West Coast Times. MONDAY, JULY 16, 1866. MONTHLY SUMMARY.

West Coast Times, Issue 254, 16 July 1866, Page 2

West Coast Times. MONDAY, JULY 16, 1866. MONTHLY SUMMARY.

West Coast Times Office, Monday, July 16, 1866. Oue last Summary of Monthly Intelligence for Europe was published on the 16th ult., and forwarded to Wellington by the Airedale to meet the first boat of the new Panama mail line, which has been established by the joint action of the two colonies of New Zealand and New South Wales. The Kaikoura left Wellington punctual to] date, on the 24th ult., and it is hoped will have a prosperous voyage to Panama, and succeed in forwarding her mails so as to be delivered in Great Britain within the contract time. The Ruahine, the second steamer of the Panama fleet; is 'appointed to leave Wellington on the 24th inst., and by this boat, our present monthly summary is despatched. Up to yesterday it was understood that one of the branch steamers of the New Zealand and Panama Company would call at this port to carry on mails and passengers for the Ruahine, and we had made arrangements accordingly for the issue of our usual eight-page Summary to-morrow morning. It is, however, as we are informed by the agent, * exceedingly problematical whether this arrangement can now be made, owing to the unfortunate detention in the" roadstead for several days of the Auckland. We are constrained, therefore, to issue this morning a brief resume of news for transmission by the overland mail to Christchurch, which will be in time * for the steamer leaving Lyttelton to meet the Ruahine at Wellington. Under these circumstances we are necessarily denied the opportunity of publishing our usual business reports. After the present month a new timetable will come into operation, the steamer leaving Wellington for Panama on the eighth of every month. For the future, therefore, our summaries will be published on or about the second of each month.

The opening of this new mail route is an .event regarded with interest by the whole of the Australasian colonies, especially by the two of them that are parties to the subsidy. Under the contract with the P. and 0. Company, New South Wales, as the last place of arrival and the first of despatch, was in constant danger of losing, the opportunity of despatching its mails by return steamer, whilst New Zealand was necessarily thrown entirely out of the course of post. Not only as putting the two colonies in a better position in this respect, but as opening up new commercial relations with the Pacific islands and America, is the inaugural tion of this route regarded as an incident of the highest importance to the Australias. We may add, incidentally, that a committee has just been appointed by the General Assembly to report upon the terms of the new contract, and the extent to which it is calculated to realise tTie full benefits hoped to be derived from it.

The principal items of intelligence brought by the P. and O. Company's steamer, the Madras, with the English April mails on board, were telegraphed 'to us by our Bluff correspondent on the 19th ult., and published on the same evening in the " De&patch," an evening paper issued from this office. Subsequent telegrams continued to reach us, largely supplementing the news thus to hand, and supplying us with English dates to, the 12th May; but the mails for Westland were not delivered in Hokitika until the 2nd inst., having to be carried by a • circuitous route round the southern and eastern coasts of the island, under the old, most unsatisfactory mail arrangements.

The history of « the month has been in every sense, politically and socially, more than ordinarily important, and it will be found ranged under its usual headings, in a more condensed form than usual, owing to the circumstances we have already explained.