Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-05-17 00:00:00

AUSTRALIA.
83ve have received our usual files from Melbourne,
and Adelaide, by the arrival of the Over-
d Australian Mail. The dates are—Melbourne,
tarch 16 ; Sydney, March 12 ; and Adelaide, March
li• The news is interesting, and we proceed to give
1141 ample summary of the more important topics.

VICTORIA.
p I'!OLITICAL.—We have already stated that the Colonial
erliaraent was prorogued on the 24th of February, and the
13Deech delivered by his Excellency the Governor has
;Reared in our columns. The close of the session left the
,°llanassy Ministry still in power. When it commenced
they had a good working majority in the Lower House ;
'but as it advanced they grew gradually weaker, partly from
She falling away of disaffected supporters, and partly from
fresh reinforcements being gained by the opposition. " But
the real secret of their security," says the Melbourne Herald,
▪ lay in the weakness of their opponents. The opposition
a mere rope of sand—destitute of any one guiding or
~
'"uting principle. Even the desire of power did not hold
them together, for they were privately split up into several
little knots, each jealous of the others. Political principles
of any kind they can scarcely be said to have, since their
Party,. included all classes, from the squatter down to the
4,UVOCate of 'free selection and deferred payments.'
Destitute alike of an acknowledged leader, a bond
:of personal union, a common political faith, or even a
combined purpose, it was simply. impossible for them to
make an effective movement against the ministry. Even
upon trial occasions, when they made a show of mustering
their forces for, a grand assault, some of their most eon-
ePieuous men would find it convenient to be absent from
the house. Hence they never could get an effective
laajority together. To this, far more than to their own
inherent strength, is it owing that the O'Shanassy ministry
are still in power. They are all that the country could get
for a popular ministry; and if driven out, there were no
others to take their places. Since the prorogation a dead
elm has reigned in the political world. The government
have been busily engaged in making the preliminary
arrangements for taking the general registration under the
new act, which was introduced into parliament in conse-,
quence of a clamour being raised about the imperfect
and (as was alleged) falsified state of the old electoral
rolls. That the rolls were defective there is no denying ;
hut that they were so to an extent which rendered a per-
fectly new registration necessary, at a cost of about £40,000,
la scarcely to be conceded. However, both houses insisted
On having a new Act, and Ministers at once yielded to their
demand:, A slight change had occurred in the Ministry.
Gavan Duffy had resigned his office of Commissioner of
Lands and Survey. Further changes were talked of, but
nothing definate could be relied upon.
GoLD.—The escort returns of gold received at Melbourne
for the four weeks ending March 12, were 161,3050z5.
against 168,8710z5. same peried last year. The shipments
during the same period had been 147,0550z5. this year,
-against 202,2120z5. last year. Our intelligence from the
'nurses state that there had been a great rush to the Back
Creek, Amherst—a locality near the Pyrenees. This rush
has already produced greater excitement among the mining
population than any that has taken place since the cele-
rated rush to Ararat. The sinking is deep, and through
trap rock or blue stone, but the adventurers are
richly rewarded for the labour required to overcome those
difficulties. Thousands of people have already congregated:
on the ground, and the Back Creek at present is the centre
-of attraction from all the mining districts. Another great
rush has taken place at the Commissioner's-hill, Ararat,
and has been attended with a highly satisfactory amount of
success Altogether the present prospects of the gold-
fields are such as to impress those most competent to form
an opinion on the subject with the belief that this
year the yield of gold will greatly exceed that of 1857, or
1858. The Indigo lead is believed to be exhausted, but
those who continue to work the lower portion of the lead
are well remunerated. At the Black Dog or as the locality
has also been named New Ballaarat, several holes have been
sunk, and afforded splendid " prospects." The general
opinion of those who have mined in the Upper Murray
district with respect to New Ballaarat is that there will be
some extraordinary finds of gold there. Gold mining in
Victoria, it may safely be said, was never more promising
than at the present moment. The reefs at Tarrengower are
Paying splendidly. At Pleasant Creek, where the population
principally depend on the yield of the reefs, quartz-crushing
as the mode generally followed of procuring gold ; and
indeed this system has now become almost a necessity in
abut three-fourths of the mining districts. Some splendid
Itlggets have been found at Ballaarat, Maryborough, and
Tarrengower.
AGRICULTURE, &c.—The Registrar-General's report on
the condition of agriculture in this colony discloses a
series of tangible facts in connection with the subject of
which it treats, which go far to show that whether the
cultivation of the Victorian soil be generally accounted
Profitable, or the contrary, the work of the husbandman is
rapidly progressing throughout the length and breadth of
the land. According to the figures supplied by this official
document, it would appear that, in the year 1858, the
acreage under tillage was 237,429, being 100 acres for
every 199 of the population ; whilst in 1857, the number of
-acres under crop was 179,982, or 100 for every 228 persons.
The extent of land under crop last year was 32 per cent.
'More than in the previous twelve months, and 106 per cent.
More than in 1856. Here then is abundant proof of a steady
advance of what is destined to be a great interest—an
advance which has taken place in presence of adverse
.circumstances, and in spite of the apprehensions which have
been expressed regarding the paying character of farming

pursuits.
LABOUR.—Our reports of the labour market are not
satisfactory. The market was universally dull and inert. A
very large number of men are unemployed, but in a great
many instances they are themselves to blame, as they demand
for their services a much higher rate than farmers can pos-
sibly afford to give, when the present "miserably low"
Price of farm produce is taken into consideration. In all
the neighbouring colonies wages are at least 30 per cent.
lower than here, and producers can therefore undersell us in
our own markets with a profitable margin. The continued
arrival of fresh immigrants will swell the list of the un-
employed, more especially as the winter season is fast
aPproaehing, when only a very few permanent men are kept
°A the farm. Skilled labour is plentiful, but the differences
between the railway contractors and mechanics having been
amicably arranged, competent workmen are now fast avail-
ing themselves of the opportunity offering. The eight
uours' system has not been altered. Sub-contracting
en the main lines of railway has been done away
With. The strike on account of sub-contracting
'caused a great amount of distress while it lasted.
..here is an abundant supply of house servants,
but there is also a corresponding demand for those com-
petent for dairy work ' • there are, however, a good many
females unemployed, but solely because they will. not take
-country service. First-class servants are in request at very
high wages. With rations : Married couples for home
stations, farms, &c , per annum, £6O to £7O ; do, for hotels,
&C.) £7O to £BO • shepherds, £3O to £35 ; bullock drivers
for roads per week, 20s. to 255. ; hutkeepers, per annum,
£26 ; bullock drivers for stations, £.52 do ; cooks for hotels,
20s. to 455. per week ; sheep washers and station servants,
do, 205.; ploughmen and farm servants, 20s. to 225. 6d. per
week , carpenters for stations, 30s. to 355. ; gardeners, per
annum, from £52 to £65 ; grooms, do, £52 ; general smiths
for stations, 30s. to 40s. per week ; able seamen, per month,
£4 10s. to £5. Rations according to authorised scale, viz. :
10 lb. flour, 12 lb meat, 2 lb. sugar, and I, lb. tea, each
person per week. Without Rations : Carpenters, for town,
lls. to 13s. per day ; masons, bricklayers. plasterers, black-
smiths, 13s. to 16s. per day ; unskilled labourers, 7s. 6d.
to Bs. per day ; quarrymen, 10s. to 12s. per day ; splitters,
posts and rails, per 100, 20s. to 255., according to timber;
fencers, three rail, 2s. 3d. per red. Female Servants':
Laundresses and cooks, £35 to £4O per annum ; housemaids
and general servants from £26 to £3O do. ; nursemaids £l6
to £26 ; needle-women, £25 to £3O.

COMMERCIAL.
MELBOURNE, March 16. The course of mercantile
affairs, since the departure of the Februaty mail steamer,
has not been marked by any event of importance, or by
any improvement in the condition of the produce or import
anarkets. It can, indeed, be scarcely expected thAt any
favourable change will take place until definite advices are
received, with reference to a fallling off in the gross totals
of exports from the United Kingdom to Australian ports.
At present quotations fluctuate from month to month, and
are affected, one way or the other, according as the latest
intelligence points to a redi.ction in shipments, or the
contrary. No continued and systematic efforts have been
made by exporters to regulate their colonial transactions in
accordance with the diminished requirements of consumers
in this direction, and the necessary consequence is that,
with the exception of a very few articles, there is absolutely
no demand whatsoever, speculative or otherwise, for the
descriptions of imports, which are now held for higher rates,
or sold at a heavy loss. The non-arrival of the Columbian
with the Jan. mails, tends to increase the prevailing depres-
sion, and renders intending purchasers exceedingly cautious.
Pending the appearance of the mail steamer, therefore, no
change of importance is looked for, save in the value of
those provisions which are held in small quantities, and are
In extensive request. The demand for bulk ales has not
fallen off, and first-class brawls are worth £9 2s 6d to 49 ss: