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Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 230, 19 March 1866, Page 2

It is reported that Mr. Cuthbertson has succeeded in forming a Ministry. The names mentioned are : — Messra. Cuthbertson, Blacklock Wood, and Armstrong. The Grey correspondent of the Nelson Examiner with reference to the Bullor Coalfield, says : — "I have just got hold of some exclusive information from an authentic source, which is of a nature to give great satisfaction to all of your readers who are interested in the future welfare of the Province of Nelson. Some Uttle time since a number of miners who had been engaged under Mr. Marsden, in trying the working of the G-rey Eiver seams on the Nelson side, were despatched by the Provincial Government to the BuUer River, furnished with aU proper appUances, and food for a considerable period, for the purpose of thoroughly ascertaining what are the real prospects, extent, and conditions presented by the reputed coal-fields of that dis trict. The news which has been received to-day from the expedition is of most hopeful character although the unfavourable weather has interfered a good deal with the operation of the prospectors. To use the words of my correspondent, ." the BuUer coal-fields wdl be the saving of the Nelaon province, putting gold out of the question." The harbor is the best .on the West Coast, and the Maoris report that the coals is to be got at the foot of Mount Rochfort ; by which fuUy one-half of the expenses of making a tramway from the table land wiU be saved, and the coal can thus be dehvered at the port at a very moderate rate. We have yet no specimens of the quality of the various seams, but it is said the reports of Dr Haast and Mr. Burnett, which were sufficiently, favorable, are, so far from being exaggerated, very much below the actual prospects Ukely to be reaUsed." The Southern Cross, in reference to the financial position of Auckland, says:— "The province has been brought to the verge of bankruptcy by a course of government compared with which, we believe that of Otago has been the height of prudence, and that of Southland a very pardonable series of mistakes. Out of the mass of figures which compose the estimates, facts stand forth prominently in our view — the one, that we have reached a position where our ordinary expenditure for establishments, added to our liabiHties for interest on loans, exceeds our ordinary revenue by a good many thousands of pounds ; the other, that the money on which we now pay this interest has beeh frittered away, without doing us any substantial good at aU. Our harbor works are not finished, and wiU not bo productive till they are. Our raUroad is in a state at wh\ch the public feels inclined to despair, and wiU need somewhere about £20,000 more to finish it so as to make it yield any return, besides the large sums already appropriated for it. The waterworks, for which some £45,000 was voted, will require to be abandoned whoUy, for no money is now avaUable to meet the expense. It is veiy diflioult indeed to conceive a more complete failure, where die means of success were so very promising at the outset. The half-miUion loan \7ftß of a Mnd which might havQ been used to the

able at which it was obtained; the terms wer c beyond expectation good terms for the province. Nothing, in short, was wanting but the ability to make a wise use of the money which the new Government found at its disposal." Wo have heard*it stated in weU-informed circles that Major Richardson has been requested to represent Taranaki in the new ParUament, and we beheve he""wiU not hesitate to place his services at the disposal of^the electors. We sincerely hope it i 3 as we have stated. As a thorough gentleman, and an able and consistent statesman, there are few poUticians in this Colony equal to the gaUant Major, and tho.se few should assist in thesa t.oublesome times to bring New Zealand out of her difficulties. The idea does' the people of Taranaki infinite credit. The WaUace election has been unavoidably delayed. The Returning Oflicer who fives, we beheve, fifty, miles from the place of nomination, was traveUing thither on Friday morning ; but on arriving at the Oreti, found it greatly swoUen by the heavy rain of Thursday, and was warned not to ford it. He, however, persisted in making an effort, soon got beyond his depth, and was overpowereJ by the force of the current, but was fortunately able to regain the bank, with no worse result than a wetting. The ford was the same at which so many melancholy accidents have occurred. The last one, where Mr, Churchward was drowned, wiU be well remembered by oui readers. A ferry at this point is urgently required. The Returning Officer waited by the side of the rivsr for several hours, hoping it would subside sufficiently to be fordable ; but as it continued rising (even late in the afternoon), he was compeUed to postpone the election.