"FINE WRITING."

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 551, 7 September 1869, Page 2

"FINE WRITING."

Mr Joseph Mackay, proprietor of the Bruce Herald, recently proceeded to "Wellington as a deputation from settlers in the Tokomairiro district who are interested in what is known as the " Hundreds question." Mr Joseph has only lately aspired to literary penmanship, as well as proprietorship, in connection with the Press, and his pen occasionally runs away with him. He gives, in the Herald, a startling narrative of his trip to "Wellington, and the following evidence as to how a man may suffer from " Hundreds on the brain :" Shortly after clearing Otago Heads a sea gull killed itself in an extraordinary manuer, and as the bird lay on the deck, in the agonies of death, I could not help thinking that the circumstance presented a not untruthful picture of the Otago of the future if destined to suffer from the fatal blow dealt by the Hundreds Regulation Bill. A minute before the bird was soaring proudly in its rapid flight before the storm, when, suddenly coming in contact with a rope in the rigging, a wing was broken, causing it to fall heavily on the deck, a lifeless object. In the fine plumage'of the animal, and large stretch of wiug, I recognised the great natural resources of Otago, and the success whieh has hitherto characterised its onward progress from the gradually development of its great capabilities. Those who have been

entrusted by us with the protection of its best interests, like wolves in sheep's clothing, have themselves raised the storm which threatens to sweep this fair Province to destrution by crippling it most effectually, and rendering the further occupation of the land for bona fide settlement all but impossible. "We must just hope that the fatal blow may even yet be averted, so that the Province may continue its career of prosperity unfettered and free.