MR. SELFE'S LETTER.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1228, 28 April 1864, Page 5

MR. SELFE'S LETTER.

Canterbury Emigration Office, 16, Charing Cross, London, 25th February, 1864. His Honor the Superintendent, Canterbury, New Zealand. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 90,14 th December last, requesting me to "take the necessary steps to have the address from the Superintendent and the Provincial Council of Canterbury presented to the Queen and the Prince and Princess of Wales. The packet containing the addresses arrived a few days since via Southampton, and your Honor's directions shall be at once attended to. I have also to acknowledge the receipt of your Honor's dispatch No. 91, 14th December last.

As regards the raising money on debentures; assuming that it is desirable that your Honor's Government should supplement the abundant and increasing revenues of the province by borrowed money, I think there is good reason tor adhering to the opinion I expressed in my letter of the 25th September last—that it will be better to obtain the required advances on the spot, either in New Zealand or the Australian colonies. If you can issue 0 per cent, debentures at par in Canterbury or Melbourne, these are better terms than can be obtained with any certainty in London. It is true that there is at present what may be considered an exceptionally high rate of interest for money here. But I doubt, much whether colonial securities (including these of New Zealand, both General and Provincial) will be received with favor here for some time to come. I venture with great respect to advise your Honor not to make any financial arrangements depend upon the contingency of raising money here at 6 per cent. It is evident that the Otago Government have not succeeded in raising any substantial portion of the £20,000 they required, though I have reason to know that something under par would have been accepted by them. And the £14,000, portion of the first issue of the £500,000 Canterbury loan, which, as I mentioned in my last letter, had been put up to auction here, did not, as I am informed, obtain a bidder. Your Honor will receive other private advices which will tend to confirm the view I have expressed. Nevertheless I thought there could be no more legitimate investment of the sinking fund of the Canterbury loan than in the debentures of that very loan; and accordingly I have invested £1300 of the sinking fund of the loan of 1858 in the debentures of this loan of 1862, just issued by the Union Bank of Australia, and also £500, first year's sinking fund of the last mentioned loan—the latter in the names of Mr. Thos. Somers Cocks and myself.

* I may observe here that the scheme propounded by the General Government of New Zealand to raise a loan of three millions of money (£3,000,000) appears to be based upon calculations that the Imperial Government will guarantee a 4 per cent, interest thereon, £124,000 per annum, which, with an additional 1 per cent, for sinking fund, is proposed should form a charge upon the general revenues of New Zealand of £150,000 per annum. I think it is extremely doubtful whether any English Chancellor of the Exchequer will accept such a proposal; or, if any House of Commons would consent to it, if proposed to them. Without such Imperial guarantee, my belief is that there is no present prospect of any such loan being taken up in the English market, even at 6 per cent., at which price it would, with the 1 per cent, sinking fund, entail a burden upon the general revenues of the colony of £210,000 per annum. There is a growing indisposition to invest money m colonial securities not guaranteed at home, which should be borne in mind by intending borrowers. I have to acknowledge the receipt of the fair copy of your Honor's reply to Miss Rye's letter of June 6 last. With good intentions no doubt she has done harm to the cause she desired to serve. lam increasingly sensible that there are some advantages in the system pursued on board emigrant ships chartered by H.M. Commissioners over that pursued in ships chartered by shipping agents however respectable. But I do not think the lamentable amount of sickness and consequent deaths which occurred on board the Brothers Pride is chargeable to defective arrangement on board. There was a great deal of sickness in England at the time the vessel left, and the mischief latent for some time after she sailed, was, in all probability, the result of some disease existing but not discoverable at the time. The passengers- were inspected at Gravesend. The Ivanhoe left Gravesend on Saturday afternoon last, the 20th instant, with 213 statute adults assisted emigrants. I was unable to attend the inspection of the vessel, as I had hoped to have done, but I saw many of them at this office, and I trust you will find that they are an unusually respectable and well-conditioned set of people. I have addressed your Honor in a separate dispatch upon a distressing case of a Mrs. Riseley, to which I beg the special attention of your Government. The next ship will be the Amoor, to sail the 30th of March. lam at this office as much as I can, but lam very sensible of the immense advantage which will result from Mr. Marshman's return to his post. The work here requires constant attention, which I am of course unable to give, and I should be quite at a loss but for the unremitting labour and accuracy of Mr. Ottywell, who seems to me to do his duty most admirably; it is he who does all the real work of the office now and who personally attends to the execution of the various commissions not immediately connected with the emigration services which have to be executed for the colony. Mr. Cookson is very often at the office, and performs unobtrusively valuable service in affording information to the higher class of emigrants or enquirers with a view to becoming emigrants. It. is a great advantage to be able to refer to an actual colonist so well calculated as is Mr. Cookson to recommend truthfully a country where he passed so many years. It may possibly appear to your Honor fitting to recognise the service thus rendered by Mr. Cookson, by more than merely expressing the thanks of your Government, but he is so high-minded and disinterested a man that I have not thought it well to suggest any idea to himself of his being remunerated for his services, which are rendered without any expectation of reward. I did at one time think of it, but it would be better if the suggestion came first from your Honor if you think it well to entertain it.

I hope to be able to address your Honor in a separate dispatch to-morrow on the subject of the harbor works and wharfage accommodation. I would only say with reference to Mr. Bray, who tells me he forwarded by last mail a copy of all the letters which passed between us on the subject of his remuneration as d member of the commission, that I wish he had been able to include in that correspondence my last letter to him. Mr. Bray and myself are on perfectly frank and friendly terms, and I am sure he has been long satisfied that there never was any intention on my part of undervaluing his services and abilities. We have had a great deal of trouble on the subject of a Provincial Engineer, as successor to Mr. Dobson. •I oertainly regret that the choice was not left absolutely, unreservedly, to Mr. George Robert Stephenson, as consulting engineer to the province. Mr. Stephenson though, as I have already hinted, he mutt

have felt the slight implied in his being omitted from the Commission authorized to make the selection, has been anxious that the right man should be found. There has been much difficulty in doing this, and I am not sure that we have even yet finally succeeded. The terms offered are not such as many first-rate men of experience in the profession would accept, unless they have some other inducement to enter on a colonial career.

We thought we had concluded a negociation with a suitable person, but he failed us at the last moment (after accepting the appointment) under circumstances which reflect no credit on him, and which made us rejoice that Canterbury was spared the opportunity of seeing him one of her inhabitants. It is better there should be some pelay than that some one not satisfactory and efficient should be sent who would disappoint you. I can only say at present that I hope we are on the point of making an arrangement with a gentleman of high character ana ability.

But it will in any case be essential that the engagement should be for three years certain. No man, worthy of the post, will go to the other side of the world on an engagement determinable within twelve months of his arrival. I trust also that I have substantially agreed with a highly competent person as telegraph engineer. The only difficulty here is as to remuneration. I shall assume to act aa I think you would, wish me to do under the circumstances, and exercise the discretion with which your instructions seem to invest me. As the arrangement, in consequence of Mr. Yarley's very serious illness, has not been entirely completed, I must pray your indulgence for another month on this point also. I assure you I have not been idle in your service, but I shall be well content if the result be satisfactory. I read, with great interest, the account of the opening of the railway to Ferrymead, and heartily congratulate your Honor on the success of this auspicious event. I also take leave to congratulate your Honor on having secured the services of gentlemen whose names are so well known and respected as members of your Executive Government. I have been reading, with the greatest interest and admiration, the lucid and well-digested report on education by the Commission, of which Mr. Tancral was chairman. It is gratifying that the interests of Canterbury are confided to the cure of those who devote themselves to labor for her moral and intellectual welfare, as-well as for her material progress.

I am, Your Honor's very faithful and obedient servant, (Signed.) Henry Set.pe Selfe, English Agent. His Honor the Superintendent Canterbury. February 25. Postscript.—Since writing the foregoing, Mr. Bray informs me ho has been good enough to write to your Honor detailing what has hitherto been done in the matter of the Harbor Commission. I have not, yet seen his letter (of which he promises me a copy), but I have no doubt it will be not only accurate, but more intelligible and satisfactory —as written by an engineer—than any account I could give of the proceedings of the Commission hitherto. I therefore avail myself of the opportunity thus afforded me of abstaining from fulfilling my promise to write on this subject, in answer to your Honor's request that the material for wharfage " accommodation immediately necessary," may be, with as little delay as possible, forwarded to. Lyttelton.