbath Profanation will be preached by the Ministers of the Evangelical Alliance here, in the Presbyterian, Wesleyan, Independent, and Primitive Methodist Places of "Worship, — theseveral Ministers exchanging pulpits on the occasion : also, that discourses on the same important subject will be continued on evenings dm ing the following week.

He just <m<l fear not Let nil the u>ds Iliou ainis'l dt, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and liutli's.

"AUCKLAND" WEDNESDAY, NOV. 26, 1331. INAUGURATION OF THE AUCKLAND MUNICIPAL CORPORATION.