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New Zealander, Volume 10, Issue 888, 18 October 1854, Page 2

The proceedings of the Legislative Council or New South Wales during the week for which wo have received Sydney papers by the Wanderer the 24th to the 30th ult.), present two or three points deserving of notice as possessing some general interest. A Bill to promote Assisted Immigration had been introduced by the Go /eminent, a main feature of which was that the immigrant should be under an obligation to repay £l3 on account of passage money within two years after his arrival, during which time ho would bo under a contract to an employer, subject to this condition, unless ho should at an earlier period iepay the sum, in which ease he would ho released from the obligation of the engagement on giving a month’s notice to his employer. Dr. Lang vehemently opposed the measure, contending tljut it was legis-

lating for the rich against the [poor, and that it would doom the immigrant to a serfdom of two years to whatever master the Government might choose to assign him. But the provisions of the Bill, as we have briefly stated them, evidently involved nosuch slavery or class legislation, and several speakers argued that the plan was carefully devised with a view to secure the mutual interests of the employer and the employed -.—that a hard working and thrifty man might in a few months release himself from the contractthat provision was made to inform immigrants of the current rates of wages so that they should be guarded against ignorantly engaging at a rate below the fair market price of labour;—and that the scheme, while it would place the immigrant in the satisfactory position of being able to say that he had “ come out at his own expense," not as a pauper, would help to maintain the funds available for immigration purposes. The Bill was read a second time, without a division, on the 28th ult., and was referred to a Select Committee on Immigration then sitting. Apropos to the supply of labour in New South Wales, we observe in the Sydney Herald of the 27th ult. a significant leading article, in which it is anticipated that the labour market is on the eve of a decisive change, and that the ruling rate of wages cannot be long maintained. This is attributed partly to the diminished demand in consequence of the prevalent depression in commercial affairs; but chiefly to the influx of population which has been going forward so extensively that, in the nine days previously, the excess of arrivals over departures had added to the population, through the port of Sydney alone, about nine hundred souls. An increasingly large migration from Victoria was looked for, it being undeniable, according to the Herald, that there is in that colony “ a glut of labour so alarming as to threaten the most disastrous consequences, unless the authorities interfere and devise some means of employing the numbers who crowd the streets in a state of involuntary idleness and destitution.” A Postage Bill had been passed, which will materially facilitate communication with England. It originated in the expression of a desire on the part of the Imperial Government to establish some uniform rate of ocean postage, which should be applicable to the Australasian colonies. The measure gives power to the Governor-General to make arrangements with the authorities in England and the neighbouring colonies as to the rates of postage, and the mode and place at which they shall be paid, providing, however, that there shall be but one (outward) rate, winch shall not exceed sixpence; so that the whole postage on a letter sent from any part of the colony to any part of the United Kingdom is not to exceed sixpence, and-letters received from Great Britain will be subject only to the same charge. Prepayment is not to be compulsory. This important step towards the establishment of a low and uniform rate of ocean postage was to come into operation concurrently in England and in the colony, on the Ist of this month (October) . . . Amongst the provisions of the Bill, one requires captains of ships to send proper notice to the Post Office of the date of their intended departure, in order that mails may be put on board their vessels if necessary. This was objected to as imposing vexatious duties on captains ; but the Postmaster-General and the Attor-ney-General defended it, stating that “ Captains frequently evaded the conveyance of mails of considerable impo:tance destined for New Zealand and elsewhere and the clause was carried by a large majority ... A Petition from Messrs Pidding'ton, and Waugh and Cox, complaining of a change in the charge on the monthly parts of the Illustrated London yews, which raised the postage from four pence (the regular charge on four newspapers) to ten pence, led to the adoption of a clause providing that weekly newspapers stitched in monthly parts should be allowed to bo transmitted on the payment of four pence for the whole, on the condition that not more than one such monthly part should be put under one cover. The Attorney-General (Mr. Plunkett) had intimated in the Council his intention to commence a prosecution against the Freeman's Journal for the pumication of a letter signed “ A Tipperary Celt,*’ in which the Irish in Sydney were incited to receive “ with a yell of execration." “ the Goaler-General of Van Diemens Land"— the “ despi cable tyrant who treated in so cruel and dastardly a manner the chivalrous Irish Exiles,*’—when he should appear amongst them as Governor-General. The Legislative Council had voted £3OOO to meet the expense of the collection and transmission of articles of colonial produce or manufacture intended for the Universal Exhibition to be held at Paris in May 1855. The Commissioners for New South Wales had announced that the Contributions would be exhibited at the Australian Museum in Sydney for one month (November) previous to their being forwarded to France.

The Session ot‘ the Legislative Council of Victoria was opened on the 23rd ult. by Sir Charles Hotham. The Melbourne papers express little satisfaction at His Excellences Speech. The Argus says that it “omits, or makes only a faint reference to the really vital questions in which the colony is at present interested.” The Melbourne Herald says, ** It requires close examination to make out what it really means. It is not the bold and explicit account of what the intended policy of Government is, which we hoped would have been given. It is formal without being systematic/' It would seem that the squatting question was so indistinctly alluded to by His Excellency as to leave it doubtful whether it was really referred to at all; and the Squatters were reported to be about to try the validity of their claims in the Courts of Law. So also, the exciting question of the Convicts Prevention Act was so vaguely pointed at that it was only the Colonial Secretary’s subsequent comments made the Council fully auare that the Government proposed to introduce a modified measure on the subject, which it was hoped would preserve the colony from the dangers with which it was threatened, and at the same time uphold Her Majesty’s prerogative. On the propriety of restricting the sale of Intoxicating Liquors, however, His Excellency spoke explicitly. He said, “ I would invite the earnest attention of the Council to the subject of Intemperance.

“ The sale of intoxicating liquors may, without lindue interference with private rights, he placed Under such restrictions as will check the increase of drunkenness, —the fruitful source of so much evil.”

Immigrants continued to pour into Melbourne. The last week’s report before us showed an increase to the population of not less than 2,135 souls. One writer, addressing the Argus under the signature “ A Suffering Immigrant” complains bitterly of the disappointment of those who, like himself, “ have come to this land of golden reputation only to find it one of poverty and suffering,” and charges upon an article in the Argus, which had been copied extensively by the British Press, the raising of expectations which many, (himself amongst the number) had found delusive. The Editor of the Argus admits that “ there is too much truth in the representation as to the inconvenience and suffering to which many are at present exposed from want of work” But he blames the working men for remaining in town when they should diffuse themselves over thejcountry, and for not “ adapting themselves to the altered state of affairs by consenting to work for a more moderate rate of wages.” Cold consolation this to the hundreds and thousands who have emigrated to the Australian El Dorado, dazzled by prospects which they now, when it is too late, find to have been only golden dreams ! To many of them, we believe, New Zealand would prove a home of competence and comfort, which, if less magnificent in its promises, would be more real and reliable in its performance of all that it holds out to attract emigration to its shores.

The report —■which we lately copied from an Adelaide paper— that Sir Henry Young; was to be Governor —not of New Zealand —but of Van Diemen’s Land, derives some further support from statements in the Hobart Town journals. The following, taken from the Hohart Town Mercury of the 19th ult. assumes a very confident tone “We are enabled to announce, on unquestionable authority, that Sir Harry Fox Young the late Governor of South Australia is to be successor of Sir William Thomas Denison, and has received the official notification of his appointment. A letter was received by his Excellency from the new Governor, by yesterday’s mail, the contents of which, we believe, were calculated to obtain information respecting the most important subjects on which he may be called upon to decide. His arrival may be expected in about six weeks.” A preliminary meeting had been held to take steps for getting up a Testimonial to Sir William Denison. A Committee was formed, and the contributions in the room amounted to upwards of £2OO.

Our own files of' the Polynesian— which formerly we were accustomed to receive with considerable regularity —have for some time been missing; but by private courtesy we have a file of that journal extending from the 20th of May to the Bth of July. We sum up the items of most interest, to which we are enabled—by Sydney extracts from the Honolulu papers—to add a few particulars coming down to the 27th of July. The 24th of May—the Anniversary of Queen Victoria's Birth had been observed at Honolulu with marked respect, by the Foreign well as by the Hawaiian Government, It was noticed that the Russian frigate then outside the harbour was as gaily dressed as any of the other vessels in honour of the occasion. The same Russian frigate—the Diana — which had called on her way from Valparaisa to the Russian possessions in the North, appears to have been an object of gre t interest at the Islands. King Kamehameha gave formal audience to her Commander, Captain Lessoffsky, her Senior Lieutenant Bootakoflf, and other officers with unpronounceable names ending in off, and shy, \ and vistch, &c., all of which the Polynesian duly chronicles. His Majesty also visited the frigate, in the full state of Hawaiian royalty, idle sailed on the 28th of May to the northward followed in ihe same direction on the 29tli by the British sloop of war Trincovnalee. The King had Issued a Proclamation declaring the strict neutrality of the Hawaiian Kingdom in the European war. The Po'ynesian notices the fact that this Proclamation was made the subject of ludicrous comment even on the spot, and might be laughed at elsewhere, —but shrewdly remarks that although it might not be of much consequence to the Great Powers of Europe, it was of consequence to the Hawaiian Kingdom itself, and suggests, moreover, that if a dozen belligerent ships should assemble in their liarbouis to obtain refreshments, the business men of Honolulu would not very seriously object to the increased business that their visits would create. The Anniversaries of the Hawaiian Missionary, Bible, and Tract Societies had been held in May,—in miniature conformity, we presume, to the great London “ May Sleetings.” Tire Reports showed an encouraging progress, and a very creditable liberality, the gross receipts for the three Societies for the previous year having amounted to upwards of twelve thousand dollars. The Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society held its fifth annual meeting in the middle of June, and was numerously attended by farmers, planters, and others interested in agriculture and horticulture. The general reports of the crops were satisfactory. Wheat promised more than an average yield notwithstanding considerable damage from the cateipiller. The cane crop also promised well. But the put.toe cultivation formed a marked exception. The Polynesian states that, owing to neglect, “ this valuable vegetable had deteriorated in some localities until it was almost wonhless,” and adds unless an improvement takes place in the quality, we shall not be surprised to see potatoes imported from California, as they have been of late, for consumption and sale here.”

There seem d to be a strong desire in Honolulu for the establishment of regular steam communication with San Francisco. We notice nhat the California Chronicle, of July 1, reciprocates this desire, expressing a confidence that such communication would be advantageous on both sides. A later paper (the Kra, July 27) mentions that the splendid steamer, called the Polynesian, which had made the trip from San Francisco to Honolulu in nine days—would be employed expressly as a trader on the line. The House of Representatives had voted a sum of forty thousand dollars for the dredging arsd clearing the harbour of Honolulu, —an object which was, no doubt justly, deemed pi the highest importance,

The 4lh of July,—the Anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence-—had been celebrated in Honolulu “ with unprecedented spirit and display.” A memorable event was the arrival, on the 17th of July, of a “ Combined French and English fleet.” It consisted of the British frigate President, flag-ship, the Amphitrite, and the steamer Virago,— three English; and the Forte, the Fury dice, L'Artemise, and Ohligado, —four French, The English carried 80 guns, and the French 138. The squadron was from Callao, via the Marquesas Islands. The Polynesian says “ They are of course looking for the Russians, but the Russians are soifjewhere else just now.” The French frigate Alceste, 52 guns, and the English (rigate Pique, 4') guns, were expected speedily to join the squadron. Ihe Era of July 27 st tes that, on the 2oth, the combined fleet sailed “ for parts unknown, though the opinion generally prevailed that they would divide in the passage northward, one part taking the North American coast, and the other the Tartary and Siberian coast under special observation,”