AUCKLAND.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 818, 4 June 1853, Page 3

AUCKLAND.

Calamitous and Fatal Boat Accident. —It is our painful duty to record one of the most distressing accidents that have occurred in this district, by which one valuable life is known to have been lost, and four others, — though the fact has not been ascertained by the same painfully certain evidence — can scarcely by any stretch of the most sanguine hope be supposed to have escaped. The melancholy circumstances may be very briefly related. On Friday las^a party consisting of Lieutenant Charles Thomas Hutchinson, R.E., Staff Assistant Surgeon Matthews, Mr. G. B. W". Jackson, and two Sappers and Millers (Corporal Hawkins, and Private Parsons,) went out on a pleasure excursion in thedirection of the North Shore. Their boat was of the peculiar construction known as " a twin boat," consisting in fact of two bottoms united by one deck. They were expected to return on Saturday, but did not arrive.- On that day, Mr. Carruth, of the North Shore, saw through a spyglass an object which he supposed to be a boat capsized, although he could not be quite sure that it was not a log. In consequence of his statement, a native woman named Anna, with her husband and two- other natives, went on Sunday morning along the beach ou the East side of the North Shore. In going round Rocky point, about seven miles round the North Head, they found a body (afterwards identified as that of Lieutenant Hutchinson.) lying dead on the rocks ; the body which was totally naked, lay upon the belly, with the head turned towards the searand the face bruised. They also found at different adjacent places, a small boat or punt, two oars, a basket, candle, a cap, a wahstcoat, a portrait of a female, and a pair of trowsers, in the pocket of which was a purse containing 18s. 6d. The natives immediately went back and informed Messrs. Poynton, Stewart, McCoy, and Powell, who, with another native, came to the spot, and caused the body to be removed by four natives to the Roman Catholic College. On Monday the body was brought by the Police to Auckland, and an inquest was held at the Caledonian Hotel, before Dr. Davies, Coroner, at which the circumstances connected with the finding of the body, &c, were clearly detailed by ihe native woman,- Anna (a very intelligent witness,) and -others. Dr. Thompson, of the 58th Regiment, had made a post mortem examination, and was satisfied that the immediate cause of death was drowning. The verdict of the Jury accordingly was "Found Dt owned." In the course of Mr. Poynton's evidence he stated thaj on Sunday, about 2 o'clock, he saw a capsized -boat out at sea, about half a mile, which he supposed was kept stationary by the mast. On Monday, about one o'clock the boat was driven on shore, the mast having broken. He had discovered nothing however that would throw any additional light on the catastrophe. Yesterday a boat with a party of the Sappers and Miners went out to make search for any information that could be obtsined respecting it, but we have not yet learned whether their efforts have been of any avail . The following " Brigade Order " has been issued with reference to the melancholy death of Lieutenant Hutchinson. It will be seen that his funeral is to take place this day at \ past 1 o'clock : . , . Extract, from Brigade Order. 17th May, 1853. It is with, deep regret the LiemenantColonel has to announce the melancholy and untimely death of -Lieutenant Hutchinson, Royal Engineers, who in the course of Sunday last, was found drqwned on the North Shore, whither .he had proceeded but the Friday previous in his yacht. The sudden death of this promising young officer must be keenly felt by all who served with him, or had the pleasure of his acquaintance. The funeral of the late Lieutenant Hutchin-

son will take place to-morrow (Wednesday) at at \ past one o'cock.

The New Zealander, with reference to a correspondence between the Canterbury Associa- ■ tion and the Government, in the last Blue book, has a long article on the modest attempt | of Mr. Sewell to provide a snug berth for himself at the public expense, as Attorney General for the Province of Canterbury. After alluding to previous attempts of dictation of this sort on the part of the Association, and their desire to monopolize all the patronage of the Canterbury settlement, the New Zealander has the following observations . — "Our immediate object, however, is to point out an attempt at this kind of dictation, in which Mr. Henry Sewell — the doughty leader of the opposition to the Cheap Land Regula« tions — occupies a conspicuous place, This gentleman was Deputy Chairman of the Association, and, Lord Lyttelton being witness, was " more conversant with the details of its affairs than any other member of it." Now, the labourer is worthy of his hire, and the Association was well' inclinedto, provide after, its , own fashion for Mr. Sewell, and another active member, Mr. , Henry Selfe. Accordingly, in April 1851, the Committee wrote to "Lord Grey, thanking ..him for his previous kindness in recommending "upon their application," that Captain Simeon should be appointed Resident Magistrate, and now " venturing to request the same favor pa behalf on Mr. H. Selfe and Mr.jjSewell for the respective offices of Judge and Attorney- General in the Province of Canterbury when constituted," A glimpse of the more secret working by which the Association pursued its ends, is afforded in the sentence following, — The Committee may perhaps be allowed to refer to Lord Lyltelton's private letter to your Lordship of the 29th of March, for a more particular account of these gentlemen." Mr. Hawes, (then Under- Secretary), in reply stated, that Lord Grey "would give full weight to the recommendation ;" but added the discouraging intimation that his Lordship was not satisfied that, even if Canterbury were formed into a separate Settlement, a separate Judge would-be required for it. Only two moDths had elapsed when the application to Lord Grey was renewed, and this time, not Mr. Alston, but , Lord Lyttelton himself was the applicant. There evidently was " haste" in some quarter to secure appointments. We are riot warranted to assume that it was on the part of Mr. Selfe ; at all events, we should wish to believe that it was not, if there were any likelihood of his being made a judge in the colony, as it is quite enough to have one Judge in New Zealand who cannot " wait for the slow and tardy process of the law." Perhaps it was Mr. Sewell who was in a hurry. Be this as it may, Lord Lyttelton in June 1851, wrote to Lord drey, expressin^the hope of the Committee that his Lordship "may not be indisposed -to act a? once" as they had requested, and urging him to '• write by the first opportunity to the Governor of New ..Zea'and/" re'eono men ding .-Mr. Selfe as Judge, and Mr. Sewell as AttorneyGeneral. Lord Lyttelton funher asked that Lord Greyjwould communicate to the Committee "a copy of any Despatch that he may write to the Governor on the subject." Lord Grey complied with this latter request, by sending to the Committee an extract from a Despatch to Sir George Grey, dated July 3, 1852. As this has a general' bearing — reaching beyond this particular case — we copy the whole of it ; — "The Committee of management of the Canterbury Association" have expressed their wish that in the event of your having at any time to recommend names for appointment to the offices of Judge and Attorney- General of the Canterbury Settlement, you will consider that of Mr. Henry Selfe Selfe in reference to the first, and of Mr. Henry Sewell in reference to the last of these offices. / do not intend in any way to fetter your discretion in selecting the gentlemen whom you may have occasidn to recommend for these or any other appointments which it may be necessary to make. In doing so, and in making provisional appointments subject to Her Majesty's confirmation, you will of course be guided by your own judgment as to the qualifications of the various candidates for employment, and as to the ar-rangeraen-s best calculated to be of advantage to the public service ; but as it appears that the gentlemen Thave named possess theconfidenee of the chief promoters of the Canterbury Association and of the settlers, I should be glad if you should be able to select them for these offices, should it be necessary to create them. But considering ihe small amount of legal business which appears to be as yet transacted in the several settlements of the Southern Provinces, and the improbability of its rapid increase, it appears to me that, even if Canterbury should be formed into a separate province having distinct courts of its oj,h£ an,arrangement might be made by which th^udicial and other legal appointments within w» might be held by the same persons who hold similar appointments in other Settlements or Provinces. A similar arrangement has been adopted in some of the West India Colonies^and hitherto with success." / The import of all this is sufficiently intelligible. Lord Grey wished to be civil to the Association, but at the same time he did not wish these appointments to be made, seeing that it could not be done without actually creating unnecessary places for the purpose of quartering Messrs. Selfe and Sewell on the public. The friends of those gentlemen had certainly been early enough in their application, for, at its date, Canterbury had not been erected into a separate Province. And when; subsequently this was accomplished by the division of the Colony .undSr the Constitu|| tion Act, Mr. Sewell was as early in the field as was well possible, so, that — although his mission was declared to have a special object distinct from an Attorney- Generalship — yet if the AttorneyGeneralship were open, he- would — whether by intention or accident we do not presume to say — be within call. But the schemes of mice and men are often frustrated ; and such has been the fate of not a few of Ihe schemes of the Managers of the Association as to colonial appointments. If, as some well-informed persons at home believe, they aimed so high as even the nomination of a Governor, they have

not yet succeeded ; and we are under no serious apprehension that either Mr. Godley or Mr. Gibbon Wakefield will be inflicted on the Colony in that office. Mr. Jackson was, at their desire, made the Bishop- designate of Canterbury ; hut he visited the settlement, saw for himself how matters stood, returned to Engj land (as the good people of Canterbury fondly supposed to come back their consecrated Bishop,) but, having changed his mind, has settled down in the comfortable and secure Suburban benefice of Stoke Newington, presented to him by his old friend and patron the Bishop oi London. His retirement from the colonial dignity is understood to have been altogether voluntary ; but alas for the wnu-d be legal functionaries, — the two Henries — iaelfeSewell, and Sewel.-Selfe-Selfe — (the repetition is a suggestive coincidence !)-— They had not, and are not likely to have, any opportunity to choose whether or not they will be respectively a Judge and an Attorney- General in New Zealand. We leave it to the reader's own sagacity to determine whether this chapter in Mr. Henry Sewell's history throws any light oa the temper fand spir^t'trowatds^the- Government" which, that* gentleman has manifested since his arrival in the colony, It is however a fact confirmed by all experience, that disappointed suitors for place are frequently the most bitter and unrelenting fault-finders and agitators. Perhaps this is human nature : but it is human nature not in one of its most amiable aspects.

Land Regulations. — On Monday Messrs. Salmon, Woodhouse, Forsaith, Whitaker, Graham, Brown, and Macky, waited on his Excellency Sir George Grey at the Council Chamber, pursuant to appointment, to present to him the address, relative to the New Land Regulations, which was published in our columns of 30th ultimo. The address having been read, it was explained that in consequence of the contemplated departure of his Excellency being sooner than was expected, there had been time only to collect some of the lists to which signatures had been attached, and that the remainder should be forwarded when obtained. The number of signatures attached to the lists hastily collected, were between 500 and bOO, but there washardly any one in this district, if one at all, who would not willingly sign. * His Excellency then read following reply :— Gentlemen, — I feel m#ch obliged to you for the prompt and efScienjL manner in which you have tendered me your thanks for the means I have taken to promote -the prosperity of this Province, and to give effect- Jo the wishes of its inhabitants, in laying down the" System for the disposal of the Waste Lands of the Crown, which is contained in the proclamation of the 4th of March last. It was my earnest desire so to exercise the power with which I had been entrusted, as to ensure the welfare and happiness of that portion of her Majesty's subjects whose interests had been committed to me. To attain that end, in framing, the -recent Land Regulations, I, to the" best of my ability, made use ot every resource which either my position or my lengthened experience with the subject placed at my disposal, and it is most gratifying to me to find that I have succeeded so well in fulfilling the wfshes and expectations of whose future prosperity is so deeply involved in this question, whose^interest I am most desirous to promote, and whose gratitude I have always striven to secure. I will, in compliance with your wishes, make every effort in my power to induce the Natives to part with large districts of country, in this portion of New Zealand, which may bs thrown open to intending purchasers uuder the recent Land regulations. With this object in view, 1 will instruct the Commissioner, Mr. McLean, immediately to repair to Auckland, and to endeavour to complete such purchases ; and I will personally lend that officer every assistance in this duty which my influence over the Native Chiefs, and my experience with the country, and with their habits, may enable me to afford him; For I feel since I have succeeded in the South of New Zealand in having such large districts of country secured for the settlers, you have a right to expect that my time and attention should now be devoted to an effort to secure similar advantages for yourselves. I have every reason to hope that such an effort will be followed by satisfactory results. If, however, it should fail, I will endeavour to devise and carry out some system by which the desired end may be obtained, and the continued advance of this Province in prosperity be secured. To be the means of procuring for yourselves and the Natives of this Province an advantage which you so justly state would piove a lasting benefit to the country, would be to me an object of the most enduring satisfaction, upon which I should always reflect with pleasure. G/Gret. May 23, 1853. The deputation then stated, as regards the Crown Lands, that the new regulations were completely satisfactory. No alteration was suggested or desired, but as a very large proportion of the Province of Auckland was still in the hands of the natives, it was desirable that these lands should be made, available. It was the general opinion that settlers should be enabled to obtain that land which was most likely to suit their purposes, and it was not reasonable that the Government should be called on to buy large distant outlying tracts, when only very small quantities might be required, and the remainder remain for a length of time unsold, involving for a time, at least, the loss to the public of the greater portion of the money expended, The depuation was aware that direct purchase from the , natives was prohibited by the New Act granting a Constitution, but it would answer the purpose to permit parties to extinguish the native title, and vest the-Jand in the Crown, and then take it under the new regulations as to Crown Land. Whether a license to extinguish the native title should be first obtained ; or whether the transaction should be completed through, interpre ers licensed by Government, and what sum should be allowed to extinguish the native claim, were matters of detail about which little difference would arise, if the principle was conceded, that men might make a homestead, in, any part of

the country where their business or inclination led them. His Excellency stated, that he thought as a general rule, the best mo \e of opening the country was as he had done at the South ; for the Government to purchase large bljcks of land from the natives. With regard to homesteads, made on native lands, which coald be arranged for by parties themselves with the natives, there appeared no difficulty in securing them to the owners when the Government, in the course of purchasing, came up to these homesteads, a right of purchasing them should (with a reasonable quantity of land around them) be given to the proprietors. That persons settling on native land, with the consent of the owners, should be entitled as to homesteads, to the same privilege as those who occupied Crown Lands under licenses. That, with regard to other land in blocks of large quantity, whenever any person required "any native land for the bonafide purpose of settling on it, the Government would send a Commissioner to make the purchase of what was required, su as to enable him, under the regulations, to acquire what he wished to have. That he (the Governor) had already acted extensively in' the South on this plan. That when the land round the homesteads was small, he thought the pre-emp-tion he spoke of, would suit the case, but that when the land required was of sufficient quantity to justify the attendance of a Commissioner on the part of the Government, the purchase would be made in that way. That an arrangement such as this would appear to meet the cases of all who really desired to settle, and he wished the"y should have every facility, but he desired not to encourage land jobbing. His Excellency added that it had been arranged that the Commissioner, Mr. McLean, should meet him here, when all these arrangements would have been matured, and regulations made. But Mr. McLean had been prevented from coming, by an occurrence at the South. In June Mr. McLean had to make a payment to the Natives in Hawke's Bay, and that he (the Governor) now intended that the proposed arrangements should be carried into, effect towards the end of Jurie, when Mr. McLean would be able to come here, and give his attention to it altogether with himself, as he^ (the Governor) intended to use his personal influence with the natives. The deputation stated that they had no wish to encourage land jobbing, but the reverse ; and that if the arrangements to enable settlers to obtain the land their purposes required, were as liberal and effective as the land regulations in reterence to Crown Lan^, the land question after years of agitation aud discussion, would be satisfactorily and permanently settled. His Excellency assured the deputation that arrangements to effect the objects they had in view, should be made as early as possible — that his object and intentions were to open up the resources of the country as speedily as possible. The deputation expressed themselves fully satisfied with his Excellency's answers to the address, and the explanation he had given of his intentions, and withdrew. Ordination. — On Sunday last, an Ordination Service was held, in St. Paul's Church by the Lord Bishop of New Zealand, at which two Deacons, the Rev. Frederick Thatcher, of Auckland, and the Rev. B. Y. Ashwell, of Kaitootohe, were admitted to Priest's orders. A special feature of interest was connected with the occasion by the unprecedented and deeply gratifying fact that one of the aboriginal native race of New Zealand was admitted to Deacon's Orders. The name of the new Maori Minister is Rota (Lot) Waitoa ; he has been with the BUhop for several years, and, we are informed, his intelligence, religious character, and general conduct have been such as to afford to all who had the opportunity of forming a judgment, satisfactory evidence of his fitness for the sacred office to which he has been ordained. He is to minister, we believe, at a Mission Station on the East Coast, and j we earnestly trust that his future career may be such as to realize the expectations now formed of his usefulness amongst his countrymen The Bishop preached an eloquent and appropriate sermon, the latter portion of* which was delivered in the Maori language (many of the Native race as well as the candidate for the Deaconsbip being present.) The Church was crowded to excess from end to end by a most attentive and interested congregation ; and a large number of the clergy from various parts of the diocese, including Archdeacons William Williams, Brown, and Abraham — were also present on this occasion — one which cannot fail to be long l'emembered in the history of the Church in New Zealand. — New Zeatander, May 24.