The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1863.

Southland Times, Volume 2, Issue 57, 26 May 1863, Page 2

The Invercargill Times. TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1863.

The delay which has taken place in forwarding the English mail from Australia has naturally caused very general dissatisfaction, and a desire to know the reasons for such apparent discourtesy on the part of the agent for the City of Hobart. The Nortbam anchored in Hobson's Bay on Sunday, the 10th inst., i just nine hours after the departure of the Aldinga. The City of Hobart did not sail till the following Wednesday ; but although three? clear days were thus j given in which to make the necessary arrangements, the mails are left in Melbourne. We publish in another column an explanatory letter, received by us from Captain Darby, jof the City of Hobart. Much ;as we deplore a state of things so i detrimental to the interests of the New ! Zealand public, we cannot see bow any blame attaches to the Melbourne agent of that vessel. It was clearly his duty to require payment before taking charge of the mails in Melbourne, or a guarantee that such payment would be made immediately on the arrival of the vessel in New Zealand. Such a course would be perfectly legitimate under any circumstauces, but when it is taken into consideration that upon a former occasion, when the City of Hobart brought on the English mail from Melbourne, the New Zealand authorities never tendered a single farthing in payment, and that the service remains to this day unremunerated, it would have been a matter of surprise to us if the experiment of trusting to their honor had n^ain been resorted to. Captain Darby says in his letter — "The mail authorities could guarantee no payment, M'Meclian and Co. (the mail contractors) would give nothing for its conveyance, and so your March mails remain still in Melbourne. 1 ' It is to be hoped that no delay will take place in giving the Postmaster in Melbourne power to guarantee a certain sum in future to the agent of a steam vessel under sirrilar circumstances. So far, tli en, we agree with Captain Darby ; but, wlien be goes on to state his wil- ! lingness at all times to " forward the | means of communication with Inverear- [ gill, either for mails or passengers, when it can be done with safety to the ship and not interfere with our saving daylight for Otago'Heads," we must remind him that facts are of far more value than words. We must remind him that only a few days have elapsed since judgment was given against him in Duiiedin for breaking a. contract with his passengers for the Bluff, and that, even supposing he was unable to land them oa his way to Dunedin, there could be nothing to justify his subsequentrefusal toput them ashoreon hisreturn trip. That is onecase in which Capt. Darby has not done his best to '" forward the means of communication with Invercargill,' 1 but there is another of more recent occurrence which we will take the liberty of bringing to his memory. On the 22nd instant we published the following note from our agent at Bluff Harbor, and we see no reason to doubt its truth, although Captain Darby has since said in Dunedin that no mail boat was sent out to meet him : — The City of Hobart passed the Bluff on her way to Dunedin about 4.30 \>.iv., on the 18th instant, with the mail flag flying, but did not round to or take the slightest notice of the mail boat, which got within GOO yards of her. For the future I shall discontinue advising you of expected arrivals of the City of Hobart from Melbourne, as there is now no certainty of her calling. With the above facts fresh in our minds, it is difficult to understand how Capt. Darby could have penned the latter portion of his letter ; but one thing is certain, that the day is not far distant when Melbourne agents will be very glad to allow their vessels to make passing calls at the Bluff, and captains of steamers will no longer be permitted with impunity to make the interests of Southland subservient to the chance of a quicker passage to Otago Heads. Before the Lake gold discoveries — that is to say when this Province was scarcely known in Australia, and sung with a very small voice amongst its sister settlements in New Zealand — we were told there was a speedy prospect of direct steam communication with Australia by means of a " Southland. Steam Company.'' Let those who were so prematurely ambitious in those flays use their influence now ; not in the formation of a local company, but in persuading some speculative owner to run a steamer for a trip or two between Invercargill and Melbourne, and we think the result will be the establishment of I a permanent line in the spring of the I. year, We believe a gentleman has already been dispatched to Melbourne, on behalf of the Southland Government, to endeavour to make somesuch arrangement, and no. doubt our merchants here will give the movement all the assistance in their power. r

Amongst ■thij.reeenfc shipping arrivals, ia port, the barque $£aroF Victoria, is deserving of notice. She is a new'vessel, having been puilt in Aberdeen, ScetlandJ'in i)362j on aa improved principle. She is 275 tons register, copper fastened, A 1 at Lloyd's, and draws only nine feet of water. Her saloon accommodation is of a superior description, combining comfort and even luxury, seldom found except on board a first-class passeng er vessel. Her hold has been altered so as to admit of the reception of horses or cattle, in which trade (from Tasmania), we understand she is to be permanently placed, and for which she is admirably adapted. She ia commanded by Captain M'Each.ran, who has been for many years in the inter-colonial trade and whose courteous mauner and seamanlik equalities, have gained the rospect of all who know him. At a meeting of the Commemoration committee held yesterday, a letter -was read from His Honor the Superintendent, tendering the sum of twenty-five pounds on, behalf of the Provincial Government towards the festivities to take place on Friday next, which day, it is said his Honor intends to proclaim a general holiday. We are not in a position to name Friday positively as the day set apart, having received no official notification, in consequence, we suppose of our not being the Government " barrel" organ. Whenever the event does take place Aye trust our fellow Townsmen will show a little more loyalty than they did yesterday on the occasion of the Queens Birthday, when we observed a number of establishments opened for business. We mentioned in a previous issue that the notorious Sam Perkins had been drowned. The following particulars have since reached us "* Perkins in company with a man named Whybrow left Te Waeuae (?) Point on the ; evening of the"4th inst., for the Toi Tois, and reached the Mataura about daylight on the sth, where they remained all day making ' signals for the boat to come from the oth ct side, but without effect. Tkey then constructed a raft, on which Perkins attempted to cross the Mataura, and nothing has since been seen of him. A strong ebb tide was running at tho time and it is supposed the body was carried out to sea. The raft was found by the police on an island. Yesterday was set apart as a holiday to commemorate the Queen's Birthday. The shipping in the harbor was gaily decorated with flags, and the Government offices, Banks, and principal places of business were closed . A royal salute was fired at noon in the vicinity of the Government buildings, by a number of volunteers under the direction of Captain Greig. The Ottgo Daily Times says that already a considerable number of applications have been made to the Government by persons desiring to volunteer for the occupation of the land at Taranaki, under the terms of the Colonial Secretary's communication. It is rumoured that a few have also come forward in Southland. j The Otago Witness says : — The election for the Puuedin District has resulted in the return of the following members, viz., Messrs. Dick, Reynolds, Birch, F. F. CargilJ, Moss, Kilgour, and Paterson. The defeated candidates were Messrs. Webb, Kertmayne, Switvpr, Yogel, and Walker. Only two new members have been returned — .Mr F. J. Moss, and Mr Thomas Birch, the remaining members having all places in the last Council. The following is the result of the poll :— Dick, 303 ; Reynolds, 2fil ; Birch, 2-11 ; Cargill, 240; Moss, 233; Kilgour, 23."> ; Paterson, 165; Webb, 150; liedmayno, 135; Switzer, 132; Yogel, 114; Walker, 57. The Debtors and Creditors' Act, 1362, has been proclaimed by tho Governor, to come into operation from and after the first day of June. The warrants of appointment of Mercantile Assessors will be prepared and issued as speedily as possible. The Eev. Isaac Harding, Wesleyan Minister, preached on Sunday in the morning and afternoon at the new store of Messrs Morrison, Law, and Co., «.n<l in the evening at tho Presbyterian Church. We are happy to say each service was numerously attended, and a considerable sum collected for the purpose of securng a suitable site for a Wesleyan Church. We are requested by Chief Inspector Weldon to contradict an error which appeared in our last issue. We stated that in advertising lost goods the Police had to bear the expense if the owners were not forthcoming. The Inspector assures us that under no eiruumstances are the force liable. Our spacn compells us to withhold a portion of interesting English news, as well as our report of the Fire Brigade meeting, and the Resident Maaistrate's Court.