The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 30, 1852.

ing the superiority of the Victoria mines over any
yet discovered here, there is one advantage which
this colony has over the sister province—viz., the
orderly state of society in all its ramifications, and
this is, no doubt, owing as much to the leaning, on sin..
the part of the working classes, to a quiet, upright, ,
and honest mode of life, as to the admitted effi-
ciency of the local Government. A spirit of saving
has gone among the lower orders—a desire to he-
come possessed of real property—which will, no
doubt, lead eventually to the establishment of a
sturdy yeomanry throughout the land. There can-
not be a better proof of the orderly state of this
country than the statement of the Attorney-Gene-
ral, who has just returned from Bathurst, where
the criminal assizes for the district have been held.
This district, you will observe, is one of our chief
gold-mining districts, and he reports a lighter
calendar and less crime in that part of the colony
than for some years previous, and the same obser-
vation will apply to Sydney at present.
The Administration of Sir Charles Fitzroy, the
present Governor, has been decidedly a successful
one. Under a system such as ours of two-thirds
of the Legislative Council being named by the
Crown, or by the Governor for the Crown, the
part a Governor has to play is rather a difficult
one. If he is an able, energetic man of business,
like the last Governor, the late Sir George Gipps,
he naturally wishes to have a good deal of his own
way—to see to everything himself—and is averse to
consulting the wishes of the colonists in bringing
forward his measures. The inevitable consequence
of the rule of a man of this stamp is to drive the
entire representative element in the Council into
bitter opposition. The wheels of the Executive
get clogged, and . the Government of the country
is brought to a dead lock, as it was on one or
two occasions in Sir George Gipps's time. Sir
Charles Fitzroy is a different man altogether from
Sir George Gipps ; he is, perhaps, more a man of
tact than of talent. Six years ago, when he
first assumed the government, he commenced his
administration, like'a wise man, by attaching those
who might prove troublesome to his Government
by conciliation, and his entire policy has been to
smother opposition in the bud, by industriously
conciliating and attaching those who might be
dangerous as enemies ; but you will observe that
the very opposite danger is the result of that of
Sir George Gipps's line of policy. In the one case
the tendency is to cause the people to rise against
the Government ; iu the other, the Government,
by clever mangement of the representatives of the
people, and by the influence they possess in the
Assembly through their nominees, has a tendency
to become despotic, not by force, but through cor-
ruption. Thus it is that the present system of
government in New South Wales is about the
worst that possibly could be devised for secur-
ing and maintaining the liberties of a free people ;
and it is difficult to conceive how the British
Parliament, in the very height of its wis-
dom, and after mature deliberation, could
come to the determination to fasten such
a system (it is unworthy the name of constitution)
on any community of British subjects. A system
like this of ours (it must be clear to every one, and
experience has shown) tends either to democratic
anarchy or to the despotism of a Government go-
verning by corruption. It must eventually either
drive the people into rebellion or demoralise them
into slavery ; and thus it is that our system of go-
vernment cannot work at all under the ordinary
stamp of men sent out to rule colonies, and cannot
work long under such a prudent policy as that pur-
sued by the present Governor, even when backed
by the experience and admitted talents for business
of the Colonial Secretary, Mr. Edward Peas Thomp-
son. Trade continues in a healthy condition,
money is abundant, and credit good, throughout
the entire community. There is little tendency
to extravagant speculation, or even to specula-
tion of any kind abroad ; people generally seem
inclined to be careful of their newly-acquired
wealth. There is not much alteration in our
markets since the beginning of the month ; arrivals
from England have not been heavy, and extreme
rates still rule for several articles, but prices of a
few articles have a tendency to give way a little,
on account of the demand for Melbourne having
slackened during the last week ; however, rum,
brandy, and gin, malt liquors, tea, coffee, sugar,
spices—in fact, all kinds of Eastern produce, also
boots and shoes and saddlery, are still scarce.
There is no tea fit for use to be had, and it is diffi-
cult to understand why supplies keep out so long
from China. The necessaries of life, such as bread
and meat, are in abundance. Flour is worth 231.
per ton for fine. Beef and mutton are 2d. to 2id.
per lb. retail.
The market for Manchester goods continues dull,
and to effect sales of calicoes and cotton prints a
sacrifice must be made, but is to be hoped this Sts
market may mend as population increases. A con- St.
siderable amount of coin has arrived from Eng-
land during the month, but without affecting the 20
exchanges ; indeed, the reverse has been the case, st:
as the banks have lowered the exchange still 15
further, and are now selling their draughts on Lon-
don at 30 days at 8 per cent. discount. 'Draughts `6l,
against wool and tallow, with documents, are at 91
per cent. discount, and draughts against gold dust 3
are at 12 per cent. discount. Sailors' wages con-
tinue exorbitant, and ships bound for England, or 5
any where out of the colony, continue to have the 76
greatest difficulty in getting away after completing
their loading. From 71. to 101. per month, or 6
about 451. to 501. for the trip home, is paid to sea- 10
men. At Melbourne the difficultieS of the shipping 20
interest are still greater, and 151. per month is 10
offered there, and from 601. to 70/. for the run St
home. Never was there such a country for the
working man. The port and harbour dues of
Sydney are now abolished, and the only charge
St
ships are liable to is for pilotage.

St.
20
14
50
20

50
40
25
25

FLEET-DITCH—ITS PAST AND PRESENT STATE.—In
February, 1733, the lord mayor, aldermen, and common-
council presented a petition to Parliament that a bill
might be brought in to empower them to fill in that part
of the Fleet-ditch lying between Holborn-bridge and
Fleet-street, and to convert the ground to such purposes
as seemed most suitable. By virtue of an act granted
by Parliament, this part of the Fleet-ditch was arched
over, and part of the site converted into a market, which
was opened on the 13th September, 1737 : by this means
the nuisance of the Fleet-ditch was so far hidden from
the sight of the London wayfarer, that many be-
lieved that the unsavoury stream was altogether
covered from human sight, except such portions
as they might have occasionally seen winding its almost
stagnant course through the Hampstead fields ; but until
years,nco the Fleet-ditch, with all its
uncovered through Clerkenwell and
-lane. It had, by the time it
thereached
lastt ahstetheback
ne ns
f,
oor r n
are
ole
Ifi
eegrdFh tuisite
of
Holborn-bridge, become a
increased as it was by the
of Kentish Town, Camden
psNs'ew Farringdon-street was
Tvstaorrij Imu, s
projected,oelfffs naoasgrn
Islington,
,an again
tributariesaonem. a
Portion of the Fleet was
arched ; after that most people considered that the
Fleet-ditch was a thing of the past, and only to be seen
by the sewer guardian, or by some venturous " mud
lark," who might, in defiance of the threatened punish-
ment,"explore the river," from its
termination
in searchatßlaocfkfgariairns,-bridge. So certain was it the
unsightly Fleet was now hidden from the sight and
smell, that several leading journals published congratu-
latory articles on the occasion. Unfortunately, how-
ever, this putrid river passes uncovered through the
heart of Clerkenwell : on ita shores horses, &c., are
slaughtered, other filthy trades pursued, the abomi-
nations of which we feel sure not one in a hundred of
our readers can form a just conception The
Builder.
- -

VALUE or A MINUTE !—A minute, my friend, is
something. A minute ! how many years must it seem
to somebody standing on a scaffold in the chilly
morning, with the spectre of a white night-cap grinning
over his shoulder, with the hands of Saint Sepul-
chre's Church pointing to one minute to eight, and
with but that minute plank between him and the
deep sea of eternity. A minute—Will not the thousandth
part thereof, consumed in a nimble spring to the right
or the wrong side, decide the odds between your being
landed safely on a well-swept platform heaped with Christ-
mas hampers, and hung round with jovial banners, or
placards respecting Christmas excursion trains, and your
being crushed to death beneath the remorseless wheels
f
as it glides heavily along
station ? A minute !—in
how many words of hope, or
thetoha treacherous that
sub-divisionsame excursion
railso
f t h intoe train,daythe
love, or murderous accusation, or frenzied anxiety, or
kindly greeting, will throb through the sentient wires of
the telegraph, over marsh, and meadow, and lea—
through hills and tunnels across valleys and deep
rivers ? A minute will break the back of the strong steam-
ship, and send her with all her freight of mailed war-
ners, and weather-beaten mariners, and restive chargers
down to the coral reefs and the pearls that lie in dead
men's eyes, to be no more beard of till the sea gives up
its dead ! A minute decides the Derby, settles whether
the firm of Ingots, Nuggetts, Bullion, and Co., shall go
into the Gazette, and Basinghall-street, or its senior
partner, Sir John Ingots, into the House of Peers.
Guilty or not guilty ; the billet of all the bullets at a
battle ; head or tail ; " how will you have it ?" or " no
effects ;" all these lie within the compass of a minute, of
less than a minute, of the infinitesimal particle of a
minute !—Dickens's Household Words.
WHAT STEAM HAS DoNE.—The time was when eggs
in Caithness stood a fixture summer and winter, at 3d.,
and haddocks at 6d. per dozen, and woe betide the dis-
poser if they ventured to ask a halfpenny more. We
had no steamers then. The times have changed since,
and evem in the dead of winter exporters can calcuate
on regular transit to the southern markets almost to an
hour, and hence the price of eggs has risen to 9d. per
dozen, and haddocks to 2s. per dozen. The parish of
Bower- gudewives and Whaligoe lasses are unco saucy
even at that. We have heard of one exporter of eggs
having sent up to the Edinburgh market this Season,
from Caithness, upwards of 2,0001. value of that article
alone. Of the quantity of smoked haddocks sent from
Caithness we have no data, but it must amount to a
large figure.—John O'Groat Journal.

LINES LEASED AT FIXED RENTALS,

Leasing
Compans,

London &
N. West.

Gt.Westn
Do

Do
Do
L. &N.W,
Caledon

Gt.Notrhul
Gt. Westn.

Caledon
Do
Yk. New
& Berw
Y.&N.Md
Do
Do

S. Eastern.
Do

Norfolk
Do
Lu. &N. W
& Midid
Stckton &
Darliugt.
Midland

E. Count
Do

L. & 1\ . W
&Ln& Yk
Do

Closing Prices
Yesterday.

Gt.Northn
Do
Lancash.di
Yorksh
MrMClean
Stockt.
Darling
Do
Gt.Westn ,