The Lyttelton Times. Saturday, December 9, 1854.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 220, 9 December 1854, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times.

Saturday, December 9, 1854.

Saturday, H. M. Schooner " Pandora" has brought us no later English news than that which reached us by the " Nelson." The Nelson Provincial Council met on the 2ord ult. We extract the following summary of the address of Mis Honor the Superintendent from the Nelson Examiner : The increase of the Customs' Revenue, amounting in the last year to neurly £9,000, which is almost double the sum collected in the yciir preceding, is one of the most certain proof*; < of the increased wealth of lire Province, added to which is the land revenue ofncm-ly £28,000, and the important fact, that 98,284* acres of the laud sold was purchased by actual residents m j the colony, and that more than one half of our adult mile populations aye now freeholders. The absence of crime in this Province has always been one of its: characteristics, and the lightness of the calendar during the past W years is, fortunately, an occurrence which presents no novelty. The; assurance by h!s Honor that the long-

delayed extinction of the native title to all land in the Province, except only D'Urville's Island, jWsis very gratifying, not only because it will give the Province many thousand of acres of valuable laud for disposal, but because it is important that all question about land should re placed at once on a solid and permanent fooling. When this purchase shall be completed, instead of seeing settlements of Europeans cut off from one another and separated by large tracts of unoccupied land, we shall see the Province doited over from end to end with the homesteads of Europeans, and civilization will thus rapidly spread over the whole luce of the country.

The question of labour was one which naturally called for remark from the Supcrinteiidriil. From the statement made by his Honor, it is highly probable that in a few months—probably in as many weeks—the Province will reap fruits from the funds which have been placed in the hands of the Government for the purpose of promoting immigration.

The Acts passed by the General Assembly for bestowing power on the Provincial Legislatures to deal with the Waste Lands, were properly made the subject of remark in the address, and the suggestions thrown out by his Honor will no doubt receive the utmost consideration from the Council. Looking la the duties which now devolve upon the local Legislature—-duties which were never contemplated by a large body of the electors when the present members were returned, it seems but just that the people should now have an opportunity of reconsidering their choice of representatives, and coupled with the necessity which exists of remedying the defective representation in some of the* districts, it will, we think, be considered that a general election of the members of the Council is desirable ; but we should like to see the election delayed until after the next registration.

The arrangement made by His Honor, in conjunction with the Superintendents of Wellington and Canterbury, which has given Steam navigation to our coast, was spoken of, and allusion was made to an airangement equally important if it can be effected, by which the Southern Provinces of ihe colony will, like the Northern Province, possess direct Steam communication with Australia. And connected intimately with the welfare and progress of a ■maritime country such as New Zealand will become, reliable surveys of our coasts and harbours of refuge are in the highest degree important. His Honor informed the Council that the Province was indebted to the kindness of Captain Drnry, of H. M. S. "Pandora," for tracings of the Waimea river and French Pass, with valuable suggestions for the erection of buoys and beacons.

The question of education is, it seems, to be dealt with hy the General Assembly, but an expression of opinion by the Provincial Councils is invited. This is one of the subjects which we think might have been best left for Provincial legislation, as a system perfectly agreeable to one Province might be highly distasteful to another, and uniformity in education is not essential.

The retention of one-half of our land fund by the General Government, and an additional portion of our Customs' revenue, called forth a protest in the address, and the withholding of all accounts by the Central Government was likewise properly remarked upon. Notwithstanding those drawbacks, it will be seen that the actual revenue for our past financial year exceeded the estimate by j£ 10,023 JBs. 10d., while the expenditure was less than that authorized by £1,928 17s. 9d.—thus giving a balance in favour of the Province of upwards of £'18,000. The sum which His Honor estimates will be available this year for public works and Immigration, is £'25,000. Amongst the subjects enumerated by His Honor on which the Council will be asked to legislate, are some of the very highest importance, socially and physically. Other measures, we believe, are in contemplation, and we do not doubt but that the Council will enter upon the consideration of every measure submitted to it with an earnest, ami anxious care for the welfare of the. Province."

Wj;r lixctos. — A meeting look place on. tin; 27th ult., to elect, two persons to represent the City of Wellington in the Provincial Council; one in the room of Mr. George Moore, who had resigned his seat

in consequence of having accepted a Government contract, and the other in place of Dr. Dorset, who had resigned in consequence of his having accepted the office of Colonial Surgeon ; and to return a member for the Wellington Country District in the room of Mr. Waitt, who had resigned.

Messrs. John' Dorset and William Hickson were returned without opposition for Wellington. Three candidates, Messrs. Allen, Edwards, and Schultze, were put in nomination for the Country District. Mr. C. W. Schultze was returned for the vacant seat.

A Public Meeting was held at the Hutt on Wednesday, Niv. 29, for the purpose of hearing from Messrs. Ludlam and E. G. Wakefield an explanation of their conduct at the late sessions of the General Assembly. The Wellington Independent says :—

The proceedings commenced with a discussion as to the manner in which the meeting had been called, which was eminently characteristic of the parties concerned. It appeared from their own statements, that on Mr. Ludlam's arrival from Auckland, he intimated that as Mr. Wakefield and himself had differed in almost every point of importance during the session, he should not steal a march in the absence of the former, by giving the electors his own version, but would wait till he could meet Mr. Wakefield face to face, and fight, out the whole matter.with him— when the electors would be in a position to decide who was right and who was wrong. On Mr. Wakefield's return, however, it appeared that he had no taste for such " face to face" proceedings; so after a conference with Mr. llenall, (from whom he no doubt heard what Mr. Ludlain had done) he called a meeting of e'eciorsat which "Mr. Wakefield would attend." Had this gone on, it would have been Mr. Wakefieid's meeting—any attempt of Mr. Ludlain to impugn his conduct would have been resisted—a grand appeal would have been made to imaginary precedents in England—and Mr. W. would quietly have got his <>wn version before the public without the opportunity of contradiction, securing probably for himself a vote of confidence. To this " hole and corner" dodge, however, Mr. Ludlam would not submit; he insisted on the meeting being an open one for both members to explain their conduct ; the day was changed from that fixed by Mr. W. (without his concurrence as he complained) and the opportunity secured for the electors to hear both sides. No doubt Mr. Wakefield would very much have preferred the other course—his discomfited air on Wednesday evening showed it ; and, notwithstanding his reiterated assertions to the contrary, it was clear that he dreaded nothing so much as having to defend his conduct " face to face" against his colleague, whose straightforward course in the Assembly was already well known and generally approved.

After this matter had been disposed of certainly not much to Mr. Wakefield's advantage, if we may judge by the expressions which fell from the meeting, a good deal of sparring ensued between the two Representatives on trial, as to which should lead off. Mr. Wakefield (much after the iranner of a schoolboy on his way to the whipping block) complained of Mr. Ludlam's intentions to " attack " him —declared that he was quite unprepared for it—and had not an idea on what topics the attack would be made. As if lie did not know the leading questions of the Session on which Mr. Lndlam and he had differed—and was not just as well aware, as if it had been put in writing, of the nature of the charges which would be levelled against him! However alter a good deal of discussion, Mr. Ludlain consented to lead off, on the express understanding that he should have a reply when Mr. Wakeliod had made his statement.

Mr. Ludlam tlien, at j;mit ler.glh, detailed the proceedings of the iSession, giving; an account of tin; part. taken by himself and Mr. Wakelield in reference to them. The justification of his own conduct was consistent, and free from all ingenious attempts to make ilie worst appear the better reason. His inculpations of Mr. Wakefield were so plain and intelligible,ami rested on sneh simple matter of fact, that the latter will, we suspect, find it very diflieult to expliin them away, lie charged him with havin»- forsaken the cause of Responsible Go-veninu.-iH by su[>p<.utitsg- the Governor in his

refusal to remove the old officials, and still more by assuming the unconstitutional/ position of sole irresponsible adviser of the Governor without holding any office. In reference to this subject, he also shewed that the Governor :md Mr. W. had made statements entiiely contradictorily, and that the House had by solemn resolution, expressed its belief thai Mr. Wakefield had misled it, and demanded his dismissal from the Governor's Councils. He charged him with having adopted a course in respect of the appropriation of the land fund, unjust in the extreme, and utterly ruinous to the Province of Wellington. He also shewed that his policy had been to destroy the powers of the Provincial Governments, and that he had grossly insulted the Provincial Councils, of which they were both members, by declaring that in administering the Waste Lands, they would on}y job them away for the benefit of themselves and friends. But the most telling part of Mr. Ludlam's charges against Wakeh'ekl consisted in the account of his vote in favour of the Bill which was to give 21 members to Auckland, and only 27 to ail the rest of the colony—Wellington being rated at 9; and his walking out of the house, followed by his tail, when their votes would have decided that the next meeting of the Assembly should be in a central position—meaning of course, at Wellington. These votes Mr. L. described as acts of high treason to the south, and declared that the man who gave them was unfit to represent any southern constituency.

After dilating- on other points of less importance, Mr. L. concluded, when Mr. Wakefield, declaring at that late hour it was impossible for him to reply to Mr. Ludlam's lengthened statement, urged the postponement of the meeting. It was very clear that he shrunk from facing it while the "impression of Mr. Ludlam's very straightforward address was fresh. The general feeling seemed to be in favour of going on, but after a good deal more talking an adjournment till 6 o'clock on Monday evening was curried.