DUNEDIN.

Southland Times, Issue 1105, 6 August 1869, Page 1

DUNEDIN.

(FBOMOUR OWN COBBESPONDEffT.) «. July 29th, 1869. The week has been one of more than ordinary excitement. The election of Mayor took place on Wednesday 21st, and called forth an amount of political activity quite refreshing. There were four candidates in the field, each of whom had a number of supporters. The gentlemen nominated were Messrs Birch, Fish, Dods, and Miller, all of whom had been long before the public. Mr Birch had been twice elected Mayor of the city. Mr Fish, as a city Councillor who had shown considerable promise of future usefulness. Mr Dods, from his position as a retired merchant and a Councillor, claimed the support of the electors on the ground of past services, and Mr Miller sought support mainly upon the fact of his having, as an employee of the old Town Board, given advice which i£ acted upon would have prevented the Q-as Monopoly, and other difficulties which the corporation now had to face, and which no one appeared able to overcome. Mr Fish, a young aspirant to political renown, left no stone unturned to secure his election. For weeks previous to the contest he had been holding meetings in every ward in the city, and if energy had been considered the highest qualification for the office of Chief Magistrate he was certainly entitled to have been elected, but like most youthful statesmen, he went too far, left the impression of being a " clap-trap " rather than a logical politican, and consequently was defeated. The Mayor elect, Mr Thomas Birch, is an old resident, who has for years taken an active part in the politics of the province, and was recently elected member of the Assembly for the city. He has secured for himself the reputation of being a straightforward, common sense politician, not gifted with any remarkable ability further than being a cute observer of passing events, and a good worker. The other candj dates it is needless to remark upon. Mr Dods has leisure, and evidently a desire to devote it in the I advancement of the public good, but he,

unlike Mr Fish, to some extent, ignores the masses, and seeks distinction from bis own estimation of his abilities for public usefulness. Mr Miller's claim to political distinction rested upon his professional reputation as a Civil Engineer, cognizant of all the systems which have been successfully carried out in municapaiiiies in Australia and other countries. The prevailing belief is that the best man was elected, but that both Mr Fish and Mr Dods are rising politicians who will yet take a good position in this province. The telegraphic intelligence from the norih is attracting some attention. The proposal of Mr Fox to disband the colonial army and substitute a colonial police force, was well received notwithstanding it indicated a leaning to Mr Stafford's policy of centralism, but whentheintelligence camethat Mr Stafford, in his place in the house had supported Mr Fox's proposal to retain the 18th regiment, the excitement became much greater, and fears are now entertained that the Maori war has att?ined such dimensions as will compel the provincial party to doff their colors, and give up opposition to any system that may be propounded for union with equitable local self-government. The question of annexation is for the time discountenanced, or at least nothing is said in favor of it. Tn fact all parties appear, satisfied to wait the development of events, before taking any further steps in the matter. If I can judge from the number of buildings which are in course of erection in the town, the province must be in a most flourishing condition. In every direction new and elegant buildings are being raised, among the most conspicuous of which may be mentioned a magnificent tenement at the corner of Princes-street and the Octagon, for Messrs Hay Brothers and "Wright, which for size and elegance, bids far to eclipse the most fashionable establishment in Melbourne, and a large store for Messrs "Wright, Stephenson and Co., in Manse-street. These are being put up with great despatch by the contractor, Mr Packham, one of the tenderers for your Oreti Eailway. The Presbyterian Church on Bell Hill is progressing admirably, and when completed will certainly be one of the most handsome structures m the whole of the Australias. The contract for this building I understand is over £14,000, and with internal fitting it will largely exceed this amount. It would be tedious to enumerate the long list of new places of business in the course of erection, or projected. Suffice it to say, that a commodious distillery is nearly completed, a long range of shops at the corner of High and Princes-street has been contracted for, and stores, dwellinghouses, and other buildings are beiDg carried on to such an extent that the wages of bricklayers have reached the high figure of from 18s to 20s per day, an 1 still the supply is not equal to the demand. . In mining there is nothing noteworthy. The escort continues to bring down a fair average quantity of gold, but the many failures of quartz crushing companies has deadened enterprise, and very little is now doing in that direction. The reports of gold discoveries in your province — Longwood Ranges and Stewart's Island — have attracted some attention, as has also some reefs found in the Oamaru district, but there is a disinclination on the part of capitalists to invest, the few who are still willing to ODerate looking to Auckland as the field for enterprise. Socially there is little to record The Acclimitisation Society has sent its manager to Tasmania for a fresh supply of trout ova. A new Machanic's Hall is to be erected, and an Otago Philosphic Institute has been initiated. The " Agnes Muir " from Glasgow, arrived yesterday, with 116 passengers, the moft of whom were brought up to Dunedin to-day. Then arrival is most opportune, the labor ma rket being unusually bare.