OTAGO.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 473, 16 May 1857, Page 5

OTAGO.

By the?.lEmeraM••;lisle we have papers from Dune'diri to the &th instJ ' >" :i'■ ■'■ ''■ '■■'.■

. Tha ' Witness' of the 25th April, coi}ime£ting on the requisition : .presented to Mr. Fitz 'Gerald. ;to'accept'the post:of'Tmiirrg atiqri'agerit says :-— '' • 'HVliiM writing upon' the''subject, we carinot refrain "froth noticing; the'contrast between our 'proceeding and the course pursued "by our neigh: 'bours:'at1 Canterb'uAy. ''-■[ 'Mi;.:' Eitzi Garald, their 'Superintendent; does not' intend1 to again^offer Himself as\a candidateforTttie/office, but returns t6;!Erigland. ,A complimen&Cfy address,'numerously signed by sett|ers of all classes; has been presented to' his Honor, wjio has" been vequested to undertalie the; office of'lmrnigrktibn Agent for Canterbury—ah office which he is not .unwilling to accepts If he shohld be so appointed, what a contrast will there be between the agent for Canterbury and the agent for Otago ! ! Mr. !Fitz Gerald is one of the ablest meh, if not the ablest man in the Province ; one whose intimate quaintance with the political and. social affairs bf'tlie whole of New Zealand, \vlioae high station as th c' first S npei'i iVteride nt of; Canterbury '-'must ■give hint'great influence." ■''■''■ ■ ■ -; TiiE ' Hoks'e'" '-" lCtYr»E.''-^ : We observe ■amongstth'e 'pitesengers 'by 'the.GiU Bias, the riaine of Robert' Ste\Varfc, K'sq.', a gentleman who had lately titken a run iritWe southern part of' the prbvirice;'iifid wlio' luivin'g 6al<en a-trip to Melb6ttrrie,;has Returned-aiid brought with him a very superior Clydesdale horse; called "Clyde;" The 'animal-; Which is--'relmavltably fine,- is of $ dark 'bay, has blnek points, and is rising three j-ears:" His Sira. Fai-mpi-'e favour- (

ite, and bis dam Lu^y, were both imported into Australia from Glasgow, by Gfeorge Carmichael, Esq. It is'with much 'pleasure we observe that r the attention of capitalists is being directed to the improvement in the breed of heavy draught horses, and Mr. Stewart deserves the thanks of the community for his spiiited proceeding in, risking the importation of so valuable a horse.— lbid. "We have to notice the arrival during the week of the Dunedin, from Londota, the Gil bias from Melbourne, andtUe Eclair from Canterbury. The Dnnedin brings no passengers, but has a general cavgo. The news by her which is to the 9th of January, is superseded by the intelligence brought via Melbourne. She made however a sßbrt passage of 97 days from land to land.— lbid. . Tiie Dunbdin.—We regret to learn that in conapniience of tlie difficulty of procuring seamen excepting at exorbitant rates, it has been found necessary to take the barque t)unedin off the berth for England.— Colonist, May 1. '■ OtTB TJPPEB ' HABBOTTR. During the past week the Upper Harbour has presented an unusually gratifying appearance. There are ' there at the present time some five or six sea-going vessels at anchor off the town. The Dunedm barque, four hundred ton's burden, lays within a mile-and-half off the Jetty, and from all that we can see there is nothing to prevent vessels of double her tonnage coming almost equally near. ;..i.A small steamer in the harbour would we believe effect this, ft is astonishing how slow tVie public have been to appreciate ttte facilities which 'the Upper Harbour offers to large vessels. P6t% years it was held to be an impo'ssibiHty- for anything/but small- -craft to Mcorne lip'to Dtinediri. The comrnunity?}s'rnuch indebted to our old friend Captain Nichols of tne^Git Bias,- who was the'fir&%to show us what could'; be done* and: who has 'brought his vessel, up regularly ever since. W% ''hope 'soon to seethe jetty and tramway: extended sufficiently far out to enable the the Gil Bias to load "arid ;ufi!dad alongside. -;<A small steamer m the h'arßbttr would; we feel assured, be an excellent speculation. She could make «■. couple of trips a day to and from the lower port, anid' what. with- carrying passengers and mails, and' occasionally -towing vessels, there is no doubt but such a steamer would pay well. The mere action *of the paddles would, we believe, tend much to improve :the. channel and' to improve the channel and to remove shallows.;

We.trust the' Government will turn its 'attention1 to1 this matteiv It would be a fair case for a bonus, should' such a thing be necessary in order'to iriddce parties t& make a beginning. TKe neighbouring provinces, especially -Canterbury, feeem to appreciate the importance of local •sfceHmefs, and do not hesitate to expend the public funds in thisi way;': We hope to see some attempt of' tIW kind here. In addition to the traffic to which we hav re alluded, there might be occasional trips to' the south'wai-d, and also to north, which -would •be highly advantageous to the settlers in these districts; • '

A^iother matter - to' which' the Government ■ should ; see :at once in connection with the improvements in • the- Upper Harbour, is the erection of a signal station, sq as to telegraph vessels; from the Heads. We believe the'flagstaff at Tairoa Head can be distinctly seen both from Grant's Braes and from the hill above Pelichet's Bay; it would be very eas} T thei'efore, we imagine, to have a signal sta.tion at'either of these points. 'The effective and economical administration of the Customs and' Police-Office Departments absolutely requires such a thing; and w^.h-we- tio doubt but the Custoi'hs authorities would bear part of tlui expense. Such an impro\ement would save the good 'folks of Dunedin a woiJd of speculation nhdanxiety, and prevent the nianyialse alarms to which- they are now subjected.—-Ibid, May S.

LAND OFFICES,

1' ■ We are glad; to ■ learn; 'that the Government has at length'entered into contracts for the erection of suitable Survey and Lur.d Offices. The state of these departments for some yesxs back-—in fact, since the retirement of tlie New Zealand Company—has been anything but satisfactory ; indeed, we may say* it has been a disgrace to the province. During the administration of the New Zealand Gompany, the Civil Uses Fund was eharge'd with a very large'^v.n, £18,000 wo belive, whibh; went towards the fcn--ijiatiou of a most valuable plant, in maps, instruments, &c., the-: property of the settlers.

For this property the Company was accountable to the settlers ofOtago. How it has been accounted for, or what may be jts present condition and value, we shall hot enquire, but we have every reason to believe that it was mack neglected. We hope the Government will now succeed in getting the department thoroughly organised, and that the valuable property an;d records in question, involving as they^do to some extent the titles of the great bulk of the l»ri&-------ownsrs in the Province, will be placed in such a position as may tend to their preservatiqn and practical utility.— Tbid. There has been considerable appearance of business at the Jetty during the past week, the Gil Bias, from Melbourne—the Dunedin, from London—the Ellen, from Auckland—and the Emerald Isle, from Wellington, having landed their cargoes. The Gil Bias has also been loaded for Melbourhe^-chieflv with wool'and oats. She clears to-day with a cargo valued at, we believe, £3000. The barque Dunedin is loading for Melbourne with a similar cargo. :. . Messrs. Macandrew and Co. apld the timber ex Ellen, by auction yesterday; the prices realised being 2.55. to 28s. 6d. for plain boards, and 355. to 38s. for tbngued and planed. The biddings were very spirited, and the supply not equal to the demand. A quantity of Baltic timber ex Dune4m,rfr^wH London, was also submitted to auction, but we understand it was withdrawn from sale.— lbid.