The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-14 00:00:00

NEW SOUTH WALES,

(From the Times' Correspondent.)
SYDNEY, Jan. 20.

The colony has passed very comfortably through
a Cabinet crisis. The operation has been a very
mild one. The general election resulted in such a
very decisive expression of public opinion adverse to
the Martin Ministry that it made no attempt to
continue is office. As a matter of form it awaited
the usual vote of want of confidence, the Premier
considering it a point of honour to be extinguished
in the usual way, and explaining to his somewhat
impatient antagonists that the reason why he had
kept them waiting to the last was that it would
have been cowardly in him to evade the vote of cen-
sure by a premature resignation. Having advised a
dissolution and appealed to the public he did not
think it seemly to accept a mere presumption of
being beaten, but preferred to stand up before the
Parliament he had invited and be knocked down
with a properly planted blow. The Opposition was
in too good a humour to quarrel with him at the
last, as he promised to die without resistance,
although there had been a great deal of grumbling
previously at the unconscionable time he was keep-
ing them waiting. The ceremony of ousting the
Ministry was performed very promptly. As soon as
the forms attendant on opening the session were got
through, Mr. Cowper moved a resolution of want
of confidence, in a speech remarkable for brevity and
a total absence of anything that could give rise to
debate. Mr. Martin replied with equal brevity, and
without any further discussion the vote was passed.
We have had a good many " crises" since we have
tasted the delights of responsible government, but
this is the first time we have had that has been
conducted so pleasantly. Mr. Cowper, of course,
was sent for, and after a very short delay, and
without any attempt to do anything else, he recon-
structed his old Cabinet. His colleagues think he
could not have done better ; but the disappointed
ones marvel he did not see that some change
was expedient. It is whispered that there were no
fewerthau eight expectants for the office of Secretary
for Public Works, and that the muttered grumblings
are very audible.
Four of the Ministers have been re-elected, and
the fifth is at present unopposed. The re-elected
members have had their return contested, though
feebly. Three were opposed by the same person,
one Dalgleigh, who was returned to the last Parlia-
ment by the trades' unions as a working-man's mem-
ber, and who lost his re-election in consequence of
his having voted for the Protectionist tariff. Having
been a worker, and being now a small dealer in iron,
he has set up as a critic of the engineering skill of
Mr. Whitton, the engineer-in-chief of our railways,
and of the honesty of Sir Morton Peto and Co., the
contractors for our recent extensions, and having
denounced theirrespective incompetence and roguery
has acquired considerable popularity as a people's
friend and a reformer of abuses, and hopes to find
his reward, some say as Minister for Works. There
is nothing in our institutions to prevent his succeed-
ing, unless he gets afflicted with a touch of modesty
or remorse, in which case his chance is gone. He is
under a cloud for a time in consequence of his vote
against free trade, but he will emerge again, as he has
now declared himself in favour of open ports and
direct taxation.

The only financial statement made by the late
Ministry was that the deficit for last year was over
£400,000. This, added to the deficit of the previous
year, makes the total amount of arrears £BOO,OOO.
The rate of expenditure is still in excess of the
income, so that some fresh taxation is inevitable.
It is reported that the Ministry are contemplating
an income-tax, but nothing certain is yet known.
Such a tax would be very popular with the demo-
cracy, because it is supposed that •no incomes under
£2OO a year would be taxed. But the expense of
collecting an income tax in the sparsely peopled
interior would be very great, especially as we
have no provincial governments to assist in the
details.

One thing only is certain, and that is that the
Ministry will not attempt anything like Protection.
There may be some alteration of the tariff, and pro-
bably will be, but it will not be of a protective cha-
racter. The general election has rendered us that
service ; it has settled the Protectionist cry for a
time. The only thing that could bring about a
rapid reaction will be the threatened imposition of
an income tax. Universal suffrage throws the
supreme power into the hands of the working
classes, and if the taxation also presses chiefly on
them, the taxation and the representation go to-
gether. The advocates of direct taxation do not
ask for such an immediate financial revolution as
shall substitute an income tax for the existing
Customs' revenue, but they ask that the tax may
be established to meet our present difficulties, and
when the machinery is organised the tax can
be increased, and the Custom-homes shut up.
The propertied classes do not relish the idea of
having no share in the management, and they will
certainly oppose the introduction of the thin edge
of the wedge, and if forced to choose between an
income fax and Protection they may come round to
choose the latter.

To meet objections it has been proposed in some
quarters to give a cumulative vote in proportion to
the amount of income tax payable. But this idea
is abhorrent to the pure democracy. To teach that
property gives electoral rights is to defile the pure
gospel of republicanism. Manhood is the essential
element, and property is only a contemptible acci-
dent. It is true that the greater portion of our
legislation relates to propertyin some shape or other,
but that does not give the holders of property any
right to dictate the laws.

The present Ministry is not likely to be very
rapidly democratical, for though it won its position
by ultra professions, it has undergone the mellowing
influence of official life. It is impossible to say,
however, how far it may be pushed by its supporters.
The present assembly, so far as can be judged at
present, is not likely to be so urgent in its demo-
cratic tendencies as its predecessor. There is a
change for the better in the composition of the
House, and we may hope for a little improvement
in the tone of our legislation.
It may interest the members of the Church of
England to hear that the subject of a local synod
has again been discussed at the instigation of the
bishop. Three years ago a conference of lay and
clerical delegates was held, at which a bill to legalize
a diocesan synod was agreed to. At that time it
was assumed to be illegal for a synod to meet without•
the royal sanction. The local parliament, however,
seemed very adverse to the bill, and a strong mino-
rity within the church was opposed to it, and the
bill was withdrawn. This year the bishop again,
summoned a conference, and laid before it an en-
abling bill, based on the Canadian model. A small
minority in the conference was opposed to any legis-
lation at all, preferring synodal action based on a
consentual compact, as in New Zealand and South
Australia; but the majority thought otherwise, and
was disposed to continue the labours of the original
conference. The bishop's bill was therefore laid
aside, the original draft adopted, and a committee
appointed to carry through parliament a bill lega-
lizing the ecclesiastical constitution thus assented
to by the conference. It is thought that the present
assembly will not refuse the bill, the more especially
as the Presbyterians have on hand a kindred bill to
consolidate a union among some of the scattered
portions of their body, or at least to recognise
the union, and deal with the temporalities
jealous
among There is a great deal ofealousy
among the different sects, and, of course, a very
vigilant watch kept to see that no one steals a march
on the rest by getting any superior legal recognition.
In the present case the Episcopalians contend that
they are asking for no more than the Presbyterians
are. The latter have formed a union and ask the
Legislature to recognise it ; the former have agreed
to a synod, and ask the Legislature to recognise it.
But the Presbyterians say that they do not ask the
aid of the civil power to enforce the decrees of their
Church courts ; but as an existing Presbyterian Act
provides that the temporalities shall go not only with
the doctrine but with the established discipline of the
Church, the distinction drawn seems rather shadowy.
It is probable that the present will be an ecclesi-
astical session, for in addition to the two denomina-
tional. bills alluded to, the question of State aid to
religion is to be revived. The last Parliament pro-

vided that that aid should cease with the lives of
the present incumbents, but it is said that in the
present Assembly there is a majority in favour of
reversing that legislation.