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New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1727, 27 September 1862, Page 3

Although nearly two months since we suggested the advisability of calling a public meeting for the purpose of establishing a Lancashire Belief Fund in tliis Province, we have, nevertheless, purposely abstained from urging the public to such a step, from a belief that the movement, had it not come spontaneously from the people themselves, unhidden by the press, would have been robbed of half its dignity and grace. Now, however, that a public meeting has been held, a committee of management appointed, and a large amount of money been already subscribed by the more wealthy of our citizens, we joyfully embrace the present opportunity of expressing our cordial approbation of the plan which has been adopted for tendering to the suffering masses at home the sympathy of those, who, while they have escaped in a new and better land the hardships and struggles of the old, can none the less actually feel for their fellow countrymen less fortunately circumstanced.

Apart from the ordinary feelings of humanity, and that natural impulse which has often ere now led the people of Britain, at home and in her colonies, to subscribe their hundreds of thousands to the relief of some distressed section of the community, the operatives of Lancashire have a distinct right to be borne harmless out of the difficulty in which they have been involved, not through any casual or irremediable cause, but because they have been made the patient and willing sacrifice for the maintenance of the national principle of “ non-intervention” in foreign affairs.

A more heroic instance of unyielding patriotism can never be adduced, than that of the patient endurance of more than a million of our fellow countrymen in the following out of a principle, the negation of which, by the recognition by Britain of the so called Confederate States of America as an independent nation, would have removed the cause of distress, ‘and that too in a manner which would have been generally acceptable to British feeling and sympathy. We are the more urgent in advocating immedeate action in the good work now before us, inasmuch as any remittance forwarded by the present English mail will reach home at a time when it will be the most needed, —at Jthe commencement of the winter season. “He gives twice who gives quickly,” is an old saying, and one which is especially applicable in the present instance; nor because the amount which we may be enabled to furnish appears trifling when compared with the magnitude of the distress which it is intended to assist in alleviating, should we be deterred or damped in our efforts; but on the contrary, the more should we be incited to go even beyond our ordinary means and customs upon this more than ordinary occasion. It is not so much the amount which may be contributed that will be felt by those whom we design to benefit, as the spirit of brotherly aid and sympathy with which that assistance is accompanied. It may of itself be sufficient to carry to many a suffering family and desolate home, strength, and hope, and sustenance through some portion of a protracted struggle; but it will do more than this, for it will show to our fellow countrymen at home that neither time nor distance can obliterate that feeling of brotherly affection which binds together the remotest inhabitants of this vast empire—that when in one of her smallest dependencies the cr y of distress was heard from a portion of that land which we still fondly designate as “home,” men of all classes strove to vie with one another, according to their ability, in relieving sufferings from which though happily free themselves, they could none the less sympathise with when experienced by others. Xor is, we would observe, the present occasion one in which we are justified in giving, and then dismissing the obligation from our minds. It is not that we are called upon to assist in clearing away some sharp and severe loss, which can be at once remedied and removed. Daily, for many, many months (how many it is impossible to say, for the discontinuance of the American war can alone put an end to the distress) must this suffering be felt and met; and daily, whilst those unafilicted by the evil arc in the enjoyment of luxury and comfort, must more that a million of our fellow countrymen suffer the extreme of penury and want. Our help must be as continuous as the occasion which so loudly calls for it; and, if needs be, each one of us is bound, in common humanity, to debar himself of many of those luxuries to which he is accustomed, in order that the bridge from death to life may be spanned over for these unfortunate sufferers. The distress Is likely to last long; and though the first burst of sympathy may, in very many instances, exhaust the charitable resources of our citizens, we trust that such a system will be adopted by the committee, and that the urgency of the cause will so strongly operate on the public mind, that a regular remittance may be forwarded each mail, so long as the necessity remains, and that opportunities will be afforded to the settlers in our out districts to forward their branch collections to the parent fund in Auckland, so that all may have an opportunity of joining in this work of relief and love. A complete list of the subscribers should also accompany the remittance, in order that the working men of Lancashire may see how widely spread is the sympathy with them in their distress, and how men of their own class, and in fact all classes, have vied with'one another in their efforts to alleviate a state of suffering, which neither the operatives nor their employers could have averted, and which has been met so nobly by both—by the one by large donations, and larger weekly losses in carrying on an unremunerative trade; by the other, with a patient and enduring meekness and self-reliance which commands for the British Workman of this day the respect and admiration of Lis countrymen in all parts of the empire.

Summer is now setting in, and after a winter of unprecedented wet, It promises to be an early and a protracted one. For the development of our gold fields, for the facility of prospecting in numberless directions, a long and dry summer will be very desirable; and to aid the search of intelligent and energetic prospectors, the ready means of locomotion by gulf and harbour steamers must be a matter of the last consequence.

What has been accomplished, and what is being projected In that matter ? The Tasmanian Maid has been the first to initiate the work. This beautiful little vessel, whose services were among the most distinguished of the Taranaki war, now plies between Auckland and Coromandel, and may therefore be regarded as the thin edge of the wedge to open up a line which we feel confident will become wide spread even before the present year shall have waned.

The Tasmanian Maid is one of the finest and most faithfully built ships that has ever done business in the New Zealand waters, and has braved and escaped from more perils of the sea than numbers of larger and more pretentious competitQPJ. Sim yvfts biiilt at Stoyktop ir, for the

Launceston and Melbourne trade, under the particular surveillance of Captain Gwatkin, an old and experienced Australasian coaster, who watched her narrowly from the laying of her keel to the clenching of her last rivet. The result has been the production of a model boat whether as regards strength, internal economy, power, speed, and beauty of symmetry. Arriving in Launceston after larger and more commodious boats had forestalled her, she was sold to a Nelson proprietary, and, for three or four years, she was the ornament and pet of that port, whence, to the great regret of the colonists, she was sold to Auckland owners, after having carried on a long and profitable trade. The Tasmanian Maid had no sooner arrived than she was placed in the Coromandel trade, in which she has since been employed. As yet, the season is too young to enable her proprietors to form an estimate of their future prospects; and, until the quartz crushing machinery shall be in operation, and the actual riches of Coromandel become satisfactorily determined, the traffic by steam will remain more or less uncertain. But from the extraordinary successes that have recently taken place, from tke conviction that those successes are but the beginning of a great and fortunate end, there is every reason to conclude that steamers ere long will here be as rife as at present they are rare.

The Tasmanian Maid undertook a special trip to Coromandel and back on Thursday last. So little intimation was given, either by advertisement or otherwise, that few were aware of the opportunity offered, and a moderate party of excursionists was the consequence. With commendable punctuality, for which the steamer has already obtained an honourable reputation, the warps were cast off, and she moved down harbour at full speed, and with a flowing sheet, at a few minutes after 7 a.m. The weather was fair, with a fresh breeze from the westward, and the lively craft bowled along at a spanking rate, fetching her anchorage abreajt of Kapanga within five hours. Here those gentlemen who went down to remain for a few days were landed in the ship's boat, whilst they who had merely gone for the excursion stuck to the ship, it being almost low water; the wind had increased to half a gale, and the sea was tumbling in in long and angry rollers on the flat and muddy beach, they who debarked were thoroughly drenched before they could set foot on shore, between which and the ship no communication was obtained. At low water the difficulties are manifold; there are no shore boats’to come off, no jetties, the tide recedes to a great distance, the beach is flat and muddy, and the only indication of a future pier is that at Wynyardtown, which, viewed at a distance, does not promise to achieve the desired result. At Kapanga the foundation of a future town has been laid, but we are at a loss to discover how it is to become a harbour, or even a tidal haven, without a considerable outlay. Within a few months the houseless flats have been studded with stores, cottages, and other buildings, many more being in projection. On Mr. Preece’s estate a township, to be called Kingston, is being laid off. Mr. Beeson is adding to his pleasant and well regulated hostelry, a large two-story wing being in frame. The hulk Sophia , which has been caulked and overhauled, is about to be moved down and moored off Kapanga, where she will discharge a variety of duties, as a store house, house of accommodation, coal depot, besides supplying boats for conveyance of passengers to and from the steamer. In everything a commencement has to be made; and, from the initiatory measures that are thus being carried into operation, it must be clear that Coromandel is about to spring into active and prosperous existence. Having weighed from Beeson’s Bay, on her return, at 2.10 p.m. the powers of the Maid were shrewdly tested. The wind by compass was at about W. by N., blowing hard, dead on end, with a long heavy rolling sea, which caused her to plunge and struggle ; in spite of this, with a reduced pressure of steam, she made the passage across the Thames in less than three hours, and to the Wharf within seven hours; unluckily she came in contact with one of the dolphins, by which the outside planks of her port paddle box were smashed. No injury to her machinery was sustained and she started again on her trip to Coromandel yesterday morning. Next week she is to be laid up in order to undergo a thorough overhaul and renovation, by which both her powers and internal means of comfort will be materially enhanced. So much for what the Tasmanian Maid, in concert with her numerous and spirited sailing consorts have already achieved, that they will be speedily and effectually supplemented by a large accession of steam power we have good reason to believe. One or more vessels from the Australian Colonies have been spoken of; and orders have long since gone home for a powerful and competent ship. That great, we may indeed say that paramount necessity a steam ferry to connect Auckland and the North Shore is likely to be carried into effect. We have heard of several large and liberal contributors prepared to subscribe for several years, and It is said that the formation of a Joint Stock Company has been broached with every likelihood of its early and successful establishment. Who that considers the great extent, in many places the fertility, and in all the healthy character of the sparsely peopled and almost unoccupied North Shore, but must feel assured that a steam bridge whilst it cannot fail to transform the entire aspect of that portion of the country, will be not less certain largely to remunerate its proprietary for their political and patriotic undertaking; to which the towing of tide or wind bound ships to or from the North Head may be made a judicious accessory. In Auckland’s previous attempts at establishing Steam Navigation, with all the adverse influence of the Sydney co-proprietary, the William Denny always paid a fair dividend, which would have been much larger had she been altogether Auckland owned. Her wreck was a serious loss to the shipping and passenger traffic of this Province; gnd from the experience since acquired, and with a population now nearly doubled, the propriety of extending our means of internal and external steam communication can scarcely admit of question.

Meeting on behalf of the Distressed Operatives of Britain.— Yesterday evening in the Brunswick Hall the chair was taken by the Chief Justice, Sir G. Alfred Arney, at the meeting which had been convened for the purpose of considering the best means by which the people of Auckland could assist in alleviating the distress at home. We were sony to observe the presence of so few of our townspeople on so important an occasion, not only that such an absence might be construed, which we trust their liberal donations will not however permit, into a feeling of apathy, but because they were themselves lost in the eloquent and exhaustive speech of the Chairman, and in the remarks of those gentlemen who followed him an opportunity of listening to a clear and explicit view of the real circumstances of the case of distress wnicn we are all called upon to assist in reheymg. A false impression has, we believe, existed, t funds intended to be raised arc to be exclusive y ted to the relief of English necessity. S P * tion of Scotland is suffering from ® a me ca^, fl nd wc can scarcely believe, but that t j applied indiscriminately to the reli .. f , "Rrifnin whercever it may arise from the failure oi tM si pplj of cotton. Wc defer publication of the until oil? next. At the meeting a committee. of th! ftdlowino. rrentlcmen were appointed;—d. 1. iJoyian, 3. Browmng, W. Buckland, J. H. Burnside, James Busbv H. Coolahan, W. C. Daldy, F-Dignan, J. C. Firth, J. A. GilfiUan, Hy. Gilfillan .David Graham, Robert Grahaw, Walter Graham, L, Jackson, pedy, Dd.pg, TbPjh W ' - K

S. Macfarlane, D. L. Murdoch, D. Nathan, Joseph Newman, J. O’Neill, G. P. Pierce, Richard Ridings, John Salmon, John Simpson. James Smart, D. B. Thornton, Robert Watcrston, George Webster, iredk. Whitaker, John Williamson, Colonel Leslie, Colonel Wyatt, Colonel Mould, Colonel Galloway, Colonel Chute, H, Stanley Jones, Samuel Cochrane (treasurer), J. W. Harrop, (hon. secretary), and a meeting of the committee was called for this day, Saturday, at noon, at the Chamber of Commerce. Five hundred pounds were, we arc informed, collected at the meeting. The Bishop’s Library, Parnell.—A public library containing works of that class which can seldom bo met with in mechanics institutes and circulating libraries, and to which the scholar or the student oftentimes may have occasion to resort, is a want which has been long experienced in Auckland. Many of our readers may not, perhaps, be aware that something like such an institution already exists, and that a largo and valuable collection of works ol a very varied character and class, the private property of the Bishop of New Zealand, is, by his Lordship’s courtesy, available to those who may desire to visit it, for the purpose of reference. The building which is an extensive one, has been comfortably partitioned into some six or eight reading rooms the shelves around each of which are filled with works of the same class. In one, are several rare and valuable medical works and instruments, and the library as a whole supplies a want which many accustomed to the literary appliances and resorts open to all at home, have severely felt in New Zealand. The library, as we have said before, is a private one, but the liberality of the Bishop has induced him to accord its benefits to those who may be anxious to avail themselves of them, and we trust that the manner in which this privilege will be used may neither cause his Lordship to regret his determination nor to restrict the freedom afforded to the public.

Special General Meeting or Odd Fellows of the Auckland District. —We heartily commend to the example of the various bodies and societies, tp one or the other of which our townspeople belong, the step taken by the Odd Fellows, for considering how they may best be able to assist in relieving the sufferings of the operatives in the manufacturing districts in Lancashire, and other parts of England and Scotland. In another part of our columns we have advocated the necessity of establishing a permanent committee for the purpose of receiving and transmitting the subscriptions of the past month, by each mail; for we hold that neither docs the exigency of the case, nor will the sympathies of the Auckland people permit the good work to be considered ns completed after the first effort, but that the relief they may be enabled to afford shall be as continuous ns the occasion which so imperatively calls for it.

Bazaar. —A Bazaar in aid of the funds of the St. John the Baptist Chapel, (K. C.) at Parnell, will be held in the Brunswick Hall, on Tuesday and Wednesday next. We have been informed that the Church, which is now completed, has exceeded the supposed cost, and that a school-room of considerable size and accommodation has been built in connexion with the place of worship. Caution to Shopkeepers.—Spurious Coin.— Although we have long been aware of the existence of many counterfeits amongst us, political and otherwise who pass current “ on change,” it it was only yesterday that, for the first time for a long period, we were favoured with the sight of a bad florin, or two-shilling-piece. Like its human shams, it was exceedingly well got up, but not being of the genuine metal, was so soft that it coutd easily be twisted into any shape. It has a slight ring, but weak when compared with that of good coin; and is more clearly distinguishable by the dull and leaden looking appearance of the composition of which it is formed. Those who succeeded in passing this one, may probably attempt the same trial in other quarters, and we, therefore, take this opportunity of drawing the attention of the public to the silver money which may be tendered to them in the course of business. Pleasure Trip to llowick.—The Tasmanian Maid left the Queen-street wharf about half-past ten o’clock on Wednesday morning with a party of pleasure seekers for llowick. Although the weather was all that could be desired, fewer persons took advantage of the occasion than might have been expected; those who did so seemed highly gratified with the trip, and wc have little doubt but that, as the summer sets fairly in, the excellent accommodation and sea-going capabilities of this fine little vessel become generally known, that a trip to one or other of the beautiful islands and watering places near Auckland will be looked forward to by our citizens as an opportunity not to be passed over. In coming up to the wharf on Thursday evening, on her return from Coromandel, owing to the darkness of the night, the Tasmanian Maid unfortunately carried away the beam of her near paddle. As nothing, however, was injured but the woodwork, she was soon set to rights and started again for Coromandel by eleven o’clock the next morning. The Auckland Total Abstinence Society will hold their anniversary Soiree on Friday evening next, the the 3rd proximo, at the Odd Fellows’ Hall, on which occasion, it is expected, Colonel Hanltain, the President of the Society, will take the chair.

The State of the Colony. — A lecture on this subject was‘delivered on Tuesday evening last, in the Brunswick Hall, by Mr. James Busby, to a very limited audience. Band of the 4Dth Regt. —The band of the 40th will perform this afternoon, between the hours of three and five, on the enclosure in front of the Provincial Council Chamber. The following is the programme for the occasion: - Overture Lc Roi d’yvetot Adam Waltz Bianca Lauren t Grand Selection ...Norma Bellini Quadrille Orphec Auxenfers Strauss Selection La Triviata Verdi Mazurka Mathieux Kuhner Galop Burlescpte Cassidy