The Express.
London, England, 1859-06-02 00:00:00

BRITISH COLUMBIA.

Mom ors own ooassatoonstre.)
FORT %UR Fes. 23.
lettanky being the anniversary of Washington's
bertsday. was ushered in by the thundering dis-
charge of half-minute guns and the incessant
prattle of small arms, to the surprise of her
klaiest)'s subjects, who keep no record about
the catie:ty of that illustrious Englishman, aid
the coneternation of the unvophisticated na-
tives, who, no doubt, thought it portended the
immediate advent of general doom, rather than a
natal festivity, if one were to judge by their
aspect., as they hurried from their rancharres in
dripping blankets, shaking and shivering, like so
mane dogs in wet sacks. No wonder either they
shotild be terror-stricken by the frantic American
demonstration, which must have travelled by cite:ri-
fled echoes to the Forks of Frazer on the ono hand,
and to its ocean delta on the other. These poor,

simple, srindmrfag people have lived shut out
from the noisy world since the flood, in their
natural fastneesill, having no commerce or con-
nexion with the busy sous of civilisation beyond
their mongrel huckstering with a band of half-cute
traders. and never getting a glimpse at modern en-
lightenment, save the murky ray emitted from
the dark lantern of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Eight months ago they imagined that the family of
pale facts was confined to the factors and their
satellites; that the acme of inventive skill was an
old flint-lock earabine, and the triumph of manufac-
turing ingenuity a four-point blanket. Bet within
that brief period their worldly experience has been
enlarged—God help them' An avalanche of white
men his fallen amongst them, bringing &manlies-
t:or, disuse, and death in their tra:n. w:tbout any
countervailing benefit. India. men have been
wantonly butchered ; Indian wives and maidens have
been infamously violated, without riding or otitis-
bation : Indian fin-roosts• have been plundered
and Indian piitato-patches have been heartlessly
tom up by the white invaders, without remorse
or compeneation; and when the wretched victims of
a superior race hare gone in starving groups from
door to door, craving sustenance in return for the
food of which they had been deprived, a callous
scoundrel inicht be heard to deciare It would be
eying in the face of Providence to succour the desti-
tute."

ti, •1 eytcl I.iire•—••ri Blatt, with tear!• 44 eye.,
he starve.. ' and pi 'Lily d..0l
:.Lit go Al prolix, wink a seliktr alr,
acid laaaaa tbas. l'euviden cur.

The anniversary celebration we, revealed to
me as I arose by a neatly written invitation to an
evening hall and supper; and bang, bang, bang,
went otf heavy discharges close on the heels of each
ether, as I dressed, rattling the shingles on the roof,
and exciting my especial wonder as to how or
where the numerous pieties of ordnance could have
been procured to produce the effect. The waives
were fired in front of the house where the ball
was to come off, and thither I repaired to
satisfy my curiosity, but instead of a battery of
mortars and cannons I found a long row of smith's
anvil., on the esplanade above the river. They
were placed on the ground bottoms eßward;
and the concavities Intentionally left in all
these implements were filled with gunpowder.
Another eat of anvils was phiced over the
charges having quick matches protruding be-
tween, so that with long portfires they were mad.
to explode in regular succession, producing reports
quite equal to nine-pounders. lu the course of the
aftenseen a few canoes arrived from both up and
down river, each freighted with one or more
of the fair 'sex. Ladies being scarce in these
parts, active recruiting had been going on for
some days, for, in addition to the iiitluensis of
their charms, the difficulty of getting them
enhanced their value. As each lady stepped
out on the ice she was saluted with an anvil;
but the entire master of the city sad
suburbs did not exceed the baker's dom. There
was a strong muster in the ball-room, but the mss-
(lathe, predominated over the crinolines in the
ratio of at least 12 to 1, which caused periodical
commotion' not unattended with transient difficul-
ties throughout the night, for whenever the first
flute--whe appeared to be master of the ceremonies
a. well—vociferated, "Ladies and gentlemen will
now promenade"—i.e. walk about their business or
sat down, frantic rushes were mile tit each lady, to
ware her for the next dance.

YALE, 31.454 4 1.
A,thongh we have had intermittent thaws, within
the lest week there have been several heavy falls of
Snow, so teat the thick fleece overspreading the
country now equals its greatest winter depth. How-
ever, faith in the near advent of spring, from the ad-
vance of the season, daily increases the number of
boats arriving from below ; and the west bank of the
river up to the small canon presto!, an almost un-
broken line of shore-tents and covered-in boats,
whose crews are impatiently awaitieg the first fa-
vourahle break that will enable them to continue
their journey. The last mail from Vsecutiver's Island
carried a proclamation announcing the intention of
the government to establish a port of entry in Frazer
Hirer. Alit is now arranged that we are to have&
capital of our own, it is to be hoped our public
functionaries will be induced to reside a portion
of their time within the sphere of their jurisdiction. At
preemst Captain Brew is the factotum of the colony,
administering all its slain by proxy from his head-
quarters here. lie is chief inspector of police pro
tern., chief commissioner of crown 'soda pro tem.,
chief gold commissioner pro tem., chief justice of
the peace pro tern., and chief treasurer. Such
is his energy, I bedeve he W031(1 give tolerable
satisfaction were he nst constrained in every
instance, however trivial, to refer to tun preseut
capital for final order', thereby involving *delay,
even by express message, of three weeks. Just
think of three weeks—why, an ahemonding debtor
might be contracting fresh liabilities, Routh of the
Lime, before a cc cm! could reach the hands of his
northern creditor.

The land question, which hes been a source of cm-
siderable anxiety and uncminese, is at length decided
ia • prelunir.ary way, which, however, arrive
with it an earnest of future satisfaction, inasmuch ea
*beauties system Leanly adopted in the sale of town
allotments. Non-aunterous country lands our be
taken up bye/libation after Min ey—as I understand
the involved proclamation—at an upset price of ltts.
per acres, half cash down, the remnlnder payable
within two 'oars. The only creels retarratinos are
gold end silver, but even them I take it, judging
from Australian indulgences, arc purely 'seminal,
only intended to be of force or tfftct mail the time
'hall arrive when a bill, regulating the right
of money in private property, may be required in
our smiler rn gold regime. Up to the present mo-
ment there is not a single acre of country land suf.
r %eel in British Columbia, and if the government is
uniioue to keep pace with the public thirst for ter-
iitoriel ac,,aisitiem, it will be indiapensably seem
eery to euepiemeat largely the staff of Royal Ea-
gleson now on duty here ; moreover, the collapsed
conditior, .4 It• exchequer calls loudly and emptied-
rill), for t .enc..t relief, which wueld come in a
spring tide surge if there wee a aistiloiency of land
open for seleatioa. I believe fam mg writsng with-
oat my warrant when I assert that there is not an
etticial of 14h or low degree in the colony who
does rot rank as a public eredtior. &vent may ow•
kaowledge. who have been in the harness from the
first Mart, have drawn a farthisq salary ; sad
many others. according to their ono almost incre-
dible assertion, have advent. d lar;;cly on pablis
account from thcir own private it NOUtt a. But test
the overflis ing "private resource." of public off (inks
shield appear esigroatiral to the home reader, I
',Ojai' the copy of • document at'ached to a magis-
trate'. committal in a caw of drunkenness. with this
note of my own, tint the " tonic c f the whole," tine
and all, drops into the private portesouoaie of
the public magistrate.

- vuolT O. 111 IT.
Crow v. Draw —sllllh rArsary, 1842
I, ea
D,Oottielr, mad two was
',awls( jadirsesat
Clerk's fee 330

Core Ate eteading wart ..

2160
1.00

5 !I 60
II will be °been ed in pertuieg the above doe.-
mot that the summons costa ea exeunt which Wear

currency is represented by 1/. is., or more than a writ
inane of her Msjesty's Superior Court.. The next item
toot calls far comment is " docketting and two oaths."
The first term I am unable to explain, but the second
is accounted for by the fact that before any witness
is permitted to kiss the bock either he himself or
the petty producing him has to come down with a
do;:ar. Before I was made acquainted with all the
tributaries flowing into the "private resources" I
foodiy imagined that the dollar institution—as the
Yankees term it—wee a sort of prohibitory tax, to
discourap the profanation of the divine book.
However, inquiry has made me a wiser, if
not a better man ; and I see no reason why,
with the sanction of Exeter-hull, our Caucasian
Chancel:or of the Exchequer, or even his I'useyite
competitor, should not seize on the idea as a financial
expedient, when the courts of Westminster alms
would pay off the national debt in a twinkling. The
next lain—entering j udgment—calls for no particular
comment beyond its novelty acid enormity; nor would
I make en observation on the cleik's fee, were it not
that he (the clerk) is a mythological functionary—or
more technically speaking, a legal fiction, who never
appears in court, and never receives the tribute
levied under the sanction of his appellation. Lastly,
the constable only differs from the clerk in this
respect, that he attends court in proprid persona,
and has to gulp down the mortification of seeing
the Fright dollar which be should in all equity
clutch. disappear in the private-resource vortex of
the presiding justioe. The above little document,
and the number of drunken cases which occur ,
amongst digging communities, explain how it is
that magistrates can live Independently of their
eseariee. And am the magistrates take cognisance and
adjudicate on every species of case or offence, civil
or criminal, in many, nay, in most of which, scores
of wimesses are examined, under the dollar insti-
tution, :it is no marvel that en official should aid
the government employing him from his own "pri-
vate resources." It is, however, to be re-
marked, that in the earlier or anti-Moody days
the costs of court were fall 600 percent. heavier
than those contained to the above document, which
is framed on the reformed scale. In the good old
times of 18.13 a smack at the testament coat 6 dot..,
and everythiog else was in sacred proportion. Bat
why should officials be condemned for practices
'auctioned by the government, which sheltered itself
urder the plea of necessity? Our colonial Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer devised this self-sustaining
system of government, whereby officials are made
to prey on the public. Nor would the patient pub-
lic have grumbled, I verily believe, if the vampires
acted on the "eat enough bat pocket none" prin-
ciple. Bat when needy place-hunters become sod.
den!, translated into bloated state creditors, I
consider that forbearance, instead of ranking
as a sissies., wouli have deg ted into
the most culpable of public vices. Seeing the
state of affairs in general, and recoguisiug the
inexpediency of saddling an infant colony with a
staff of county court judges, I suggested the idea,
of giving magistrates a civil jurisdiction (under
proper restraints) up to 28/., and also the power of
taming writs of ne areal, which cannot be exercised
with the desired effect by the supreme judge over
widely-scattered communities, separated as they are
by regions of difficult access, and, worse still, being
far the most part located within easy reach of the
American frontier. If some such device is not re-
sorted to, law and justice will continue to limp most
impotently in British Columbia for at least another
season.

• Boles duel seer the tope at tall trees, where the cured
Wawa en mond tow use.