The Express.
London, England, 1852-01-08 00:00:00

GERMANY.

The Prussian Chambers assembled on the sth, fur
the first time after the Christmas holidays. The only
business Of impionnce in either house, was the elec-
tion of presidents. In the First Chamber, Quint
Itittburg was re-elected president by NH votes out
of 121. In the &mud Chamber, Count Schwerin.
After being closely opposed by M. von Ilislel-
sehwingh, was elected by a majority of 6, M.
Goppert being elected first vice pre:ode:it.
The question whether income deri‘ed from pro-
perty held out of Prussia by Prussian subjects, or
by foreigners, is liable to the Prussian income-tax,
has been decided by the minister of finance in a
circular to the district assessors, published in the
Gazette of Jan. 5. By this document it appears
that income of landed property is alone exempted,
on proof that it has already paid the same tux in
the state in which it is situated. Income from nil
other sources, for the " &e." attache d to the specili-
I cations is capable of a wide interpretation, must pay
in Prussia, even though it may have paid once before
in Englund or elsewhere. The following is its
text :

According to the 17th article of the law of the lot of
May, 18.51, Prussian subjects are exempted from income-
tax, in respect of any property in land they may hold in
other countries, it they can produce proofs that the
anid property is in those countries, subjected to a similar
tax. Accenting to the 2d paragraph of the same article,
foreigners are as-essed to the classified income tax, if
they have resided in Prussia for more than oae year, or if
they are resident in it for purposes of gain. In respect to
such foreigners the law his not specifically repented the
general principle of the lith article; but there is
no doubt that foreigners who may be assessed to the
income tax on account only of their residence in
the Prussian State, arc not to lie more unfavourably
treated than Prussian subjects, and therefore the other pro-
vision of the lith Article is also to be applied to them. But
neither hir Prussian subjects nor for foreigners can the ex-
emption be extended to any income beyond that derived
from landed property possessed out of Prussia. The
interest on capital invested in other countries, the profits
of commercial undertakings, &c., cannot be exempted from
the Prussian income tax because the possessors are
already liable to the same tax in other states—England
Austria, Bavaria. Tut Stimmt or Fttrasiee.

The New Priluniii Ga:ctle gives a summary of
the treaty betwct u the Netherlands and the Zoll-
verein states represented by Prussia; and which,
having ken adopted by all the governments of the
German Union, was ratified at the Hague on the
31st ult. The chief points gained by I'russia are a
reduction of the tolls levied on the Lower Rhine and
its navigable tributaries. The drat Are on the
Lower Rhine, and all duties on the Maas and Tssel,
are abolished. The pilot dues in Holland are reduced
one-half; for the transit through Holland and to Bel-
gium the reduced rate of tolls, after the abolitionof the
drat fire, will alone be levied. Prussia assures to Hol-
land a continua:we of the advantages it had obbuned
by former treaties. Traffic will be facilitated by the
loss of time in unloadinf and weighing goods being
no longer necessary. !le transit cargoes will be
sealed and accompanied by a Uustonehouse ofticiaL
Holland and the Zollvercin accord each other, for
their respective produce, the advantages allowed, or
that may be allowed, by them to the most favoured
nations with whom they have commercial treaties.
Thus the wines of the &liven:in will be admitted
into Holland on the same terms as those of France.
A variety of articles of German manufacture are
allowed to be exported to the Dutch East Dalian
possessions on the most favourable terms of the
colonial tarilf, or at about half the general rates ;
among them line,wouds, drugs, soap, Nuremberg toys,
electro-plated goods, watches from the Black Forest,
leather, fancy goods, silks, velvets, and mineral
waters.

The Augsburg Ginetic has a letter from Vienna,
which says: "There is talk of miring a new loan,
and it is believed that this circumstance was the
principal cause of the resignation of M. de Krauss."
Another letter states that the Ottoman Porte has
ratified the Austru•Turkish treaty of commerce, con-
taining a new tariff, in which both powers have
made concessions.

A letter from Hanover in the New Prussian Ga-
zette states that M. de Loch, the celebrated German
oculist, had expressed great hopes that the King of
lluuover's sight would be restored.

VIENNA, DEC. 31.
Baron Krauss w ill lay down his arduous and thank-
less office, with a reputation unhappily rare among
• continental statesmen. His private character is
completely beyond reproach. He was, however,
unequal to his position, and though his severe appli-
cation to business was notorious, he was too much
• attached to forms not to waste much time in useless
labours. But his great fault as a minister of
finance was the easy manner in which he con-
stantly complied with the demands of the court
and the cabinet, and to this may be attri-
buted in a great measure the present desperate ,
state of the finances of this country. At
length, however, he seems to have unacratood
that this compliance must come to an end, and a few
months ago he strenuously opposed the enormous
amount of the army estimates, and positively re-
quired them to be diminished by 15,000,1 N of florins,
as the only condition on which he could possibly re-
tain office. It is needless to add that this suggestion
was not attended to, but it is understood to have
hopelessly alienated both the court and his col-
leagues. The 25,000,000 florins also, recently
sent to Louis Napoleon, could not hut meet
with the strong disapprobation of a minis-
ter so well acquainted with the poverty of the
treasury. But there is yet another reason which
has been for a long time silently at work for his
downfall. Baron Krauss was rash enough to en-
gage in a war with the private interests of power-
ful men, and to do this in a country where there was
neither a free prem.; nor public discussion to defend
the purity of his motives might have been honest,
hut it was not prudent. In the last loan which he
effected in October (B 351) he announced that sub-
scriptions might be paid as low as 1,000 florins, and
would be received at the imperial treasury from any
private persons who wished to lend their savings to ,
the state. In consequence of this the great N'ienna
bankers, the Rothsehilds and Arnstcin and Eskeles,
who had generally been accustomed to divide the
pretty pickings of state loans between them, and re-
tail them to the public in their own way, saw
their occupation was gone, and Baron Krauss soon
found himself in the position of a man in debt, who
begins to economise and affronts his creditors. The
press attacked him, and his colleagues did not defend,
till wearied out with a contest so hopeless, he ten-
dead his resignatien on the 20th inst., and it was
accepted.
his successor, M. de Baumgartner, though a man
advanced in life, is young us a minister, having
been only called to the cabinet during the present
year, on the resignation by Baron Briick of the
porthdio of Coininerce and Public Works. M. de
de Bautngurtner is still to retain his present pest as
Minister of Commerce and Public 11 arks, together
with the parilhlio of finance, but it is no secret
among political circles that his name is only put fur-;
ward to cover that of Baton KiPieek, foimerly
Nlinister of Finance and now President of the
('outwit of the Empire. So long, therefore,
as M. do Baumgartner fills his present la-

borious position Baron Kubeck will, in reality, di.
net the financial affairs of Austria ; but it i,
believed upon good authority that gm-crime. ut have
already begun negotiations with the able and en.
lightened ex•muustcr Bruck, to induce litu to re.
enter the cabinet as Minister of Finance. Should
these negotiations succeed, as it is prob,ble they
will, Austrian securities will immediately rise in
value, and before long we may expect a very mate-
rial improvement in the resources of the country.
The lhanitth envoys, M. de Bilk and M. tl Bulow,
have left Vienna for London; but it is helicved
that their mission has been attended with Jay sac.
errs, the courts of both Austria and l'ru. la being
now strongly opposed to the wishes of tlu• King a
Denmark.

An issue of six kreuzer pieces (about 2d.; has just
been made in siker, and it is said the six kreuzer
bank notes are to be called in.

A Seoteh missionary ut Lemberg has just been sr.
rested, fur holding meetings under the pr. ,'lterian
form of Nr orohi p. Either with or without he gssl
man's knowledge, iiersons assembletl
cal purposes, or the authorities chins. to sup ose that
sueli was their object. The name of the missionary
is not given.
A railway has been begun from Oren opposite
Perth, in Hungary), to ninth.
The heinous ilieresianum is to be cluing into sn
institution for the education of army sump as, and
all its fonds, library, &c., aro to be approp .seed to
the same purpose.
There has hero no business done on 'Char vl tap
three (Lys, so that there can be no quotatio 'flee
excising° on London is, however, said to 1411:11
to H.

THE AUSTRALIAN DIG(i NGS.

We give further extracts from the Pot Philip
paters brought by the Honduras.
The following communication in from Clunia
gold diggings, under date of 16th August :
The present ell:itmotniration will, perhaps, b.- the mo,t
interes.ing and Mtn ,rtatit that I have been vital, .1 a.,
you, inasmuch WO l can now give definite Worn, . ion a •
the actual gains of the digg, rs. The first !sal., go:d
hoer limn ma 1..: today, and front tlet subjoito-I . Artie Mars
of the several transactions the public can judge . the true
nature of these diggioga, and the prvvvects , ',lila they
afford. 1 hare just returned from the hell r, company
with Mr. Clapperton, of Burn Bank, who has it n buying
some of the gold, and although from the rheum-. ores that
there is yet no market thoroughly opened, the e annereol
value of the dust has hardly been established. • II the re-
turns of which 1 ant po,seased, having been pr.- at at, and
in some degree instrumental in the tram.. ~on, will
he interesting, and may be depended tot. . at, whole
quantity sold to-day is about a pound and t roc quar-
ters, in lots as follows : -Mr. Donald** par of live
men, who have Keen at work a week, 2 r.
for 61. 41., or about 57.. 6d. per oz.; Parker's it, 'y of four,
14 or 10 dwte. 11 grains, at 13, :yielding 131. I I , got in
about a fortnight; Warren's mob of four, II ,r 6 grains,
at 31. I, per oz., amounting to 35'. 55., the work of seven-
teen days; Vickerman's mob, 2 oz. 12 dwts. 7, rain,, col-
lected an about ten days. it must be remelt, • r 11, that
although these periods are stated as the time in which the
several results were attained, yet most of the p t•ons biro
been much longer on the ground, and as far a, “tdividual
gain is to be considered the whole time must he %tires into
the estimate, and some allowance must be mole i., all cao.t,
as several days usually elapse before everythin.: t• got into
working order, and the men get their han-ls ream. espy .• in"
to the work. Several dissolutions are taking o tin among
the parties, and some are leaving fur Bunninyoor on .pee;
the more prudent, however, are despatching I, e of each
party to ihitp.-et and report. One or two p.rti. • have odd
off and left the ground. A party just arrived has com-
menced blasting the rock, with what enema, however, can-
not yet be pronounced.

The following account of the 13uoniuyong diggings
ie dated 111th Atigumt :

I have been on the fie!il, and have spoken to /I -irly every
one there without finding a single party that is dog good.
Several are only just cuinniencing, and of them not hint defi-
nite can be stated ; one party M two had pruou, el about a
quarter of an uuucc since friday last, iI:CIU4V •, and this
was the largest quantity which I saw. The' udd is eery
dense and pure, tar more so than any other n ice gold I
have seen, and it will the rehire fetch a hi,tht r price in pro-
portion to its purity ; but the people about here kayo most
inordinate ideas of its value, and imagine that they will get
a price equal to the rate current in London, and some stab:,
variously that they have been offered 723.. 7.";•., and 775.
per on. for it ; of rourse, I advised them to take the
first opportunity of selling at either of these rat., which aro
very far beyond the real value. In the first plelte at least
10s. must be deducted by the buyer to cover the various
captures of transmission, freight, insurance, oke.' and tho
cost of reduction and assay, for I may state, for the benefit
of the uniuitiated, that gold is rarely if ever found in a state
of actual purity, bring always in combination with some
other metal, u silver, iron, tellurium, &c.; a. that the
terms pun or impure us cotuaionly used are merely relative.
I bear a great deal on the spot of men who have collected
large quantities of gold, but have not yet been able to meet
with any instances, so that I feel strongly imbued to t' ig-
nore the bill." At present but little grouno has been
turned up, and although persons have been marching in
various directions, gold has hitherto only !wen found in the
one limited spot. Flour is selling at Bunninyong for lid. per
pound, and tobacco fur 101. lid. Stores generally are at
present scarce. . _ .

The following is from the .Ifelkittrne --tryits of the
29th August:
Sviimev.—The R. 1,1 fever still continues, and increases.
Day after day the " glowing story" comeeto us of new gold
fields, and ainongit the latest the report of a perfect field of
gold on the property of William Charles Wentworth, Esq.
The gold found on this gentleman's propertysliffers from all
that has yet been found, being in fibres, and not scales or
nuggets, as is usual. The :irrivals by the mail and through
the post-office yesterday, were over 10,0001. in value. It is
scarcely credible the number that have left and ore about to
leave Sydney for the Tuna, diggings. By the hest accounts
there are about four thousand tIOW at the mines, and that
number will be doubled, if not quadrupled, within a mouth.
I see, too, that many arc leaving Port Philip. and their
both on the road and on their arrival at the dig-
gings, is pitiable ; in fact, it cannot be other than wretched
with tbo roads in the miserable state they are in. Fears
are expressed by many parties that the deposit., are not the
inexhaustible ones they have been represented to be, and
that very soon we shall have as great a rush twin the dig-
gings as we now have to them.
REPORTED NEW GOLI) DIDOINOB.—A report haireached
Maitland that a new gold-held has been desensered, the
locality being on Wyong Creek, which rises on the Wol-
loinsi !tills, and flows towards the coast. It is said that
about fourteen persons were digging there mine days since,
and had found some gold and taken it to Sydney ; and it is
also stated that sixty or seventy persons are digging tbero
now. The spot is towards the bead of Wynne Creek, and
about fourteen miles from the township of Wullouthi, scrum
the mountains; but the merest practicable township is
Gaston!, Brisbane Water, which is some twenty-live mike
of The distance from Maitland is said to be some sixty
miles, and from Sydney about the same. Quarts of a com-
pact kind is said to be plentiful on the creek, and the dig-
iters are working principally in the bed of the creek ; water
is found there all the year round, and the plate is very
mountainous and rough. Wyong Creek is crossed, we un-
derstand, on the road from Maitland to Sydney, soma
twelve miles this side of Gosford, but the diggings are many
miles up the creek. We have no authentic laGiraistion
that gold has really been found there.

The Geelong Advertiser says :
Considerable cacitemeut has been created at Bacchus'
Marsh, occasioned by the finding of some speeinems of gold.
I enclose a piece of the quartz which I brought yesterday.
The inhabitants do not wish to create any particular atten-
tion at present; but several persons went to work at the time
I left, and no doubt you will anon hear more about the
m otter. Should gold be found here, it will no doubt be one
of the best li,alities in Victoria. The mountain ranges aro
connected with Mount Macedon, and the dry Italics, which
attuned in the neighbourhood, some of them awfully
deep, present a moat romantic appearance, with nume-
rous hills of quartz, which indicate that gold is there
to be tumid. The distance from Geelong is only 33 rode'
north—a tine level country without a hill, or anything like
a boggy place. The direct way is to cross Cowte's Cwek,
then strike between the Anulties and Station Peak, keep-
ing the distant Sugar-loaf hill to the left. There is • hue
steant mill; there ate two rivers which were well supplied
all last summer, and ull the well water you like by digging
six or actin feet. There are the Ikautiful Pentland Rills,
which must he brought into the market, and which will
bring gold by agricultural labour. This place is only 3$
miles front Melbourne, *lid only 33 from (Aching. Nature
has made a stone bridge limns the Little River, without a
dissent or ascent, across which you could drive a cartiAgo
and four with the lived perfect safety.
We do not doubt the correctness of this information, hut
we arc bound to state that there is no gold in the specimen
of quartz sent to us.

MIGRATING BUTTERFISIN.—A morning paper coa-
-1 taiia a letter datawl Barithim, Burke, January ii, in which
we find Um following curious statement :-4. I scarcely need
remind you that the atumsphsre o.i Sunday last was son-
si.k rahly freely, and very cold winds .mailed more ~r less
during the entire day, but it was particularly stormy shout
WI-p..4 two o'clock (afternooti), at which period I was in
!company with a friend standing at nty sitting•room window,
1 when to our great surprise we observed a namerous c.d.'s]
of larg • "sawn butterflies mierating in a body (~,nilsi.• to a
' PlV.lrin of heist on wit,g) Iron south-west to north east.
SAIOC of them were momentarily driven by the 1'...r,.... of the
storm no near to the window at which myself and friend
were standing, that lintli of us had ample time and a good
I opportunity of well observing them, but they pres,itly
gained a considerable nititit Ic, and in a few minutes ware
entirely lost to our view. Now, sir, if wo take into cot-
sicleration the teaser of the year, and the peculiar mule of
flight adopted by the ins, eh. in thin instance (going in •
body), the tact must at leant be viewed as something wo4t
unusual and singular."