The Star. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1868.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 131, 13 October 1868, Page 2

The Star. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1868.

— ♦ — SoilE person has been hoaxing the Tim-am Herald with a fancy sketch of Christchnrch. Ifc is, perhaps, a pity that our contemporary should allow himself to be taken in ; it is a still greater pity that he should expose his credulity by printing the following: — We give below a few extracts from a a private letter from an old resident in Christchurch, who gives a very gloomy account of the city at the present time. He says : — " The general tendeucy ia towards a large pauperism The most appalling articles are written in the newspapers, and " that scoundrel Stafford " is denounced with such ponderous solemnity — it is a wonder how Mr Stafford survives ! People here seem to have a down on Hall, but Hall is liable to chronic attacks of unpopularity Things are really stagnant. We often talk of a mouth of Sundays, now we can see such a phenomenon. The streets seem quite deserted at times — hard caßh invisible. Even the weather is vile. Wo have had whooping cough all the winter, and now have a sort of croupy sore throat that knocks the poor little wretches about sadly. They want a change. Take them to Lyttleton says one. Why, the fares are prohibitive! four shillings return firstclass, and second-class is not fit for children's company. ... In fact the times are out of joint. The Auckland diggings are progressing, and it is to be hoped will clear out some of the surplus people here. Perhaps I had better leave off." The " old resident" might, we believe, have been seen about our streets a week or two ago v as a visitor from Timaru. That he is a permanent inhabitant of Christchurch no one will be so very credulous as to believe. The concluding sentence of the above imaginative description, in which the writer expresses the opinion that he had better leave off, is rather equivocal. If it means that he had already drawn the long bow sufficiently even for the editor of the Timaru Herald, we quite agree with him. Strange to say, the issue of the Herald in which the above quotation appears, contains a paragraph describing the state of Tiraaru. Here is a portion of it : — " We hear of constant complaints of the dullness of the times, of slack business, of the tightness of money, and of general depression in all trades. 1 ' It appears, also, from an article in the Herald, still of the same date, that Timaru is badly in want of some stimulant to rescue it from the state described above. The county agitation is played out for a time, and a new excitement must be found. It appears that the Timaru and Gladstone Board of works, having recently received the £30,000 worth of Canterbury debentures allocated to it during last session of the Assembly, has funded the whole sum with the Bunk of New Zealand at four per cent for six months. But, in addition to this, the Board has actuary asked for advice from the Provincial Q-overnmeut respecting the best site for a bridge across the Opihi ! Such a flagrant confession that the district is still a part of the province is not to be tolerated, and the Board receives a castigation accordingly. The late public meeting in Christchurch, conveued for the purpose of giving the public an opportunity to expreos an opinion on the present Btate of affairs, has attracted the attention of the Herald. We are told that the object of the meeting was laudable, and was in itself to be commended. But a strong protest is entered against what is called the " political impudence " of the Mayor. That portion of Mr Wilson's speech in which he alludes to the conduct of the province's representatives in the Assembly is quoted, and the Herald, then says: — "The above is about the most consummate bit of impertinence it lias been our lot to record. Mr Wilson, as the mouthpiece of Christchurch, ■issprts virtually that Christchurch is Canterbury, and that the thirteen members representing Canterbury in.

the Assembly must be called to the bar of public opinion in Christchurch, to give an account of their proceedings in the Assembly. And against this ridiculous assumption not a voice was raised by the different speakers at the meeting. We take no account of Mr Wilson's foolish speech, because that gentleman is in general foolish, but when ridiculous pretensions receive the assent of a> public meeting — for we are told that the sentiments were received with loud cheers— and go uncontradicted by educated men, then to strangers the words of folly seem as those of wisdom, and receive a colouring which does not of right belong to them." Christchurch is then told that it' is not Canterbury — a fact which the Herald is very fond of repeating — and that "no member representing a constituency out of Christchurch, who has the least selfrespect, would answer to an insolent and imperious call." What this call is we are not told, but we are cautioned to be satisfied with our own member. With him, says the Herald, we can do what we please ; we can bully him to our heart's content ; but we " must not meddle with the affairs of other constituencies," which we are not at all likely to do, by the way. It 13 hardly necessary to say that the electors of Christchurch are not in the habit of bullying their member; nor do they send a " delegate " to watch his movements in the Assembly. The spy system, so far as we know, originated in Timaru ; and we believe it is appreciated as it deserves to be by all intelligent men. We sympathise deeply with Messrs. Cox and Jollie. They must have f el t keenly the degradation implied in a late visit of Mr T. W. Hall to Wellington, especially when that gentleman returned to those who had sent him with a Paul Pry story of their conduct in the General Assembly. After all that Mr Cox has done for Timaru, after sacrificing his prospects of a political reputation in her behalf, it was too bad to tell him that he was grow ing lukewarm in the cause. And, to judge from the following extract, the Heycdd has something in store for him when he returns : — " Christchurch will not be the only constituency requiring an explanation of the conduct of its member. Timaru will doubtless be just as eager for an explanation with its member, Mr Cox. That gentleman's promises to bring in a bill for special legislation for the southern districts, provided the Government did not do so, has not been forgotten. As far as we are aware Mr Cox has not fulfilled his promise, and we trust he has good grounds for so acting. The electors will certainly require them." We do not envy Mr Cox his position, and we are afraid that we must add — but he deserves it.