The New-Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 673, 25 September 1852, Page 3

The New-Zealander.

Be just and fear nut : Let nil the ends thou nmi'&t at, be thy Country's, Thy God's, and Truth's.

AUCKLAND, SATURDAY, SEPT. 25, 1852.

By the Raven, which reached our port on Thursday, we have Sydney papers to the 10th instant., and English papers to the 2nd of June, the day before the sailing of the steamer Australian. So far, the long expected steam communication has not produced much improvement in the celerity of intercourse, the Australian having been (including stoppages) 99 days from England to Sydney. We are gratified to observe that the eyes of the New South Wales public are now more fully open to the great superiority of the Panama route, — the only route which can satisfactorily meet the requirements of New Zealand. Our readers will naturally be desirous of knowing the progress made with respect to the New Zealand Constitution Bill. We therefore at once lay before them the following abstract of the debate on the second reading, which we have compiled from the Times and other London paners, giving at especial length the portions which have reference to the New Zealand Company's claim : —

House of Commons, May 21. The second reading of the New Zealand Government Bill having been moved by Sir John Packington. Sir William Mole&worth at considerable length criticised the measuie, with which he found much fault. He objected to the complicated form of government proposed for a colony with 2(>,0()0 inhabitants, for whom it was to create six separate legislatures — a nest of little colonies, with an imperium in imperio as a central power. It was a Brobdignagian measuref or a Lilliputian colony, He objected to the erection of the provinces into governments, and would, when the proper time came, propose to omit all the clauses having reference to3Provincial Councils. They should be municipalities. He objected also to a nominated Legislature— the nominatun principle would work woise in New Zealand than in any other colony. His own opinion of what should be the form of government for New Zealand was, that it should be one colony, with a single Legislature, and municipalities created by that Legislature, with power to elect their own officers and make bv-law3. He hoped the House would not pass the bill in its present form. On the question of the New Zealand Company's Claim, the honorable baronet spoke as follows : — When the right hon. baronet stated the contents of his bill, he (Sir W. Molesworth) had been delighted 4o Lear that the waste lands were to be granted to thp General Assembly of New Zealand. On reading through this bill lie was, therefore, excessively disappointed at finding that this grant was to be clogged with the condition which would render it nearly va'ueless to the settlers in New Zealand, The condition was, that in respect of all sales of waste land the sum of ss. for each acre should "be paid to the New Zealand Company, until the sum of £268,000, with interest at the rate yearly of 3£ per cent., should be paid. If the clause containing this condition were to pas?, a great injustice would be done to the settlers in New Zealand, and the New Zealand Company would acquire a valuable property to which be did not consider them, to be entitled. He entreated the House to protect this uufortunate colony mgftinst a too influential Company. (Hear, hear.) He must say a few words about that Company, which threatened to be so great an incubus upon New Zealand. It was formed about the year 1839, for two objects ; the one was to put in practice certain views with regard to colonization, the other was to make money. Some of t'toae views proved correct, others erroneous : the pecuniary speculation utterly failed, partly in consequence of obstacles thrown in its way by the Colonial-office, in defiance of whom it had been undertaken, but it had chiefly failed in consequence of great mismanagement. The directors repeatedly attempted to obtain public mo n*y to prop up their falling speculation, and, unfortunately, they hud been too frequently successful. In 184S they got an act of Parliament by wbicii they obtained a loan from the consolidated fund of £100,000 for seven years at 3 per cent. This money was to be applied chiefly to purposes of alleged public utility, and no portion was to be applied to the payment of the debentures of the Company. A short time afterwards, in the *aine session, the Company obtained another act, by which they wert? empowered to apply a large portion of their loan to the payment of their debentures. The next year in. 1817, the Company obtained a third act, by which they were relieved from the payment of interest on their first loan, and obtained a second loan from the consolidated fund of £' 36,000 without interesr. The same act also previded that if tbe Company gave notice of being ready to surrender its charter within a certain period of time, their lands should revert to the Crown, their debt of £236,000 should be remitted, and " there should be charged upon and paid to tbe New Zealand Company out of the funds of all future sales of Crown lands in New Zealand, after deducting the outlays for surveys and the proportion of such proceeds which is appropriated to the purposes of emigration, the sum of £268,000," &c. The company gave notice on the sth of July, 1850, and thus became the third mortgagee on the lands of New Zealand j the first charge being for surveys, the second charge bein^ for purposes of emigration, and the third charge being for the extinguishment of the debt of the Company. Then the important question arose what proportion of the proceeds of the land sales was to be regarded as appropriated to tbe purposes of emigration ] The question was submitted to the law officers of the Crown. They reported that they were of opinion that " the Crown had the power from time to time to fix and alter that proportion by instructions previously to tbe extinguishment of the debt of the Company." It followed, therefore, that the Crown had the power to employ the whole proceeds of tbe land sales in surveys and emigration, without reserung any portion of those proceeds for the extinguishment of the debt of the Company. And the Company was only entitled to demand that those proceeds should be strictly applied to surveys and emigration, and to no other purposes except to the extinguishment of their debt. Now, it was scarcely to be believed that this bill, in its 74th clause, represented the New Zealand Company to have the fiistchaige on the Crown lands of New Zealand, and it proposed to enact that they should have a first charge on those lands to the amount of 5«. tn acre; for the preamble of this clause omitted all mention of surveys and emigration. It referred to the act of 1847, and recited that a " bum of £268,000 was charged upon and payable to the New Zealand Company out of the proceed:; of the sales of new Crown lands ;" and there it stopped, in the middle of a sentence, and omitted the important words in the act of 1817, " after deducting the outliy for surveys and the proportion to be appropriated to purposes of emigration." The omission of these important words was most remarkable. It would lend to mislead any hon. gentleman wbo did not refer to the act of 1847, and to induce him to think that the Company were well entitled to the money which it was proposed to grant them. (Hear, bear.) Mr. Adderley defended tbe bill. There were but three courses for ihe Louse ; namely, to consider the present suspension act— to do nothing, and thereby let the suspended act of 1846 come into force— and to pass the present bill. Whatever the house did, the first course should be avoided, as it would drive the colonists into a state of frantic iiritation. Leading London journals bad taken the same vie* as Sir W. Molesworth ; but papers connected with the colony had accepted this bill as a great boon. The coloniss were the best judges of tbe question, and he read evidence to show that the local governments would be popular in the colony. With respect to the New Zealand debt it was recognised by Act of Paihament, and must be paid by thia country or by the colonists— whatever amount might be really due. He (Mr. Adderley) thought this country ought to pay it because it had accrued owing to the unfortunate policy of our Colonial Office. Jiut if the colony was willing to pay it, why should that be objected to ? In a recent paper from Wellington it appeared that the colonists there said they were willing to pay it, if they had that power as to the land sales which this bill would give them. Mr. Vernon Smith urged the bouse to consider wheher it were advantageous to proceed with tin' bill at 'his period of the session. All the questions raised on 'the Australian Government Bill would occur on this,

and even more, and a very extended discussion ought to take place upon it. The colonists ought 10 be consulted before they proceeded with the measure. He disputed Mr. Adderley's statements, and said that theie was a variety of opinions in the colony upon the question of local government. He recommended the government not to enter without due consideration, upon the grave questions involved in the bill, but to rest content for the present with having shown a willingness to accord representative institutions to the colony. Mr. Evelyn Denison thought that if it was intended to leave to the central government the arrangement of the municipalities of the colony, the bill might, perhaps, be advantageously procepded with ; but if the details of the question were to be settled here, the measure would demand the fullest discussion. Mr. J. Abel Smith's experience had taught him to apeak diffidently upon such subjects, but the dangers of delay were so great, that it might be better to make some mistakes, than to avoid doing anything. He should support the second reading of the bill. Mr. F. Peel advocated the passing the present bill in the present session. The merit of the measuie was that it accommodated itself to the circumstances of the colony, to which it was our duty «o attend, rather than to seek to carry out any speculative theory. The general outline of the bill was, he said, well entitled to die suppoit of the hou.se, though lie had many objections to det.uls, but these he should reserve for committee. He highly eulogized Sir George Giey's administration, " It was but justice to Sir George Grey that the house should bear in mind that he had been Governor of New Zealand for a period of six years; and though he received that colony in a state of anarchy, of civil confusion, of utter frustration, and of war with a powerful native race, ho yet succeeded in the six years in bringing it round to a condition of peace, p'ogress, and prosperity, without a paiallel in the annals of our colonal dependencies." Mr! Gladstone would assume tha 1 there was a prevalent opinion that the duration of this Parliament should not be prolonged for the discussion of the details of a New Zealand Bill, and the question therefore was whether the measure was to be accepted, or rejected as a whole. He would endeavour to judge it as a who'e. Describing the popular idea of the principle of colonial policy, be urged that such principle was fundamentally wrong, and contrasted with it the right principle upon which our ancestors founded their selfsupporting and self-governing colonies. By depnving the great inducement to emigrate, and had prevented our colonists of their political liberties we had taken away high-minded and educated men from going out; and we added to the injury by talking n»agniloquent cant about fining and training the colonists for the freedom which we unjustly withheld. Sound Colonial principle* reached their climax in Tory times, and now an average of three years occurred in the settlement of the commonest local question between the mother country and a colony. How could prosperity attend such a system ? He recited tbe charter of Rhode Island to show the municipal character of the free colonial institutions founded by our forefathers at a time when the fever of ro\a)ism was actually at its height in this country. He Mould not say that after two hundred years that charter should be imitated in all its details, but we could not compare it with modern colonial constitutions without a blush. He proceeded to say that the present bill was a credit to the Government, and advocated it chiefly on the grounds that recognized local settlements (so far reverting to the policy of our ancestors,) conceded, to a certain extent, local legislatiou, threw over a modern superstition of the necessity of i crowo influence, proposed to give the colony the control of its own lands, and included large powers for colonial alterations of the work of the British Parliament. On the other hand, he objected to the concurrent jurisdiction of the legislative government (fiom which he thought the utmost evil would arise) and to the necessity for home ratification of local acts. He should be glad to get rid of the nomination of the superintendents and of their salary, making them elective in which case the offices, though unpaid, would be the objects of honourable ambition, and^ he strongly condemned the proposed nomination of the Cential Legislative Council, which ought also to be e'ective, and then the colonists would gladly pay representatives for their services. He wished to say a few words relative to tbe New Zealand Company, and here he came across a very great difficulty. The hon. member for Chichester had spoken of the honourable intentions of the Company, and their freedom from corruption. He did not contest the justice of this eulogium, but he looked upon Companies formed for colonial purposes, when they got beyond mercantile business — tbe transfer of the capital of the old country to the soil of the new — with incurable jealousy. Since the days of Adam Smith sucb com| anies had been regarded as the greatest obstacles to colonization. One most unfortunate instance they had in the Hudson's Bay Company, which spread its deathlike shade over an enormous region of the empire. (Hear, hear.) He saw nothing in such com panics except mischief when they were formed for other than mercan'ile and agricultural purposes. If we were to have a home Government of these colonies, let it be the Queen's Government (hear, bear) — let it be the Government that sat upon those (the Treasury) benches with whom they might discuss the details of their ad ministration in the light of day. (Hear, hear.) But the affairs of these companies were generally shrouded in secrecj ; tbe management of their affairs generally fell into the hands of a few irresponsible individuals ; a narrow spirit crept into their administration, which gra dually became still narrower; and therefore he regarded su-h companies with great jealousy. The New Zealand Company might have been usefu 1 , and he by no means held it up on a parallel with the Hudson's Bay Company. He did not draw any comparison between them ; but there was too much territorial power in the New Zealand Company, while the waste of money had been frightful. Tbe undertaking had been unprofitable to the directors and shareholera, while it had b^en costly to the Treasury. Tbe result was that the Company had been paid jg v236,000,v 236,000, while the colonists were discontented, and there was an unpaid bill of £268,000 more, which the Government were to pay. Now the House, in his opinion, ou»ht not to alter the pecuniary position of the New Zealand Company. (Hear, bear.) But the Government, it appeared to him, were about to alter that position essentially by this bill. The act of 1847 declared that after winding up the Company — " There shall be charged upon and paid to the New Zealand Company out of the proceeds of all future sales of the demesne lands of the Crown in New Zealand, after deducting tbe outlay for surveys, and tbe proportion of such proceeds which is apropriated to the purposes of emigration, the sum of £268,370 155./ So far tbe bill of 1U47 corresponded with that of the right bon. gentleman, inasmuch as it «vas based upon the calculation of ss. an acre, which it was proposed the Company should be entitled to receive. Now, there was all the difference between a first mortage and a second, but the claim of tbe New Zealand Company was neither a first mortgage nor a second, but a third mortgage. The first mortgage was for the surreys. The second was elastic beyond description, being tbe proportion of such proceeds as might be applied to emigiation ; so that the Company was only the third claimant 1 He held in his hand the opinion of the English law officers of the Crown upon a ciae drawn up for their tonsidertion, and they said— '* In obedience to your lordship's commands we bave considered the case submitted to us, and have the honour to report that we are of opinion that (regard being had to the acts of Par« hament, agreement, and land instructions above referred to) no definite proportion of the proceeds of future sale* of demesne lands of the Crown in New Zealand is to be regarded as appropriated to the purposes of emigration, and that the Crown has the power from time to time to fix and alter that proportion by instructions previously to the extinguishment of the debt of the Company." So that, the first mortgage being for surveys, the second was for so much as the Crown might think fi: to appropriate for the purposes of emigration, and the third was only for the ret>idue of tbe amount of £268,000, which was to be given to the New Zealand Company. The bill, on the other hand, made over the whole amount to the Company, so far as be could understand it, and enacted that in respect of all sales and other alienations of any sucb lands in fee simple there should be paid to the New Zealand Company sums after | the rate of ss. for each acre of land so sold or alienated. That entirely altered the claim of the New Zealand Company. ( Here Sir J. Pakington mude a sign of dissent). If the bill did not alter the pecuniary position of tbe Company be was satisfied, but if it did, n was a matter of the most extreme delicacy. (Hear.) They were getting very near the old ground of colonial discontent which had cost this country so much, for the land sales of a colony constituted in another form t he question of colonial taxation. The land became valuable as it gradually cime into proximity with otherlandi). It was the industry and intelligence of the community that gave its value to that 1 nd, and the claim to dispose of it was calculated, therefore, to exite discontent in the colony. Let the Government kepp the light of the New Zealand Company as the thud mortgage, and let the lands be handed over to the new Government, subject to the rights of the Company as they at present existed, and he should be content. Ho should protest

against making their rights worse, but this was so vital a claim, and touched so closely upon the relations between Great Britain and her colonies, that if the claim of the Company were to be varied, ha would not take upon himself the responsibility of passing the bill during the present session. Sir John PuLiugton insisted upon the necessity which, it had appeared to government, existed fur introducing such a measure as this, and contended that the house ought not to be deterred by the lateness of the session from endeavouring to pass it, and to confer upon the colony the blessing for which it was so anxious. All parties in the colonies were desirous of immediate legislation. He addressed himself to answer the objections of the various speakeis on the question, justified the constiuction of the local legislatures on the ground of the high character of those for whose benefit they were created, and the provision regarding the New Zealand Company, as having been dictated by a sense of justice. He thought he should lay this bill open to very giave and serious objection if he should enable the New Zealand Company to say that, in making the attempt to bestow free institutions upon the colony, he thereby put them into a worse position than they were in before. (Hear.) He could not help hoping, too, that he had been successful in his endeavour to do justic, inabmuch as he was accused tonight of having done a great deal too much for the company, while the New Zealand Company had done him the honour to pay him several visits complaining that he had not done enough for them. (" Hear, hear," and a laugh.) He hoped, therefore, he had arrived at a happy medium between the two parties. V He did not think that the position in which the company stood as regarded the Government was exactly that which the right lion, gentleman (Mr. Gladstone) supposed, for he believed he was right in saying that the claims of the New Zealand Company did not turn exclusively upon that act of Parliament passed in 1847 to which the right hon. gentleman referred, but, subsequently to that act, an arrangement was mode, and now stood in wilting, between the Government of this country and the company, in viitue of which arrangement they weie to receive one-fourth part of thp land. As a lule, he stated that aIL local acts were to be definitely settled by the governor in the colony. On account of the lateness of the hour (one o'clock) he abstained fiom going into details at any great length, but he defended the nominee system contemplated by the bill, dwelling upon the desirability of making the coloniai institutions a reflex of those of the mother country. When the bill went into c mmittee, therefore, he hoped the House would deliberately and carefully addiess itself to the question as to whether the bill should be met in a spiiit of concession and compromise — whether, looking to the large powers of alteration by the local authorities which it contained — the bill should not be allowed to pass at once, a,id thereby put an end to the anxiety which preva lfd in New Zealand, by giving them the advantage they had long prayed for, and which they were now urging a* strongly as ever; or whether the bill should be met in a spirit by which every clause would be disputed, every nice point made the subject of long debate and division. (Hear, hear.) If they adopted the latter coursp, he confessed be should despair of succpss, and should be obliged to resort to the alternative of passing a suspending act, because he could not allow the act of 1846 to be revived. (Hear, hear.) He hoped better things, however. He trusted that the committee would proceed to discuss the bill in a spirit that would enable them to pass the bill in the present session. (Hear.) Sir James Graham would under no circumstances be inclined to oppose the bill, which he should, be said, be glad to see in committee. He signified bis assent to what had fallen from Mr. Gladstone in reference to tho New Zealand Company, of whose " bargain" he thought the bouse should be more fully informed. Mr. Mangles said, the members of the New Zealand Company would be quite willing that the statutory arrangement made with them should remain intact, but what ihey complained of was that the Government proposed to hand over the land, which was their security for a sum of £268,000, to other parlies. The arrangement had been made upon the verdict of a committee of that House, composed of members hostile to the company. Sir J. Pakinoton was understood to state, in reply to a question from Sir J. Graham, that before the bill went into committee he would lay on tbe table the letter containing the agreement made between Lord Grey and the New Zealand Company for carrying out tbe act of 1846, and defining the portion of land to which the company were entitled. A ter a few observations from Mr. Walter and Mr. Anstey, the bill was read a second time. Practically it would seem the measure stood as when we last heard of it, except that there were additional indications that opposition to some of the provisionswould be offered in committee. It is encouraging to find that SirW.Molesworth, Mr. Gladstone, and Sir J . Graham were all more or less alive to the injustice to the colony of the new position in which the measure would place the New Zealand Company's monstrous claim. Sir William Molesworth's stand against it is the more honourable to his character, as, being a shareholder in the Company, he spoke against his own pecuniary interests. But we have not space to-day to comment on the subject; and comment may still, as heretofore, be as well omitted until we have information as to the form in which the measure came through Committee. The Committee had been appointed for the 3rd of Juno, but subsequent arrangements postponed it to the 4th or sth. We may very possibly, however, know the result in a few days, by the arrival of the Moa. In our other columns will be found leading articles on the Bill, which appeared in the Times and the Spectator alter the second reading. The other proceedings in Parliament since the last date received by the Joseph Fletcher, (the 19lh of May), lay within a small compass, as both Houses adjourned from the 28th to the 3rd of J uno for the Whitsuntide holidays, while the usual holiday for the "Derby Pay" had been taken on the 26th, The topic which had been discussed with most excitement was Mr. Spooner 1 s motion for a committee of inquiry into the Maynooth Grant. Discussion after discussion, and adjournment after adjournment, had taken place on this question, and the order stood for resuming the debate on the sth of June. It was quite evident that, supposing the motion to be carried, no efficient " inquiry" could be made on the very eve of the dissolution ; still it was urged that the country expected the House to pronounce its opinion on the necessity of taking up the subject The Militia Bill had at length worked its way through committee, and the 7th of June was fixed for the third reading It was agreed that the House of Commons, on re-assembling after Whitsuntide, should hold morning sittings to expedite the transaction of business. Various days, ranging from the 10th to the 20th of June, were spoken of for the dissolution. In the House of Lords, the Earl of Derby had been led into a further statement of his views on the Protection question, by some taunts thrown out by the Duke ot Newcastle and other Peers, respecting the alleged " mystifications" of the Government as to their intended course after the elections. As Lord Derby's statement on this occasion had been made the theme of much criticism, we subjoin it in tho fullest form in which we have met with it, together with the remark by Lord Granville which immediately elicited the explanation :—: —

Earl Graxville — " The noble Eail at tlic head of the Government made a speech thib very year, in the course of which he stated that the present system was mischievous, and that lie was still of opinion that a recurrence to a duty on corn for the

purposes of rcvezuie and protection was necessary If I mistake not, that was what the noble Earl said." The Earl of Derby—" I beg- the noble Earl's pardon. The noble Earl is wrong in quoting me as saying that a duty on corn, in my opinion, is a matter of necessity. What I stated was, and distinctly as my own opinion, that for the purposrat once of relieving the suffering agricultural classes and also for improving the revenue, whereby we should he enabled to take off other taxes, then, without injury to the consumer, an import duty on corn would be desirable. I also stated, that whether relief was to be afforded to the suffering agricultural classes by the imposition of a duty on foreign corn, was a matter which was to rest on the opinion of the constituencies. In no case did I say that it was a matter of necessity, but that, in my opinion, it was a desirable mode of offering relief to the agricultural classes. I hold that opinion still; but I state again, that is a question to be left to the constituencies^ of the country; and, moreover, I may add, if it will give any satisfaction to the noble Ear], my opiziion is, from what I have since heard and learned, that there certainly will not be in favour of the imposition of a duty on foreign corn that extensive majority in the country, without which, I stated to your Lordships' House, it would not be desirable to impose such a duty." (Loud cries of " Hear /" from the Opposition benches.) It is only the microscopic eye of opposition that could discover in this any substantial deviation from the course which Lord Derby from the outset declared himself prepared to take. When we here, at a distance from the strife of party politics at home, calmly read and compare his j declarations on this subject since his acceptance of office, we look in vain for any justification of the vehement invectives with which the Opposition speakers and writers have assailed him "We observe that the Sydney papers circulate a report of " dissensions," and a probable " explosion" in the Cabinet, owing to dissatisfaction on the part of Sir John Pakington, Major Beresford, and one or two others on aecouut of the " betrayal of the Protectionist cause," especially by Mr. Disraeli. The only authority given for this is a loose paragraph from the Morning Advertiser^ — no very high authority on such a matter — and we do not find the slightest reference to the rumour in any of the English papers which have come into our hands. Every day the preparations for the elections struggles were growing more earnest. The two grand sources of excitement in the contests were to be the Free Trade and the Maynooth questions,— perhaps the latter more than the former, as a return to a protective duty on com was deemed all but impossible, while the repeal of the Maynooth Endowment Act was aimed at with a revival of the energy manifested last year in hostitity to the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill An effort had been made to prevent Lord John Russell's re-election for the City of London, a principal ground of which was his Lordship's alleged insincerity on the Jewish Disabilities Bill ; but at a meeting of leading liberal electors, Baron Rothschild himself defended Lord John's conduct in that matter, and a great majority of the meeting resolved to support him. His Lordship had issued an elaborate address to his constituents, reviewing and vindicating his policy for the last live years More probability of success attended an effort in earnest progress to ou?t Mr. Gladstone from the representation of the University of Oxford. A large number of the nonresident members of Convocation had signed a document expressing dissatisfaction with his liberalism, and a determination to oppose him. Emigration for Australia had at length set in with all the earnestness which the continued arrivals from the gold-fields could have been expected to excite. The Daily News says, "Australia will assuredly become to this country what America has lately been to Ireland — the lode star to draw off a host of people. Freights have risen ; berths are at a premium ; and hundreds only wait the needful opportunity for following those already on the move." It appeared from the returns issued by the Emigration Commissioners that, during the month of May, the number of vessels that had left the port of London for Australia was 72, carrying 4,872 passengers. But emigration was likely to become rapidly much greater than even this. It was stated by the Liverpool Mercury of June 1, that at London thirty vessels, of 23,000 tons, had been laid on for Australia, and that in Liverpool itself, fifteen vessels. of 14,950 tons,were loading for the same destination. Persons of the more comfortable classes seemed kindled by the golden prospect, as well as mere adventurers, or those maintaining with difficulty " the battle for bread" at home. Even the literary world had been invaded by the fever ; amongst the passengers by the Kent, which was to sail early in June, were to be Mr. Wm. Howitt, and Mr. R. H. Home (author of " Orion," &c.) From Scotland it was reported that " Emigration was going forward on an extensive scale in Fifeshire, consisting chiefly of respectable tradesmen, country labourers and their families, and a few small farmers. The greater number direct their course to South Australia, a few to America, and two or three families to New Zealand." Prince Albert had become the patron of a society having as its object to promote emigration to Australia from the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In another column will be found an interesting account of interviews had by the woollen manufacturers with Lord JDerby and Sir* John Pakington to urge the necessity of immediately sending forth an adequate supply of labour to Australia. On the whole it is evident that now a tide of emigration has fully set towards this side of the world ; and there can be little doubt that New Zealand will speedily participate in the benefits resulting from it, both in the addition to our population to be anticipated from the overflow in Australia, and from the increased demand which will be opened up in the neighbouring colonies for all the agricultural produce we may be able to export. The Royal Family had been residing alternately at Buckingham Palace and Osborne, and were in good health. The last state ball for the season was to take place on the 16th of June, after which her Majesty would again visit the Isle of Wight; and on the 22nd, it was stated that the Court would leave tor Scotland.... The Queen of Spain had conferred the

I order of the Golden Fleece on the Prince of Wales. The following appointments were announced:—Colonel Sir J. Gaspard le Marchant to succeed Sir John Harvey, deceased, as Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia ; Charles Neaves, Esq., to be SolicitorGeneral for Scotland, in place of John Inglis, Esq., appointed Her Majesty's Advocate ; and Professor Aytoun, of Edinburgh, to be Sheriff of Orkney. It was believed that a baronetcy would be conferred on Mr. Alison, the historian. Sir Harry Smith had arrived at Portsmouth on the 30th May by the Gladiator, steam -frigate, from the Cape. He had been received with a congratulatory address from the Corporation, and other marks of honour.

The crowded state of our columns renders our notice of Australian news necessarily very brief to-day. The most novel intelligence, and not the least important, was the arrival by the steamer Australian of despatches from Sir John Pakington, placing 1 at the disposal of the Governors and Legislative Councils of New South Wales and Victoria respectively, the revenues arising from the license fees and royalty on gold, with the power of framing regulations for the gold fields of their colonies. It is needless to say with what pleasure this most important concession was received, especially as it had been conveyed by Sir John Pakington in a frank and conciliatory manner contrasting strongly with the haughty superciliousness by which Lord Grey embittered even benefits when he was the instrument of conferring them. The gold news was of the same character as before. Gold still abundant, and crowds flocking to grasp at their share of it. The extent to which immigrants were pouring into Port Phillip was unprecedented and absolutely astonishing ; and this was only the beginning of a stream which every week will undoubtedly become wider and deeper. What the condition of the auriferous districts will be even a few months hence, is a problem the solution of which it would be rash now to speculate on. The utmost uncertainty evidently invests it. The trade from Sydney to Port Phillip was not likely to continue as productive as for some time past, large supplies being imported directly from Europe to Melbourne. The Sydney Trade Report will be found in another column. Flour was £23 per ton, for fine, and £21 for seconds. From the largely increased population, provisions are likely to reach a high price, especially in Port Phillip ; and we are informed that, since the arrival of the Haven, there has been here a brisk demand especially for Potatoes, which have been bought up at £3 10s. to £4 per ton, and many suppose will rise to a rate considei*ably higher. Gold was reported as discovered in South Australia, and this time it seems that the report may be relied on. Mr. Finnis, the Colonial Secretary, had visited the locality (within about 22 miles of Adelaide) and declared himself " quite satisfied that the soil, for some acres at least, is highly auriferous." Licenses had already been issued, and hundreds of diggers were fiocking to the field.