Colonial News.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XII, Issue 822, 25 January 1868, Page 1 (Supplement)

Colonial News.

At a meeting of the Presbytery of Canterbury, held last week, it was stated by the Rev. C. Fraser, that the Rev. W. Campbell, of Dunedin, had formally declined to accept the call from the congregation at Lyttelton. The Southern■ Cross, remarking on the prospecta of farming, says :—“ Having regard to these points, the question hence arises—Will it pay to grow grain 1 We reply, unhesitatingly, that it will pay. In the first place, New Zealand has not, for many years, produced anything like sufficient cereals for home consumption. Very rarely has Auckland stood in that position. There are settlements in the Province, older than the City proper and its surroundings, which, to this day, import all the breadstuff's they require. We may notice Whangarei and the Bay of Islands, as affording illustrations to the point. Even Waiapu, about which so much has been said as a model settlement, now imports the greater portion of its breadstuffs. It requires no demonstration to prove that such a state of things cannot last, if the Province is to prosper. In a country where there, is so much waste land, where the population is small and scattered, and where manufacturing industries are in their infancy (such as do exist, or do not exist at all), it is plain that the foundation of our prosperity must be laid in the cultivation of the soil.

The best evidence of the state of public opinion at Westport respecting the unhappy business with which Mr Commissioner Kynnersley was so closely connected, is to be found in the following paragraph which appears in the Westport Evening Star of 15th instant:—“ Yesterday evening a number of gentlemen assembled at the Empire Hotel to assist in presenting to Mr Apted, late Editor of the Westport Times, a testimonial from the people of Charleston, accompanied with a purse of sovereigns. Mr R. C. Reid, (proprietor of the Westport Star) was deputed to act on behalf of the subscribers, and in a few appropriate remarks, presented the following :— 4 To W, F. Apted, Esq., Westport (late Editor of the Westport Times and Charleston Argus). —Dear Sir, — We, the undersigned, having read with deep interest the able articles on different subjects from your pen which appeared in the above journal, deeply sympathise with you for the late unfortunate sequel to your earnest endeavor to initiate a proper moral tone in society, take this means to testify our thorough appreciation of your endeavors, and herewith beg your acceptance of the accompanying purse of sovereigns.’ The address was signed by one hundred and three persons. Mr. Apted . acknowledged the compliment paid to him in a few well chosen words, and thanked those present for their expression of approval of the manner in which he had discharged his duties when Editor of the Westport Times.