IMMIGRATION.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 229, 20 June 1872, Page 6

IMMIGRATION.

The following is the list of assisted and guaranteed passengers per the ship William Davie, from Glasgow, on sth April, 1872. She may be expected to arrive about the 4th July : — Assisted — Jessie Smith, Eliza Collie, Sarah Matthews, Wilhelmina Taylor, Isabella Taylor, Elizabeth Marr, James Clouston, Mary Cloustoa, William &Aair, Charles M'lnnes, Charles, Ann, HuJ^mlia, Peter, andElizabeth,ChristinaHay,^nHay, Jane Hay, Ellen Gormley, Elizabeth Buchannan, Wm. Fitzgerald, Marion Sneddon, Jane Munro, JamesjAustin, Hugh Mulloy 2) Mrs Mulloy, Barbara Morris, Joan Hamilton, Edward Coll, Mrs Catherine Coll, Bridget Coll, Cicely Coll, John Coll, Catherine Coll, Edward Coll, Jane M'Mahon, Hugh M 'Millar, Agnes Brownlie, George Menzies, Mrs Jane Neil, John Neil, Mary Neil.Robert Neil, IsabellaNeil, WjttliamNeil, Archibald Neil, James Neil, Jravid Neil. Mary Beckett, Sarah Moodie, Theresa Shields, Andrew Nicholson, John Davis, Mrs Susan Davis, Anne Davis, Samuel Davis, Henry Davis, Ernest Davis, James Banks, Mrs Mary Ann Banks, Mrs Marion M'Combie, James M'Combie, Margaret M'Combie, John M'Combie, Christina M'Combie, Jessie M'Combie, Isabella M'Combie, Elizabeth M'Combie, Marion G. M'Combie, John Dickson, Henry Wilis, Mrs Margaret Wiles, John Martin, Mrs Elizabeth Martin, John Martin, Elizabeth Martin, Robert Gray, Jessie Macdonald. Peter Clive. Guaranteed : Elizabeth Curie, Thomas Tulley, Mrs Mary Tulley, Mary Tulley, Rose Tulley, Lilly Tulley, Thomas Tulley, Mary Mahoney, Barbara Bist, Matthew Shields, James Gallagher, Ann Gallagher, Elizabeth Nicholson, Rebecca Nicholson, Margaret Macdonald, William Henderson, Sarah M'Millen, Mary Jane M'Millen, Jane Munay, Ellen O'Connor, Nans O'Connor, Mrs Phynia Hamill, Peter Robertson.

Religious. — A Wellington telegram states, on the authority of the Evening Post, that it is rumoured that a son of Mr H. Redwood, of Nelson, will probably be appointed to the Roman Catholic Bishopric of Wei' lington.

New -Zealand Institute. — The fourth annual volume of the transactions of the New Zealand Institutejcontains an interesting paper on " The Whence of the Maori." A lithograph of a ship's bell, discovered at the Bay of Islands, accompanies this paper. The inscription on the bell (a copy of which was sent to Peaang for translation) proves it to have .belonged to a native Indian vessel, which must have been wrecked on the New Zealand coast some generations back, as the translation of the inscription into the native language of the present day shows a very marked change in the characters employed to give expression to the language, which it is reasonable to conclude can only have been effected through, longlapao of time. Some drawings of fossil bones testify most indubitably to the great antiquity of New Zealand. One of these is the wing-boae of a penguin, which must have stood at least five feet high. The largest of the New Zealand species now extant is three feet high. Another drawing is of portions of the anatomy of an eagle of a species at least twice the size of the largest now to be found in "New Zealand. The penguin fossil is imbedded in a deposit resembling that of the cretaceous period, and if we are correct in this supposition, there can be little doubt of New Zealand's antiquity.

on the spot ; he is examined by the local doctor ; the policy is returned from Wellington without delay ; the premium is paid to the postmaster of the district, and the gontract is completed ; and it matters not afterwards where the insurer may reside, whether in this colony, or ajiy of the other colonies, or at home in any part of the United Kingdom. Payments may be made at the nearest post office. This in itself is a great boon, sa/ing a good deal of trouble and some expense ; but there are other and still greater advantages. There is the security it offers to begin with. We^do not wish to be understood as speaking disparagingly of private offices in the colony, many of which are, no doubt, good sound offices ; but, unfortunately, the course of events at home of late yea.is has shaken the public confidence in private companies. The collapse of such great concerns as the Alberi and the European Life Assurance Companies, with three or fourhundred thousands ii-year income, and their reputed millions of reserve fund, entailingruin upon thousands of innocent victims, has taught the public a lesson of caution they are not likely soon to forget until there is some more tangible security to go upon than mere reputation — the only one which a private company can offer. Now, the Government Life Assurance has.this tangible security at its back, the security of the colony. The colony may have its ups and downs, its seasons of prosperity and adversity ; but it would be a very extreme view to take that it will ever be unable meet its liabilities. Besides, the Annuities Act specially provides that the funds derivable from the Life Assurance shall not go into the revenue of the colon} 7 ",, but are to be lodged in the bank to a separate account, and there remain at interest until invested in such .securities as the General Assembly shall think fit. We confesss we should be inclined to go further than this ; we should like to see trustees appointed, in whose names the fund should be invested, believing that the adoption of such a course would materially add to the success of this measure ; but it is still, comparatively speaking, in its infancy ; bye and bye, when more experience is gained in its working, alterations will no doubt from time to time be effected. Then again, the Department is worked very cheaply, as most of the business is transacted through the post offices, and the consequence is that insurances are effected with the Government at a very moderate rate. It possesses one other great advantage to which we think it right to direct the attention of our readers: By endorsing the policy at the time of issuing, either to a man's wife or to his children as the case may be, it then becomes freed from all processes of law whatsoever, and cannot he seized by his creditors during his lifetime or after his death. There are other points to which we should gladly refer did space permit, but we think we have said sufficient to show that the scheme is a liberal one, and that the inducement it holds out to insurers is very great. We cannot too warmly recommend it to our readers, and earnestly hope that it will be as great a success here as it has been elsewhere throughout the colony. It takes but a very small sum — not more than nine pence or a shilling a week — to enable a man to make a safe provision for his family in the event of any thing happening to him. Every man in the district, particularly every married man, should avail himself of the opportunity offered by Captain Baldwin's presence, and we have no hesitation in saying that a very grave responsibility rests upon those who fail to do so. Accidents of a fatal nature are frequently occuriingin ou r midst ; and it not unfrequently happens that the public are called upon to assist widows and children. Men should remember this and make the provision themselves now — the knowledge they have done so will, we feel certain, add to their peace of mind and self respect. Captain Baldwin, whose zeal and energy in carrying out the work entrusted to his care has been favourably noticed by the press and public throughout ihe colony, comes amongst the inhabitants of this district as an old friend, and it is therefore quite unnecessary for us to say anything in his favour. He has been- more closely connected with the early history of the gold discoveries in this district, perhaps, than anybody else in the colony. On his way up country he came across Gabriel Read, who had a day or two before dug out eight ounces of gold with his knife. Read presented him with a portion of his claka,and he worked it until 'the 20th of July,

1861, when he and Read started on a prospecting tour, and discovered Waitahuna, for .which Captain Baldwin was . shortly afterwards appointed Warden, or Commissioner of Goldfiekls, as the appointment was then denominated. After resigning this appointment he was returned for the goldfields as a member of the Assembly and a member of the Provincial Council.