TOWN AND COUNTRY.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1226, 23 April 1864, Page 4

TOWN AND COUNTRY.

What an obliging Council it is ! Really if there were not as much consideration as there is among honorable members for the frailty of flesh and blood; if the wisdom displayed on Tuesday last were allowed to break out every week and every day of the week ; if such speakers as Messrs. Moorhouse, Hall, and Ollivier, permitted themselves always, without restraint, to speak their best, the press and public of the province must die of a surfeit. The English mail might come in and find not a corner to spare in the journals, nor a person to care among the public. But as these gentlemen are strong so they are merciful —merciful doubly—to editors who misreport them, and to the public who misunderstand them. They do not always make orations. Yet we trust they will not quite give up the practice. The debates of Tuesday were such as we are all glad to read, report, or print, as it may be our lot to do; and it is to be hoped that the same may be said of those of Tuesday next. One might go a long way to hear such another ready reply as Mr. Moorhouse gave to Mr. Cracroft Wilson, who, in his peculiar style, affected to be moved to tears by the former gentleman's description of the uses of the

railways. The member for Cliristchurcli will certainly be ready enough to " bring home rejoicing " by Great South Railway, his sheaves, his wethers, his horses, or his oxen, or his asses, or anything that is his. It is a sight to see Mr. Cracroft Wilson in the Proviucinl Council. His legislation is begrimed with gunpowder and rolled in smoke. His entrance into debate is as if a mine were sprung ; his mildest argument imitates a charge of cavalry ; and in the heat of debate he looks at least as if he had unlimited control over a 12-gun breaching battery. Far be it from us to hint that the member for Christchurch is not most useful in the capacity which it has pleased him to assume. It is merely a wonder to us how he became a member of a council of a province of a colony, and how lie manages to tit himself into so small a hole after filling a large one. Once autocrat over unnumbered souls, administrator of despotic power, stern crasher of rebels, saviour of a thousand Cin ,:;:utn lives in peril, honoured of Majesty—is this lite same man who now thunders against roads and extols toll-gates to the sevwiiu heaven? We know —we others in Canterbury—Uul among our own public we are great men, mu on Road Board questions are very Solomons ior v> i >dom. But a Companion of the Bath! Au Indian mutiny hero! He strides into our midst, as to reputation, velut inter ignes luna minores—very like the moon in the Minories—and as to appearance, like a lion in a den of Daniels. After all, the ordinary debates are not so uninteresting, nor so very unworthy of great minds. It was pretty to see on Thursday evening how the Road Board interest crushed Mr. Moorhouse, poohpoohed his elaborate arguments, disregarded his suggestions, and left him in a hopeless minority when he ventured to demand a division. These Boards will be as powerful in the Council as the Railway interest in the British Parliament. Soon, to hurt a pike-keeper's feelings will be a breach of privilege; and if it be permitted at all to walk on a main road, it must be with hat off. The feeling of deference to superiors is highly to be encouraged. We therefore suggest the decoration of at least the suburban highways with effigies of the local representatives; and if sculptors are not to be had, honorable gentlemen might, in propria persona, stand on the roadside at intervals. Some of them would do excellently well for milestones. Poor Mount Cook! Mr. Moorhouse wanted to show how his plan would do the poor place good: Mr. Hall wanted to show how the same would do it harm. And .between the two the lamentable state of the unhappy mountain came out. It is a Road Board district. It contains two freehold properties worth £10 a year each. At a uniform rate of one penny in the pound, while other districts were getting their thousands a year, Mount Cook would have three and sixpence. To be left at the mercy of Road Boards in this way! Poor thing! Designs for Public Buildings.—We perceive •that the Commissioners for the erection of public buildings have advertised for designs and estimates for the following edifices in Auckland, viz.:—a Government House in the Domain—which it is to be hoped will be made as convenient a residence for a Lieutenant-Governor as circumstances will permit —a Court-house with offices—a Post Office and Custom-house (combined) fronting the harbor. Premiums varying from £100 to £200 are ottered for the most suitable designs, which with the estimates are to be transmitted to the Secretary of the Commissioners on or before the 27th June next. True to their old policy, the Aucklanders seem bent upon retaining " their good things" in their own hands, for it is barely possible for the architects of the southern provinces to get designs and estimates for undertakings of such magnitude, prepared within so limited a period. With reference to the above notice, we may mention that printed copies of the instructions to architects may be seen at the Custom-house, at the offices of the Sub-Treasurers at Christchurch and Lyttelton, and at the offices of the Lyttelton Times.

Miss Aitken's Benefit. —According to an advertisement in another part of our present issue, Miss Aitken is about to take her farewell benefit on on Tuesday evening next, the present theatrical season closing here on the 30th. This accomplished lady has now been a resident amongst us for nearly four months, and has gained the respect of all who may have been fortunate enough to have become acquainted with her in private life. Of the reputation which she has won here as an actress we need say little, nearly every individual in Christchurch having seen her and formed their own opinion. We will only remark that it is our decided belief that the unprecedented success wliich has attended the opening of the'theatre in this city is, notwithstanding the credit due to Mr. Hall and the management for their exertions, mainly to be attributed to the efforts which Miss Aitken has made, and the talented renderiug of every character she has undertaken. Her Portia and Madge Wildfire, than wluch there are no two more dissimilar characters written, are simply perfect. We feel sure that the public, who have so often been charmed by her representations, will not allow her farewell benefit to pass without testifying in the most unqualified manner the appreciation of her talents, and their regret at their impending loss.—Evening Post. Another New Paper.—A journal, bearing the title of the Bruce Herald, published at Tokomairiro, in the County of Bruce, Otago, has forwarded to us its first number. The prospectus informs us that the agricultural, mining, and pastoral interests in the county demand the advocacy of a local press, to meet which demand the Bruce Herald is published. It is the fourteenth newspaper issued from the Otago press, and is a fair specimen of its class, consisting of eight demy pages with a four-page supplement. It is published every Thursday, at Milton, Tokomairiro.