The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 627, 10 November 1858, Page 6

The Lyttelton Times.

r ,-_,. Wednesday, November 10. The beginning of this week has been signalised by the arrival of news of the I English July and August mails, which has reached us simultaneously by way of both Wellington and Otago. The mail bags have not come, so that for the intelligence which we give to-day we are indebted to papers handed to us by the courtesy of private"'' individuals, and to the columns of the,journalso£theneighbouring provinces. That'iipt only thebews but the bags themselves should have arrived long before this is evident from the fact that the Emeu, with both months' mails on board, reached Melbourne on the 10th of October, 30 days ago; while, by proper arrangement, even with sailing vessels, half that time may suffice for the transit, and with a regular steam service our letters could easily, reach us on the tenth day, from Melbourne. In the Otago papers we find it intimated that the unnecessary detention of the mail was owing to the refusal of Dr. Peatherston, the Superintendent of Wellington, to accept the services of the Queen steamer, which were offered at once for the purpose. It happened that his Honor, was a passenger by the Queen on her last trip to Melbourne, which port she entered on the same day as the mail steamer from Suez. We are able to sa} r that Dr. Peatherston instantly endeavoured to forward the boxes to Wellington, a task of unusual difficulty as it happened, for the Jeanie Dove, though formerly one of the contract schooners, and lying then in harbour, had been taken off the station, and the Marchioness had not come in. The agents of the Queen were applied to and offered to take the mails to Wellington for £500- This sum may have been as little as the Queen could afford to do it for, but it was more than, perhaps double as much as, it was possible or prudent to give. It remained only for the mails to be sent on |to Sydney, with the hope of catching there a vessel for Wellington. It seems j that this hope has proved fallacious, for the last accounts from Wellington show arrivals from Sydney with later dates than the mail, but the vessel to which the precious boxes were entrusted had not then (last Saturday) made her appearance. In fact, to judge from the Wellington papers, the default of the Jeanie Dove and the arrangement for forwarding the mails by way of Sydney were not known in that city. The Otago papers, go on to say that the Queen offered to bring the mails down by way of Otago without any bonus, which offer was also refused. But, supposing it to have been so, the steamer would no doubt have taken her own time of departure, the 23rd of the month, the mails having arrived on the 11th; and no anticipation could have been entertained that

after such delay the transmission would turn out to be more speedy than the route selected. Again, the circumstance of the boxes being- made up and addressed specially to Wellington would no doubt involve the necessity of" sending* them direct from Australia to that port. Altogether, unfortunate as the arrangement has turned out to be, we have but little right to grumble. We have to thank Wellington for having maintained a remarkably efficient service rather than to complain because that service has broken down. But we have at least to feel satisfaction in the approaching- establishment of a steam line to Australia, a satisfaction which will only be complete if that line, for postal purposes at any rate, is drawn between Melbourne and Cook Straits. We sincerely hope that the arrangement between the Mail Company and the General Government in this particular may be such as to anticipate any attempts to start a rival service. Could not this Province, by way of showing as much activity as its neighbours, bnt in a more legitimate direction, offer to supplement the colonial bonus to the recognized service on conditions which might secure to us the communication which we need?

It appears by private information which we have received from Melbourne, that Dr. Peatherston has been very successful in his negotiations with the Government of Victoria' on the Steam Communication Question, It will be remembered that Dr. Evans, Post-master-General of Victoria, on his late visit to Wellington, preferred to the Provincial Government of that province a sum of £6000 a year to be paid by Melbourne towards a bonus in aid of maintaining a regular steam service with Cook Straits. The* offer was accepted, and Dr. Featherston went to Melbourne to make further arrangements. We find that the offer has been confirmed, and negotiations have been so far advanced that tenders have been called for by advertisement for the conveyance of mails by steamer to and from Melbourne and Wellington once a month, for the period of two years; to leave Melbourne on the 10th, and Wellington on the 25th of each, month. It was considered possible that the first steamer might start on the 10th of November (to-day) for the tenders were to be sent in by the 2nd, and it was known that several competent parties, of whom the Australian Steam Navigation Company were one, were open to offer on the terms proposed. .-. „•■ * ■ Dr. Peatherston had gone up to Sydney to make further arrangements with .the .company mentioned, and would return as soon as the affair was settled. This is the result of- our General Government permitting secrecy to envelop their arrangements in a matter so vitally important to all the provinces ; as if they could expect to be trusted with blind faith by that province which they knew had reason to think itself an object of their special enmity!