DISTRICT ORDERS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 34, 31 May 1845, Page 2

DISTRICT ORDERS.

Secretary's Office, Wellington, May 26, 1845. By virtue of a commission issued by his Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, dated April 10, 1845,

appointing me Majov in command of the Wellington Hattallion of Militia, I hereby assume command of the troops stationed in the southern district of New Zealand. Captain Russell of the 58th regiment will take charge of, and direct the detail of the garrison of Wellington. Captain Wakefield will take charge of, and direct the detail of the Wellington Battallion of Militia. Captain Baker will take charge of, and direct the detail of the Mounted Volunteer Corps when organized. Lieutenant Rush of the 58th regiment will hold the local rank of Captain, in this division of the colony, to bear date the 10th April, 1845. His Excellency the Governor having been pleased to appoint the undermentioned gentlemen to commissions i" t!«> <«V?Wngton Battallion of Militia, they are posted tui > • | <i.,K a as follows :—: — No. I. Company. — Captain William Wakefield, Lieutenant Charles Sharp, Ensign Nathaniel Levin. No. 11. Company. — Captain David Stark Durie, Lieutenant Hugh Rosi, Ensign George Hunter. No. 111. Company. — Captain George Compton, Lieutenant James Watt, Ensign Edward Abbott. No. IV. Company. — Captain John Dorset, Lieutetenant Robert Park, Ensign George Moore, Ensign Samuel Edward Giimston, to be Aide-de-camp to the Major commanding. Captain Arthur Edward Macdonogh, Adjutant. Quarter-master, Alfred Hornbrook.

On the alarm being .given, the troops will assemble at the following peaces :— - The detachment of the 58th regiment will fall back upon Thorndon Fort. No. 1 Company of Militia will assemble at Thorndon Fort. The detachment of the 96th regiment will fall in under arms at the Barracks, Te-aro, when they will be joined by No. 2 Company. No. 3 Company will proceed to Fort Richmond, on the Hutt, and join the detachment of the 58th regiment stationed there, under the command of Captain Rush. No. 4 Company and the Cavalry will assemble in front of Thorndon Fort. The Captains of Nos. 1 and 2 Companies will enrol the names of any volunteers who are desirous of giving their aid, in case of emergency, and station them within the Forts of Thorndon and Te-aro, for their defence, to render as many men of their Companies as possible available to resist any attack thot may be made upon the town. The Companies of the Militia stationed in the town of Wellington, will patrol every morning from 5 o'clock till 7 o'clock, a. m. No. 1 in the district, from Thorndon Flat to the station of the 58th regiment. No. 4, from Kumu Toto stream to Thorndon Flat. No. 2, from Te-aro Flat to Kumu Toto stream. These patrols will consist of a non-commissioned officer and four men, and will move in the rear of the town. The detachments of the 58th and 96th regiments will protect the flanks, and patrol at the same hours, the former in the direction of Wade's Town, the latter towards the signal station and Evans' Bay. The Cavalry Corps, when formed, will patrol the roads leading to Karori, Porirua, and Petoni. A guard of the Militia, consisting of a sergeant, corporal, and twelve men, will mount daily at Thorndon Fort. The Companies of Militia will assemble at their private parades for exercise every morning at 8 o'clock, and 4 in the afternoon, until further orders. .. Definite instructions have not yet been received relalive to the pay of the Militia, but for the present, it will be the same as the non-commissioned officers and privates of the line. Those working at the batteries between the hours of drill will be allowed lOd. a day extra. The Militia volunteer for three months, or 28 days. (Signed) M. Richmond. Major Commanding. Many of the volunteers enlisted for the shorter term of twenty-eight days, and on the expiration of their term of service, the requisite number of men will be drawn by ballot from the Militia list to supply their place. The pay of the Militia is to be the same as that of the noncommissioned officers and privates of the line, until definite instruction* are received; and 10(1. per day in addition will be allowed to those who work upon the fortifications between the hours of drill. We may therefore hope that the works will be soon completed, and the town placed in an effective state of defence. The disposition of the troops and Militia, in the event of any alarm or surprise by the natives, will give general satisfaction, as it was currently reported to be Captain Russell's intention, in such a case, to fall back on Barrett's Hotel, and afterwards to unite his force with the detachment under Captain Eyton, thus concentrating the whole of the military in the town at Te Aro. Such an arrangement must necessarily have left the greater part of the town defenceless, and the houses and property of the Thorndon district would have fallen an easy prey to the assailants; we are therefore glad to find that, by the general order, provision is made' for the defence of both divisions of the town.

Wb insert the following communication in answer to a letter from " a Settler," and a few prefaratory remarks of our own. On the main point, the necessity for the erection of a greater number of mills in this district, so as to rebkice the price of grinding, "the corrective within our power of the present state of things," we appear to be all agreed. The price of grinding in Wellington is Is. 6d. per bushel, the price at Tpranaki is 9d., and the price at Adelaide is 6d. The nearer, therefore, the price of grinding in this district approximates to that last quoted, the greater the advantage to the farmer. But on our stating that 3s. 6d. per bushel ought, under any circumstances, to be the lowest price of good wheat in the colony, that purchasers may be found at that price, in " persons who seriously entertain the idea of shipping wheat as a remittance," that according to " a Settler's" calculations (presuming them to be correct) the farmer, on having his own wheat ground, would obtain ss. per bushel, and that 6s. per bushel would be a very remunerating price ; our correspondent flies off at a tangent, and attempts,

by sundry calculations, to prove that 6s. per bushel would be unsatisfactory to the New Zealand farmer. Our correspondent is rather unfortunate in his garbled extract from our quotation of the Western Times, which states " that a cargo of 3,600 bushels of Adelaide wheat shipped to Sydney, and transhipped thence to Old England at 3s. 9d. per bushel, bore ali the expences of impoi-tation, with a fair profit to the importer." Neither is he happy in contrasting the position of the New Zealand with the English farmer. The rent of corn land in England is seldom less than £2, in many instances as highT as £5 or £6 per acre, in addition to which must be reckoned tithes, poor-rates, and other taxes, manure, and other expenses from which the former is exempt. His statement of expenses wedo notconsiderafair one. He has included many items which ought not to appear against the proceeds of the first crop. In the second year he supposes the 19 acres first cleared to lie idle, at least their pro - duce does not appear, as it ought, on the credit side of his returns. But the great error in our correspondent's views appears to be the opinion that 6s. per bushel for wheat is not a remunerating price, an opinion which would not be borne out in a fair statement of profit and loss. As long as wheat is sold in Sydney at 3s. per bushel, and in South Australia at even a lower price ; as long as flour can be imported from these colonies by our merchants at £10 and £11 per ton, the price of wheat here cannot rise to 6s. per bushel. In Canada the expense of clearing is nearly the same as it is in New Zealand, the winter is six months long, during which time farming operations are suspended ; in any comparison between the two countries, therefore, as far as climate and natural capabilities are concerned, the advantages are in favour of New Zealand ; and yet the price of wheat in the London district, Upper Canada, is from Is. 9d. to 2s. per bushel, which is increased by the time it reaches Montreal, the shipping port, a distance of several hundred miles, by transit charges, to 4s. per bushel. When he charges two years' living, and servant's wages, amounting to £128, with the expence of clearing amounting to £95, against the return of the first crop of twenty acres under cultivation, instead of extending his calculations over a period of four or five years, and including the profit on poultry, pigs, cows, green crops, &c, which ought to be a part of a proper system of husbandry, and appear on the credit side of the returns, we fear that " Clodhopper" will not be considered a very practical authority. In connexion with this subject we may state as a hint to- absentees, that an extensive laud owner in South Australia in 1844, received his rent from his tenants in flour. If they would receive their rent in grain or other produce at the fair average market price, it would in a settled state of things materially promote the extension of cultivation. , To the Editor of the New Zealand Spectator. Wellington, May 21, 1845. Sir, — In last week's Spectator is a letter signed " A ( Settler," drawing a comparison betwixt the present price of flour and wheat : the discrepancy there pointed out has long been apparent ; every cultivator was aware of it, and of the cause of it ; still lam glad it has been j brought before the public ; because it is a grievance of i that nature, that if not soon remedied, it will put an- end to the cultivation of wheat in this settlement. The article that precedes the letter, if not intended as a joke, is most objectionable, and very ill-timed. It is, as you say, Mr. I Editor, " well to know the worst;" it is also well to J make correct calculations before making them public. How very " consolatory" it must be to the poor farmer to be told, " that we have heard some persons seriously entertain the idea of shipping wheat to England as a remittance, and they calculate that after all expenses were paid, they would realize something more than the present market price." The idea is preposterous, and never could have entered the head of any sane person. First, let me ask, How is the poor settler to wait for twelve months for the price of his grain, that has taken him twelve months to grow, even if it would pay him to ship to England, which I will soon prove it will not do. " Out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee." In your paper of the 10th inst., is aa extract from the Western Times (Exeter paper), headed " Australian Wheat," in which the freight from Sydney to England is quoted at 30s. per quarter, duty 55., which, added to 28s. per quarter, the price here, will- give 635. per quarter ; ss. per quarter more ought to- be added for interest of money, landing, dock dues, insurance, commission, &c, which will make 68s. per quarter. I shall now refer to the price of wheat in England at our last dates. In the Mark Lane Express of December 9th, the average price of wheat in the London market was 495. 2d. per quarter, which would leave the shipper minus eighteen shillings and sixpence per quarter, or give him about one shilling per bushel for his wheat. This would be the result of shipping to England : this is an extraordinary way of " holding out some consolation to the farmer." No ! Mr. Editor, we had better take the 3s. 6d. per bushel than ship to England — and we had better not cultivate wheat at all than do either. But to proceed with your article :—ln: — In another paragraph you state ; — " In a healthy and prosperous state of trade we may expect the price of flour to be per ton ; this would leave the farmer 6s. per bushel for his wheat, which would be a very remunerating price." Hear this, Oh ye farmers, and cease your grumbling !■ Really, Mr. Editor, you would have done for one of Job's comforters. The English farmer is crying out that, with wheat at 6s. per bushel he is fast going to ruin ; how then can we grow it for 3s. 6d. ? (which, you say, " ought to be the lowest price for good wheat under any circumstances." Is it by having to pay twice as high for our labour ?, or by being compelled to do our work by the slow process of hoeing and digging, instead of by the plough ? or by thrashing by the flail, instead of machine ? I may be told, the English farmer has to pay rent. It is true, he has so ; but he has no .house, nos barn to build, or fences to make ; he has good roads to carry his produce to market, and is certain to obtain the full value

of it. If we have wheat to sell, we are probably offered' 3s. 6d., instead of ss. per bushel, the worth of it. If we have a fat ox for sale, we cannot obtain for it more than 4^d. per pound ; but if once in half a year we are extravagant enough to buy a piece of beef, we are charged Bd. per pound for it. At home, the farmer sells his beef, for the same price the butcher retails it, the latter being satisfied with the offal for his profits. However, it is high time to inquire whether 6s. per bushel for wheat is such a " very remunerating price." In order to a thorough examination of this question, I submit the following calculations : if they are incorrect, they are open to animadversion. It is generally allowed that a settler re- ] quires two years to get in and to take off a crop. In the statement that follows, I suppose the settler has managed to clear 20 acres (twice as much as is usually done), 19 acres of which he sows with wheat. The expense of this will be nearly as follows: —

It may be said that some of these items ought not to be charged. I see none that ought to be left out. I suppose the settler is in England the first four years after the colony is settled, and charge 5 per cent, on the pur-chase-money for that time. After he arrives in the colony, I charge 12^ per cent. ; double this rate has been offered to me by storekeepers in town. The two years' house expenses may be objected to, I conceive, unreasonably ; the settler's presence is required on the spot, and his time may be profitably bestowed. (His passage out, outfit, &c, ought to be added to the capital sunk.) In regard to produce, I give a fair average, viz. I 32 bushels per acre. '

Instead of 6s. per bushel, suppose wheat brings only 3s. 6d., how will the account stand ? You have only to add £76 more to each year's loss, and you have the return. Now, Mr. Editor, you see what your very remunerating price will do for the farmer — bring him in debt the first year £187 : 1 : 8, and the second year £48 :3 : 8. By shipping to England, it is almost all loss ; and with wheat at 3s. 6d. per bushel, he must be a madman that cultivates it. Instead of one, we want four mills more. At the present prices and prospects, you may rely upon it, very little wheat will be cultivated next year, — we have gone too far this year to withdraw. In conclusion, allow me to advise, before putting forth another article similar to the one that has caused these remarks, to submit it to some practical farmer, or what would be much better, leave agricultural subjects alone, and confine yourself to watching and exposing the Tom-fooleries of our Governor ; there you are quite at home. I am, Sir, your constant reader, Clojjhopper.

Grubbing 19 acres, at £4 76 0 0 Seed wheat, 28£ bushels, at 6s 8 11 0 Chipping in 19 acres, at 6s 5 14 0 Reaping 19 acres, at 12s 11 2 0 Carrying, 3cc, at 7s. 6d 7 2 6 Thrashing 608 bushels, at 7& 17 4 8 Carting to market, at Bs. per ton 6 0 0 1 year's house expenses 52 0 0 1 do. servant's wages " 10 0 0 Interest as before. , 36 17 6 Cr. j£23o II 8 By 608 bushels wheat, at 6s .182 8 0 ■ ■' " Deficit 2d year ,£4B 3 8

2d Year's Expenses.

Chopping and burning 19 acres, at £5 .... £95 0 0 Clearing 1 acre for site of house, garden, &c. 20 0 0 Rootingandhackinginwheatoßl9acres,at^'2 38 0 0 Seed wheat for do. 28 £ bushels, at 6s 8 11 0 Reaping 19 acres, at 12s 11 2 0 Carrying, stacking, and thatching, at 7s. 6d. 7 2 6 Thrashing 608 bushels, at 7d 17 4 8 Carting to market, at Bs. per ton <i. 7 12 0 2 years' house expenses, at 265. per week. . 104 0 0 2 do. servant's wages, at i£l2 24 0 0 12£ per cent, interest 0n^295 (capital sunk) 36 17 6 Cr. £ J 369 9 8 By 608 bushels wheat (32 per acre), at 6s. 182 8 0 Deficit Ist year ,£lB7 1 8

House, j£loo ; offices, out-houses, &c.,'£3o i?13O Barn, .£3O; fencing, i?l5 45 Cost of section, ilOO ; four years' interest, £2Q. . 120 £22b

Capital sunk.

Expenses.