CANTERBURY.

Otago Witness, Issue 304, 26 September 1857, Page 7

CANTERBURY.

NEW ZEALAND LOAN OF £500,000. The June mail (says the " Lyttelton Times" of the 12th instant) brings intelligence satisfactory as far as it goes, of the progress of New Zealand affairs in England. We have receivedinformation by private advices of the probable j success of Mr. Sewell in obtaining the Imperial J Guarantee for the proposed loan of £500,000. It must be remembered, however, that at any stage of the negotiation there is great risk of sudden disappointment, so that it would be unwise to build too much upon present prospects. But so much has been effected since Mr. Sewell's arrival in England by his exertions, backed as they are by very powerful political interest, that we may fairly hope for the best. We say hope, notwithstanding the vehement delight expressed by the Wellington opposition on the news arriving of the probable failure of the Financial Scheme of the present Government. And yet, why the Wellington party should be so much rejoiced at the idea of our not being able to raise the loan we are at a loss to conceive, unless indeed it be to prove that they were all along in the right. If the Financial Question is re-opened, and the colony is in want of readily available means for meeting present difficulties, there can be but little doubt but that the power of the General Government would be considerably increased at the expense of the provinces. The General Government must find money somewhere to meet present demands, not to speak of purchases from the natives in the North Island ; and this money must come from the Provincial Treasuries. Good bye then to the Public Works which .have been carried on lately, so much to the advantage of some of the provinces. Our Wellington friends will probably not find it so easy to borrow money as they found it while they had a full treasury and ample securities. In every way'weJook at it, the Ultra-Provincialists would probably suffer most by any readjustment of the public burdens under present circumstances. As for this province, we have full confidence

that our resources would enable vs 1 to struggle through almost any financial difficulties. They could, at the worst, be but temporary. But we should certainly suffer together with the rest of the colony by a readjustment of the Financial Scheme founded upon a tightness of the public purse. New Zealand wants ready money, and a fair start, to get rid of the difficulties into which she, has been plunged by the regime and the early troubles of the colony ; and whatever any party may say, New Zealand will be thankful to any one who procures them this money. The July mail, due in about a fortnight, will probably bring us some more definite news on this subject. The Mails. — The unexpected arrival of the little cutter Auckland, on Wednesday morning, has put us in possession of our .English I mail of June. The Auckland appears to have been chartered in Wellington for the special purpose ; but whether by the Government or by the agents of the Melbourne packets, with the desire of carrying out to the best of their power the interrupted arrangements, we know not. It is by mutual obligations such as this that the provinces will be held together politically and commercially. But it will be a difficult matter to settle by any satisfactory arrangement the means of forwarding English mails - speedily and regularly to all the provinces. Canterbury and Otago would have served themselves before now, had the general system adopted admitted of it. As it is, we have been most fortunate hitherto. But Otago suffers severely from a want of regular communication. We find in the Otago papers just received that they were a short time ago in expectation of receiving three or four months' mails together, all overdue. A schooner has been sent up here expressly to fetch the mail. I The lane wanted has been forwarded, but the schooner is just in time to carry down another. Ibid. j Mebino Sheep. — The Solent has brought from Auckland twenty-four beautiful Merino sheep, 17 yearling ewes and 7 rams, consigned j to Messrs. Miles, Kington, & Co. They are from the flock of Mr. Rich, of Mount Eden, near Auckland, well known in New Zealand as a careful breeder of sheep. Those in ques- i tion are chiefly the produce of the celebrated i ram ' Shakespeare,' and are splendid specimens ; both as regards symmetry and fleece. We have been favoured with a sight of some samples of their wool, and must say that it far surpasses j in quality all the wools which we have been in - the habit of considering as commanding the highest prices from New Zealand. Mr. Rich's flock, from which these have been selected, are entirely New Zealand bred, and speak highly for this country as a sheep-growing colony. Offshoots from the flock have been sent to other parts of New Zealand, and have always been most highly prized. We anticipate that this importation will be most useful in improv- ! ing the breed on our pastures. Mr. Rich has come down himself with the sheep, and reports the loss of one upon the voyage. — Ibid. General Government Gazette. — By Proclamation, dated Aug. 1, the Provincial Councils of Wellington and Nelson are dissolved.