DUNEDIN. (From our own Correspondent.) April 24th, 1865.

North Otago Times, Volume IV, Issue 62, 27 April 1865, Page 3

DUNEDIN. (From our own Correspondent.) April 24th, 1865.

As my last letter did not reach you in time for the press, I may recapitulate so much of it a 1 * related to the formation of a new Ministry. Nothing certainly can exceed the vigor and economy of .time displayed by our legislators on the present occasion. Evidently the abundant sarcasm which the Press has indulged in as to their waste of the public time and twenty shillings per diem per man, has not been without its effect. Only Mr Yogel remains incorrigible, and the Council is growing impatient of that interminable fault-finding which he adopts as a medium for his talking propensities. Members do not attend to him as they used to do. We get tired even of Mr Thatcher, how then can hi9 rather lame imitator in the Council expect an endless run of success ? Certain it is that members are to be found smoking and "yarning" in the refreshment-room now when Mr Vogel is on his logs, which was not their wont formerly. Upon their new principle of wasting no time, our Councillors, as you are aware, swept away the Dunedin Town Board in ■ about twenty minutes on the first day of the Bession, and on the next gave Ministers their conge. A holiday was before them. They could not meet again until Monday, and the country members -had made up their minds to take a day beyond that and enjoy themselves on Easter Monday like other people. What could be a more economical use of a holiday than to devote it to the formation of a new Ministry, which every one knew must shortly take possession of the only comfortablo chairs in the Council chamber — those at the table. So all propositions of adjournment were peremptorily negatived, members even bridled their tongues rather than run the risk of wasting their precious holiday by extending the debate on the reply to the Address beyond Thursday night. No oiie but Mr Walker could be said to be talkative — he was evidently " in for mischief." Mr Vogol, who had evidently prepared himself to scathe the unfortunate tenants of office with his anger, was, by the turn affairs had taken, obliged to keep the vials of his wrath sealed. He had no idea of letting off the Ministry with a vote of censure after a few hours debate, and so was driven to the luckless alternative of voting with them instead of worrying them. At quite an early hour the decisive division was taken — the Ministers found that they "deserved the gravest censure of the Council," by more than two to one". The holiday vras scrupulously well economised. On Tuesday evening, Mr Reynolds announced that he had succeeded in forming a new Administration, and business has since been progressing almost as if nothing had happened to change the hands which guide. Almost, I say — for one notable exception arose out of the various personal statements of gentlemen who had been sent for, and wasted in a disreputable manner the time of the Council. Those of your readers who are acquainted with the past history of the Province, will not be surprised that the Superintendent had some difficulty in deciding whether to send for the mover of the successful amendment or not, since that gentleman was Mr James Macandrew. Routine, of course, dictated that he should follow the lead of the Council, which had elected to range under that gentleman's banner. Prudence, however, led his Honor to consult one or two leading men on the subject, in a private manner, before communicating officially with any one. Mr Dick appears to have sent him to Mr Eeynolds, and that gentleman informed his Honor that he had met some ten members of the Opposition, who all agreed that no one should be supported in the formation of a Government unless Mr Macandrew were first " sent for." So, when his Honor returned to town on Monday, Mr Macandrew waited on his Honor, and suggested Mr Moss ; Mr Moss was sent for, and indicated Mr Reynolds as the man for the crisis ; and after all this winding in and out, Messrs Eeynolds, Dick, and Moss present themselves to the Council as the new Q-overnment, with Mr JjVederie Walker a& their colleague. Why Mr Dick preferred to be bowed into the Provincial Secretary's office in this round-about manner, is beyond conjecture ; but being master of the situation, he could of course have his own Tray. The remark which Mr Reynolds made to the Superintendent, which decided him to address himself first to Mr Macandrow, and which Mr R. must have informed the Council of himself (the various personal statements are very scantily re-

ported in the "Daily Times") , gave the vigilant Cerberus of the Council an opportunity of launching forth, some of the wrath which could no longer be utilised upon the Paterson Ministry. He attempted to obtain from the Council a rote of censure on Mr Reynolds, for "bringing pressure to bear on lus Honor" to induce him to send for Mr Macandrew. A most personal debate ensued, in which various members looked one another in a manner worthy of the Town Board. The motion was set aside. I rather think Mr Vogel and his sppporters, amongBfc whom Mr Adam was the most virulent, had the worst of it, a thing which was patent enough to all outside the august arena — (not a word of the debate was reported in the "Daily Times"). A course of conduct like this, if further pursued, can only have the result of bringing Mr Macandrew more and more into prominence in the Council, and making for him a party which will insist upon putting him in office. There can be no doubt, however, that Mr Macandrew provoked the attack by moving tho amendment on the Addross, instead of placing it in the hands of some one else. In doing bo he departed from the course ho has hitherto prudently followed in the Council, and led many to surmise that he really had some intontion of paving his way to an ostensible leadership. The late members of our Town Board have locked up the books and papers of the Board, and have up to this time refused to surrender them to the Commissioners. Several wonderful documents have emanated from the Committee of action in tho form of protests and petitions to his Excellency praying him to withhold his assent from the Town Bonrd Dissolution Bill. As you have a Town Board in Oamnru, which may some day find itself in the same plight as ours, I commend these unique compositions to tho attention of its members. No doubt the Dunedin Committee of Action will on application furnish a running commentary, explanatory of the most difficult passages and tow s aes mots. The new Grovernmont is pledged to introduce a bill at once for the creation of a municipality. The two bills will probably be laid before the Governor together, so that ho is not likely to confound the present confusion by listening to tho Committee of Action. In tho meantime no body pays any rates, and those who have already done so this year are looked upon by their more dilatory neighbors as having been decidedly " done." A grand ceremony came off on Saturday in the Exhibition building. Major Richardson delivered into the hands of the winners the prizes shot for at late meetings of the Volunteer Rifle Association. He spoke very nicely on the occasion, but as the place was -very much crowded, and oilers but few facilities for the accommodation of spectators, that large majority who either could not see or chose to Btand on tip-toe or on chairs in order to see, voted Mm long-winded. Everything passed off well, with one exception. The award of one of the prizes has been disputed, and those who declare against the proclaimed winner had the bad taste to hiss when his name was called and when his prize was given to him. On the latter occasion the cheers were prolonged and were not to be put down, so that the thing was very much noticed.