CHRISTCHURCH.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1497, 24 April 1886, Page 1

CHRISTCHURCH.

(From Our Special Correspondent). April 20. The City of the Plains i.s onee herself. An unusual briskness attends the steps of the mercantile community in their daily peregrinations; an animated smile lights up the faces of herciizjus generally, and an air of contentment reigns where but one short week ago h.I was gloomy, desponding, d'sconte-m dei' cted, and disheartened. The dismal jeremiads of the Mumbo Jumbo type, delivered at the street corners, is no long a heard. Public confidence—confidence -n one another—is restored, and a ub . order of things has been inaugurated. The joyful intelligence that the Fast and West Coast Railway has been tikeu in hand by a powerful London syndicate, who in proof of their boii'i fides h iva deposited a quarter of a million sterling, has brought all this about. The promoters of this important undertaking may indeed feel proud that their time has not been wasted ; that their energies have not been expended in vain, and ih t in a few days or weeks—it mat'ers little - the contract will be taken up, and the country made prosperous. The few wretched croakers who at all times and seasons venture to predict ill, and who now dare to suggest that after all Parliament may not ratify the contract in consequence of the time agiee i upon having expired, will speedily find their occupation gone. The people of North Canterbury, conscious of the justness of their claim and of the payable character of the line, have long since determined that the railway shall be made, no matter, what the cost. It is generally understood that as soon as the contract is signed a monster demonstration will be held in Hagley Park, and that people from all parts of Canterbury—North and South—will bo invited to do honor to the guarantors who subscribed the expenses of the delegates to England, to the Railway League who have so persistently kept the matter before the public, and in fact to all who have been instrumental in bringing to a successful issue this great undertaking—a work which cannot fail to prove of great benefit to the whole of New Zealand. A general holiday is to be proclaimed, special trains are to be run from every quaiter, a monster procession is to be arranged, bands, banners, and a I the paraphernalia suitable for such an occasion are to be brought into requisitionthe whole to conclude with a grand pyrotechnic display, fitting the importance of the occasion. A baz'Rf of gigantic dimensions in aid of the funds of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church closed last night, and it is believed the takings amount to little short of a thousand pounds ! Not so bad i;i these depressed times. The accident to the Sumner coach ha.occupied everybody’s mouth for the host two days. What might have, be>u a terrible catastrophe has fortunately ter ruinated much batter than could Dc expected. It is true that the driver, a sober, capable, and obliging whip, has been seriously injured, but everybody will ho glad to learn that he is progressing as satisfactorily as the nature of his injuries permit. It is not often that a coach containing twenty people is »ver<uiuert without many mote ejriouo injuries being inflicted. Politically speaking the latest novelty presented to an admiring audience by Ik Wm. Montgomery, M.H.R. His remarks- while addressing his constituents, ’ vs re tn accord with this distinguished p(jf.itioian’a previous utterances. The po«ed as an economist of the most pronoffifted type. Hs did not believe in a Bank of Isvie ; he did not believe in further borrowing—that is, if increased taxation were to follow. He did not believe in hurriedly constructing railways ; they should be made gradually, eacli step being marked with due precision. He believed in the West Coast Railway, and seated that had his Government remained in office it would have been made. The Otago Central likewise found favor "i'h him, and the Great Northern Trunk, he thought should likewise bo made, but not with borrowed money. He would go in for retrenchment, he would reduce the expenditure of the Civil Service, and left it to be inferred that out of the savings would construct all the railways which found favor in his eyes. In a word Mr Montgomery’s platform was retrenchment, progressive public works, and po borrowing, with an exceedingly mild recommendation for us “ to labor and to wait.” It is needless to add that his address gave unmixed satisfaction, and that he received a unanimous vote of confidence. Who would not represent Akaroa ? Dr Brittin, who for many years has practised in this city, is leaving for South Canterbury, and it is said intends lo reside and practise at Plsasnnt Point. Dr Brittin, by lua genial and kindly manner, has made for hirn-elf 'many friends, and will, both socially and pr>-f'ea-ionally, bo a deci led ncqui-iii u t> Vour disti'K t.