GANTERBURY.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 13, 7 December 1863, Page 2

GANTERBURY.

oyraf ;cob:b^pondent,]^^ X ' <"Pi\ Christcharchi^ecember Ist, 18(53, \k I a-n iiivthe unusually happy position on this! occasion of having two. bbudjide import an tjpjecesj of news;' to' tell fyou^fe'/I'he first certain lyO? is ■ important only to the people' of Canterbury; but;in tbe second, the whole colony of New Zealand may to a certain extent feel interested. These two events are, the formation of f a-n«w M Exeeutive/ and the opening of the. Christcbqrch and Ferrymead Railway, both of which have taken place today. You may think, perhaps, that lam v-?ry unnecessarily magnifying --th^imp'oftance "of "the* first. Certainly, even in New Zealand the change r f a Ministry is no very surprising an event, while to you, who are better acquainted than ourselves with the rapid, ups and downs of - Victorian politics, such a trifle as a change in a merely' Provincial Executive may seem to' partake rather ot tbe nature of a -tempest in a teapot. I hope? however, that my former letters will .have conveyed to yon some notion of what a state of effervescence we. have been in lately m this matter, and how really important a.- thing it has become that it should be. by sGme means or Other quietly settled. I am rather at a losb whether I ought to commence with the rail way, or the Government; -. but I suppose the dons must take precedence, and I will, therefore, dash* at once into politics. I told you a month ago that it had v been announced semi-official ly that the Superintendent was about to resign, and in my last letter I gave an account of how his Honor, after 'mentioning his intention to friends, and allowing it to be made public, suddenly changed his mind, and determined to stay where he was, moved to this 6tep, as is reported, by finding that the public press, generally, received tbe news -of bis approaching depasture from office' with considerable satisfaction, and allowed it to appear. Various rumors, too, got about of private arrangements having been entered into for the" purpose of providing a successor for the vacant seat, and t;he public not unnaturally became highly indignant at the highest office in the Province being thns bandied 1 to and fro, without their most sweet voices being in any way invite i to express an opinion as to the que; tion of who should rule over them. On his Honor refusing to resign, hi Executive in a body sent in their resignations, and this of -course (jave rise to fresh reports; the whole matter from first to last was enveloped in deep mj-stery, and as no explanation was offered frenn «uy quarter the - general uneasiness increased more and more. The Provincial Council, or rather some members of the Provincial Council — about, half— took the matter up, and conceiving themselves to be the represen- , tatives of the people whether in or out of session, determined, as they could not meet in the regular way, to hold a private session of their own. wherein : to devise some means for relieving the Province from the difficulties in which it had become entangled. They met twice, and their meetings were kept strictly secret , reporters being rigorously > excluded, but as always happens at private meetings each person present told a few intimate friends what bad been done, who in their turn were • equally communicative to their friends, so that the general resultof the me> -tings soon became commonly known. It was decided to request the Superintendent to hold a short extra sitting of theCouncil, so that the public might have from himself or his Government an explanation of the mysterious events of the few past weeks ; and in tho event of that rcq est being refused, to go to head quarters and petition the Governor for a dissolution. Meantime, his Honor was engaged in the task -(which ite appeared to find somewhat difficult,) of forming a new Government, the numes of various gentlemen were mentioned as more or le s likely to take a part in it, but nothing was , understood to be settled, till this morning there appeared in the papers an announcement that his Honor had succeeded in firming a new Executive, the members of which were as follow: — Hon. H. J. ' Tancred, President ; W. Kolleston, Esq, Provincial Secretary ; E. F. B. Harston, Esq, Provincial Solicitor; with G. A. E. Ross, E<q, and E. C. J. ; Stevens, E«q. without office. Of these, Mr Tancred is well-known as a "member of the Legislative Council, besides having r.l>vays taken part in local politics; Mr Bass has' long been a member of the Council, and. I think, was once Provincial Secretary,- Mr Horston for the last three Sessions was a very active member of the Council, where ho was always supposed to look very lovingly toward the seat he is now to occupy ; Messrs Rolleston and Stevens have not to my knowledge made their appearance before on the political sta?e, but they are both known as able men. Only Mr Eoss has at present a seat in the Council, but 1 suppose the , others will find seats by the time they want them. I have not yet heard much expression of opinion upon the new Ministry; to-day has been a hoK.lay, and people have been too much attracted by the novel pleasure of railWily travelling to tallr polities. The Lyttelton Times gave the ne.vs without comment; the Press, after congratulating His Honor -'on the felicity with which he had selected this day for the public enlightenment," goes on to say: — "The public^ have, however, a more substantial ground for congratulation upon the fact that an Executive has been formed in the security which is thus afforded that the many rumors which have been in circulation during the past month are without foundation ; the new Executive is a sufficient guarantee that nothmg has gone on of which they are ashamed to undertake tlie responsibility.: Wo congratulate Mr ISealey and the public, and we shall watch with great curiosity the results which ensue upon the change of our rulers. We are sure that our readers will agree with us that the new Geverntuerit ought tobe allowed a fair chance before they are u.inecessnrily molested." Having- thm, it is to be hoped, fai~ly seen the last of our political crisis, I will g-oon to my second subject — the opening of the railway. This was very successful The clay had been proclaimed as a public holiday, and the weather was beautiful. It had been so unpromising last evening that it seemed only too likely that we were about to experience a disappointment such as we had on the soaking day which was to have been tbe exhibition of the Agricultural and Pastoral Society, but this time luck was on our side, There was, indeed, a nor-wester which might have been spared, but as it was, we were all glad to compound for the ab • sence of rain, by the presence of beat and dust. The only contretemps was, that to-day was also : the first sittinjj of the Supreme Court. Why the two events should have been allowed to clash so unfortunately, is more than I can say, but it cer- ' tainly caused a good many persons to spend the day much less agreeably than they might have done under a better arrangement. The ceremonies attendant on the opening of the line, were not very extensive. A train conveying the Superintendent, bis late Executive, members of the Provincial Council, and gentlemen connected with Government, passed along the line to and fro, and was succeeded by another which was filled chiefly with ladies; this precious freight was conveyed to Ferrymeade in like manner with the prcnedingand less valuable cargo, and on their return the carriages were at the command of the oi polloi, who slambcred in wherever they found standing room , and careered up and down the line as long as the lessees would indulge their wishes. Meanwhile, about five hundred cf those who were present adjourned to the goods store, .which was handsomely decorated, and contained a really magnificent dejeuner, to which the contractors had invited as many guests as there was any possibility of entertaining with comfort. A double row of" tables had been arranged along the whole two hundred feet of length, which were quickly crowded, and in a short time the building resounded to the clattering of knives and forks and the reports of the opening of champagne bottles. Ample justice was done to the feast, and nothing could exceed the conviviality with which the whole affair passed off. It was indeed a great day for Canterbury, and there could scarcely be an individual present'who did not feel the exhilaration legitimately attendant upon the success of an enterprise long hoped for, and at length attained. A ball at the new Music Hall to-morrow night will conclude the rejoicings. After to-day trains will run regularly six times a day each way; fares : Ist class, Is 6d, or 2s 6d return, the present charge by the passenger cart being 2s 6d tor the one journey. No doubt arrangements will be made with the steamers to give a through passage into Lyttleton. This has been done already for the carriage of wool, and will be "extended" to all merchandise. We have now only to await the still greater day, ot which this is an earnest,, which shall see the scheme so perseveringly worked out by our late Superintendent, carried out in its entirety, the tunnel piercing its way through the, hills, and the railway cars depositing their freights upon the wharves of Lyttleton. : . . A good deal of exctement has been caused lately by the reports of gold having been found in the neighborhood of Oxford, about thirty miles from Christcburch. I cannot report vory much about it as yet. That gold has been found in several places is <juile certain, but the question .is, how

much tberejs of itj^and whetbei^it'iirill be found in paying quantities. ; Several forties are prospecting, and we shall no^doubt Ifear^OTelJiWqre very long, and ip the>m«^ .for l-ing vague r ;the&ries, or itfdulgingiln^'anciful .speculations as to what may possibly turn tip. p iA melancholy|pfcidentJnapp'*h^ to 3lr Hay, a settjer^i^the Peninsula^ the aatne man who waadet in for such heavy ilamagteii at ; the last Session;©^ the Supreme Court tor a fire which was kindled on 'his lanA, and spread onto Mr Holme*, where it burned v lar-r?,. extent of , valuable bush. He' v was last seen brfW on his way ove, the. hill fromi-Cbristohurch to ,- Lyttletpn.-smd on Saturday, his liody was 1 found qu the ofC*^ bill, be having evidently missed his footingaca .. avery dangerous precipice a few yardsfrorri the top, and fallen headlong down| V>Tbert ■ used.to be a railing at this "place,^6ittt "itwtt acwdently destroyed, and has never been replaced. Mr Hay was exceedingly shorf sighted, "which would render him the more liable to such an, accidea^.p. An inquest* was held /wheja. {*, verdict of Accidental Death, was returned, ihe jury adding a ' whh that the attention" of Government should be called to the dangerous state of the kmm! ia this and other similar places.' ,". .? . - „ , ... The Phoßbe arrived this morning from Auckland. It seea.s that theSossion ot the General Assembly - has turned out a much longer one than was expected, and that our members will not be able to return till the Ifith. As you will, have yonrfites as soon as this letter, I need hot attempt to epitomise or remark on the news she has brought jiowa' from the seat of war. *** ' "'• -.■..'".