WELLINGTON

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 5, Issue 270, 28 November 1861, Page 3

WELLINGTON

(From'our oiFn Corresp &udent.)

Per Overland \ November 26th, 1861; : Now that our "slight misunderstanding has been adjusted,/ I shall as usual continue niy weekly, although, it’s precious/, hard work to ferret .out any fresh inf el-, ligence that is .riot" already imported in. one or more of the three Wellington newspapers, each published twice a week. Otago has now got a daily and so might" we, if the proprietors "of the' 'newspapers.here would be only persuaded to alter, their days of publication, and thus suit the convenience, of £he public ; but alas, I am-afi-aidyit’s hopeless speculating upon such;.an, event .taking place j

“ Discord, discord, is the ruin of this city.” I was fully ip hopes that by the time the. mail closed I should have been enabled to furnish’ydui ;; readers with a summary of the Home news, but am disappointed. Something strikes me, that the mail will not arrive so early" this month, otherwise we should have had; English intelligence via'Otago per Lord Worsley. The lucky golden Scotchmen there received their Overland on the 15th last month, had some three - days to acknowledge receipt of their letters by" steamer' from Melbourne, answei’s "to which would be received in the old country in four months , —thus already they are a month in advance of us.,, .Speaking, of - otago, its progress is., ttiily; inarvelio'usr^and baffles the "wisest the future. As tKe Spectator'' 'justly observes, thafe within the space, p£ four,months tliqjyuelcL; of gold iias ; l'cacheH from "560.' ounces to 135,100 p next escort, I am informed on good authority, ri will bring, “down a very eonsiderablri increase. - if*is now an es= tablished fact that, there are not more than 10,000/ diggers a-t .woi-k-—make v ay rule of three.of tlris/andiyop will at ppoq perceive the immense ;t.oEdclin;ess of the figld; ; "\Vldch not: ; oriljr; k thVovrli'.CalifQruia;-. and Victoria into the shadta, Lut" ;, passes anything we have, ever read of da; f, history,’ •'' imT the. J n.v*» to

now hailed' with .more janxiety than the ;ffttivai''of' , tlfe 7i EngßslFinail , s. Although the; place. has. suffered temporarily by the abstraction-of our labour to Otago, still W 6 Ka^e'3erji i ved; v irenefits, and Vivill daily finerea’3ds-in doingbo: ) 'from the bommenceinent a^good-manynf'Our mefchTants have sent seasonable’ assorted shipaiencs to that market,’ amounting-’V ter thousands of pounds £ -cattle;: diorses, And: sheep to a tolerable exterit liave^ii : lso'.been forwarded outlet for our overstock. Cattle some '-months .ago, which conld not be sold over $3 per (bAvliolesale, are now worth nearly _4d, t and, .PPnjMnu?. steadily to increase in '’•yftld<S' J * :^Sdv6ra4' > ishipme^ i & of timber Lave been made, and that article has risen about 2s per 100 ; besides this, there are the.remittances.forwarded by our diggers •tq their wives and-parents. Hepend upon in a few months find a firstrate market at Dunedin for our colonial -prbdaeticinf,y,&c. Zealand Bank has made a decided hit." Mr. Kenthe head manager or inspector, writes, that the success has exceeded his most sanguine, expectations j at Auckland the first! day. tkey. ojSenei-the deposits lodged were over £IO,OO0 —not a bail beginning. Sir George Grey has taken 100 shares (£1000) ; Mr. Mantell, native minister, has also invested .to a similar extent/ tv-• what 'Oth'br'. ministers .'have’., done, tiiit I fully expect tbat youi' shy. Mr. Avthitr Knoivies, late accountant of the. Union here, proceeds immediately to Taraiiaki tb op'fen a branch there ; thence comes on to Wellington, and-will act as; interim manager here until another is appointed.. The largest .shareholders in Wellington- are Rhodes, May (wlio has increased his to 500 ’shares), ’and Joseph and- Qq. Instructions have been received to' rent suitable buildings, but no place is as yet fixed upon, although Swinbourne’.s old'hotel is likely to be the place. You will be glad to learn that we "arc at last going to have our deep-water wharf, and that McLa-ggan-^dphn-a’-rthe-Gimblet—-isdhe liielcy ’contfactbr ’this time, and not Hookey' 1 Carter ; the price is £15,42 ',- to be completed in twelve months, every day beyond., that period he has to pay £SOO per diem. The general supposition is, that -John has taken it a great deal too • low, owing to the scarcity of totara and . the; large . awkward sizes, but I cannot help thinking that the disappointed contraetors talk- a little -too" freely about imaginary losses. John is a canny Scotchman. Sergeant Collins will be tried next Monday at the assizes for the wilful murder of Lieutenant Alexander. Fi'om what •I- can learn the prisoner appears calmer and quieter ; he will be ably defended by Mi\ Robert Hart and Mr. John King ; the defence conjectured will be, intense provocation, goaded on by continued acts of systematic tyranny, oppression, and degradation, which urged him bn to a state of frenzy to commit such a dreadful rash act. ' I hear also the plea of insanity. On this painful subject I forbear com-ment—-merely relate what' I hear, which can be taken for what it’s worth. It’s truly lamentable to behold that at the next sittings of our Judge’s circuit there will .be no less than four cases of .murder tried (this is sad in such a small population) including your deplorable Wanganui case ; there are three at Nelson—a Maori for splitting his wife’s skull open with a tomahawk, a . young farm ; labourer for wilfully shooting ,a fellow-servant after a fight, and a woman for throwing her child overboard from a steamer in Blind Bay.