The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-28 00:00:00

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E4e kortljtru Mutts

MONDAY, JANUARY

28, 1856

TAE commercial news brought from Australia by

the Champion of

Seas is, on the whole, exceed

ingly encouraging. The export trade of Melbourne
was active, and shows an excess over imports, from
the Ist of January to the 20th of October, of
The production of gold showed a

1,908,513

steady pr

ogressive increase ; population was also
rapidly pouring in to develop° its inexhaustible
supplies, and nearly every species of labour was
in demand, at remunerative wages. All this we
should have thought sufficient to have secured our
system of Colonial government from all reproach,
and to have left the Colonists nothing more to desire.
But political wrongs appeared to be the alloy which
belongs to the material greatness and happiness of
nations. When mankind have nothing to ask
beyond the honest administration of public affairs,
and something bordering on a respect for the laws
under which they live, and public decorum, some
mortal, apeing the tyrant, and abusing the trust
reposed in him, appears on the stage to
destroy the harmony of society, and fill the public
mind with discontent and disgust. Amidst the
bustle of clearing large bullion freights, and
shipping millions of pounds of wool and other
produce, the people of Victoria were called upon
to attend public meetings for the purpose of
adopting addresses to Her MAJESTY, complaining
of the arbitrary conduct of Sir HENRY Fox
YOUNG, the Governor of Van Dieman's Land,
whose proceedings in a case of alleged peculation
in the convict ';department of that Colony, we
have already noticed.
It would bo impossible, as we before observed
to enter into the merits of the charge at this'
distance. We can merely deal with the fact that
the subject was thought of sufficient importance
to justify some of the leading members of the
Colonial Legislature bringing it before the House
of Assembly, that the majority of that body
demanded an investigation into the conduct of
the head of the convict department, and that
the enquiry was refused, and the Assembly
most unceremoniously prorogued by the
Governor. That such conduct should
produce great excitement throughout the
Australian Colonies is by no means surprising.
The meeting held in Melbourne was presided over
by the chief magistrate, and the resolutions
passed. at that meeting are a true reflex of the
opinions entertained in this country on such
subjects. They commence by statinn, that the
claim asserted by the Legislative
Council to
compel the attendance of witnesses to be examined
before select committees of that body, is indis
pensable to the due exercise of one of the most
important functions of a Legislature. They next
assert that suddenly proroguing the Council for
suppressing enquiry into
the purpose of forcibly
the " conduct of certain officers of the convict
" department of the Colony charged with the
" grossest malversation of their respective offices,''
and the unprecedented mode of prorogation
adopted by the Governor in going into the Council
at a late hour of the night, in the midst of a debate,
without the usual formal notice, was an abuse of
the powers confided to him by her most gracious
MAJfesTv,which is calculated to bring her name and
authority into contempt, and which would, if suc-
cessful, be utterly destructive to the independence
of the legislature. The meeting further recorded
their sympathy with the Tasmanian council, in
what they call a conflict with an arbitrary and
irresponsible executive, and tendered to them the
assurance of " cordial support, in maintaining

That Sir HENRY YOUNG has been recalled is pro-
bable enough ; but will the charges brought
against those whom his conduct was likely to
screen be passed over in silence? In the resolutions
adopted at a public meeting held at Glamorgan, in
Tasmania, it is broadly stated " that the proceed-
" ings of his Excellency the Governor, and
" the Executive Couucil, since the last meeting
"of the Legislative Assembly have been
" rash hasty, and unconstitutional, in thwart-
" ing the endeavours of the select committee

" in the investigation of the convict department
" for the gross neglect charged against it, even to
normous loss of life." What this enormous loss
_
s we cannot understand. It is not
Sir HENRY YOUNG has added

of life me

possible that

bloodshed to his rash. hasty, and unconstitutional
conduct. Me cannot have made war against the
Colonists for merely insisting on their civil rights.
Can it be that through the mal-administration
of the convict department that the lives of
the unfortunate criminals have been sacri-
_
Mr. LOWE, the member for Kid-
derminster, will probably give Parliament some

ficed ?

information on these most important topics

)lICHER

responsibl

se conduct of men appointed to such onerous
he became Colonial Secretary

situations, befc

The country must, therefore, look to Parliament
for explanation and redress in the present instance.

With a

lore such "rash, hasty, and unconst

the Governor of Tasmania, spread

over our Coloni

should soon have a ivholc

circle of " wars of independence" on our hands, and
might be very glad to accept Mr. GLADSTONE'S
policy, as the future of our invaluable Colonial
Empire.

IT would be impossible for the Ministry to meet
Parliament without some grand naypes, and it is
hoped that peace negotiations will prove triumfo.
Let who will shuffle and cut, England must deal

fairly with the whole question. She must
neither be guided by dynastic influences nor by
fanaticism. She must not yield to Austrian threats,
Prussian frowns, or German interests. If Europe
desires peace, and if we would restore the world's

tranquillity on a solid basis, we mustisecure to all
nations the enjoyment of those rights and privileges
we seek for ourselves. The re-building of the
fortifications of Bomarsund would not be a menace
to this country alone. Their re-construction would
be undertaken for the sole purpose of coercing
Denmark and Sweden, and tyrannising over the
world's commerce in the Baltic. Such military and
naval works would only be engaged in for despotic
purposes, and if we suffer them to be prosecuted
by the CZAR, the next generation may witness the
banishment of consular agents from the Russian
ports of the Baltic, as well as those of the Euxine,
and the Sea of Azoff. That Great Britain should
have submitted to Muscovite dictation
on such subjects for such a length of time, is really
unpardonable. Our trade with the Russian ports
of the Black Sea has amounted to some millions
annually, and yet we have only been allowed four
Consuls in those seas, to watch over the interests
of the British subjects engaged in it. Had such a
national grievance been generally known, it is
more than probable, it would have led to a war
between the two countries long since. We had a
Consul at Odessa, Ismail, Kertch, and Taganrog,
but in the whole of the vast Russian empire, we

had but nineteen Consular agents; while, in
the

comparatively small states of Sardinia, we had
. _

eighteen ; Norway, twenty-two ; Portugal, thirty-
one : the Two Sicfiies, thirty ; and Turkey, fifty-
two. If these numbers go for anything, they
show the hostility with which absolute Powers
view the presence of those whose business it is to
watch over our commerce. In Austria, we have
only four Consuls, and in Prussia, eight. We :may
have far too many of these agents in other countries,
such as Portugal; but, still, there exists no positive
objection on the part of Constitutional Govern-
ments to our looking diligently after our trade.
Now, in negotiating peace, the Allies should
secure to themselves the right of establishing Con-
sulates in any portion of the Russian dominions
they may think proper. We would not demand
this simply for ourselves, but in the

" inviolate their right to inquire into abuses,
" affecting the welfare of the colony, and thereby
" maintain the rights and liberties of the people
" whom they represent." Similar meetings have
been held in other parts of Australia, and we shall
be curious to see how her Majesty will receive their
addresses, and what course her advisers will pur-
sue in the matter.