The New Zealander.

New Zealander, Volume 8, Issue 684, 3 November 1852, Page 2

The New Zealander.

lit- just and fear not • Let nil tne endb thou aim'st at, be thy Country*, 1 liy don's, ,tnd 'I rutn's.

AUCKLAND, WEDNESDAY, MOV. 3, 1852.

TIIE AUCKLAND GOLD FIELD.

The JS rder Maid returned on Saturday, with ll is Excellency Lieutenant-Governor Wynyard, the Bishop of New Zealand, and the other gentlemen whose departure by that vessel was noticed in our last, with the exception of Mr. Blanket and Mr. Hraphy, who remained at Coromandcl. No addition of murh importance was made to he information which had already reached

us. Gold in small quantities continued to be found almost everywhere through the district whore the surface was dug and washed; bul the actual productiveness of thp field as a remunerative scene of labour slill remained to be ascertained. The Nati\cs seemed thoroughly friendly, and desirous that the Europeans should continue to search for Gold; and, this being the case, it did not appear to His Excellency that there was any immediate occasion to i make them a specific offer for the occupation of the land by gold-diggers. It would ha\e been altogether useless to ask them to sell it; and, we are told, it was their own wish that matters should go on as they were for the present, and thai, if gold should be found in quantity, then terms might be arranged. On Monday the Lieutenant - Governor again met the members of the Provincial Council and communicated to them the results of his visit; but his calling them together wa? we presume simply an additional act of courtesy on His Excellency's part, there being no new point of any material interest to consider. Intelligence received yesterday, however, places the prospect of an available Gold Fielfl in a more promising aspect than it had prip\iously assumed. Mr. Blackptt, whose boat returned to Ihe harbour in the afternoon, was the bearer of a hopeful communication to the Committee from Mr. Fred. Ring, and of samples of gold amounting, we are informed, to about one ounce and a half, which have in the first instance been submitted for the inspection of the Lieutpnant■ : ■Go^ernor, and will bo laid before the Committee at a meeting to be held this day. Mr. King's party, we are told, have washed out two or three ounces of gold, including several nuggets ; and a nugget larger than any before found rewarded the search of Mr. Hugh Coolahan, who is said to have been one of the most successful diggers, having obtained half an ounce by less than a day's labour. Prospecting has been much hindered by the prevalence of hca\y rains, and many of those who have been nominally working ihe field have by no means given it a fair trial, merely washing some of the earth near the surface ; yet all these have obtained small quantities. On the whole, yesterday's intelligence, although it does not finally determine the question of the existence of a remunerative gold field, jet holds out considerably greater encouragement than any account which had heretofore been received.

Three weeks since, on the publication by the Returning Officers of the official notifications of the Municipal Elections fixed by the Charer for the 18th of November, wo took occasion to point out some of the reasons why— notwithstanding the entire practical failure of the Corporation last year, and the com para lively disadvantageous position in which the new Common Council seems likely to be placed with respect to finances — it still behoved the Burgesses to take the necessary slops for securing as their representatives men in. whose hands the powers conferred by the Charter might be safely entrusted,— men who would be competent to take an intelligent view of the interests of the Borough, and who, if they did not achieve anything very beneficial, might at least be likely to do no harm. We find, however, that the apathy which then prevailed, has not since— so far at least as the public are aware— undergone any observable interruption ; and, although to-morrow fortnight will be the day of election, there is not in any one of the wards a single individual who can be said to stand formally and openly before the Burgesses as a candidate. No thoughtful person can fail to perceive the severity of the censure on the late Common Council which is implied in this indifference. To the Charter itself, and to the benefits which the Borough might derive from a judicious working of it, the people were not indifferent, as was jdemonstralhely proved by the spirit with which ward-meet-ings were held, the zeal with which contests were conducted, and the great number of votes recorded af the polling places. Although some, who desire to be considered par excellence the advocates of popular rights, strained every nerve to induce a rejection of this the first real establishment of representative institutions and "self-govern-ment in the colony, their efforts were so contemptuously disregarded by the Burgesses that upwards of one thousand out of constituencies numbering in the aggregate little more than fourteen hundred came to the poll, — a total which, when it is remembered that in several of the wards there was no contest or only a nominal one to stimulate the voters, furnishes irrefragable evidence that the people were willing to accept the Charter, and desirous to extract from it such advantages as' it was capable of affording. They did not take this course under any expectation of endowments which afterwards proved delusive : the whole state of the case was fully known at the time, and, in fact, the amount actually placed at the disposal of the Corporation from the proceeds of the land sales rather exceeded than fell short of the sum that was then generally calculated upon. Had the Common Council proved wise, faithful, and energetic, can it be doubled that there would have been now, (notwithstanding the disallowance of the Ordinance for appropriating to their use one-third of the land fund,) some renewal of the zeal manifested last year? But they— that is their majority — were not of this character; and whatever else the present apathy with regard to the elections indicates, it conveys a most significant censure upon them. A just inference from it plainly is, that, if they were a fair specimen of Auckland Common Councils, then, in the estimation of many the Borough will do better without a Common Council than with one. But, without enlarging on this pomt — ( further than to express our hope that the Borough could Smd representatives Mho 1 would set themselves to the performance of their proper duties 'in a business-like manner, and with a public spirit which the late j Common Council failed to exhibit, and our conviction that, under the managemenlofsuch men, many services of great value might be

rendered to the community— we would once more remind the Burgesses thai the practical question is not whether they will have a new Common Council at all, but of whom that Council shall be composed. We of course do not mean to assert the absolute impossibility of there being no actual return of members on the 18th instant; but that issue could only be brought about by an unanimous determination on the part of the electors to refrain from voting, which, although within Ihe range of possible contingencies, is certainly beyond the boundaries of all probability. It could not be effected by an agreement of ninety-nine in a ward containing one hundred burgesses ; the non-consenting hundredth burgess might vole and return his member, who would forthwith be as legally the representative of the ward as if every one of the hundred had voted for him. Tt is true that a Council returned in this way, or in any way approaching lo it, would have little moral weight or influence, even though it might happen to include some suitable men ; but it would possess c\ei y legal power conferred by the Charter. And however incongruous, incompeteut, or ridiculous it may be in itself, the constituencies would be justly liable to the heav ier portion of the blame for its misdeeds. Constituencies cannot escape from the responsibility connected with a free elective franchise; and if they know- ! ingly choose improper persons where more eligible representatives may be obtained, or if they by their negligence permit improper persons to be smuggled into the seats of representation, they must be content to bear not only the consequences of the mismanagement of their concerns which may be expected to follow, but also the doubts which may be raised in the minds of the friends of Free Institutions in other places— whether persons who can trifle in such a manner with the obligations of a representative form of Government are yet in a fit condition to possess that privilege. We have on a former occasion enumerated a variety of modes in which the ne\t year's Common Council might work with advantage lo the Borough ; and it is not difficult lo imagine many cases which may arise in the course of a year so fraught with important movements in the colony as the ensuing is likely to be, in which it would be a matter of much importance that the Municipality should be represented by men competent to watch over its interests, and toavail themselves of any openings that may occur within their jurisdiction for the promotion of its welfare. Whether such men as it would be desirable to entrust with these functions can at present be induced to take upon themselves the oflice of Common Councillors, is a point which remains to be ascertained. But we hold that the Burgesses should at least make the attempt; and that,— for the sake of their own character and consistency, if from no higher motive— they should not leave to the mere chance of what may or may not I urn up on the day of election, the decision as to who shall be their municipal authorities for the year. Time now passes, and if any steps are to be taken to prepare for the elections, they must be taken quickly. At all events, ,we should not have, felt that we had discharged our own public duty, if ,we had failed to call attention to the subject, — leaving it, as we necessarily must, to the Burgesses in the respective Wards to choose for themselves between apathy and action.

The Southern Cross was wrong yesterday, amongst other things, in representing us as coming in only at the close of the "campaign" on the question of Native Education, and being, as he is pleased to say, " pushed forward to retrieve the fortunes of the fight." We have indeed taken little direct part in the recent portion of the discussion, which related to points well and conclusively dealt with by our correspondents; but we have never lost sight — and never intended that our contemporary should ultimately be permitted to lose sight — of the 01 igin of the controversy, which was the attack made by him on the Reserve for Native Purposes in the New Constitution Act, and the obligation we felt laid upon us to vindicate the justice of that provision— by arguments which our contemporary has in some instances found it convenient to overlook altogether, and in other instances has nibbled at with very small though very venemous gnawings, but which he has not to this day answered. On this matter we confidently appeal to the judgment of any impartial reader who will lake the trouble to review the articles in onr columns and those of the Southern Cross respectively. Baffled in his effort to make out a case against the equitable as well as humane care for the Natives manifested by both the Colonial and the Imperial Governments, our contemporary, after a fashion in which he is well practised, endeavoured to divert attention from the main public question by the introduction of new and more personal topics, covering his retreat from the question originally at issue by sarcasm on " Missionary teachings," and attacks on ihe Government for "illegal and profligate expenditure" on schools, and on the Missionaries for having "sacked" and "fingered" the grants thus iniquitously made. But although we were very willing to leave this branch of the subjectfor the time in thecompetent hands which took it up, we always considered the argument in its primary character as our own; we regarded and still regard it as our right to take such part as circumstances may i seem to require in its progress,— and, should we think it expedient, we shall at a I fitting season recall to the recollection of I our contemporary and the public the leadi ing features in the history of the controversy, and show how widely— and we may add how fruitlessly for his own purpose — the Cross has wandered into regions of extraneous matter, leaving intact the solid reasons by which the Reserve for Native Purposes is supported, and proving little • beyond his own selfish reluctance to contribute towards those purposes, and his illconcealed antipathy to " missionary teachings." The comments in yesterday's Cross on the Rev. Mr. Maunsell's letter (published in the New Zcalandcr of Saturday) afford a new specimen of our contemporary's skill in "eating his own words," and in insinuating

elements of discord and mischief. He presents the substance of his previous attacks ort the educational grants in such a way as would lead the uninformed reader to conclude that he had never breathed a word against the recipients and administrators of these grants, I but only against Governor Grey. We need not repeat here the proofs that,— unless the Cross is utterly ineapableo expressing its meaning in intelligible language, — its taunts and accusations of " sacking," and "fingering," and "flpeeing" were designed for the Missionaries: andlhat, whatever was the design, the unmislakeable grammatical construction of the sentences with which those phrases stood connected gave them that signification. .Mr. Maunsell so understood the meaning; for he did not (as the Cross un- 1 candidly would lead its readers to suppose) come forward to "supply information unsolicitedly," merely because " the question of the distribution of the sums granted in support of Native Schools" happened to be under discussion. He writes in language of remonstrance against the "charges of sacking money and fleecing the colony ;" he complains that the Editor of the Southern Cross did not "enqnire before he made these sweeping charges," and that he (Mr. M.) and his brethren should "without examination or inquiry be subjected to such severe imputations." The reason of his writing obviously was that he saw in ths language of the Cross the offensive meaning which the writer "how vainly tries to disavow. Then, again, there is something very characteristic in the Cross's attempt to excite jealousy between the reverend gentlemen who have repudiated his calumnious insinuations, and between the religious bodies with which they are respectively connected. But the ruse is too transparent to deceive, and the' ingenious device to flatter one at the expense of the other will be seen through and treated as it deserves. Both Mr. Buddie and Mr. Maunsell have given particulars as to the amount of Government aid, and the expenditure in the Schools of which they are respeelhely cognizant, which may be thought by many (and we know are thought by some) a greater concession than should have been made to the demands of a self-evidenily captious inquirer, who sought information for no friendly purpose towards either the Natives or their Educators; — especially greater than was called for at a juncture which a Commission of Inspection was actually going through the' Schools, from whom a full and authentic report may be speedily looked for. We have reason to believe that the statements respecting Grants and Expenditure which have appeared in our columns would have been increased both in number and minuteness— (for the satisfaction not of the fooss, which would still cavil and accuse of evasion however circumstantial the accounts might be, but of the public)— had it not been that this authorised Report is forthcoming. What it will disclose we cannot tell; but if it be what, from the character of the Commission from which it is to proceed, we anticipate it will be, it will furnish final and conclusive data, » hich must either confirm the Cross's accusations against the Educational Grants and the men who "sack" them, or cover that journal with a load of discomfiture and shame. Here we leave the matter for the present, although thereareolher points in the article referred to on which we could say more than a little, in further illustration of our contemporary's tactics and real objects throughout the controversy he has thusstirredup. But the evidence is cumulative, and probably before the whole is wound up there will be a still greater abundance of materials ready to any hand that may under- " take the task of analysing and classifying the assertions and contradictions of the Cross throughout this discussion.