New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, December 27, 1845.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume II, Issue 64, 27 December 1845, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAITS GUARDIAN. Saturday, December 27, 1845 .

The David Malcolm will shortly take her departure, being the first vessel which has loaded for London direct from this port this season. We were very desirous before she sailed to present to our readers the annual returns of the statistics of this settlement, and we regret that the want of information as to certain districts should compel us to defer, for a short time, their publication. These returns we have always considered to possess great value, as they present the most unfailing tests of the position of the settlement, whether it has advanced or retrogaded in the period intervening between them. They shew also, to a certain extent, the amount of fixed capital invested in the colony, and the progress the settlers are making towards independence, in the ability to produce food sufficient for their own consumption, without relying on importations from the ! neighTJouring colonies, and in producing ! exports to pay for the amount of imported gobds. When the settlers have once solved this difficulty, the progress towards prosperity,, becomes more assured, always supposing; of course, that their industrial energies are not cramped and impeded by obstacles needlessly thrown, in their way by the Government. And this brings us to another point, which at the present juncture, gives additional value to the returns for this year. They mark the termination of Capt. Fitzroy's misrule, and the commencement of his successor's career — they become, as it were, the starting point of the new Governor. Any ! one, by comparing the returns for this year with those of the two former years, will be able to judge of the effects of the policy pursued ; Jie will find, perhaps, that the increase of land brought into cultivation, though gradual, has been slow to whpt it would have

been if the question of the lmnd^claimgghad been Settled, if no obstruction were offered to cultivation by the natives, arid the settlers possessed the power of making roads in the district. He will, perhaps, find thftttbe number of stock during the year has greatly increased by importation as well as from natural causes, because the same impediments are not offered to the employment of capital in this manner. But their chief value will be in affording a fair criterion whereby to judge of our new Governor's policy. The Ministers in the House of Commons have unequivocally condemned the policy of his predecessor, and so far we can form an opinionof their intentionsfrom their speeches, they seem to rely on the prudence and discretion of Capt. Grey in bringing order out of the present confusion, leaving him in a great degree unfettered by instructions, and telling him what to avoid, in their condemnation of Capt. Fitzroy's conduct. If^ then, it shall appear by the next returns*, after Capt. Grey has been one year in office, and the measures to be adopted by him have had a fair trial, that peace and prosperity are restored to the colony, that cultivation&has greatly extended from an increased feeling of security on the part of the settler, and a reliance by him on protection from the Government, that roads are in progress through the settlement, that the amount of exports and of our coasting trade has increased in a much greater ratio than during the past year, we may fairly attribute these unequivocal signs of an onward progress to the wisdom of the measures adopted by our new Governor. We are, therefore, particularly solicitous of being as accurate as possible in these returns, and shall be greatly obliged to any of our reader* who will furnish us with a correct account of the amount of land jn cultivation, specifying the number of acres of wheat, barley, of Other grain, of potatoes, and of grass land, of the amount of native cultivation, and the number of horses, cattle, sheep and mules in their respective districts. We are particularly desirous of obtaining these returns from Porirua, Manawatu, and Wanganui, and as soon as we have obtained the necessary information from f ttiese districts we shall be able to complete the returns. As the only value of these statistics consists in their accuracy, we hope those who furnish us with the desired information will take pains to insure their being correct.

By the' Scotia which arrived. .on Wednesday morning from Taranaki we have- private ad* vices from that settlement, stating that the natives are quiet and offer no molestation to the settlers, who are earnestly engaged in the work of clearing and cultivation. The crops were looking very well, with every promise of an abundant harvest ; this season upwards of ninety tons of flour had been exported to the neighbouring settlements, and it was calculated that they would be able, at the lowest computation, to export two hundred and fifty tons of oi flour in the ensuing season. The Carbon has left Taranaki for Nelson and will afterwards visit this port. She was detained twenty days days in Manakou harbour windbound. Owing to the scarcity of animals of draught, and the requirements of the Government for the carriage of stores, &c, the conveyance overland of the Carbon's cargo from Manakau to Auckland was found to be so expensive as materially to diminish the profits. The Auckland maiket is reported to be overstocked with goods. The Scada has brought from Tarantki » beautifuLpajr .of mill-stones, made from the granite of that district ; they measure four feet in diameter, and are fifteen inches through, an>( are intended for Messrs. Kebble'i steam mills at M»nawatu.

We are informed that an application was made to the Rev. R. Cole to perform the burial service at the late Mr. M'Leod's funeral the day befoie it took place, when he declined, under the impression that Mr. M'Leod was not a member of the Episcopal -chuich, and this impression was confirmed by his not receiving a second application. We believe the Rev. Mr. Inglis was then applied to, who subsequently consented to officiate. It is not correct that Mr. Strang was applied to.

Wool. — In Messrs. Southy & Son's circular is the following paragraph relating to the packing of wool on shipboard, which is worthy attention : — We hope it will not be considered lout of our province to notice here the practice df torewing the bale* into the ihipt to iuch • 4*gn* that it

'frequently ocicupiei half an hour jo jje.t otrta cottpletrf bales—the wool is oblige* Ws* plucked out by hindfnls to release them from the tier in which they are ptowecU Independent of the injury the. property sustains by the cJdse pressure, which "causes tl#7 bales, from whence the wotl is extracted toW ecome unmerchantable, the delay in discharging the 1 ship has occasion • ally exposed the cargo to be! excluded from the sales then in progress We think by only partially screwing the last fifty bales put into the ship, all complaints may be obviated.