INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Southland Times, Issue 1077, 21 December 1868, Page 3

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

By the arrival of the " Otago " from Melbourne, we are in receipt of our Australian files to the 12 th December, from which we cull the subjoined items of interest :—

YICTOEIA,

The forthcoming Conference of delegates from the whole of the Australian Colonies appears to be the stock subject of discussion. The papers team with articles upon the importance of the effort now to be ma&eHo secure uniformity of the tariffs, and co-operative action in all matters in which the interest of the various colonies are identical, and the questions to be considered are freely discussed. The 'Argus,' of the 12th Dec, says.— " H.M.S.S. Challenger, flying the flag of Commodore Lambert, C.8., had arrived from Sydney on her way home, but would await the arrival of the Rangitoto from New_ Zealand. That steamer is daily expected, and the advices she brings will determine whether the Challenger remains longer here or proceeds to New Zealand. An urgent request from the \ • New Zealand Government for aid will take her there at once. Her armament is eight 641 b. muzzle-loading Armstrongs, eight Bin. shell guns, and 1111 b. breechloading Armstrongs on deck, and two last-mentioned being pivot guns. She has a complement of 300 men, including marines, and about forty officers." In a leading article in the same paper on the' New Zealand war, the writer says : — " Among the recruits who are being 'shipped from Melbourne for the New Zealand war are plenty of fine young fellows, tolerably sure to do their duty if they get a chance. But will they get the chance ? They will be sent to the front at once, devoid of that training without which bodies of men, no matter how brave individually, are simply,, useless against an enemy who is not a novice in his business. It is soldiers ready made that New Zealand wants, not the raw material, ever so excellent ; for she has not time to discipline it. Most assuredly we do not grudge to Captain Stack the liberty to enrol men in Victoria to assist in removing the danger which is once more experienced by a sister colony. We sent volunteers before, and we sent our only warship when a Maori insurrection pressed our friends ; and, of course, we are willing to do it again, and more than that, if necessary. But we do not like to see the expectations of the recruits and of their friends disappointed, and men picked up in Melbourne have no brighter prospects of distinguishing themselves under the present system of New Zealand campaigning than those who have been raised in Wellington, Auckland, or Nelson.From a private letter received by the last mail we understand that His Boyal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh, intends spending from a fortnight to three weeks in this city upon the occasion of his next visit ~to the Australian colonies. In view of this event, it is contemplated to invite him to open the large hall of the new town-hall, the foundation-stone of which he laid when last here. The large hall can easily be completed within the necessary time. Captain Stack is continuing his enrolments of recruits for the New Zealand armed constabulary. About thirty men joined the force yesterday, and it appears that a better class of men have become candidates. One of the men who enlisted had seen service, having been engaged in the construction of the military engineering works required at Zoulla during the late Abyssinian war. Dr Dermot, late of Hokitika, has been sent by the New Zealand Government to examine the applicants before their enrolment. The first instalment of the men enrolled in Melbourne by Captain Stack, left in the steamship Alhambra, for their destination. It is said that some of them took the opportunity of " bolting" at the last minute, but if so the defaulters were very few in number, for only sight out of the 107 men who had enlisted were missing, and several of them were detained by circumstances which had nothing to do with an unwillingness to go."