WELLINGTON.

Colonist, Issue 17, 18 December 1857, Page 4

WELLINGTON.

Provincial Secretary's Office, : Wellington, December 3,1857. ' The following letter is published for general information. William Fitzherbert, Provincial Secretary. The New Zealand and Australian Mail Steam Navigation Company, Limited. 15, St. Mary Axe, London, 16th September, 1857. Sir, —I beg to inform you that the above company has this day completed arrangements with the Imperial Government and with Mr. Sewell, on behalf of that of New Zealand; for the conveyance of her Majesty's Mails between New Zealand, Australia, and the various Provinces of New Zealand; and, furthermore, that the necessary steamships will be despatched to the colony with as little delay as possible to assume their different stations. I have the honour to be, &c, Frederick J. Gibbs, Manager. To his Honor the Superintendent, Wellington. Mr. St. Hill for Superintendent whenever a vacancy shall occur! On Monday it was determined to ask him to assume that position. A requisition was drawn up, and the first name was signed to it at about ,5 o'clock that evening, Yesterday evening—little more than 24 hours afterwards, —it was presented to Mr. St. Hill with 158 signatures, upwards of 50 of which are from the Huttl Among these are comprised 18 members of the Provincial Council. There would, no doubt; have been 20 if Messrs. Gi Hart and Ashton St. Hill had not been absent, one at Canterbury, the other at Wanganui. A glance at the list in our advertising columns shows that men of all shades in the Radical Reform party have united in this movement; from Dr. Welsh (who thus manfully and honourably fulfils the declaration he made at the Reform Banquet) to several of those electors who voted for Dr. Featherston rather than an unknown candidate, but who, of two wellknown ones, now vastly prefer Mr. St. Hill to Dr. Featherston. The Requisitionists recount Dr. Featherston's threats from the hustings of obstinate resistance to any Council adverse to his policy ; and also his foul charges of private and public untrustworthiness against all the candidates holding such adverse opinions. They show that two-thirds of the seats in the Council having been filled by such candidates, the collision, which Dr. Featherston has threatened, cannot fail to occur if he remain Superintendent. They describe the evils of such a collision. They advocate the propriety of losing no time in finding a man of impartial character, on whose word reliance can be placed, and who will engage to govern in harmony with his Council, should he be elected on the occurrence of any vacancy. They state their reasons for believing Mr. St. Hill to be eminently possessed of the necessary qualities. They urge upon him, as a public duty,, to hold himself ready to avert, if possible, the threatened obstacles to 'peace, .order, and good government.' ' |Chey conclude by explaining, that they consider despatch in obtaining a reply so Important, as to warrant the presentation of jthe request without waiting till the large numbers have signed it who will do so as soon as they have the opportunity. :i The Requisition was presented to Mr. St. Hill yesterday evening, - His reply is prompt, and highly satisfactory. He describes the reasons of personal convenience, which induced him to refuse a request made to him before the recent contest, that he would then, become a candidate. Those reasons still exist; but bowing to the urgent appeal made to his public jspirit at the present important crisis, he waives all personal considerations, and consents to the request now ;■ —distinctly entering into the only declaration demanded of him, namely, that if<a vacancy should occur, and he be elected, he will faithfully carry out Responsible Government by acting in harmony with a majority of the Council. Mr. St. Hill, by this ready and generous self-denial, has relieved the reflecting and prudent men of all classes from much anxiety, and has deserved the warm gratitude and support of his fellow citizens. Few would have had the courage thus to declare themselves before a vacancy had actually occurred: because the time is indefinite, during which he will, doubtles, be subjected to the usual, malignant abuse of the.expiring faction, But the names already appended to the requisition will assure him that there is a powerful array of zealous, able, popular».and persevering supporter?, ready to rally round him, and to

get him ten hearty cheers for every malicious snarl that his determination may provoke from the mortified vanity of the beaten party. . , ; , • We' are certain that every day will add largely to the number of those who have declared themselves ready to support him. A false report was spread about the town yesterday, that the election of Dr. Featherston had already been disallowed. This was impossible; as our latest dates fron> Auckland shew that on the 28th of November, their latest news from hence only extended to the 9th. The petitions against Dr. Featherston's return were only delivered to the proper persons on the 14th; and were not despatched till some days afterwards. The tone of the Auckland press, however, and private letters from thence appear to intimate that the legal objections to Dr. Featherston's return will probably be considered good. So that it may not be long before a vacancy shall meet the eager wishes of a large majority of the electors.— Spectator, December' 9. In speaking of the Requisition to Mr. St. Hill, the Independent, of the 12th says: —A requisition signed by 158 electors was on Tuesday evening presented ;;to Mr. xSt. Hill, requesting him,to 'become a;candidate for the Superintendence in case of Dr. Featherston's election being disallowed. Without a moments delay, without a particle of coyness, real or affected, he accepted the requisition, and placed himself at the disposal of the electors: We confess we have seldom witnessed any proceeding marked by a greater want of common decency. Mr. St. "Hill, himself the Returning Officer, Judge in the first instance of the sufficiency of Dr. Featherston's return; on whose evidence the whole case may yet turn; and having in writing declared his belief in the futility of the objection taken to it, accepts, while the decision of the Governor is yet pending, the position of antagonist to contest the office, in case the objection should prevail!! Supposing that Mr. St. Hill had had nothing to do with Dr. Featherston's election,- — supposing that his judicial allegation that a poll was duly demanded had never been made—supposing he had been a private individual, and not Returning Officer, — common delicacy would, we should have thought, have suggested some little demur, some slight reluctance, (however much of the nolo Episcopari order), while the decision of the Governor remained unknown. But coming from him, situated as he is in rerference to the whole affair, we repeat that a more indelicate act has never, in our opinion, been committed than- Mr. St. Hill's instant acceptance of the requisition in question. If there was any informality in the demand of the poll, it was owing to Mr. St. Hill's acceptance of that demand, that it was not made in a < more formal manner. On his evidence we repeat, may turn the Governor's decision; and yet in the position we have indicated of judge in the first instance, and. then probably the witness on whose evidence the case may ; turn, he becomes a candidate for the not' yet vacant office !! .:>: We believe that these requisitionists are in a very unnecessary hurry,.and:that there will be no disallowance of Dr. Featherston's election. The Governor will certainly not decide on questions involving points both. of fact and law without hearing both sides, and when it does, it will turn out—lst that in fact and law the poll was sufficiently demanded, and 2nd, thai if it were not, the actual poll cures all defects in the demand, according to a decision of the Court if Queen's Bench. Mr. St. Hill, therefore, need not have transgressed the limits which propriety and delicacy prescribe, but might have waited a little longer for any good he will receive from his unnecessary haste. We understand that a mercantile firm in this town has received advices from England that' about forty single women (assisted immigrants, will sail by the. Black Ball clipper ship Montmorency, which was to leave London in all September for this port direct. The emigrants-are principally domestic servants, and have been carefully selected. We also learn that the lighthouse, which was in a forward state, may be expected by the same vessel. — Independent, December 2. The Weather.—The season has been a very backward one, and more than the usual amount of rain has fallen. During the whole of yesterday and last night, it blew a severe gale from the S.E., accompanied with heavy showers of rain and sometimes hail. Some damage has been done to the fences, and the roofs of several buildings have been injured. The schooner Augusta dragged her anchor .and went ashore at Pipitea, but has received little injury. The large vessels, although they dragged their anchors a little, held on well. Several slips have taken place along the beach at places where the banks had been previously dug out; but with the exception of that behind Mr. Eades, where a small kitchen has been partially covered and broken in, no great amount of damage has been done.— lbid. Narrow Escape prom Fire.—On Saturday morning last Mr. Cook's shop, on Lambton-quay, was nearly burnt down. It appears that the wood work in front of the chimney-breast, caught fire, from, it is supposed, the sill into which it is morticed —the sill resting upon the arch of the fireplace, through some crevice of which the fire had penetrated, and reached the timber. The brick-work of the arch was only four inches in thickness. Had this occurred during the night, -possibly the whole of the beach might have been swept by the devouring element. On discovering the fire, however, it was speedily extinguished. We again urge upon the public to organize a fire brigade—these repeated warnings ought not to be disregarded.— lbid. The Late Gale.—The effects of the late gale have been very serious in the districts around town. Several large slips

took place oh the Hutt road, and above the Bridge a part of the road, near to Earp's, has been carried away. At Aglionby much damage has been done by the flood, both, to the.houses and crops.. The bridges on the Ngahaurariga line have been carried away, and considerable damage done to the road. The Karori district does not seem to have suffered much. Parties of labourers have been set by the Government to work on the Hutt road, and the vans commenced running again yesterday. We do not recollect having experienced such a gale in New Zealand before.— lndependent, Dec. 5. The Flood on the West Coast.—" I am sorry to have to state that we have had a terrible flood on this Coast. The Turaldna •Bridge has been swept away to the sea. You will scarcely credit me when I state that the flood rose 10 to 12 feet higher than the platform. The flood covered Mr. Wilson's orchard 10 feet high. There was a man drowned in trying to cross a lagoon to fo to the other side of the river in a canoe. Ec got entangled and went down, and his body was only found this morning. His name John Price, a painter. His com--panions have stopped here to attend the Inquest to be held to day before Mr. Ross, the Coroner. . I hear that the Wangahau bridge has also been washed aw&yas well as the mill dams at Wanganui. Several of the settlers were trying to secure the 1 Turakina bridge with a rope when it was carried down the river tike the Punt. At Beamishes a strong rope was fastented but almost instantly snapped. The bridge was again got hold of, temporarily, through the -assistance of several settlers and some Maories, but we were unable to moor it, and it was at last carried out to sea. The loss'of these bridges and the injury sustained by the settlers will be severely felt by us all, but with stout hearts we shall be able to bear up against it. "—lndependent, Dec. 9. A Public Meeting took place on the evening of December 8, in the Scotch Church, Lambton Quay, for the purpose of an expression of sympathy, and for united supplications, on behalf of our suffering countrymen in India. The proceedings were opened by the Rev. W. Kirton. The Rev. J. Moir then spoke to the topic, " The responsibilities of England in reference to India. In the course of a long and interesting speech, he gave a graphic description of the Indian territory, and a general view of Indian history, and showed that the design of Providence in giving to Great Britain an ascendancy over that vast population is undoubtedly for their conversion to Christianity. The Revs, J. Woodward and J. Buller addressed the meeting, and the Rev. J. Smith concluded with prayer.— l bid.-