The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-16 00:00:00

AUSTRALIA.

A letter from Melbour pe, dated July 26, says :
The English mail, with dates to the 20th of
May, arrived on the 13th inst., with the intelli-
gence that hostilities had commenced in America.
The Queen's proclamation has been published by
authority here, and I believe not prematurely,
as it is understood that a" citizen" of the Southern
States had arrived here with letters of marque in
his pocket, intending to fit out a privateer or pri-
vateers.

In my last letter I mentioned that the Heales
Ministry had been defeated by a large majority, on
a vote of no confidence ; that he had declined to re-
sign, and had advised the Governor to dissolve the
Assembly; and that the Governor had readily em-
braced his advice. This step his Excellency will no
doubt be able to justify, on the ground of the dis-
organised state of the Assembly. The dissolution
has accordingly taken place, and the elections will
all come off between the 29th of July, the earliest
nomination day, and the 19th of August, the latest
pohir g-day. The writs are made returnable on the
29th of August. This early day has been brought
about by a sort of constitutional compulsion, accom-
panied by a scene between the Governor and the
Assembly. One or two of the Ministry are noto-
riously deficient in the statesmanlike qualification
of reticence. They have among them men so weak
of thought who mutter their affairs, and one of this
kind let out that they would not disso.ve for some
months. What was to be done to force an early
dissolution ? There was some talk of refusing sup-
plies unless the Executive would make an explicit
declaration that they would dissolve before a time
to be named. Another plan was to limit the sup-
plies to a specified number of months. But they
had already been voted in committee and the reso-
lutions had been reported to the house, so that
there was some probability that the Ministry might
act on the reported resolutions if the Commissioners
of Audits should raise no objection—as was done in
England in 1832, when Parliament was dissolved
on the loss of the first Reform Bill, and as was
acted of .here to a limited extent on a similar occa-
sion in 1858. Finally, the constitutional expedients
resorted to was the introductiou of the following
clause in the Appropriation Act for the service of
the present year :
" No moneys appropriated by the Act for the service of
this present year shall be issued or applied out of the con-
solidated revenue after the last day of August, 1861, unless
Parliament shall be then sitting ; and any person who, in
violation of this enactment, shall countersign any instru-
ment or make any order for the issue or application of any
such moneys, or honour or pay any check or draught out of
the pu.,lic accounts, shall forfeit and pay the sum of £l,OOO,
with full costs of suit to any person who shall sue for the
same, and shall be for ever after incapable of holding office
in the public service of this colony,"

His Excellency was ill-advised enough to step
out of his path to get rid of this clause. There is a
clause in the Constitution Acts which authorises
the Governor—
,' To transmit by message to the Council or Assembly for
their consideration any amendment which he shall desire to
be made in any Bill presented to him for her Majesty's
assent, and all such amendments shall be taken into con-
sideration in such convenient manner as shall by the rules
and orders aforesaid (i.e., the standing orders) be in that
behalf provided."

Of this clause the Governor availed himself,
though very irregularly, before the bill was pre-
sented to him for her Majesty's assent, and on the
2d of July the Speaker intimated that he had re-
ceived a message from his Excellency with regard
to the Appropriation Bill, recommending the As-

sembly to reconsider the bill and strike out the
third clause. Mr. Heales, the Chief Secretary,
moved accordingly that the clause be struck out.
A very spirited debate ensued, which will hereafter
form a chapter in the constitutional history of the
colony. An amendment was moved by Mr. Michie,
as follows :

" That this House declines to accede to the proposal con-
tained in the message of his Excellency the Governor, be-
cause it is contrary to the spirit of the Constitution that
either the Council or the Governor should propose any alte-
ration in the Appropriation Bill."

This distinct assertion of a constitutional right
was carried against Ministers by a majority of 36
to 17, the minority consisting of the seven Mini-
sters and ten of their supporters, three of their
usual adherents having crossed the House and voted
against them.

On the following day the Legislature was pro-
rogued, and the Governor in his speech animad-
verted in strong terms on the above clause. He
said—

'• I am bound, as Queen's representative, to protest
against the limitation you have imposed on the issues of the
supplies after the close of next month, unless Parliament be
then sitting. Conditions of this sort are totally at variance
with the usage of the mother country, since the true prin-
ciples of constitutional government were settled at the Revo-
lution nearly two centuries ago. In looking to the assurances
you have received on the point in question, both from myself
and my advisers, no political necessity can be pleaded for
the introduction here of so absolute, yet dangerous an expe-
dient. Mindful of the shock to the financial credit of the
country--of the injury to its public establishments, and of
the whispered distress among the labouring Classes, which
the rejection of the Appropriation Act would entail, I have
refrained from complying with an alternative which the
strict line of duty would have justified ; but I confidently
trust that the good sense of this community will not suffer
such an attempt to coerce the Executive to be drawn into
a precedent, for disastrous as its future would have been,
as already pointed out, its success ultimately would prove
not more fatal to the prerogative of the Crown than the
liberties of the people.

Upon the conclusion of this sentence loud cries of
"No ! no !" proceeded from two or three members
of the Assembly at the bar of the Legislative Coun-
cil. If they had cried "Privilege ! privilege !" his
excellency would have been more forcibly reminded
that he was overstepping his constitutional func-
tions. A very strong feeling of indignation was ma-
nifest among the members of the Assembly, more
than is indicated by the words " No, no." There
was a good deal of excitement among them, and this
was more especially among those highest in social
position. On their return to their own Chamber,
where the printed copies of the speech were distri-
buted, it was openly torn by one excited member
and trampled under foot, and I have not the least
doubt that the Governor's conduct will be brought
before the new Assembly early next session.
And who will venture to say that his Excellency's
conduct has not been injudicious and unconstitu-
tional ? The message of the 2d July was a mistake.
It can only be constitutionally communicated on a
bill being' presented to the Governor for her Ma-
jesty's assent." But the Appropriation Bill is only
presented by the Speaker on the last day of the
session, and was not, in fact, presented, until July 3d.
His Excellency could not be ignorant of this, because
he has been twice advised to resort to the expedient
to amend errors in bills presented to him, and once
a suggestion by the Legislative Council to get a line
in the Appropriation Act of 1858 amended by a
similar expedient was rejected on the express
grounds that the clause in the Constitution Act did
not apply. His Excellency cannot well have for-
gotten this, as it was on the occasion of his being
kept waiting for seven hours while the constitu-
tional point was under discussion. Moreover, at
the commencement of the speech is a most offensive
and unconstitutional expression, He speaks of the
vote of no confidence as " the recent action taken
by a majority of the Legislative Assembly having
rendered an appeal to the country desirable as the
only constitutional course available," &c. What
right has a Governor to speak of a vote of the House
as the action of the majority ? What ought be to
know of majorities or minorities ? A vote of the
House carried by a majority of one is as much the
vote of the house as one carried by 77 out of the 78
members. Then it was a wanton and unnecessary
misrepresentation to say that an appeal to the coun-
try was the " only" course. There was obviously
another course—the resignation of the Ministry.
There had been a debate in which the dissolution
had been condemned and the alternative was sug-
gested a dozen times, and a day or two afterwards
the Governor coolly tells the Assembly that disso-
lution was the only course. The speech no doubt
was prepared for the Governor by his advisers ; but
he was not compelled to take their advice, and had
he declined to do so they could still have resigned.
His Excellency has certainly given to the present
Ministry a more cordial support than he has afforded
to any previous Ministry, though it is the least
competent and the least respectable of any which
we have as yet had. It has yielded to the clamours
of a section of the community in favour of selection
before survey. It has availed itself of a question-
able interpretation of the Land Sales Act to grant
occupation licenses without any reasonable prospect
of being able to collect the rents from the occu-
pants. It has given force and effect to what was a
very weak cry for protective duties. Individual
members of the Ministry have repeatedly encou-
raged the most vulgar prejudice against the re-
spectable classes of the community by sneering at
the " kid glove" and " broadcloth" aristocracy.
The financial policy, or rather no policy of the
Ministry, including originally a tax on imported
food, is a failure, and is likely to impair the credit
of the colony at home and abroad. If the dissolu-
tion should convert their minority into a majority,
nothing but the peculiar vitality of a new country
will save the financial condition of the country
from paralysis. What may be the result of the
elections cannot be foreseen. The protection doc-
trines of the Ministry alone ought to destroy them ;
but it is by no means certain that it will do so. The
result will depend in a great measure upon the hold
which the folly of protection has obtained on the
minds of the constituencies.

Since the prorogation the Ministry have lost
their ablest colleague, the Attorney-General. When
their financial scheme was brought before the
House and ignominiously rejected Mr. Ireland was
not in the Assembly, and he appears to have given
it a tacit assent. When the Speech was under
consideration he required that certain passages
favourable to protection should be omitted, and it
is understood that he succeeded by a threat of re-
signation. Since then he has become entitled to a
pension, but to give effect to his right regulations
are necessary to be framed by the Governor in
Council. Mr. Heales is opposed to these Ministe-
rial pensions, and declined to make the necessary
regulations. Mr. Ireland resigns on the ground
of his differences with his colleagues on the protec-
tion qirstion. Of course, their view of the case is
that he resigns on the pension question. On this
question he has right on his side, and it is simply
an act of repudiation not to recognise it ; and there
is something of cowardice too. They feared that
promulgation of any regulations at this moment
would tell against them on the hustings. At the
present juncture they are unable to secure an At-
torney-General, and as Mr. Ireland must hold office
till his successor is appointed, it seems not unlikely
that he must be chained to the dead carcass of the
Ministry until they meet the Assembly.
Serious disturbances have taken place in New
South Wales between the Europeans and Chinese
at a place called Lambing-flat, not far from Yas—a
township on the direct road between this colony
and Sydney. Months ago the Europeans evinced
a determination to expel the Chinese from that
locality. The Government of New South Wales
sent up some troops, and the Chief Secretary, Mr.
Cowper, visited the place. He made some speeches,
attended a complimentary dinner, and fancied he
had settled the question, The troops were then
withdrawn, and when he returned to Sydney he

talked largely of maintaining the authority of
the law. The turbulent Europeans of Lambing-
flat now called him traitor and affected to believe
that he had pledged himself to their anti-Chinese
views, and they recommenced their attacks on the
Chinese. The fact is that Mr. Cowper temporised,
and then fancied that he had mesmerized the
rowdies" of Lambing-flat, whereas the latter as-
sumed that he was entirely with them. At length
in the early part of this month some of the ring-
leaders were arrested by the police, a rescue was
attempted, during which shots were exchanged, and
four or five of the Europeans were killed and a great
many wounded. Three of the police were also
wounded. The Europeans then assembled in large
numbers, and the police, who acted with no less
forbearance than courage, were compelled to retreat
to Yass. The New South Wales Government has
since sent up 125 soldiers, and the Governor has
proclaimed martial law—a favourite expedient with
colonial governors.
On the Bth inst. the Northern Railway was
opened to Woodend, a distance of 44 or 45 miles
from Melbourne, leaving only 30 to Castleman. It
is remarkably well constructed, and the remainder
of the line is making steady progress towards com-
pletion. The Ballarat line from Geelong can be
ready by the end of the year if the rails and chairs
all arrive from England. We have now 118
miles in operation, of which five short lines,
measuring 24 miles, are the work of joint-stock
companies. Some of
_these, however, are not in
a very flourishing financial condition, and their
stocks are low in price. Even the Hobson's
Bay Railway,' which has hitherto paid well, is
depressed by the low condition of the others.
Its shares, which once reached £lOO, and stood
for a long time at £7O and above, are now at £42.
This is caused in part by their disputes as to the
right of the Government to compel them to bridge
over any road or street which the Government may
choose to make, and partly to the impression that
they will shortly be compelled to renew their roll-
ing stock. The other shares are very low, simply
because they do not pay, and are not likely to pay.
The Registrar General has published an abstract
of the population as exhibited by tt'e late Census.
The total exhibited shows an increase from 410,766
in 1857, to 540,322 in 1861. The excess of males is
still great, the numbers being 328,651 males and
211,651 females. But the proportional disparity has
been somewhat lessened by the fact that the in-
crease shows rather more females than males, the
numbers being 64,317 males and 65,239 females.
During the six months ending June 30 the colony
has only gained 245 by the balance of arrivals over
departures, the numbers being as follows—arrivals
11,502, departures 11,257. In spite of the disturbed
state of New Zealand, that colony continues to gain
monthly from us in the interchange of people.
During the last three months 111 persons arrived
from that colony, while 276 departed thither, and
the recent discovery of a rich goldfield in the
Otago provinces will probably attract many of our
miners, who are generally of restless habits and
rather disposed to new rushes.
During the last three months the production of
gold has fallen off nearly 100,000 oz. The total
quantity received by escort up to the end of last
week is 1,015,585 oz., against 1,122,079 oz. last
year to the same date. Only three gold ships have
sailed since my last—namely, the Swiftsure, with
51,217 oz., the James Wilson, with 19,058 oz., and
the Lincolnshire, with 51,778 oz.—all for London.
About 16,400 oz. have been shipped to the East—
Hongkong and Calcutta.

The condition of the revenue and of trade are
both unsatisfactory. There is a deficiency on the
last quarter's revenue as compared with last
year's, of /77,571 ; and on the year ending
the 30th of June of £228,381. The imports
and exports arc nearly balanced, the value
of the latter being £6,535,322, and of the former
£6,530,183, but intelligence has been received by
the Benares that shipments from England to Aus-
tralia were increasing, and this has for the time
completely paralysed trade. Some considerable
failures have taken place, but I believe their liabili-
ties are almost wholly local. They are as follows :
—W. H. Nicholson—liabilities, £30,000, assets,
£5,000 ; Goodman Teale—liabilities, £13,500,
assets, £4,570; Bergin Brothers—liabilities about
£45,000, •assets about £8,600, In most cases the
liabilities are diminished by large securities, as it
seems to be the almost invariable practice here for
traders to hold out as long as they have any
securities upon which they can raise money.

An alteration has been made in the time for the
sailing of the mail ships which will enable me to
forward the morning papers.

.NEW ZEALAND.

A letter from Melbourne, dated July 25, says :
I have very little to communicate in the way of
news from New Zealand, but I fear that, such as it
is, that news foreshadows matter of painful interest
in future. Since the termination of hostilities at
Taranaki, in March last, there has been no renewal
of actual strife, but so far as can be collected from
the position which the Governor has assumed, and
the demeanour of the Waikatoes, there seems to be
every prospect of renewed hostilities on a much
broader basis in the early spring.
In my last I mentioned the terms of the commu-
nication which the Governor had made to the
Waikatoes. He had required of them :-1. That
they should abandon their pretensions to set up any
authority in derogation of that of the Queen. 2.
That they should restore property which the Waikato
contingent, as I suppose we may call it, had taken
at Taranaki. 3. That they should pay for property
which could not be specifically restored. The
Waikatoes, guided by Tamihana, the King-maker,
answer evasively, and as a matter of fact take no step
towards yielding to the Governor's demand. I have
over and over again expressed my conviction that
this stupid King movement might have been nipped
in the bud, and even turned to useful account,
had Governor Browne made himself better ac-
quainted with Maori habits and feelings than he
appears to have done. Not a shadow of doubt exists
in the minds of intelligent Europeans that this King
movement might have been guided and controlled.
But the Governor has been completely in the hands
of the Ministry and the Native Department, and
several of both bodies had an interest, direct or in-
direct, in bringing the Taranaki dispute to a war-
like issue. Even in this the Governor, guided by
his War Ministry, made a mistake. A war might
have been provoked on an issue which would have
appeared more just to European eyes. Instead of
this, it was precipitated upon an issue which was
manifestly unjust, and which the Governor in his
treaty with the hostile tribes has been compelled to
abandon, by yielding a new inquiry as to the whole
merits of the original dispute—i. c., as to the tenable-
ness of Wirimu Kingi's claims to his Inane or tribal
right. This word " inane" simply means authority.
It is also used to denote influence, and since the na-
tives have been more in communication with Euro-
peans it has been used as the equivalent of ideas to
which it could not have been originally applied. I
have often heard it used to denote something like
the Queen's sovereignty, or at least her lawful
authority, in the same sense as we use the phrase,
" the authority of the Crown," or the " Queen's
authority," that is not the whole sovereignty, but
the Royal authority in a particular point, Of late
years it has been applied by the natives to express
the authority which the chief exercises over land,
and thus what the Europeans call the tribal right
the natives call mane. The word now figures as re-
presenting an idea worthy of being fought for, I
dare say it may seem strange to many of your
readers that I should waste many lines in fixing
the meaning of a word in the language of "savages..
but the idea is one of great intensity in the Affieor
mind, and the word by which that idea heed tc
:
be expressed, though only recently so aP be-

comes of great importance. It was
mum over the land which was f&Fai
Taranaki. It will be the Potatau's niana, generally,
Last year the Rev. Mr. Buddle, the Chief of the
Wesleyan Mission, wrote a pamphlet on the Ring
question. It is a very accurate record of the facts
and history of the movement, and his conclusion
was—leave the matter alone, and it will die a,
which is likely to be fought for in Waikatoo.
natural death. If the country had remained tran-
quil, and the Governor had made a slight show of
establishing order among the natives,l think it quite
possible that Mr. Buddle's theory might have been
verified and justified. But the King movement has
not died out, and is not likely to die out, for the
Governor has neglected it until it has grown bey
yond his control, and I fear that war is now in-
evitable,
settlers, am free to admit that if the
reignty of the Queen, that 2nanu must be put down
at all hazards.
(''
and, although I dread the consequeneen
the\
manyit country
oe f Potatau is to be set up against the t,ove.

I fear the Secretary of State has come to this
conclusion a little prematurely. If instead of send-
ing out a new General a new Governor had been
sent out, there would have been great hope of a sort
of a diplomatic conquest of the natives. But Gover-
nor Browne's declaration that he was acting with
the direct authority of the Queen, coupled with the
announcement brought with the last mall, that
" Colonel Gore Browne had been reappointed Gover-
nor-in-Chief of New Zealand," seems to show that
the Imperial Government had finally determined
to bring the matter to an issue and suppress the
King movement. And yet it is not absolutely too
late to strip this King movement of its obnoxious'
features and establish peace with the natives.

There are sor circumstances favourable to
this result, I have shown in former letters that
the New Zealand question could not be presented
to the English reader as one in w_hictl, the Euro-
peans were on one side and the natives on the
other. The War Ministry was defeated on the'
hustings expressly on the war question, though
generally supported by the Nelson and Canter-
bury people, who could view the war from a
distance with whole skins. Nearly all the settlers
of the province of Wellington, who had long lived
in amity with the natives, disapproved the war.
That province has always numbered a larger propor-
tion of high-minded gentlemen of good family than.
any of these southern colonies, and many of the
humbler class of settlers had been connected as
tenants or farm-servants with the fathers of the
first colonists. It was by the influence of the Wel-
lington members that the War Ministry was re-
duced to a minority at the recent election, and it
was by the same influence that the Stafford Ministry
has just been defeated on a vote of no confidence—
common enough here, but the first on record inNew
Zealand. Now, no confidence in the Stafford Mini-
stry means disapproval of the war policy of the
Governor. The acknowledged leader of the anti-
Ministerial party is Featherston, the superintendent
of the province of Wellington. He is a man of con-
siderable ability, of masculine energy, and, above
all, an educated gentleman. In Downing-streLt he
probably stands ranked only as a turbulent opponent
of the Government.

The other circumstance favourable to settlement,
even at this 11th hour, if New Zealand had a Go.
vernor so disposed, is that the northern natives, the
Nga-pui, are said to have joined the Government
against the Waikatoes. If so it will certainly
stagger the confidence of the latter. These Nga-pui
were the first to obtain fire-arms under C. Honghi,
or Shungi, as the Europeans called him. They
attacked the Waikatoes, slaughtered vast numbers,
ate not a few, and carried away many as slaves.
Their chief Nene, commonly called Taurati Waka
(which means Thomas Walker), did good service in
the war of 1845, and now enjoys a pension of £lOO
a year.

The only other matters of fact which have
reached me relate to General Cameron's position.
He has about 7,000 men under his command. The
Wellington settlers have applied for some military
protection ; the answer is. that " the outsettlers
must protect themselves. Capt. Seymour, naval
commodore of the station, tells them that he will
not again take his ship into Wellington. Why?
Because fifteen of his men got on shore, and, cap-
tipated either by the charms of the Maori women
or the attractions of the long-shore grog shops,
omitted to return. The General cannot commence
military operations until the spring, and it is
said, has intimated, that he must have 10,000
troops in all. Thus, no events of importance will
occur with the General's assent till September or
October. But he may be forced into action with-
out his own consent. The military will be em-
ployed in pushing roads towards the Waikato
country. If the Waikatoes are in earnest, and are
not restrained by our Trinobantes, the Nga-pui,
they will certainly not leave the road parties un-
molested.

One curious feature in the state of New Zealand
is that in spite of this war the colony seems
.to be
flourishing better than any one of these colonies.
For some years gold in moderato quantities has
been obtained in the province of Nelson, and
last year it was found in the interior of the
province of Otago, but it was found in the
high land, and the winter there is so severe and
the snow so deep that, like the Snowy River, it
could not be worked during the winter months.
Lately, however, gold has been found much more
abundantly at a place called Takaka, on the coast
of the province of Otago, and some experienced
miners from Victoria had obtained a large remune-
ration for their labours. In spite of the war the
balance of migrators is always against Victoria and
in favour cf New Zealand, and Ihave no doubt that
many of our diggers will be attracted by the recent
reports, which appear to be authentic.

JULY 26.
The mail from New Zealand usually arrives here
too closely upon the departure of the mail for
England to enable me to avail myself of the news
to any considerable extent. As, however, our mail
is open until this morning I am enabled to add a
few particulars. The War Ministry was beaten
on the vote of no confidence by a majority of one
only. But Mr. Fox, who is an ally of Dr. Feather-
stone, bad been sent for, and was endeavouring to
form a Ministry. If Mr. Fox succeeds it was antici-
pated that would have great influence on the na-
tives, and that they would then repose more con-
fidence in the counsels of the Governor.

The Governor had sent a message to the Assem-
bly, informing them that unless they would vote a
large sum of money towards th 6 expenses of the
war he would not instruct General Cameron to com-
mence hostilities against the 'Waikatoes. This
seems to be a strange proceeding. He first threatens
the Waikatoes by making the three requisitions
above-mentioned, and thereby seems to commit him-
self to a war policy ; he then threatens the Assembly
that unless they provide means he will not carry
his threat of coercion into execution. The Waika-
toes have required time to consider the Governor's
notice to them, and the Message seems to show that
they will have ample time, without any special con-
cession in that behalf. This seems once more to
open the door to accommodation.

DROWNING AT ALDERSUOTT.—WhiIe the British
Association is ringing with praises of Lord Herbert for his
efforts to lessen the rate of the mortality in the army, and
just as two coroners' juries have sent railway officials for
trial for manslaughter, a correspondent draws our attention
to what appears 0 be very like a deliberate waste of human
life at our great camp. "At Aldershott," he says,
6, there
is a certain pontoon bridge across the canal. It is swimg at
night, but it is so well done that at the end of the bridge
there is nothing to prevent a man walking across it into the
water. Just before the 2d Life Guards left Aidershott last
month they lost their armourer. He was drowned
about 12
o'clock at night. He came to the bridge, thinking it was all
right, walked across into the water, and was drowned.
This makes the fiftieth man that has been drowned off the
pontoon. Over and over again the coroner he.s recommended
some safeguard." But for our knowledgva of our corres-
pondent's perfect trustworthiness we confess we should not
possibly
credit this. Fifty soldiers drowned for Ps
w ant of the sim le t
precaution r We know not who is respc )nsible, but we trust
cainT) is responsible to be
that this mention ofmtihgemt att ay ca. use the attention of
those to whom every person in
directed to stop this frightful waste kof human life. The
an
ge
ax
itn cs ot r
so
onme r
bs j
duy as those just
ry h
return as ugly a verdict
gri" en in the cafe of the rail-
way companies.—Army
Ics NCIVJ Gazette,