ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 26, 6 January 1864, Page 2

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

WE DO NOT HOLD OURSKtYES RKSFONSIBI.K TOR THB OPIKiOXS SXr»BSSED BT OVm CoaUESPONDKXTft. ,„.„.. (To the Editor oJTthe Invercargill Times.) Sir, — I was much pTeued- with your leading article on Monday, not becauoe it affords me any pleasure to pick holes in a r man's«uat, but because I am sure that, the rent boing there, tho best way is to set about mending it at' once. Perhaps His Honor the Superintendent was not previously aware that there was a hole in his-coat, and, if so, you have, done him some" service by making him uwaro of the fact. You nay that your information was drawn from reliable sources, and I can- easily believe it, for, before your 'article* appeared, the circumstances you state ; therein were related to. me by one who certainly would not depart in the smallest ' particular from the truth — who would "nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice." But independently ot that testimony, it was known to outsiders that there was some nasty bitch within the precincts of the Government buildings, and I heard > more .than one remark that it was strange that the Press, - which is supposed to* be the- first to becomo possessed of any intelligence of interest to the "general' public, had not taken notice of the affair. I never heard f he , exact facts stated before the article appeared iti .your paper, except by the gentleman to wHom I alludedabov*, but his testimony was quite sufficient to satisfy my judgment.' I do not know, sir, whether you object to the writings of your contemporary jbeing discossedi in your own columns. If such an objection does exist, pray consign, this, letter to the waster basket without the least 'remorse ;. but if, ;on the other hand, you. are content to allow me f.o criticise a- portion of his leading 'article, of. yatiiiday, in a very mild way, you will oblige me, and porhaps a few othersas' well. ■■"- Your\eoutem-por;r.-y save, he waits / With ; impatience' 'for the return of His Honor* the Superintendent, and then devoirs nearly two columns to^setting forth (hn frrou' da; of :hi* anxiety. According to the Southland A etc*, this Province 'is" likely to'come to a miserable en<l. within a very short space of time it the Superintendent does not come back tj us. He is " ktowa to hold and exorcise an authority independent of, and «aperior to, that of his - ministers," and when he"is' away the "routine of the machinery-is sustained^ and that is all." That is what the writer m' - : th'e Southland News says, but he forgot to 'add; "that such a state of things, if true, is alike disgraceful to the man who is the cause of it, and the Province which quietly permits 'I a hundred matters that might with groat' advantage to the public interests bo disposed, of :with ; scarcely as hour's .delay; * ■■• '* v * tostihd over until His Honor's return." I must say. that I entireiy concur, with the. remarks of your contemporary as to the necessity of very, decided action being taken by this ; Province the present year ; No ono will, I : think, be found ! to cainsay the. truth of his remark* on that" point, bnt I object strongly :to the tone both of tie openin<? and the concluding remarks of the. article to which I refer. If every thing has been at a standstill whilst the Superintendent ha« been absent, it has been because " our . first public man " wifl permit no interference by those whose right and duty it is to interfere even' when ha is present, and to order -and control when he -is '.absent- If Dr. Menzies' absence in the North has such a baneful influence over the Province, others must rule iv his stead, or be 'must' stop at home. I cannot view this matter in the same light as your contemporary. I know there is much work to be done, but I hare yet to learn that we ought to depend on the strong arm and great talents of any Superintendent to do it fer us. "He has been missed during 3iis absence." ,:-True, for he. left the' unpleasant lit,^?. .«^*»i between himself, Mr Dundas, a^lTis" Executive an a reminder that no wpry\7n«rht to do snything but himself. Southland, Sir, is not 'the only Province in which the power and importance of tho Superintendent has : been exajjfferated both "T>y- bimself and a portion 1 " of the community, but Southland might very well take a lesson from some of the other Provinces, and remind him that, though " he is our natural chief, the first Executive officer, the chosen of the people," he isnot as yet. our absolute sovereign,' and has no right to act as though his Deputy and his Executive Council were mere cypher*, beneath the trouble of using civility to. . Yonrt, Ac, Ckbistopjikb.