Colonial.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 578, 19 May 1858, Page 3

Colonial.

WELLINGTON. The Independent has the folldwing remarks upon the resignation of Dr. Fealherston :— " There will not be a dissentient voice in the province, unless it be that of a few of hisMnore rabid opponentswhose hostility is of a personal and not a political character, and in whose eyes nothing he could do would be right, there will not, we say, be almost a dissentient voice as to the propriety of the course Dr. Featherstone has adopted. Elected by an immense majority of the suffrages of the province on a known policy, while immediately afterwards an equally large majority of the "Provincial Council was , elected on a policy opposed to his, he could not with honour abandon the position in^ which the electors of the province had placed Mm so long as there was the remotest hope of his being able to act with the Council-for the common, good. -. With this' view, he went to the very verge of conciliation. He recognised the condition of responsible government which compelled him to accept advisers who possessed the confidence of the majority Of the Council, however hostile ' to himself personally arid politically: those advisers might be. But when the proposal was, first, tobreakthelaw, then to sweep away that system of responsible government which he had inaugurated, and practically to retract all his own professions, the time had arrived when conciliation and compromise could go no further. His principles and his character were at stake, and only one course remained for him to pursue. That course he wisely adopted without a moment's hesitation." A requisition was immediately got up and circulated for signature, calling upon Dr. Featherston to stand for re-election. By the tone of the organ of his party we presume that he is ready to consent. Mr. St. Hill, acting upon the requisitipn which he had received several months before, published his address to the electors at once. His Honor has appointed Mr. Fitzherbert Deputy - Superintendent, to act during the interval of election, an office which j ' the" Reformers" claimed for the Speaker of the j Council, a man of their party. A writ from j Auckland is now.only"waited for. I The ship Southern Cross, Captain MdurUyan, j sailed for London direct.on Tuesday last, with ; a full cargo of colonial produce, and a large^ number of cabin and steerages passengers. The estimated value of her cargo is £42,127 Is. 6d., this being without exception the most valuable ' one that has been exported from this place; and J this single shipment exceeds that of our annual i exports a year or two ago. We are credibly ; informed that the total value of our exports this ■ ; year will be upwards of £100,000, and this is | I exclusive of wool belonging to merchants in : this place that has been shipped at Canterbury.* Amongst, the passengers are Major D'Arcy and bis family, who have been residing for many years in Wellington, and Mr. and Mrs. Barlow, ' [* What excessive modesty, to refrain from h including this amount among Wellington cxi ports!]

who are about to return to the land of their i birth. We wish them a pleasant and prosper^ 1 OU3- voyage.— -Independent; April 7. ' We have to announce the arrival in town of i Mr. M'Lean and staff from Manawatu. We : •regret to state that the information we gave a few weeks since that, after putting the purchase of that district in train, Mr. M'Lean would return to Auckland, is now confirmed, notwithstanding the contradiction which the 'Spectator' took upon itself to give. The Manawatu has not, been purchased and Mr. M'Lean thinks it prtbaWe it may take three years to do so. •There is no serious opposition on the part of the chiefs, but they are desirous of keeping faith with some of their number, and at the same time of conciliating the government. With a thorough knowledge of the native character the long period already mentioned is supposed to be about the time requisite to over- > come all the obstacles. Mr. M' Lean will leave this afternoon for Auckland in the William i Alfred.— lndependent, April 17. i The Montmorency brings us one later paper, the Bfch of May. From the ' Spectator 'of that date we take the two following paragraphs:—■ ; In order to make room for English news by the mail which arrived last night, we are obliged to condense in a brief space our summary of the proceedings in Council. On Wednesday the topic of debate was the charge made by Mr. Brandon against the committee on Major D'Arcy's .petition which we have elsewhere noticed. On Thursday a discussion ensued on a: motion of Mr. Wakefield's relative to an unauthorised; notice by Mr. Fox, inserted in the papers respecting claims to compensation, and also on an unintelligible proclamation by the Superintendent in the Government 'Gazette,' intended to bring some district within the ope- " ration of the Roads Act. The Act to restrain Government officers from unduly interfering in elections was read a third time and passed, the ; report of the Standing Orders Committee was . considered in committee of the whole Council and adopted, and the Municipal Corporation Bill was passed through committee. On Friday Mr. Toomath's motion respecting the payment of members was the principal topic of discussion, and lasted nearly the whole evening. An amendment was moved by Mr. Wakefield affirming the principle of the payment of a moderate sum to members to defray their reasonable expenses in opposition to Mr. Toomath's motion, which was carried by a majority of 16 to 4, The Wonga Wonga arrived here from Ahuriri at eight o'clock last night, after a passage of 50 hours. We gather from papers and intelligence received by her that, at a meeting of as many of the, settlers as could : be hastily called together at Napier, on the 30th ult., the conduct of Messrs. Gollarid and Fitzgerald in the Provincial Council here was heartily approved of by their constituents then present. It is supposed that at the ensuing election Mr, St. Hill will receive the votes of at least threefourths of the electors there. Some 150 new names have been added this year to the electoral roll, making about 350 in all. The amount ,of land sales last quarter was about £11,000, and customs revenue received at Napier, £960. Business was good-, and there was every prospect of a branch of the Union Bank of Australia being established-there, A. C. Macdonald, Esq., the manager at Wellington, having returned in the Wonga Wonga from a visit, the result of which, it is understood, has been highly satisfactory to him. We will give full extracts from the 'Herald' in our next, with a letter received from Mr. Fitzgerald on some re- * marks he made at the meeting that he considers need explanation as tbey have been reported.