The Press. — London, England, 1853-11-26 00:00:00

712 sea, up a winding and shallow river. This unlucky choke appears, by Mr. Westgarth's account, to have acted as a drawback on Vic torian prosperity, which only the powerful impulse of gold discoveries could have suc cessfully overcome. Here is a description or the " London of the South," as sanguine colo nists love to style their new metropolis : Mellsinnie is situated for the most part upon two rising grounds, and overspread* also the intermediate valley. The Eastern 11111 is the most considerable of these eminences, and over an extensive sod gentle acclivity, or rather for the most part an elevated plain, it furnishes a flue and commanding site for the residences of tile colonists, whence they survey the noble harbour of Port Phillip, and the lively spectacle, kow of almost hourly ocenrrenee, of the arriving and departing shipping. In ether respects, however, the 'sonnies of the capital are less pretending. The town was originally laid out mi the rectangular prin. eiple, and unfortunately this poveMy•atriekeu design has been sinee almost iiiiibastily follies ed to, even alter the obvious destinies of the pl a ce had n al -mined a wore varied and graceful selection from the ample list of mathematical forme. The sane unanticipated greatness that probably at first recommended the summary simplicity of the rectangles awl also the occasion of other disadvantages. The town IN intersected by einivetkietitly broad streets, which, in their lengthened straightne , s over a perfect level ur a gentle acclivity, impart rather an intim sting appearance, more itiuticularly if the gination is permitted to overlook the diticoadant little edifice* by which either side of the thoroughfare is at present variegated, toil to reitli , e a page of the futnre, tinder the auspices of enterprising colonists awl inexhaustible Between the parallel lines of thesis creditable streets, however,. the distance being tonaidenible, there are parallel limes, originally intended to fltrilihil a back or carriage entrantse to e,icli alb diluent— an arrangement wade tinder the impre.,i•ai, uo d o ubt, that the quiet metui-rnral people into whose hands the nitxlestly• born Melbourne we. expected to fall would occupy each his entire lialfacre, wending from the street to the lane Those town properties, however, rising promptly to a must unlookeillor value, the lanes in question, where sections and frontages were of course cheaper than in the broad gamete, soon became the chief lines 4.1 traffic anti populie Sion, and they have consequently proved a very unfavourable arrangement for the health of the town. There is n want of beauty in the city thus extemporised out of a village. No squares, gardens, or ►►pen spuecs—the lungs of our crowded towns—relieve its close arid dirty monotony. Hence, and from want of drain age, ensue imperfect sanitary arrangements, with consequent unhealthiness, some part of which, however, must he put to the credit of the climate, dangerous to newly -arrived emi grants. The first crisis in the history of the new colony was the land fever of 183940. Allot ments were sold and resold, divided and sub divided, grumbled for and byeettinted upon, with an eagerness which nothing except the contagious madness of multitudes could justify or explain. In Melbourne township a half acre lot had been valued at 401. or XOl., accord ing to its greater or less advantages of position. One of these ran up in 1t.. 1 37 to tia—a price so alarming to the purchaser that he immediately afterwards paid ten per cent. to be on* the bargain. That very lot, within three years, became worth 5,000/. ; doubtless causing many a heartache of disappointed avarice to the over-cautious trader whose timidity had spoiled his bargain. The excitement lasted long and continued to increase : An army of dealers and a legion of lawyers were alike busy and alike thriving. In the brief space of two years sdhatuents that originally brought 4 1 q. were currently valued at 4,0001. Three such properties were sold together in a single lot for 10,00/. ; and the fortunate capitalist expatiated on the expectancies from his purchase wheli lie had put into operation the magic ml of cutting up into fragments, intersecting with lanes, and ears ing into in numerable frontages. finch wax the mania for land-dealing That the law eilwetwa for eouveyam ins and aseertiening titles had in frequent instances aniline., to a larger amount than the whole value of the land they referred to; and. in the haste and im•gularity of business that elianicterised the times, this security wit% oeessionally all that rrwuiucd to the lawyer for his acemunlitted bill. But this state of things was essentially tem porary. The fever increased—culminated— and then came reaction. Down came 101141 allotments as fast as they had gone up. As Is4lohad been the zenith. 114.13.4 was the nadir of colonial prosperity. By '45 debts had been paid or compromised matters had righted somehow—individual speenlat..rs were ruined—but the public injury was repaired. Meantime the colony had continued to make progress in developing its real and legitimate Play ; and, when the new and more astound ing rise of prices t..ok place in 'hi. the most saagtuae dreams of the premature speculators THE PRESS. of '4O were made good. But this time, says Mr. Westgarth. the value — was legitimate and permanent, the fruit of actual attainwenta and of rational anticipation, and every year was adding to its amount. The effect of the g o ld di a . coveries in Victoria has been to immensely accelerate this increase. Millions of gold flowing into a small comormity anon made everything dear, in proportion to the increase of the means of purchasing. The allotment whose value was sig. in 1;.:17, that ruse to 4,0001. in Its:tit, that c o jlap a ed to Out in Ix4l, and that, like the pinenix of old, rose from its ashes to the attractive beauty of 1,0014. once more in 1 , 411, would in WA have readily realised 15, 4 mt. In various parts of the Natant* the rise in value was in a still greater ratio; nor did it seem likely that the middle of Ps.',3 had seen the culminating period of this new and ei• traordinary turn iu c o l o nial co mmer ce , _ The first discovery of Australian gold, on February I:2th, IN4I, was due to a colonist of New South Wales, Mr. Hammond Hargreaves, who, having washed in California, and being struck with the resemblance which part of the Bathurst neighbourhood bore to the diggings there, commenced his explorations, for which he was ridiculed by the public, anti not rewarded by the Legislature. They succeeded, and, ere long, half Sydney was on its road to Bathurst, whence many as quickly returned, hungry, unsuccessful, and dispirited. Enough, however, was found to reward persevenince, and, though less enthusiasm has been shown on the subject in New South Wales than else where. the diggings have maintained a sta tionary population of about 6,000. These events had their effect on Victoria. Patriotism, personal enterprise, nay, the in stinct of self-preservation and the fear of losing their labouring population. stirred up the colonists to search for gold-fields of their own. A reward of 2101. was offered to the first finder, which, singularly enough. has, up to this day, never been churned. The first dis coveries, though remunerative, were not extra ordinary. In August and September the hunt began ; but it was not until December that the tide of emigration fairly turned, and that diggers began to pour into, instead of out from, the colony. Other trades and pursuits had begun to suffer somewhat earlier, and it is singular that the first effect of the movement was a reduction of twenty per cent. in the priers of houses and lands, au effect probably due to the anticipated impossibility of obtain. ing labour or domestic help. Common sense soon corrected this miscalculation, and those who had purchased cheaply resold their bar gains at a profit of 00 or, in some instances, 1,000 per cent. The Mount Alexander diggings had the credit of first stimulating emigration to an extraordinary pitch : The weekly escort quantities from Ballarat had never risen to 8,000 ounces, although it waa generally understood that much larger qnsanities arrived in town by private hands. In the middle of November, however, between six and seven thoueand ounces arrived by the Mount Alexander escort. The following week the quantity had risen to 10,000, and for the seeond week of December it was 23,050 ounces, or upwards of one ton in weight. Thu reports of such extraordinary fortunes now emanating front the colony occasioned a rapid filth's of population. In ,butary persons arril ed at Melbourne, and from that time until September the numbers averaged between 5,000 and 0.000 monthly. In September a great aumnen tation took place by the addition of the stream from Britain, which thin began to set in. The number for that mouth was nearly 10,000, and for October above 19,000. One or two thousand persons sometim es arr i ve d w ithi n a single day. During the entire year there arrived 105,00 ti persons, from whom. however, there is to be deducted the considerable pmportion of 0,00 who had re-emigrated. These latter consisted to a great extent of diggers returning to the adjacent colonies with the results of their varied fortunes, including perhaps many passengers originally destined fur other porta, no inconsiderable number of dis- appointed emigrants quitting the country after a brief trial, and colonists returning, after various periods of sib senee, to visit once again their native land. The diggers' sufferings were at first not severe, but winter set in, bringing wet and cold ; the roads became impassable. Govern ment neglected to mend them, the price of provisions rose incredibly, and during six months not less than 750.000/.—the sum appears impossible. yet we take it on Mr. Westgarth's authority—was paid for carriage of goods between Melbourne and the gold fields. A railway might have been constructed at less outlay. Flour cost at I3endigo diggings just ten times its price at Melbourne, 2001. per ton. and this not momentarily. but during a period of several weeks. But mining successes paid for all Spring returned, the hardships of winter were forgotten ; the revenue of the SATURDAY, colony, which in '5l was but 3t 4 0,000/., had risen in '52 to 1,500,0001. and upwards, while the exports for that year amounted to fourteen millions, or one-tifth of those of England. Strange scenes followed on the altered con dition of society. Labour of course failed ; wages rose to 10s. per diem: and in Melbourne streets might be seen handling pick and spade, among a confused crowd of emigrants, young tradesmen, clerks, lawyers, and merchants, all wisely preferring this humble means of sub sistence to a speedy exhaustion of their capi tal by exorbitant payments. Immigrants, especially female innuigrauts, buttered much, missing the accustomed aid of benevolent colonists, now too fully engaged in supplying their own wants as best they could to have leisure to spare for those of others. Sudden prosperity, too, had turned weak brains : Melbourne, from a small town, expanded suddenly nn,, a city. Its streets swarmed with unshaven chins and negligent attire. Thousands of pockets that were ones occupied only by some scant remnant of hard earned wages were now oppressed with masses of solid gold; and hundreds of p►ablic-houses were filled with crowds venting execrations and rioting in extravagance and folly. Robbery, outrage, anti murder prevailed by day and night ; and the penal settlement of the empire, close at hand, poured forth tutu so inviting a teriitory a steady felon stream, as from the open portals of Sodom anti Gomorrah. True to its calling, this penal importation revelled in a region of gold and freedom, and carried the infamous romance of bush ranging within the very boundaries of the capital. The police for the time were insufficient, inexperienced, and ineffective from continual desertion, and the want of anm►gements suited to the sudden emergency of the day. To non-diggers, and especially to official l►ersons, the rise of prices became not only an inconvenience, but a misfi►rtune. Servants wages advanced from 201. to between 501. and 1001.; a cottage with but indifferent accommo dation would let at from 3001. to 4001. yearly; the loaf was its. and mutton od. per lb. It wan difficult in Melbourne to live well on a thou sand a year—elsewhere a comfortable income. Au increase of public salaries, voted by the Legislature, became under these circum stances not a favour, but the concession of a just demand. Private colonists suffered less, being for the most part engaged in trade, to which the exceptional state of affairs gave an equally exceptional impetus. Sea captains quarrelled with their crews, who on the ships dropping anchor forthwith ran off to the dig gings. Quarrels arose, and bloodshed ; but it was at last remarked that the deserting sea men, however skilful in their own profession, uniformly failed as miners, and for the most part grew speedily weary of their barren toils. Many returned ; and henceforth it became usual for shipmasters on good terms with their crows to allow the ivholo ship's company, or one-half at a time, to try their chance. The privilege, freely conceded, was less valued ; and usually the whole party might bo found at their duty within a fortnight. A good illus tration this how much more may be done with men by management than by force. Sea men's wages, however, still continue excessive. Squibs and Crackers. From the Nation. Dublin: Nation Office. TIM starting of the journal called the .Vation was an event iu the monotonous history of Irish agitation. A knot of young men, some of them with merely flashy parts, others with real talents, founded a journal which raised the chronic discontent of Ireland up to rebel lion point, and which altered in most important respects the policy of the Irish democracy, if such an element can really be said to exist in the sister country. It is the fashion to say that the Young Irelanders failed; and we re joice to say that they did so, if we look at them merely from an imperial point of view. But it cannot be said that they failed in some of their aims. It is matter of history that they revolted against O'Connell and Conciliation lrall and, though they ignominiously failed in dethroning Queen Victoria, they most de cisively succeeded in shutting up the shop of the Agitator. Despite of thirty thousand bayonets in Ireland, the Repeal bubble had glittered for years before the Celtic fancy ; but the breath of " Young Irelandism" burst the cunningly-devised illusion, and O'Connell sur• vived to see a " Hall of Confederation," with its crowds listening to the tirades of Meagher. lie read also seTeral of the Irish provincial