Correspondence.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 228, 27 December 1859, Page 2

Correspondence.

To the Editor of the Colonist. g m< —Situated as we are a long distance from the Press, when anything appears in the paper touching our interests requiring remark, it is necessarily a considerable time ere it can be replied to —hence the reason I have not before noticed two letters which lately appeared in your columns—with your permission I will now do so. - The first of.these letters, " A Wairau Elector," be the wri ler whom he mny, containsacalm moderate statement of simple facts. This is met by " another !Wairau>Elector," in a straiq of declamatory misrepresentation ;. charges, of direct falsehood, and a species of low wit that render the writer uhwoi thy of notice, were it not tliat the Wairau is as yet hut'little known through the other provinces, and perhaps1' less in Nelson than elsewhere, and whose reckless statements uncontradicted. may be productive of some injury to our new province. In the letter of "a Wairau Elector" I can see no attack on Picton, and look in vain for " promoters of the matter," and for the charge of direct falsehood. I have myself conversed with a great many inhabitants of the Wairau, on the subject of tile Capital, but not one hf\s ever expressed a ■ wish, to see Picton made the capital ofoiir province, in die sense in which the tern* is generally understood here;, viz., the erection of all public buildings, ti»e removal, of the Resident Magistrates Court, post office,'.^c, and the carrying on all the different departments of the Government at this said ■Picton, neither-'have'l witnessed that rivalry, jea•v'lonsy ocfeMi^ "another Wairau elector "-states to exist. B.it he may here be referring to P"*"", where it appears these feelings are ' strong.' The question miWrnJiJg the two port* for the present needs nothing'added to, whilst without any expense whatever the requirements of the province could for the time being be met by our present port, and this in spite of sticking on the mud flat,' \" t'hebar,"and"newrock,"and the"twenty strikes"' oft he •Tasmanian Mai I,' which I can only imagine to have taken place whilst the "passenger" was lying I on! his'back with a certain nameless gentleman on all fours on bis chest. Again, Beaverton is called an " at times impassable swamp, situated at the extremity' of i|yer navigation," (where would ' he have it?)'and for f »ur months %t Jeast in {he 1 year unapproachable through t)>e surrounding

morass. # K[ov>' s sir, it appears to me somewhat singular a writer so ready to "fearlessly contradict," Mi I to charge others with falsehood/ "sjiould pot be more careful than to make such statements as'lie above. I have resided in the Wairau more than five years and have never yet known five hours in which I could not get to the Beaver ; nor is there a set tier here hut could confirm this statement to the extent of lheir residence during that period. So much for flic-veracity of this writer so ready to give the lie to others. . Should "another Wairau elector Wish to know the author of this epistle, tell bin}, Sir, one who is no Beaver or Pictonite, but who is desirous of seeing Picton prosper and progress in a legitimate manner, and whose interests-would be enhanced thereby ; who resides nearly equi-distant between the two towns, but is no speculator at either place ; whojbe.voiid quiet conversation has taken no part in the-disputes in question, not even attending, the public meetings })<eld here since the separation, but who is perhaps none the Jjess able to give an unbiassed opiuion in the character lie has assumed n't ' •' ■ ' ' ■ -~.-... AN OBSERVER. Marlboroagh, December 10th, .1850.

To the Editor of the Colonist.

Sin,—B' would seem there are two Jaction g in existence'" in the Province of MarlboroujiV whose 'interests are supposed to be antagonistic* I — Beaverton, the seat of one, Picton the other. Without stopping to enquire;.how this state of things has arisen, I will in justice to the people of Beaverton say that they, are less to blame in the .imtter than is generally supposed. They are said to lie jealous of Picton, and fearful lest that town should 'become a more important one than their own ; hut such is not the ease, they to a man repudiate the idea .of fishing to rule Pipton in the hack ground, and are desirous to construct a good dray road betwixt-the two plages, feeling assured' that it will benefit'both. Nor will they object toils being declared a port of entry, proviiling when the road is opened it will'he found to he nearer; hut they object in their infant state to any speculating or playing at railroads, and which the' sensible'portion of the inhabitants of Picton must he aware is not at this time needed The Beaverton people willingly accord to Picton its merits as a port: but while doing so, will not lose sight of tlu-ir own central position. <>r ih.e agricultural advantages of their sin rounding country, and of the ease and safety of its outward harbor, Port Underwood they naturally felt that.an injustice had been done them in proclaiming a place like P c on, situated at one end of the province, the .capital. Not that they found Picton could in any way improve them in a commercial point of view, but that an undue and uncalled for expenditure of the puldic money may lie the consequence, to say ■nothing of the absurdity of locating all, public offices sixteen miles from the bulk of the inhabitants. . - That Beavwf;on,frfnii rifs position, and many oilier advantages which, no legislation or.proclamation e:\ii take from Jt is fast he,co,n;iing ; a large and important town, I need, only mention that over 40 dwellings have been erected here Ou!'i>!S: the last 18 mouths, and among them some that for finish and substantiality are not surpassed by any in the town of Nelson, The price of land too will show' how highly our settlers estimate the value of the swamp in which the town of Beaverton is said to stand Some sections immediately opposite the Wair.au Brewery was lately sold by their owner, Mr. Budge, at the rate of .£IOO per acre, while some of Mr. Fell's quarter-aciesections have been dispensed of ■■for Jlo^ and £]10 each, that on which the new-printing office is being'built, at a still higher rate ; theipurchaseis of them' have surely some faitlT in theft;morass; but who are the parlies that so sedulously decry Beaverton, and laud Picton? 'Are they settlers? Not a bit of it; but. the laudsharks of New Zealand'—mere speculators in town and townships, like S— —d, M o, and E—r^t! who have purchased or otherwise become possessed of their hundreds of acres in Waitohi, which they will resell when they have induced by their misrepresentations a sufficient number of unfortunate dupes ,t,o settle there to make their land valuable. These disinterested gentlemen will write and otherwise circulate any amount of fulsome nonsense, showing to t f heirown satisfaction the many advantages thafPieton possesses over any other Port in New Zealand, but yet have not the manliness to back their representations by the expenditure, of a single shilling. They have talked,- written, raved about its merits till ' liike all our praised places^ they have done it much injury, aiid people are now slow to believe the mr disputable'advantages it really does possess. There is also another cja^siof nxen. who are favorable to , Picton : these are the ruiiho!,di»rs, but they are far more consistent in their opposition'to ]Beavertpn, and have-some little reason on their side; (they, wiil candidly tell you this being a purely pastoral i .djstiict the pastoral interest should be paramount, that Pjctoij is sufficiently near their runs for tradesman i»id otlifj>.Riuall;Bettlei;B, and "would prefer incurrino: ,tlie risk and *^p.ense of crossing a danger-• ,o.us;.river, and sending thejr,^iravs twenty miles for supplie-vwhich could be funmhiii. equally cheap, , liei"e,.tlian he aniioyed wiih^inalleetiliii^'and t^ijß I usual :.<w).ejpihiian'ts''of.^cattle'and;dog8l;'''' r 9! nej<?an;' imderstand and much blame these gentlemen, ;ljut the other simply film l'«ii^twi^' *">■;■*? "■*'.-* ■'"■ '!■<> <-■■'-> ■■><:,■"'-. '" " may mention notices have been pu,,, ■ ~~';''^iJp//;;--; .

Marlborough it) meet Mr. A Jams at a public dinner, aiid in tjiis way testify to him itheir gratification that he has by his ejections obtained for himself the office of Commissioner of Crown Lands, not to mention some others in perspective. I dunk this dinner a liltle lt'Ue in the day. If Mr. Adams deserved a dinner at all; he deserved it immediately on his return from Auckland, and this would have afforded ari opportunity of informing the inhabitants how it was he went without .their consent or knowledge, and what he did in their name while he was (here, thus saving the people the trouble of publicly calling on him for such information. It wns first intended to have the dinner at Renwick Town, then ,at Mr.. Ralston's. Mew Inn,- but the committee not being able to find .purchasers for < their tickets, at the first price of 15s. lowered them to 7s. (id. Mr. Pike has now taken the matter , in hand, Mr.. Ralston refusing tp have any thing to do with- the - seven-and-sixpenny : affair. The Governor's visit is iow in .historical ! fact. Time is, time wan, and is past, with a mighty i host he came among us—like a shadow he re- | mained while with us, and smoothly; glided from , us on the follow-in? morning, closely followed by his sycophantic body zuard. The impression left on men's minds is that his visit here is frcught witli neither good nor evil, he took up his quarters at Mr. Pike's well finished, well furnished, and well conducted hotel, and so comfortable he seemed to find them that he never left the house from the time he arrived till his departure for Picton. Some silly mortals supposed he would visit the few public buildings we have—the school,-, the police court and jail,—not so though his Excellency; he came, trod upon onr soil, or rather his Excellency's horse did, and departed. c ; / V 'AGRICOLA. 5 Beaverton^ lOtlvDecembfer,?lßso.;