CORRESPONDENCE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 312, 27 October 1855, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

To the Editor of the Lyltelton Times,

Sir, —Your report of the proceedings of the Provincial Council on the 17th inst., states that on the motion to prepare^an address to His Excellency the Governor on his arrival, " a very long and desultory conversation ensued ; ultimately the Committee was instructed to suhmit the address to the Council at its next silting." If this is the usual way in which your reporter renders the proceedings of the Council, it appears to me that they must on many occasions be grea'.ly misrepresented. I listened attentively to the proceedings o f the 17th, as did many others in the Strangers' gallery. A very warm, and to me interesting, debate arose on the subject of an address to the Governor, more especially with reference to the seat of Government. It was anything but a conversation—the Council were not in Committee, for I observed the Speaker in the chair. In the course of the debate Mr. Sewell brought on a distinct motion to instruct the select committee in their address to make reference to the financial difficulties of the Province in its relations with the General Government, and to the obstacles to progress caused by our distance from the seat of Government. I listened to his remarks about Auckland and its members with great interest, : they were to me most instructive. I regret to find that none of them have been reported for the public. Messrs. Tancied and Hamilton spoke strongly, the former asrainst, the latter for, Mr. Sewell's motion, which was carried on a division by (I think) 12 for to only 3 against. I may here say, that when listening to the members, their remarks evince rruch more soundness and good sense in debates which spring up unexpectedly than in those for which there is evident 'v cramming" for purposes of spouting. And the reason is simple: they are no orators, any of them : their attempts to be so are of course failures. The spouted stuff, however, seems to be generally reported with assiduity, while the more sensible matter does not appear. It, strikes me that if the reports were to contain much less of the talk and much more of the business brought on by different members, the public would arrive at some real idea of what was done for them. As it is now, I gather the most vague and unsatisfactory information of what my particular representatives are doing (I don't care for what, they are saying, I could do that often better myself) on my behalf. I want to see the motions and resolutions themselves, not the '• jaw" about them. I remain, Sir, Your obedient, humble servant, Strangers' Gallery.