Local Intelligence.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 553, 20 February 1858, Page 5

Local Intelligence.

One more sitting, it is expected, will conclude tlie labours of the Provincial Council; the business marked out at the commencement of the

session will have been completed quite within the time calculated on, as fur at least as'business days go, of which: Tuesday, next will be the tenth. The Appropriation Bill ia to he pushed through in one sitting; foal- other bills have already passed through all their stages; a sixth awaits only a final reading; .and, most important fact of all, the estimates have been considered, item by item, in Committee of Supply, till they have become sufficiently perfect to receive the stamp of approval, as a whole", from the Council. All this, then, being accomplished, nothing remains to do, and the Legislative steam goes down for want of fuel. . We must say that in the appropriation of money this session there appears a looseness and want of ruling principle. Encouragement to beggars is one of the results; and in this point of view ' Pagan's petition' sails so close to the wind as to be something more than an excellent joke. A ' Gazette' of Saturday last notifies amongst other matters the resignation of Messrs. Tancred and Harman of their seats in the Executive Council; and Mr. T. S. Duncan's appointment as a member thereof. Mr. ITarman's resignation is dated the 27th of January, Mr. Tancred's the 10th of February, and Mr. Duncan's appointment the 12th February, In the same Gazette, eight gentlemen are appointed trustees of the Christchurch branch of the Lyttelton Savings Bank. This is a necessary preliminary to the commencement of operations. At the first sale of Messrs. Cookson, Bowler and Co.!s town sections in Kaiapoi, which took place on Thursday, the sections realised considerably above the upset price. The highest price given per acre for sections fronting on the river being £126, and the whole averaging £97 per acre. For the back sections, the highest price given was at the rate of £75 per acre. We are glad to find that this land is at last thrown open to the public, as the progress of Kaiapoi has been considerably retarded by the difficulty of procuring freehold land near the river, owing to a large portion of the town belonging to the church and college trusts, and consequently not being open for sale. We see by an advertisement that Messrs. Cookson, Bowler & Co. propose erecting a wharf on this property, and there is no doubt that when the direct Rangiora road is opened, a large amount of wool and other produce will be shipped from that side of the river.

Christchurch College.—Mr. Tancred's first course of lectures, as Professor of Modern History, was concluded last night. The College Library, in which they were delivered, was filled every night by an attentive audience. The interest which these lectures created in Christchurch is an earnest of the benefit to be derived from such an institution as a College for liberal education, not only by the scholars, but by the* public at large.