The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-03-09 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

NOT SUPPLYING LIME-JUlCE.:Messrs. Foster, the
owners of the ship Vindicator, were charged with not hav-
ing a supply of lime-juice on board the ship during her
passage hence to Hongkong. The boatswain deposed to
the facts of the case. M.r. Foster pleaded guilty to the
charge, but said that, when the ship went out they had
vinegar on board. Mr. Rushton said that, considering
the circumstances of the case, he would reduce the fine to
the lowest item, being one third. Messrs. Foster were
accordingly fined in the sum of £6 13s. 4d. _ _

no case exceed the sum of two hundred thousand
pounds." It is also laid down that the said company
shall have and enjoy the exclusive use of the inner harbour,
and to charge what they think fit for any accommodation
they may be pleased to afford to strangers who, may dare
(we Suppose) to enter it ; and, (monstrous proposition !)
to have the exclusive right of all the passenger and goods'
accommodation and transit between this country and Ire-
land.. Mr. Williams's statement clearly shows that the
government have been, somehow or other, induced to
agree or promise to spenda million on a harbour of refuge
for " the public" at Holyhead ; that the plan of such
harbour, cunningly introduced in high quarters by the
company, is about to be adopted ; and that such plan will
benefit no one beyond the said company, and not even
themselves, if, indeed, it should be completed to their wish.
This company have not only the peculiar condescension
to offer a sum of £200,000 in the first instance, towards
the construction of a harbour (suitable only for their own
purpcises); which will cost a million; but they have the
audacity to propose the power to raise £300,000 " addi-
tional" hereafter, to enable them to monopolise, as far
as they can, the steam-boat traffic between this country
and Ireland. _ . .

We now direct the attention of our readers to the typo-
graphical plan of the proposed harbour.
It will be observed that this proposed harbour is (or to
be) about due north of the present harbour and town of
Holyhead. On the south east corner of the proposed en-
closure, or refuge harbour, is defined " The Railway Com-
pany's Inner Harbour," and a snug berth they have cho-
sen for themselves ! The whole area of the harbour to be
" allowed" for the use of the public, when reduced from
its tortuosities to something like an oblong square, may
be about 4850 feet in length, and 3100 in width. An im-
mense and necessarily most costly breakwater is on the
north side, as a main protection. To meet this, so as to
form the gateway of the enclosure, is to be run out ano-
ther pier—" the eastern," lying from the direction of the
Royal Dock yard about north. The width of the entrance
thus to be formed between the two points stated is about
800 feet.

COLONEL GAWLER'S GOVERNMENT OF
SOUTH AUSTRALIA.

(From the South Australian News)
We have a duty to discharge, in reference to Colonel
Gawler and his administration of affairs in South Aus-
tralia, that cannot with justice be further postponed. We
have hitherto felt disinclined to enter upon the considera-
tion of this question, as it does not relate to the imme-
diate interests of ie colony, and particularly as the
colonel, doubtless for good reasons, has appeared until
lately somewhat to avoid its discussion. But the time
has now arrived when an inquiry into the causes 'and con-
sequences of his removal may not only be interesting, but
really useful to those who would examine the future
prospects of the colony in the light of its past history ;
while the varisus communications from him in this and
other public journals, for the purpose, as we think, of
exciting griticisin, lead us to believe that the question
can now in every respect be considered fearlessly and
passionately.
Proceeding, then, in this spirit, we shall take a cursory
glance at the early history of the colony—the state in
which Colonel Gawler found it on taking the reins of go-
vei nment—and the measures which his position rendered
imperatively necessary. Lenient as should be the judg-
ment pronounced upon the steps taken for the establish-
ment of a colony, separated from all but the most distant
communication with the mother country, and founded on
a system entirely new, honesty obliges us to state, that
the ExecutiVe Government in this country displayed' in
man* of its proceedings a certain degree of weakness and
inefficiency. How far this may have tended to embarrass
Governor Hindmsrsh, in the execution of his duty, is
now unnecessary to enquire : certain it is, that during his
administration, either from an incompetency on his part,
or from the indefinite nature of his instructions, little was
done morally, politically, or religiously. The surveys,
too, instead of being vigorously proceeded with, were
almost entirely suspended ; and although the town-lands
were allotted, yet scarcely anything was done to locate the
emigrants in the country districts, and nothing what-
ever to encourage agricultural operations. The safety
of the province was also endangered by the absence of any
protecting force, either police or military; whereas, in a
colony situated so near the penal settlements, such a force
was indispensably necessary for the protection of life and
property. Again, the anomalous nature of Capt:'Hind-
- marsh's position in no way improved matters. He, as the
representative of the sovereign, received his appointment
from the home goverument, to whom he considered him-
self responsible; while the resident commissioner, who
was certainly an inferior officer, the nominee and recog-
' nised agent of the colonization commissioners, asserted,
in many respects, an equality with him, and divided the
powers of control. Such an impolitic arrangement had
the effect of creating financial disorder, and causing un
certainty among the subordinate officers. Jndeed, the
worst feature of Governor Hindmarsh's • administration
was the differences between himself and the other offi-
cials ; the resident commissioner felt himself independent
of the government, and at liberty to act as his own notions
of duty directed ; the surveyor-general, an excellent and
efficient officer, had doubts as to who was his superior;
and those who occupied inferior posts were either ranged
with one or other of the contending powers, or reaping
the spoils such discords placed within their reach. To
this insubordination may be traced almost all the difficul-
ties of Captain Hindmarsh ; for in governments as in less
Important matters, co-operation is the very essence of
success, and disagreement the element of confusion.
Such, in a few words, was the position of affairs, when
Colonel Gawler received the appointment, combining in
his own person the offices of Governor and Resident Com-
missioner. It demanded no ordinary mental or physical
power to contend with the difficulties we have described ;
and however clear his instructions, or ample his authority,
his chance of success depended fully as much upon his
personal qualifications, as upon the 'powers he might be
invested with. An impartial examination of the facts of
the case will, we think, shew, that many, if not all the
errors committed under the administration of his prede-
cessor, were corrected by him, and the colony placed upon
a substantial basis;