The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-24 00:00:00

AU S rRALIA.

ARRIVAL OF THE OCEAN CHIEF.

Tlic Black Ball Lino of packet-ship Ocerui Thief,

under the .command of Captain Tobin, has
arrived in the Mersey fronss-ilielbourne, with ad-
- --
• vices to. the 2nd of Ds.cember, after a passage of
eighty-two days. - •
She has :orought home 73,000 ounces of gold,
value; 1 at about 300,0001, and 2,000 bales of wool
besides a good general cargo. The Blackwell
sailed for London on the saihe day, with the mails
and 78.000 ounces of gold.
The • Marco Polo of the Black Ball Line had
arrived out at. Melbourne from Liverpool, after a
Passage of 83 days.
The Royal Charter (steamer), which had been
61 days at sea from Liverpoel, was anxiously looked
for,' but up to the last aceounts.bad not arrived.
The Qcean Chief hes brought 73 paSsengers.
The Mermaid was to sail in a few days for Liver-
pool, and the Admiral was to sail on the 12th
December, for London.
The advises now to hand are nearly three weeks
Inter than those previously received.
The Parliament elected under the new constitu-
tion was opened by Major-General MacArthur on
the 25th of November. It was expected that
an announcement would be made of some
additions to the tarriff. It was reported
that, in place of the present capitation-tax on the
Chinese, the Gevernment propose to impose duties
on rice and opium, and that a' duty on confections
would also be ,Proposed. The 'Melbourne Price
Current, however,. says, " No intimation of these
changes is given in the address, and we must say
, • that we think it unlikely that any duty will be im-
posed on lice, or on any other common article of
.food. It is. probable, however, that duties will be
-.proposed on opium, possibly on Chinese medicines,
and confections. It seems anamolous that there
• should be a duty on sugar and not on confections:
The Governor in his address announces that he has
• beersin: communication with the Governments of
the neighbouring colonies, with the view of assimi-
lating thes various tariffs ; and it seems highly
probable that his efforts will be successful. There
. can be no doubt that such a measure would be of
immense benefit, not only to the trading classes, but
alsoSto the entire, colonial communities." The same
paper says, "Since our "last issue no very marked
change has taken place in trade. Notwithstanding
. the holiday time connected with the opening of Par-
liament, there has been a tolerably steady business
in many descriptions of goods, but importers still
complain that the amount of .transactions usual at
this seasonis deficient. The truth appears to be, tat
the stocks Of imported goods generally are plentiful
• and that business is very much diyisied., Cams'
queutly, though orders from tLe 'Country come in
dreely, the effect is not maleb- felt. In addition to
this, the, intelligence thaE home - shippers intend
going into the ss'a Ust:ralian trade with energy, pre-
vents retailea,i- from entering freely, into transac-
tions 7:ash irapartera—Jhey only buy for actual
w.:..nte, and it is not expected that the summer's
-ti de will be active, The weather hitherto has
been unusually cold, and summer in fact is only
Stow toinmencing."
,I'schange on London was quoted at one per
gent premium for bills of thirty days. The Bank
rates of discount ranged at seven per cent for
ninety-five days, and eight per cent for over ninety-
five clays paper.
'Gold 'deposits of considerable value have been
found lately 'at Chinaman's Flat, near Marybo-
sough. " We have heard of 100. lbs. weight and
upwarda, in several instances, being taken out of
a single hole, which may have taken a couple of
weeks to work out. There are about 15,000
people there at present ; but a considerable ins
crease may, be anticipated-. In the direction of
'Mount Korong, several large nuggets have been
found, two of which weigh respectively 381 oz
and 323 oz. The quartz veins, also, in differen
parts of the country, have lately yielded exceed
.ingly good returns. Great numbers of Chinese
are now flocking towards the Ovens ; and as this
place affords great facilities for summer opera
tions, on account of the plentiful supply of water,
a large increase of population may be confidently
expected. It 'is estimated that there are at least
'40,000 Chinese on the various gold fields. They
arc - a very quiet, plodding,' industrious race,
They are heavily taxed, even for diggers, as it
teas thought they would almost submit to any-
thing. However they are now making a stand.;
and, the other day the House -of Assembly was
somewhat taken Asy surprise, when Mr. Grant,
a member for Bendigo, presented a petition with
5000 signatures attached to it in Chinese charac-
ters, praying -for a removal of some of their bur. 7
dens., •
7The price of standard gold is quoted at 31 14s
per ounce ; dust and bars 31 16s 3d, and 3/ 18s 3d,
according to quality.
The total quantity of gold received by escort
during the current year, up to November 28,
inclusive, amount to 2,397,898 oz 5 dwts. ; and the
total quantity shipped dining the same period,
2,876,094 oz. 9 dwts, or 119 tons 16 cwt. 2 qrs.
There „had been entered for shipment, per Ocean
Chief, 55,289 oz. 18 dwts ; per Blackwell, 48,831
a. '4 dwts. ; and per Electra, 14,169 oz.. 3 dwts.

The above appeared in our second edition of
yesterday, and we now proceed to furnish our
readers with an ample summary of the intelligence
brought by the Ocean Chief.
POLITI.,'AL.—The meeting of the first free parliament
had token place. As the day of opening drew near, the
interest and curiosity of the public respectieg it were
strongly excited. The parliament first met f)r business on
Friday, the 21A November, but the formal ceremonial of
its opening by the Acting dovernor in person was deferred
till Tuesday, the 25th. In order to stamp the occasion
With the greater pnb.ic importance the government deemed
it expedient to proclaim Thursday, the 20. h, as a day of
prayer for the blessing of heaven on the deliberations of
the new legielature. This step was by no means in
accordance with the general feeling of the community.
The day happened, besides, to be the second day of the
Melbourne races ; and consequently the intention of
the government proved a failure. In point of
fact, the day was made a public holiday ; but
services were held in several of the places of worship, at
which the aggregate attendance was very limited. Tee
council had chosen as its president, Dr. Palmer, the gentle-
man who filled the office of speaker of--the old legislative--
council, from the commencement to the close of its career.
It is believed that this was the best choice the council could
have made. In the Assembly all eyes were turned to the
disposition of political parties. Contrary to all precedent
and parliamentary usage, the. Government have fit el up
the chamber with cross benches; and the point of interest
was to note how many members would take their seats on
each of the three sides of the house ; the choice of bench
being held as indicative of the political principles of the
raember, whether ministerial, popular, or ceiatral, . Of the
60 members -composing the hoqse, 57 were present te take
their seats ; and of these, 12 chose seats on th,minisle;i,i
lo,mches, 24 on the opposition benches, and 21 on the cross
benches. Amongst the latter, however, were several
members who had previously declared their opposition
to the Government as loudly as any of the members of the'
Opewition had done. The design of the cross benchers
in choosing their seats evidently was, to indicate that they
held to no common positive policy, and were not necessarily
prepared either to support or oppose any one of the parties
on either side of them. The three absent membe,l bavo
since taken their seats, and have all sat down with the
opposition. Tais increases the number of the party to 27,
or nearly one half the house. The Assembly elected es
their speaker, Dr. Francis Murphy, a gentleman who had
been a member of the old council throughout its whole
course, and had once filled in it the office of chairman of
committees. The only cotnnetitor with him for the
speakership was Mr. C. J. Griffith, a gentleman also of
legisla,orial experience and rempec`able abilities. Dr.
Ilarphy gained the position by 30 votes against 17. Par-
liament having been formally opened, His Excellency the
actin- governor, delivered the following speech :
MR, actin,
AND GENTLEMEN OF THE LEGISLATIVE
_CoUNCIL :
StEAICER AND GENTLEMEN OF TILE LEGISLATIVE
AssaainLY :
In dischaiging the honourable duty of opening the fist Par-
liament of Victoria, I cmlitace with great satisfaction the
opportunity which is afforded to me of congratulating you upon
the attainment of the object for which the country has during
many years struggled—the establishment, in the fullest degree,