CORRESPONDENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume I, Issue 47, 29 November 1851, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the Lyttellon Times.

Sir, —Having done me the favour to notice my letter in your payer of the 15th inst, that contains a leader upon the same subject, my object in now writing is to arrive at a correct opinion of this settlement compared with its neighbours, and in so doing, I wish it to be understood that I have no desire, either by word or deed, to thwart the progress of the Canterbury Settlement, as it is a praiseworthy undertaking, inasmuch as it will ultimately improve the position of the working man.

Before entering any further upon the subject, allow me to digress while I pay a brief compliment to jour prophetic leader: no person will doubt your good intention in giving birth to that epistle, it is well adapted to meet the views of a certain party, yet had you real experience, with a local knowledge of the character and disposition of the adjacent settlements and neighbouring colonies, most probably your horse might have been of a different colour and ttrnper, and no ways inclined to play the wicked pranks predicted in the " drama." I cannot avoid commending your good sense in one important point, and had all who choose to play the prophet manifested the same, and taken the precaution while revealing, that, " farce, comedy, deep and terrible tragedy" are to be performed, on a " British stage," bnt carefully avoided saying when, Mother Shepstone, and a host o± other rabid prophets might never have been dubbed impostors; not but it is doubtful if 3 rou claim the originality for this shrewd idea, for as far back as you may like to refer to Moore's Penny Almanac, you will find the following pithy sentence, "rahi may be expected;" so may the Dramatic performance in the British colonies, if the world continues to wag on after the old fashion. It will be strange indeed, if nothing of the sort happens some time.

The bill, with particulars of the performance, has not yet been published, yet sufficient is made known respecting who are to be the actors, that one portion of them may be fairly set down as "genuine Californians," —"lutliless adventurers of Western America," —beings, no doubt, that in their own country, merit all the odium that has been heaped upon them. But in justice to America allow me to say, that her sons of liberty, when located in a British Colony, are generally found to be good members of society. Western America may be looked upon as an unruly, undutiful child, towards its British Mother. Yet if these untoward children should fancy to migrate to the golden regions of Australia, the noble and generous " Currency Lads," will receive them with all the hospitality due to a stranger. Americans, where they are not the " strongest party," are extremely cautious not to violate British law, as they well know what follows is British justice, aiid in their own country, to their utter disgrace, they are remarkably overbearing, vindictive, and intolerant, especially towards the British.

Another portion of the Dramatic performers is to be " a whole army of felons whom England has billeted on Van Dieman's Land," this army is to " fight its way to the gambling house of the goldfields." "What an army ! what a fight ! Who are the generals and inferior officers ? Undoubtedly their names will shortly figure in the Gazette, in the meantime let us review the troops, cavalry and infantry, what are they ?—Why, hideous felons, robbers and murderers from their birth ; crime, heinous crime, they lapped it in with their mother's milk, it was nurtured in the cradle.—Oh! they have the bump, the phrenological bump of thieving, and all that a philanthropic world, and paternal government, have done to restrain them in their evil propensities, has proved ineffectual. And what has the government not done to improve the moral and intellectual position of the poor man ? Is he not educated in a " Union Bastile," and fully employed on a « treadmill ?" Yet all is of no avail He cannot be brought to a conscious rectitude, or moral standing, theiefore out of pure humanity, the Home Government, seeing that he has the " bump," starves him to crime, that it may have the formal routine of business in affording him a passage to the Antipodes for the small sum of about 1 00 L, which is a most wise and economical measure on the part of the Home Government, and far better than employing an equal sum to send out half-a-dozen youn°persons, (from its surplus'population,) ere they have the advantage of a Union or Treadmill education.

Now, Sir, with your permission I will leave the Drama until the first act is over, and proceed to notice your remarks on my former letter. It appears to me that you have rather misconstrued my hint," as I did not intend it at all to apply to the "diggings," for every person must know that the diggings are a lottery that may either turn up blanks or prizes. The question of capital and labour is the true question in colonization, the investment of capital I shall pass over for the present and come to the subject,—labour,—as it now stands here, compared with Wellington. Nelson, and Tara-

naki. Suppose a hundred labourers were landed at each of these settlements during the next month, they would find full employment, good wages, and a comfortable jlace of abode. These settlements will undoubtedly j>rofit greatly by the demand Australia will make for their own produce ; the rural inhabitants in these settlements are snugly located on their own little farms, enjoying all the comforts of rustic life, some of their adventurous sons may take a trip to the gold-fields, but the heads of the families will remain to welcome back their sons, whether loaded with treasure or disappointment,and hear the "wondrous tale."

How widely different is this to the present position of the Canterbury settlement. Here is a wide and almost boundless field for labour, here is plenty of labour walking about in idleness, half starved good labour, willing to work ; land wants tilling, roads want making, yet there is no employment. The landowner looks stupidly situated, he either wants money or judgment. It is not now the time for him to think whether he has made a good or a bad bargain, he has got a bargain, he has got land, and if he wishes it to benefit him, he will cultivate it, he cannot eat it; he may eat its produce, then what's the use of looking at it, estimating and calculating ; turn it up and plant it, and make it useful to himself and others as far as his means and power will permit. Australia will for years to come, offer a good market for New Zealand produce. Canterbury has an abundance of labour, and by a judicious course may secure it to themselves, and to the benefit of the whole settlement ; but if labour is starved as it has been hitherto, it will surely struggle itself away to a better market, therefore the prosperity of this settlement depends upon the employer and not the labourer. It is unjust, it is impolitic, to try to detain labour in a settlement where there either wants capital or energy " to use it up."

You rather quaintly ask, "am I going to the diggings?" I can assure you not to California, but as to Australia, it entirely depends upon circumstances. My opinion is, if a man is doing well, he can but do well, but when a person finds the balances against him it is time to make amove; but there are plenty of places in New Zealand where any person of industrious habits, and moderately temperate, may do well without rushing to the gold field, and in my humble opinion it is folly to use any kind of sophistry to induce or mislead a community, but freely and candidly admit every iuformation relative-to the neighbouring colonies and settlements possible, as the prosperity of one must necessarily be shared by the others, as common sense tells every person that gold may fill the pocket, but it requires bread to fill the belly, therefore it needs no frightful pictures to prevent the sober thinking from rushing from a certainty to an uncertainty, (but mark, something more has to be done to make this a certainty). If I were to turn prophet a few minutes and predict the probable consequences attending the discovery of gold in Australia, I should say that it is the great link required to bring these colonies into closer connection, by the prompt establishment of steamers, railroads, and all that is essentially necessary to the full developement of the agricultural, commercial, and political interests now dormant in the British colonies at the antipodes of Old England. It is with every apology for thus far trespassing upon your attention, that I now conclude, and a sincere desire that the Canterbury settlement may afford sufficient inducement to retain both its capital and labour, and by bringing the same into immediate action, it will insure its early and permanent prosperity. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, William Taylor.

To the Editor of the Lyltelton Times. Sir,—As you open the columns of your paper to notices of the various nuisances that arise from time to time, allow me to avail myself thereof for the purpose of calling the attention of your numerous readers, and of the parties to whom we are to look for redress, to a state of things quite constituting a " nuisance," in the town of Lyttelton. I allude to the numbers of half drunken men that are continually to be met with at the corner of Oxford Street, by the Canterbury Hotel. The evidence this affords of the prevalence of this particular vice is sad, but at any rate, let those who practise it be prevented from not merely blocking up a public footpath, but in such a manner that frequently even ladies canuot pass without being- subjected to insult and annoyance. Surely something may be done to put a stop to this. & Yours, &c, Censor.