Correspondence.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue II, 24 December 1858, Page 3

Correspondence.

[advertisement.] "TO THE SHAREHOLDERS OF THE DUN MOUNTAIN MINING COMPANY, IN RIGHT OF THE LATE COOK'S STRAIT MINING COMPANY. Mb Hackett has inserted a letter in the Nelson Examiner of Wednesday last, wherein he speaks •■of the reason of the non-delivery of shares— -scrip he ignorantly calls it. He says, "it is not my fault—(is Mr. Hackett Alpha and Omega ?) —that the shareholders have allowed the time for the issue of scrip at this place to elapse." In the first place, it is the duty of the Committee here to to direct everything, and Mr. Hackett's duty to obey their commands. The shareholders know nothing of Mr. Hackett but as the .paid servant of the Company, therefore the sooner he drops the grandiloquent my fault the •better.. But to facts, not bosh. The scrip holders have not suffered anytime to elapse. What Mr. Hackett in his profound ignorance calls the issue of sciip, is really and truly the certificate of shares, the actual shares themselves. Here is proofpositive of his incapacity for his situation. Shareholders, be not deceived. You are honestly and '•legally entitled to an issue of shares to the extent of the amount of scrip you hold. You have not allowed any time to elapse antagonistic to that claim, and you have a clear case in law against the "Local Committee of Management in Nelson if they ■withhold your just claim to receive shares in exchange for scrip. W. L. WREY. To the Editor of the Colonist. ;Sir,—There appears to be a very acrimonious paper war going on upon the subject of the I3un Mountain Copper Mine, the parties to "which seem to me with the heat of the debate ;to wander wider and wider from the original matter in dispute. Without entering into the •question, as to which is right, or whether copper 'or"no copper,'! must say I think my friend Mr. Wrey has a just cause of complaint against his :anonymous opponents, and a right to call upon •them to shew themselves in propria persona. iHis opponent "Mineralogous" states, in reply to Mr. Wrey, " let him disprove one word which I !have' written, and it may "be that I shall forget 'the answer of' Jumns' to one of his own former profession, (query, what does this mean ?) viz., 'that did the publication df the name signify anything more than animal courage, he would 'furnish it." Now, though I have not a copy of '" Junius's" letters by me, I think I have a •recollection 'of the person to whom that answer: •was addressed. It was to HoYne Tooke, who Lad taken up the cudgels in defence I think of Sir Win. Draper. But it must be borne in: mind that Mr. Home Tooke thotight proper to1 •engage ma contest with an anonymous correspondent, 'consequently, he had no right to call upon " Juntos" to unmask. But how stands ' "the case as"l)etween Mr. Wrey and his oppo-' iients ? it has been said, and. as I think much more: to the purpose, names can add nothing to the weight of arguments, but as they shew a! wiilingnesa to stand or fall ia public opinion, ■ "With the wisdom," or folly, or truth, or falsehood .of 'the 'doctrines or 'assertions to which , they are affixed. The rule is a wholesome 6ne, =and ought to be. Complied with, more particularly whenever a gentleman's moral character is (called m question, and all sorts of discreditable.. •motives •attributed to him/ particularly in •the last paragiia'ph1 ol the letter of " Minerals ;gous" of Friday last; and that o£ " Hear both Sides" of -the following day. ■■ I confess -were I to come in contact with •similar writers, and -feeling the utter falsehood of the charges made against me, I should have recourse to the language of a gentleman of more modern days than those of Junius, and reply, "To you, sir, whoever you may be, I address myself thus directly. You are a liar, a 'slanderer,-, and want/only the courage to be an assassin." The author in this case, strange to say. rejoined by avowiug that "so long as Mr. Lambtori (late Lord Durham) is a dolt and an

idiot (mere failings of human nature, and what the best of us may become), he was content to be a liar, a slanderer, and an assassin." Where the subject treated of is any abstract principle, or of the application of the principles of science to the every day practice of life, I am ready to admit it is of no consequence whatever to the reader who is the writer, none as to his motives; all he has to do with is the facts, inferences, and opinions to be deduced from the premises propounded. As Paul Pry says, " I hope I don't intrude ;" but I cannot help saying, I think all parties would best consult their own real interests by leaving it to time to demonstrate the real merits of the subject in dispute, and when a gentleman is satisfied with the purity of his motives, he can afford to await the issue of the contest, however protracted that may be. I remain, yours, &c, GEO. WHITE. To the Editor of the Colonist. Sir, —I beg to enclose you a letter from Mr. J. Fairfax, proprietor of the Sydney Morning Herald, referring to a false representation inserted in the Nelson Examiner of the 17th November ultimo, and signed " Southern Voyageur." The said "Southern Voyageur"; accuses the proprietor of the Herald of a misprint in his paper of the 30th September, and by the enclosed letter of the much respected Mr. Fairfax, your readers will see what faith can be put in the correspondent of the Examiner who signs himself " Southern Voyageur." Requesting you to give publicity to the present and the enclosed in your estimable journal, Yours faithfully, S. WEIL. Sydney, 15th December, 1858. Sydney Morning Herald Office, December 15, 1858. S. Weil, Esq. My dear Sir.—Referring to a letter addressed to the Editor of the Nelson Examiner of November 17th, and signed " Southern Voyageur," I beg in reply to your application to state that the MS. of our correspondent's letter, which appeared in this paper (the Herald) September 30th, contains the following sentence: —" I may mention that two men left here last week on their route to Melbourne or Sydney, merely for a trip, who in three months have taken out of their one claim 1400 ounces of gold. This is a fact. I spoke to the men myself when on the eve of embarking." We have refered to the MS., and you have seen it. I am, my dear Sir, yours faithfully, (Signed) John Fairfax. [Correct copy.^-S. Weil.] The following is the letter referred to as published in the Nelson Examiner of the 17th November:— To the Editor of the Nelson Examiner. Sir,—As I have no wish to acquire the reputation of an exaggerated writer, will you do me the favor of allowing me to correct, through your columns, what ■; is evidently a mistake of the printer, in one of my letters to the Sydney Morning Herald, and published in that paper on September 30th. In alluding to our diggings, I am made to say that three men took out of one claim " in three months 1400 ounces of gold." It should have been "in ten months IiOO pounds' worth of gold." By inserting this, you will oblige, Yours, &c, Southern Voyageur. Nelson, "November 15, 1858. OTAGO.

We have received our usual files extending to the 11th instant. The Colonist of the 10th has the. following remarks on the subject of immigration :— " We are sure that all our readers must have perused with extreme regret, if not indignation, the extract of a letter from Mr. Carrie, clerk in the Otago Immigration Office, Edinburgh, and also that from " A New Arrival," which appeared in our last week's issue. Since these were published we have had numerous confirmations of the facts set forth in it, from individuals who have received letters from their friends at home, complaining bitterly of want of faith on the part of the Government agents. "It appears that a considerable numbcrof intending emigrants had been corresponding with the agents, that they had secured their passages up to the point of relinquishing their situations and making all necessary preparations and arrangements to leave the old country at a moment's notice—in fact, their passages were actually secured to them, short of their receiving contract tickets from the ship. "It may perhaps by some be deemed a light thing thus to have broken faith with the parties to whom we refer; we think, however, it is a very serious matter, and one which reflects discredit and disgrace upon the province. We regret exceedingly that the home agents did not take upon themselves the responsibility of chartering . shipping sufficient for the transmit of all to whom they were in any way pledged, relying upon the honor of the province to have indemnified them. At the same time we cannot blame the agents for the course they have adopted ; we can fully comprehend the difficulty in which they must have been placed. Looking on the. one hand at the despatches sent home from the Government here, and at the weekly lucubrations of its organ, to the effect that the province was being ruined by immigration, and on the other to the weekly testimony as to the necessity of further immigration, and the immediate absorption of all that had come to hand which appeared in our own columns, the agents must have been in somewhat of a dilemma. " It is of little use now casting any reflection upon the Government, which has been the real culprit in, the affair, inasmuch as-that cannot mend the matter. The evil is done, and nothing that can be said will undo it, or compensate the numerous families and individuals at home who in a manner have been cast adrift upon the world in consequence of having been induced to give up their old associations and places on the faith of being assisted to emigrate to Otago. It is no easy matter in the old country to jtimpintoa livelihood all at once, and we do feel that the Government has hee;n the means of involving many in distress and embarrassment. "We were somewhat surprised at the total indifference exhibited by the Provincial Council as to the past conduct of the Executive in this matter of immigration. As, however, it appears that bygones are to be bygones, we shall not enter into the matter further, than to express our hope that the desires of the Council as to immediate action being taken to resume operations have been put into force, and that despatches are now on the way to the home agents of an exactly opposite nature to those which have led to the disastrous results now under review. It is very unfortunate that things should haw turned out so as to time, that the most prompt action on the part of the home agents cannot possibly put us in possession of another cargo of immigrants before the winter season st-ts' in '; instead of having ships arriving in the summer months, we shall have them here in the very middle of winter. However, we must just endeavor to make arrangements accordingly." The Colonist publishes the subjoined extract of a letter, dated 11th August, to'the Rev. Thomas Burns, from the Rev. Dr. Bonar, Convener of the Colonial Committee of the Free Church:—-"I have, very great pleasure in announcing another minister for Otago. /Pile Rev. A, B. Tod will, I expect, sail for your distant shore as soon as matters can be arranged, and a ship found. Mr. Tod is a young man of ability, piety, highly esteemed at home, and yet devoted to the colonial field. He has been long'known to me, and I have seldom received the intimation of any one's agreeing to go to, that field with as much pleasure, and as confident a hope that he will give satisfaction and fulfil the work of the ministry in the place to which he goes, ov any other to which he may be (jailed."

[by electric telegraph.] ARRIVAL OF THE EUROPEAN AT MELBOURNE.

Amount of shipping in Chinese waters still

NEWS TO THE 17th OCTOBER. (From the Queenscliffe Correspondent of the Sydney ilerald.) December 11th, 11 a.m. The mail steamship European, Captain Machin, arrived, at Queensciiffe early this morning. She made the passage from Ceylon in 24 days, but was detaiued at Suez waiting for the mail. The P. and O. Company have obtained the contract for carrying the Australian mail from Southampton, via the Mauritius, to Sydney, for seven years. The first steamer to leave Sydney on the sth February, and from England in March. The Salsette is the first boat to leave for the colonies, November Ist, to be followed by the Northam, Malta, and Benares. This company has bought the Emeu. ' A dreadful accident has happened by the burning of the steamer Austria, from Hamburg, with 500 passengers. Only sixty-seven were saved. Mr. J. T. Smith (the ex-Mayor of Melbourne) had been claimed by a Mrs. Margaret Hall, as her long lost son, who had left her when he was only seventeen years of age. Extensive preparations have been made to carry on the campaign in India during the Christmas season. The Crystal Palace at New York has been burned to the ground. At the October Wool Sales 1300 bales of Adelaide, 1300 Sydney, and 6000 of Victoria were to be brought forward. We regret to learn that Lord Lyons was very ill at Arundel Castle. Her Majesty the Queen, the Prince Consort, and the Royal Family were remaining at Balmoral. Consols are 98f. Money was plentiful. The Prince of Prussia has been appointed Regent, in consequence of the continued illhealth of the King. ' The Atlantic Cable is still wrong. The Hon. J. L. Momefiore is a passenger by the European. Saturday, 1 p.m. Quarantine has been renewed in England. Rajah Brooke was f6ted in' Birmingham on his arrival from Alexandria. Lord Derby is progressing towards recovery. Official announcement has been made that tenders will be called for the Panama route, as soon as the details of the Suez route are arranged and completed.