The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 248, 17 March 1855, Page 5

The Lyttelton Times.

Saturday, March 17,1855. An extract from the " Nelson Examiner" which we publish in another column, urges upon the inhabitants of the Province of Nelson the duty of subscribing liberally to the Patriotic Fund which has been established in England for the relief of the widows and orphans of the soldiers killed in the Russian war. We understand that at Nelson the appeal has been already liberally responded to. All the colonies of the empire are peculiarly called, on to assist to the utmost in their power the object which the originators of the Patriotic Fund propose to themselves. England bears the burden and heat of the day. She bears cheerfully doubled taxes at the time when her gigantic commerce is necessarily threatened by the disturbed state of Europe. We are protected by her navy, and although we like the rest of the world must suffer to a certain degree from the war, yet our sacrifices are, as nothing when compared to the efforts of the overtaxed population at home. We have formerly advocated a vote towards the prosecution of the war to be placed on the estimates of the General Government; arid we think that the Provincial Councils might very properly be asked to vote a contribution towards the Patriotic Fund. Even if we were struggling with absolute poverty, we ought to do our best to shew our sympathy with the mother-country \yhen she is fighting so manfully in the cause of Civilization and Freedom: but when we are comparatively wealthy, without debt, and with a well-replenished chest, the call upon us is imperative. s It may be said that: in England the Patriotic Fund is raised by private subscriptions. Well, let us have private subscriptions here also, and we have no doubt that a large contribution will be raised. But the levying of subscriptions ought to be no reason against a vote of the public money of a community untaxed for the war, but reaping its share of the a i vantages and protection and honor which ensue therefrom. Let a subscription list be opened in this Province by all means, but let it be headed by a liberal Government grant. The battles of Alma and Inkermane, nobly as they have been fought and won, shew us. how deadly and determined the struggle is likely to be before the Russians succumb to the Western powers. Long as is already the list of the slain, it is short to that which we shall have to mourn over at the close of such a war as we are now embarked in. The future is beyond our most eager foresight. A bloodless future we cannot expect. In the days of England's prosperity the colonies loudly demanded their rights; a # nd of late years those rights have been conceded freely. In the days of her adversity let her find that her colonies are her strength as well as her glory. Canada offers to defend herself, and to send home the British troops that have protected her. Her Parliament has voted £20,000 towards the Patriotic Fund. Ere long she will be able to give more active assistance. And perhaps many years may not have elapsed when a fleet built and manned in the Southern seas shall defeiid the coasts of the British colonies of the pacific ; and the burden

of guarding the seas of every quarter of the globe may be taken off the shoulders of- the long-enduring people of England." Foif the present we can give but a small contribution, towards the expenses of the war itself. From the feeling expressed in all the sbuthV crn colonies, we have no doubt that they will give all they ,can, ungrudgingly. They are proud of a country whose victories and whose losses .find sympathy, in the furthest corners of the world, and not the least in the Ultima Thule of the 19th century. We understand that the sympathy with. England has, spread even to the United States, and that £100,000 hasi been subscribed in New York alone, towards the Patriotic Fund.,

The financial statement for this Province, for the quarter ending 31st Dec. 1855, which appears in the Provincial Government Gazette of the 14th March, shows a very prosperous condition of the Treasury chest. ; The balance in the treasury on the 30th Sept.-, 1854, amounted to £1,592 3 [8. the receipts during the last quarter were £23,233 12 8, of which ;; £21,681 0 10 arose from the sale of Crown Lands, and £375 was a repayment by the General Government of the amount advanced by the Province on account of steam navigation. The Customs' Receipts only amounted to £988 4 5, owing to the instructions of the General Government, which directed that the Province should only receive the half of the net proceeds instead of two thirds as formerly ; the new arrangemerit to date back from the first July last. The expenditure for the; quarteramdunted t0.£2,109; 17, 2> of which sum £349 16/ 11 was spent on. Education, and £35& 17s. 2d. on Public Works., ' :'-\:- f '-'■■[•' '■ '.-.. '■"",-.' ■ .' ','.■ Balance in the Treasury on Oct Ist; ............... £1,592 3. 8, Receipts during quarter... 23,233 12 8 24,825 16 4 v :.-... Expenditure..; -2109 17 2 [ Balance in Treasury on Ist Jan., 1855 ..-...* £22,71519 2

By the "Nelson" we have received the Wellington Independent of the 14th Inst. His Honor the Superintendent prorogued the Council on the 13th iust. >, The Nelson Council was prorogued on the 16th February.