New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, October 17, 1846.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume III, Issue 127, 17 October 1846, Page 2

New Zealand Spectator, AND COOK'S STRAIT GUARDIAN. Saturday, October 17, 1846.

We mentioned in our last number that the flood in the Hutt had washed away a part of Fort Richmond, and the remainder is likely to share the same fate. This catastrophe has been mainly caused by a drain made by order of the Government Surveyor, who was recommended to his office by Major Richmond, who has therefore been, unintentionally, an accessory to the demolition of his own fortress. His Honor is responsible, however, for something more important than this, provided he caused the appointment of the Government Surveyor under whose superintendence the first part of the Porirua Road and the new road at the Hutt, above the bridge, have been laid out. The part of the Porirua Road to which we allude, is as startling an exhibition of want of knowledge and skill as could well be met with, and the

road above the bridge at theHutt is perfectly ' laughable. To those disposed to doubt the accuracy of these assertions we say "go and see." Any one taking the trouble to do so, although unlearned in the art of roadmaking, will understand what we mean. To do this it is not necessary to be acquainted minutely with the advantages of a flat road over a convex one, the inclination best adapted to carry off the water, the nature and size of the material used as a foundation for the surface, or the level of the line on which it runs, because the road speaks for itself. Who can walk along it without perceiving that it does not take the easiest line, that in some parts it is flat, in some convex, in some concave, that it is not clear of water, and that it wants a proper foundation ? The defects of the other road or rather bank through the valley of the Hutt, for it never has been and never will be a road, are more glaring because the nature of the country rendered the task of making a good road there more difficult than "at the other place. Some knowledge on the subject of roadmaking and a good deal of skill in the execution of the work was indispensable to success in constructing a road through a valley composed of a soil, so light and friable, that it is difficult to make a ditch that will not fill itself up in a few days, and subject to frequent floods. In such a country any man, we conceive, without being aMe Adam or a colossus of genius would* after deciding on the line and the breadth of the road, have bebtowed some pains in making a foundation for it to rest upon. He would have taken care to have formed this foundation of materials that would consolidate and became hard without being too hard, from using stone of too large dimensions, and upon this he would have placed the surface of the road. Not so thought Major Richmond's Surveyor. He knew an easier way by which to astonish the natives and bog the settlers,* which at all events is entitled to the merit of extreme simplicity. It was to dig two ditches parallel to each other, and such a distance from each other as not to admit two carts to pass each other, and to throw the loose earth from each ditch between the two and the road was made. Have we not said that this road was laughable ? It will, however, be no laughing matter to those who in trying to use it as a road, may find themselves and their cattle stuck fast, nor will it be by any means a good joke considering the cost of the job, if it should either speedily or gradually be carried away by the floods. The question naturally arises, and as journalists, guardians of the public weal, we are bound, in spite of any obloquy, to consider it, how came the Surveyor who made such roads to be appointed to his office ? One reason, perhaps, was the one given for similar appointments by James Walker, Esq., an Engineer and scientific road maker, examined before a committee of the House of Commons in March, 1819 :—: — " While many simple trades require by law, an apprenticeship of seven years, before the person is thought qualified to practise with his own capital, the road surveyor is supposed fit, the very hour he is named, for an office which requires at least as much understanding and experience as the average of trades, and in which he has the public money to speculate with." Another reason, or rather prominent cause of this appointment we have already alluded to, namely that his Honor the Superintendent recommended it, and if the fact be so, of which we have no doubt, more considerations on the subject than we have space for to-day present themselves to our minds. We will, however, advert to one, namely, that as long as such a system prevails, 1 neither the Home Government nor his Excellency Captain Grey nor any other Governor can prevent the waste of funds intended to be spent for the benefit of the colony. Small as is the population it so happens that a great number of Surveyors, some of acknowledged ability, are to be found, and it would be absurd to say that the best selection has been made in the present instance, or that the selection was made in reference to fitness for the office at all. His Honor Major Richmond chose to make it, and what remedy have

the settlers for the effect of this or of any other display of mischievous activity on the part of the local government ? Let Earl -Grey «. answer the question. " One most essential thing in the new Governor would be, that he should have very little scruple in dismissing the highly paid and incapable servants of the Government, by whose misconduct the'present state'of things had been produced. It .was the abject weakness and pusillanimity (he feared in some cases faults still more unpardonable) of the Police Magistrates, and Commissioners, and Protectors which had brought on these evils, and he feared, till a large proportion of them were removed, they would not be remedied. The duties of Government required in an infant settlement might be discharged by thecolonists themselves, who had a stake in its welfare, either gratuitously, for the honor such functions conferred, or at all events for a small remuneration. * * * He hoped they wouli revert to the ancient and wise policy of their ancestors, and allow the colonists to govern themselves. No doubt they would, commit some mistakes, perhaps serious ones;. but all experience was in favor of self-government. Admitting, as he had already done, that serious mistakes might still very probably be committed, those mistakes would be likely tobe promptly corrected when the power of applying a remedy was in the hands of thosewho, suffered by them." — Speech of Lord Hoicick (now Earl Grey) on the state of New Zealand, June 18th, 1845.

The Portenia arrived in harbour on Wednesday morning, having been 13 days on her passage. She has brought a quantity of government stores, a general cargo, and four hundred and seventy sheep, having lost eighty on the passage. English dates had been received in Sydney to the 15th May^ by the William Hyde, which arrived there 15th Sept. We have received a complete file of the Australian to Sept. 29th, from which we have made copious extracts. Private letters do not contain much infdrmation relating to this colony. The accounts of the New Zealand furniture woods are very discouraging, and accounts received by a mercantile firm here of the Kauri gum, represent it to be a total failure in the English market. But this news chiefly affects the trade of the Northern district of the colony. The following extract from a private letter is the latest news respecting Wool, Oils, and Whalebone :—: — " Wool is rather lower, and so are Oils, but Whalebone has taken a start, £239 per ton were paid last week for a fair lot." We have also received the following extract of a private letter, the latter part of which will be good news to our fellow-set-tlers at Taranaki : — " I hope the Wellington folks have not been bitten with the Kauri gum mania, which is a great delusion. It will hardly bring here what it costs on board in New Zealand. If the account of the nickel at New Plymouthbe true, there will be plenty of capital sent out to work it by the Birmingham houses. Muntz and others have been agog about it ever since the first reports of the discovery. The metal is much used in German 1 silver, albata, electro-nickel, and variaus other imitations of silver, which are coming into general usage." The following extract from the New Zealand Journal, April 25th, will also Tie interesting to the settlers of that district : — Mr. Joshua Wordsworth, of the 'firm of Messrs. Taylor, Wordsworth, and Co., ma-chine-makers, Leeds, has received a sample of Anglo-New-Zealand flax, grown at Mangaraki, New Plymouth, New Zealand, from European seed, as an experiment, by Mr. Josiah Flight, late of Bridport, Dorsetshire. Its value is estimated at £40 to £45 per ton; and it is thought it would be inferior to none, if water-rated instead of dew-rated. — New Zealand Journal.

We are happy to announce the safe arrival of the Lowestoft bn Wednesday. We believe she will positively sail for Hobart Town to-morrow.

The following paragraph, under the head of Sauth Australia, is extracted from the Colonial Gazette, April 25th :—: — " The new Governor had appcfinted Mr. Godfrey John Thomas as his Private Secretary, and is said to have hegun his work well. The South Australian Gazette specially praises the announcement of a resolution to put the colonial officers in their right places, and to make them do their proper, wprk :—: — "The intimation that for the" future all communications which are not of a strictly

Sydney Shipping. Imports per Cla>-a — 2 cases shoes, 6 cases, Tom Ray; 1-box, W. K. Hulke ; 4720 deals, 42 chests tea, 4 casks linseed oil, 8 casks boiled oil, 125 kegs white lead, 20 packages spunyarn, 72 do. rope, 21 bales linen, 3 do. carpeting, 7 do. bags, 1 box woollens, 10 pockets hops, Smith & Campbell ; 10 kegs -oegrohead tobacco, 30 butts salt, Ridgway, Hickson, & Co. ; 2 casks Cologne water, Thacker & Co. ; 267 casks bottled beer, 50 hhds beer, 1 case wearing apparel, Lyall, Scott, & Co.; 20 hhds. beer, J. R. and A. F. Wiltshire ; 9 hhds. beer, 9 sheets lead, 100 kegs paint, 45 coils and 13 bundles cordage, 1 cask nails, 6 bundles felt, 4 bales, 7 cases, 1 truss, and 1 cask merchandise, 1 box seeds, 12 cases sheathing, 1 cask nails, Cooper & Holt ; 40 puncheons B.P. rum, 20 hhds. brandy, 6 bales, 9 cases paper, Griffiths, Fanning & Co.; 20 casks B.P. rum, J. S. Willis ; 1 case manufactures, E. Street ; 1 case, D. Hough ; 40 hhds. bottled beer, W. Fitzherbert ; 5 cases, 11 bales paper, 1 cask ink, 20 tons gypsum, 1 case printers' colours, 1 case, 1 box, 2 casks merchandise, Martyn & Coombes ; 1 case books, Georgfc i Smith; 1 case apparel, Dr. Warner; 4 cases, 2 casks merchandise, Flower, Salting & Co. ; 13 bales, 2 boxes, A. Hort. Sen. ; 100 cases Geneva, John Smith; 4 bales manufactures, George Small; 1 case, A. Ludlam ; 1 plough, 1 box, 3 packages, John Nixon ; 1 cask, D. Moore, & Co. ; 1 case, George White ; 1 barrel, Cyrus Goulter ; 2 boxes, 1 bale, Rev. J. Duncan ; 1 box, Nixon ; 48 boxes crown glass, 19 boxes sheet glass, 5 crates, 31 boxes merchandise, Buchanan & Co. ; 1 box apparel, Rev. James Dodson ; 1 box, J. Baird; 13 bales, 7 cases, Swain, Webb & Co.; 1 box, Swainson ; 3 cases, 4 bales, J. Thompson & Co. ; 3 bales, Mts. A. Hort; 2 boxes, Christie ; 7 bales, 5 cases, C. Newton, Brothers ; 1 box, J. P. Haswell; 1 bale, 1 case books, T. R. Warburton ; 7 crates, 5 bales, 2 cases, 200 bags salt, D. Nathan ; 310 cases, Moses Joseph ; 7 cases, 4 bales, James Simmons; 2 boxes, Kemp ; 12 casks, G. Martin ; 34 casks bottled beer, W. Fitzherbert; 169 cases muskets, 16 bales clothing, 89 cases flints, 2 baskets oil, 2 bales, canvas, 2 coils rope, 1 barrel tar, 36 shovels. I<* -mauls, 86 axe helves, Board of Ordnance; 1 box, H.M.S. Bramble; 13 packages, Dr. Courtney ; 4 boxes, 2 carpet bags, 2 -chests, J. Kemp ; 2 trunks, 1 deal chest, 1 bundle bedding, &c, A. G. Montgomery ; 106 cases window glass, 160 kegs, 2 cases floor-cloths, 4 hhds. oil, 1 case preserves, 5 tons and 67 bags salt, 12 boxes tobacco, 14 boxes, 18 cases and 6 casks manufactures, 100 cases Geneva, 2 casks wine, Order. Arrived — The schooner Fanny Morris, Hay» master, September 24th. The schooner Bride, Mason, master, from the Bay of Islands 10th September. The barque Berkshire, Post-office Packet, Sept. 28th, from London May 3rd. The barque Clara, 360 tons, Crow, master, September 20th, from the Downs May 3d. The Clara brings no news, having been one hundred" and thirty-nine days on the passage, and has spoken no vessals connected with these colonies. She is advertized to sail for Nelson, Port Nicholson, and Auckland, on the sth October. The William Hyde, barque, Capt. Steward, Sept. 15, from the Downs, 16th May. Sailed — The Schooner Jo An Bull, Twohey, master, for Auckland September 25th. The MauMnwns advertized to sail for Auckland the 26th Sept. The Avoka for Auckland, and the William Hyde for Auckland and Hokianga. The schooner Bandicoot sailed from Hobart Town for New Zealand on the 17th Sept. The Rattlesnake, 28, surveying vessel, is commissioned at this port by Captain Owen Stanley (1844), for service in the East Indian Archipelago, continuing Captain Blackwood's (of the Fly, 18) labours round New Guinea and the northern parts of New Holland, assisted by the two tenders of the Fly, Whom she will find at Sydney. — SMppinff and Mercantile Gazette. H.M. brig XThilders left the Downs on the "Bth May for the 'Cape of Good Hope, Hobart Town, and New Zealand, with a large quantity of copper coin on board.

Private character must be made through the Colonial Secretary, and that no officia communications whatever wall be received by the Private Secrecary, is a most proper one, and, at the same time, rather significant commentary on the mode in which the public business of the colony was conducted by his predecessor. Indeed, it is well known that CapGrey — alone and undivided — was not merely the Governor, the Executive and Legislative Councils, the Colonial Secretary, the Advo-cate-General, the Collector of Customs, but that he filled, more or less, all the other offices of his Government. He would have been the Surveyor-General too, had Captain Frome permitted him, and might, perhaps, have looked after Captain Sturt in the desert, had that been possible. As it was, his direct interference in every department was constant, and it is to the unremitting and commendable vigilance he personnally exercised that Major Hobe is indebted for the order and efficiency •which now prevails in the public offices." It is to be hoped that his Excellency will ■usethe same direct and constant interference in every department of our local government, and exhibit the same unremitting and commendable vigilance which he practised in South Australia. He will find there is ample occasion for it.

The rebels tried at Porirua by Court Martial on Monday last were found guilty, and have been sentenced to transportation for life. It is believed that on the return of H. M. S. Calliope they will be sent onboard H. M. Steamer Driver, which will proceed to Auckland early next week. One of the prisoners, who was quite a lad, was discharged.