The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-13 00:00:00

T.HE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

The anniversary banquet of the Australian Asso-
ciation took place last night at the Freemasons'
Tavern, and the occasion being also the celebration
of the 75th anniversary of the foundation of the
Australian colonies, nearly 200 gentlemen connected
with or interested in the welfare of our great
Southern dependencies were present, including the
Duke of Newcastle, Lord Stanley, Lord C. Paget,
Lord A. Churchill, Sir J. Pakington, Lord Elcho,
Sir R. Murchison, Sir John Dickinson, Sir Charles
Clifford, Sir Daniel Cooper, Sir William Holmes,
the Commissary-General-in-Chief, General Mac-
arthur, Colonel Last, Mr. Alderman Salomons, M.P.,
Mr. Clive, M.P., Mr. Childers, M.P., Mr. Marsh,
M.P., Mr. Justice Therry, the Hon. S. Stuart
Wortley, Capt. Bagot, Capt. Clarke, R.E., &c.
Sir J. Palmer, formerly President of the Legis-
lative Assembly of Victoria, presided as chairman.
The cloth having been rOnoved, the usual loyal
toasts were drunk in respectful silence:
The CHAIRMAN then proposed, " the Army, Navy,
and Volunteers," including the name of Lord Pal-
merston as the foremost Volunteer to support the
military power and dignity of Great Britain.
Major-General MACARTHUR responded for the
army, and alluded to the fidelity which British
soldiers had ever exhibited in the Australian colo-
nies in the face of extraordinary temptations.

Lord CLARENCE PAGET returned thanks for the
navy, for which service he claimed Lord Palmerston
as its best friend in recent times. The connexion
between the British navy and our colonies was so
intimate and continuous that none but the most
cordial feelings of friendship could exist between
them ; but he might mention one fact which had not
yet been made public, that during the late American
crisis the Duke of Somerset and his colleagues had
taken ample precautions for the defence of our mag-
nificent colonial dependencies, and for the protection
of the immense amount of property continually par-
sing between them and the mother country. (Hear,
hear.) lie however recommended the Australian
colonists to follow the example of Great Britain, and
from their ample maritime resources to form a naval
reserve, which would be of great service in defend-
ing their coasts from attack.
Lord ELcuo, on behalf of the Volunteers, who he
said were entitled to credit for the sacrifices they
had made for the public service, returned thanks for
the good feeling exhibited towards them by their
colonial fellow-subjects. At the same time, he felt
that the origination of a Volunteer force was
to be attributed to those colonies which in 1854
not only undertook to perform all military
duties, but proposed to raise a regiment for service
in the Crimea. (Hear.) Some remarks had been
made about a supposed decline in the numbers of
the Volunteers in Great Britain, and possibly there
was some falling off, but he believed there was no
fear of the magnificent array being materially di-
minished. Some there might be whose zeal had
been greater than their means, and who were not
able to replace the uniform when worn out, but he
hoped that Government would be more generous
towards that class, and bear in mind the example
of Australia, where the whole expense of uniform
and accoutrements for Volunteers was defrayed out
of the public purse. (Hear.)
The CHAIRMAN then proposed " the health of her
Majesty's Ministers."
The Duke of NEWCASTLE returned thanks, and
expressed his gratification at meeting so many of
his fellow-countrymen who had spent much of their
lives and devoted many of their efforts to establish
the prosperity of the great Australian colonies of
Great Britain. He thanked them for the honour
they had done to his colleagues and himself by
the toast they had just drunk, but he was fully
aware that in so doing they only intended to exem-
plify the intimate connection between the colonies
and this country apart from any party preference
or predilection, and that the existing Government
of the day was recognised as a Constitutional insti-
tution which they honoured and respected. They
had been pleased to do him ample justice in his de-
sire to perform his duties as Colonial Minister as
much as possible for the benefit of the colonies. The
duties of a Colonial Secretary were now very diffe-
rent from what they were a few years ago. We had
now no discontented colonies. We received now
from none of the numerous dependencies of Great
Britain a single word of serious complaint, nor a
murmur of disloyalty, and that not because dis-
loyalty was repressed, but because it nowhere
existed. (Hear.) In former times a Colonial Sec-
retary had a difficult task to perform, for he had to
rely to a certain extent upon the exercise of his
own will. At the present time he had an equally
difficult but wholly different task to perform, for he
had by patience, by forbearance, and by prudence
to influence and modify the acts and intentions of
those who now possess the power of governing
themselves. But he could say that the benefits of
that system were gradually showing themselves in
many ways. If he could no longer, as Colonial
Secretary, order this thing or that thing to be done,
still there was a growing disposition on dm part of
enlightened colonists to listen to honest advice ten-
dered by a Colonial Secretary of State, and in a
recent instance, in one of the Australian colonies,
upon that most delicate point, a money bill, the
Legislature of the colony had yielded to his opinion
and had altered the bill in compliance with his sug-
gestions. (Hear.) Not only was there no disloyalty
in any of our colonies, but
colonies, and
prevailed every-
where, except in one of the Australian
of that he would only say that he entertained a con-
fident hope that, under the influence of the distin-
guished man who was now called to govern that
colony, peace might speedily be restored and per-
manently maintained. Some allusion had been made
to'Canada, and recent events were said to have shown
that loyalty there amounted to a passion ; but if so,
it was a sober and well regulated passion. (Hear.)
The attitude of those colonies of North America
during the recent crisis was one of the most strik-
ing events of modern times. When an indignity had
been offered to our flag—and it was their flag as
well as the flag of Great Britain—the Canadians,
without a murmur- n l
of dissatisfaction, prepared to
meet the probable danger that would follow, and
when the
slghal was given by the Government of

w rAPER
seat Britain, the populatiod of t ETirettii
rican colonies rose as one man, an *Tetiliirtroc: 4nr.l
with this country in vindicate
leur common flag, notwithstanding thelnevableS
sacrifice of life and property which a hostile inva-
sion of their country would entail. (Hear.) It might
seem inappropriate to make these remarks at a time
when two opinions of different natures were so
freely put forth—one was the art of colonisation
had been lost, and the other that it was for the in-
terest of this country to cast off all her colonies en-
tirely. If the art of colonisation meant the founda-
tion of powerful, happy, and prosperous communi-
ties in distant parts of the world, then he appealed
to the gentlemen whom he saw around him whether
the Australian colonies did not disprove the state-
ment of a lost art of colonisation. (Hear.) When
before in the history of the world had such a sight
been seen as a vast continent which within the
lives of still existing men had been uninhabited by
a single Englishman but was now the site of several
large and flourishing colonies P The head of the
Government for which he was returning thanks
might remember, although then very young, the
foundation of those colonies, for all but two of them
had sprung up within 20 years, and the youngest
was yet but three years old. (Hear.) And now what
was the ',population of those Australian colonies?
They possessed a population of 1,250,000, a revenue
of the comparative enormous amount of £6,500,000.

They carried on an export trade, which occupied
1,500,000 tons of shipping in the carriage of ex-
ports valued at £21,000,000, while the imports
amounted to £25,000,000, of which no less than
£16,000,000 came from the mother country. (Hear.)
These facts disproved the idea that colonisation was
a lost art, and also proved that colonies were of use
and advantage even in the low pecuniary aspect of
the question. Within the last ten years no less than
£100,000,000 worth of gold had been exported from
Australia, and principally to this country. This
remarkable operation had been conducted without
the occurrence of those (disastrous events which
had been anticipated by some persons, for during
that very period of ten years the number of acres
under 'cultivation in those colonies rose from
60,000 to 300,000 ; the export of wool had in-
creased in value from £BOO,OOO to £2,000,000. That
was the material evidence of prosperity. But the
colonies had adopted the laws of the mother coun-
try, their Legislatures had generally followed the
example of England in framing their statutes, and
he thought he might refer, as an example of the
peculiafpower of adaptation to circiunstances among
the Anglo-Saxon race, to the manner in which the
enormous influx of population caused by the gold
discoveries had been met by a system of taxation
and establishment of miners' courts, which had per-
fectly answered their purpose. He could not, how-
ever, say that he approved the democratic spirit in
which some measures had been conceived—(hear,
hear)—and he doubted whether an institution—
manhood suffrage—which had not been thought
suitable for the old country, was well fitted for a
population that was constantly moving, and did not
possess those established rights and interests which
were to be found here. (Hear, hear.) Although he
felt regret upon that subject, still he did not despair,
for he believed that the people of the colonies
would look to the example of this country, and
seeing how little disposed the working classes are
to those extensive changes which are frequently
urged upon them, will not fail practically to apply
the lesson thus taught. He could only hope that
they would guard with precious care the purity of
the bench of justice. (Hear, hear.) That was a
most important point, and one of great difficulty
under other institutions. Party spirit, even in this
country, had a tendency sometimes—not often—to
introduce upon the bench of justice men more de-
serving for their partisanship or their political
services than for their judicial acquirements ; but
how much greater would be the same danger in a
smaller community, with more democratic institu-
tions, where the changes of Government were more
rapid and frequent, and where the field of selection
was so much more restricted P He thought that
for those offices the opinion should be taken, not
of the Secretary of State, but of some recognised
authority at holm—some retired judge, if one
could be induced to accept the responsibility, and
in that way he believed the purity of the bench
of justice could be secured, and the welfare of
the colony promoted. It was, however, true in
one sense that we had lost the art of colonisation,
for the rule by force of arms was gone, but we
had acquired another and a better art, the Govern-
ment of our colonies by the force of mutual affee,-
tion and interest, and he hoped that the day might
never return when a single redcoat should fire a shot
or point a bayonet in hostility at any British colo-
nist. If any colony wished to separate from us—
if they thought their strength was sufficient to
allow them to stand alone—we should not seek to
restrain them by force. Those days were long
past. But he believed that the present attachment
between Great Britain and her colonies was such
that it would be a long day ere the union between
them was severed, or sought to be severed, by
either of them. (Hear, hear.)
The Duke of NEWCASTLE then proposed, "Pro-
sperity to the Australian Colonies," which was re-
sponded to by the CHAIRMAN.
In reply to the toast of" the Lords and Commons,'
The Duke of NEWCASTLE returned thanks for
the former, and remarked that no compliment
could be more appreciated by the body which he
represented than that which was paid to it by gen-
tlemen representing communities in which an he-
reditary Chamber was unknown.
Sir I. PAKINGTON, on behalf of the Commons,
said there was but one feeling in that house as re-
garded goodwill towards the colonies. Haying
been in office when the gold discoveries in Austra-
lia first became known, it had been his anxious
duty to adopt measures for the occasion, and he
was truly rejoiced to find that those gold disco-
veries had not only tended to the material prospe-
rity of Australia, but had also contributed to the
happiness of all other nations. He agreed with
the noble duke in regretting the introduction of
extreme democratic institutions, as he did not be-
lieve they would lead to general advantage or good
government, and he thought the colonists would do
well to study and compare the history and institu-
tions of England and the United States.
Lord STANLEY proposed, "The Governors and
Legislatures of the Australian Colonies." The
noble lord said that there had been a time when
any man of good family lacking means and talent
was thought good enough to be a colonial governor.
(Hear, hear.) But that state of things had passed
away, and during the 70 years of existence of the
Australian Colonies he thought the Colonial-office
had more reason for prais n
hear.)detoht always
a Theanshyasme in the men
whom they had appointed to represent the
task of an
Australian in
the Crown
colonies.
(Hear,
o r W an easy one.
H o distant
had t o deal v
with an assembly elected by almost
universal exercising entire control over
I the finances
suffrage,and
0 ssessing
the power of withdraw-
ing confidence from the Ministry. In some colonies
that power was not allowed to slumber, and in one
it had been exercised upon an average once in every
six months. (Hear, and laughter.) But the Go-
vernor could exercise a judicious and temperate
control, and if he did not edesire to be a mere cipher,
o r
actt compromiseith patience,
tact,
Crown
w n by hasty
eommonsense.t Upon
the other hand, to
haddealu lmwusitt h
universal
v populationers a
e d u
rich in material wealth, with .
cation, and animated by a desire for the continu-
ance of the British connection. The Legislatures
had their important duties to perform. It remained
for the British colonies to test how far the experi-
ment of popular self-government would work upon
a large scale for a long time. If that experiment
could be successful, it could not be tried under
more advantageous circumstances than in the Aus-
tralian colonies. They had a new country, a homo-
geneous population, wealthy, and free from all ex-
ternal danger. Those who threw away these
advantages would incur grave responsibilities to
their country. If those advantages were usedfipro-
perly, they would not only raise a magnificent
empire, but they would do much to mould the poli-
tical organisation of the world. ear.)
"The memory of Burke and Wills, the Austra- .
lien explorers," was proposed and seconded by
Captain CLARKE and Dr. O'Co
Other toasts wee© given, which
srtcon.
protracted the
proceedings until past midnight.
The dinner was worthy of the well-known repu-
tation of the establishment.

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