The Lyttelton Times.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 252, 31 March 1855, Page 4

The Lyttelton Times.

Saturday, March 31, 1855. We may shortly expect about one hundred immigrants from England. Our emigration agent, Mr; Harman, has, however, experienced some difficulty in providing the necessary means, owing to the-unwillingnecs-f shipowners to believe that the Province -was In a condition to meet bills drawn upon its exchequer. It will be remembered that at the time £10,000 was voted for the purposes of immigration, that sum was not yet paid into the Treasury chest. At the same time, an Ordinance was passed authorizing His Honor the Superintendent to issue Debentures for any sum which might be required to make up any deficiency in the Revenue to meet the gross amount of the sums appropriated for the ensuing- year. The vote was passed in March. In October there were more than sufficient funds in the Treasury chest to pay all demands upon it that might be incurred by the' immigration department. This was not known.in England at the date of our last accounts thence. The mention of Debentures seems to have given men of business in, London the idea "that- money would not be forthcoming, and -we "are not yet sufficiently well known to make our Debentures marketable in England. Under these circumstances, Mr. Harman would have been at a standstill until he heard from the Province that the money had been absolutely lodged to the credit of the immigration fund—as it since lias been—had not Mr. Godxey raised on his own personal credit funds enough to keep the emigration going, paying half the passage money in England, and making himself personally liable to pay the other half within thirty days after .the receipt in London of a certificate that the vessel had arrived here. We are happy to .be able to .state that long ere this Mr. Godjlet will have been relieved from any anxiety on the subject. The absolute impossibility of our getting on in any great work which requires the assistance of English capital until we have made for ourselves a name in the London money market, ought to;lead us to consider the position in which our credit now stands. Unfortunately the length of time which has been found necessary to settle the accounts pending between the Province and the Canterbury Association has not tended to raise us very high in the esteem of the English Public. There are, after all, but two questions to decide—-one whether the money was spent by individuals with the disinterested object of promoting an enterprise to which as a Province we, owe our origin; and the other whether the colony can fairly be considered able to pay it hack** Xn former times the money could not have; been paid because the revenue of the Province was barely sufficient for its wants; but now,- when we parade ourselves before the woi Id as so flourishing and rich that we qan plan out railroads, and organize schemes

of Immigration, we shall be deeply disgraced if we do not without delay or quibbling pay our debts of honour. There is no fear of the debt being repudiated altogether —but there is fear that we shall lose the credit of willing honesty by a hesitating and haggling manner of payment. We do not like the spirit in which the investigation of the Association's accounts is set about. Those who gave their guarantees for the money required to carry on the Association's scheme, were as deeply interested as any one else could be in seeing, that the money was not squandered. If they, or the agents employed by the Association, made some slight mistakes, surely that is no reason for not paying them in full the amounts which they were obliged to pay on account of their guarantees because the colony was not then able to do so. It was to be supposed that we should not only be glad to pay, but to thank them too for the inconvenience to which they put themselves, and the risk they ran in full dependence upon our honour. It is a very painful fact, but one borne witness to by all ages df history, that gratitude from a public body is very rarely to be expected. We cannot be classed among the exceptions to this rule. Men will do and leave undone as members of a public body what they would be ashamed of doing or omitting as private members of society. Moreover, it is always very easy to pick holes in the prudence or general conduct of a benefactor, and the chance of thereby getting credit for sharpness and public spirit is a temptation which some men cannot resist. Let us beware, however, lest we entrust the payment of our debts of honour to the miserable haggling of wouldbe economists. If we do, we may find when it is too late, that they have sold our fair fame and credit for a few pounds, which they have struck off by decimating the items of a stationer's bill, or by enquiring into the use and misuse of the viands procured for a public breakfast. Some of our readers may be inclined to. say that we are going very far, and that our proposition of treating the debt as a debt of honour is not business-like. We are content to lie under the imputation. But we shall not be content to see our public affairs treated with a less nice sense of honour than our private transactions. We would ask our readers, in the case of the money for which Mr. Godley has given his guarantee not being spent by the agent to quite such advantage as it might be, whether they are prepared to aa.f that Mr. Godley should be allowed to meet his guarantee himself; that then a Committee of Enquiry should sit to examine into the question, and that whatever sum they "thought had been judiciously spent, should be refunded to him. We are prepared to maintain that whatever was paid by the gentlemen who gave their guarantees for the money required by the Association, should be repaid by the Province; Independently of all higher motives, let us remember that the manner in which we treat this impending question win affect our credit for many years to come.