The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-29 00:00:00

3DAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 29, 1854.

A TTSTRALIA.

SYDNEY, SEPT. 20,—The Madras arrived here
with the mails of July in 60 days from the latest
London date ; they were- delivered at Port Philip
within 57. The fact that such a passage can be
accomplished has given the greatest satisfaction to
all classes in the.eolony, especially at a period when
intelligence from Europe is expected with such
feverish anxiety. The hope of establishing any-
thing- like a speedy and. regular communication with
England was grovying very faint, and required
something to revive it.

As but a short time has elapsed since the depar-
ture of the Crcesus, there is no great mass of intel-
ligence for the present mail ; but it is rather more
interesting than the last, and in nearly everything
but the state of commercial affairs, which are even
more depressed than at the opening of the month,
it may be considered satisfactory. The yield of
gold, now the gauge of our prosperity, keeps fully
up to its average. On. the fields of New South
Wales there is an indication of increase, and more
labour and activity are being thrown into the pur-
suit. In Victoria what was thought a short time
ago to be the " expiring Ballarat" has just emitted
a flash of its former wealth and splendour in the
shape.of-ft nugget of 981 b. weight, as if in honour
of the visit of the new Governor, who has just
arrived there on his tour. The lucky finders of the
treasure immediately named it the " Lady Hotham
nugget.
Sir.C. Fitzroy communicated to ,the Council on
thel2th inst. that he had recei3* the official noti-
fication of his recall. It is stated Sir William
Denison is to succeed him. The announcement has
been received here with very qualified approval,
and the nomination cannot be called popular. The
battle the colony fought against the transportation
system, and the part Sir W. Denison took in it,
contending stoutly to the last for the continuance
of the " importation of felons," are not yet for-
gotten, nor forgiven. There is, on this account, a
prejudice against him, which will demand time and
tact on his part to overcome.

The quiet current of local politics has been broken
by a movement in the Council amounting at once to
a resolution for stopping the supplies and an im-
peachment of " the Ministry." This measure has
been provoked by the apathy, carelessness, and ge-
neral incapacity of the members of the Executive
Government, made more apparent since the depar-
ture of Mr. DeasThompson, the late Colonial Secre-
tary. His industry and administrative ability,
joined with great tact in directing the proceedings
of the Council itself, covered a multitude of sins in
his subordinates. He was always able to come to
the rescue of a blunderer, and always prepared
with an explanation on any subject. Whether some
of the incapacity so evident in the "heads of de-
partments" now may not have been partly pro-
duced by the long-continued habit of turning over
all the business to the one able chief, till the others
knew less of their duties than some of their clerks,
may be a question. Certain it is that in the pre-
sent session the officials have been, to use a com-
mon phrase, " all at sea." The incompetence
manifested itself gradually, and reached so high a
degree of development during the discussion of the
supplementary estimates for the present year that
the patience of the Opposition broke down, and
Mr. C. Cowper gave notice of the following reso-
lutions :
"1. That the Government of the colony, as at present
administered, does not possess the confidence of this

House.
"2. That this Council resolves to postpone the con-
sideration of the estimates for the year 1855, until it is
assured that the public expenditure will be made under
a Government formed upon the principle of Ministerial
responsibility.
" 3. That an address be presented to his Excellency
the Governor-General, transmitting the foregoing re-
solutions, and respectfully' requesting that his Excel-
lency will be pleased to take them into his favourable
consideration.
The censure is confined to the officials connected
with the administrative departments of the Go-
vernment. Mr. Cowper made a special exemption
in favour of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-
General. The other officers he accused of want of
zeal, want of knowledge, want of industry, and
want of good manners, the last always telling for
something in the management of All bodies of men,
from parish vestries to Imperial Senates ; but the
chief special charges sprang from the management
of the expenditure of the province. The Executive
does appear to be falling into a system of extrava-
gance that no revenue so liable to fluctuations can
justify. The supplementary estimates for the pre-
sent year amount to 185,0001. over and above the
ordinary expenses. It is more than the whole ex-
penditure amounted to a few years ago, and is not
accounted for either by any sudden increase of the
population or by the outlay on public works and
roads. There is a strong feeling out of doors
against the mismanagement that must exist some-
where, and it is expressed even in quarters once
favourably disposed to the official system gener-
ally. The Sydney Herald, for instance, describes
the position of the Executive at present as one
" of jarring incoherence, of helpless decrepitude,
and imbecility little short of mental aberra-
tion." Nor was the language used by Mr. Cow-
per in the house much more qualified. Ho
said the officers of the Government, in the discus-
sion on the supplementary estimates, had displayed
"an ignorance, apathy, and carelessness in the
highest degree reprehensible,—he could use no
milder terms ; the history of the progress of that
estimate through the House was the most painful
passage in his Parliamentary experience ; one pub-
lic officer frequently contradicted another ; the
grossest ignorance was displayed both in reference
to the items and the works for which they were
intended. The House would not be discharging
its duty if it suffered the money of the public any
longer to be squandered by such a set of ineapa-
bles." The general charges were supported by refer-
ence to particular errors and shortcomings, and he
wound up by .observing that " the motion, if it
did nothing else, would enable the House to wash
its hands of all responsibility for the mismanage-
ment of that Government, which he must pro-
nounce the most imbecile, the most inefficient, the
most wasteful, and the most profligate under the
sun." The Executive can, of course, as far as
votes will do it, set this or any similar motion at
defiance ; but the effect of such a debate, and the
general discontent that has produced it, are de-
structive of that confidence and respect which it is
the true interest even of an " irresponsible" Go-
vernment to secure. The charges should have
been met by an immediate reply of some kind,
especially as ample time had been given to prepare
for the discussion. This was not done, and the
Executive committed another error in sitting silent
under the castigation, and merely applying, through
the Solicitor-General, for an adjournment of the
question for a week. The impression' therefore, on
the public is, that such charges can be made, and
nothing can be found to repel them. Such a dis-
cussion in the last weeks of Sir Charles Fitzroy's
government must be veryunpleasant to him, though
he cannot be made responsible for the bad system
under which mismanagement has had no check
from public opinion legitimately represented. He
has worked with the instrument as it was transfer-
red to him, and has left it neither better nor worse
than he found it. The evil is in the system itself,
which secures to the Executive a certain majority,
and makes it in effect all but absolute. It is easy
to call the few representatives of the large centres
of population and influence "a factious Opposi-
tion," and override them by the votes of the
nominee members who represent nothing ; but it
is a mere semblance of power, and the confidence
created by the reliance on such majorities is a false
one.

Tho motion will bo defeated, but the contempt
and irritation it expresses will not be diminished.
Such is one of the results of what is supposed at
home to be " the representation of the people " in
the colonies. It is a cleverly devised mockery of it,
which studiously preserves all the names and terms
of a representation deprived of all active and healthy
controlling power. The result of the want of con-
fidence debate cannot be known in time for this

The colonial Mint may bo considered established,
though it will be longere it is actually in operation.
Rather frightened at the future expense of the staff
of officers, and doubting its present utility, a
strong effort has been made in the Council to sus-
pend its establishment. Mr. Parkes, one of the
members for Sydney, moved for a select committee
to inquire into the whole subject. The debate
opened the great question of the;curreney, and, in
point of abstract principles, proved as unsatis-
factory as currency debates usually are elsewhere.
The ordinary problems were stated—what is money
generally ? and " what is a pound ?" in particular_
and received the usual conflicting answers. But,
as no theory of the probable or possible results of
establishing a Mint could got rid of the fact
that the Council in the first alarm of the gold
discovery had petitioned for the privilege of coin-
ing, and had had it granted, the main question
had to be settled on very practical grounds. A
, large expense bad been incurred and engagements

made on the former vote of the legislative bode ;1
and there was a general feeling that the experiment
must be made, though with its present knowledge
of how the production and exportation of gold have
worked, the Council would certainly not petition
for a Mint now. It was alleged that the petition
had only been granted under a condition that ren-
dered the privilege valueless. It was expected that
the Australian sovereigns would be imperial coin,
whereas they are to bear a distinctive stamp, though
they will be of the exact weight and value as the
geld coinage of England. This distinction is con-
sidered fatal ; the gold coined in the colony will be
exported and received ahohome as bullion only ;
it will not be a legal tender either in England or
any of the British possessions ; it is doubtful
whether it would pass current in the neighbouring
Australian province of Victoria. Why go to the
expense, it is asked, of striking coin that beyond
the boundary of New South Wales will be but so
much gold ? The metal as it is dug up suffices
for every purpose of commerce ; its value is per-
fectly well known. In fact, gold commands a
higher price hero than it does in London, and more
than a Mint would impart to it—at least nominally.
Other and minor objections were not wanting. The
expense, of the establishment will be out of all pro-
portion to the population of the colony ; it will be
at least 12,0001. a year for less than 250,000 inha-
bitants, while it is said the Mint of the United
states supplies the coinage of 26,000,000 of popula-
tion for 30,0001. per annum. It is calculated that
an issue from the Mint of 100,0001. a-year would
be amply sufficient for the internal trade of the
colony.; the machinery about to be erected is
capable of coining several millions in the same
space of time. Nor were these objections confined
to the Council ; they prevail equally out .of doors :
the Sydney Chamber of Commerce condemned the
proposal, and 164 of the principal merchants,
bankers, and traders of the city signed a petition
against it. The opposition, however, has been
raised too late ; the Executive is bound by its en-
gagement with the Colonial-office, and was com-
pelled to resist the appointment of a committee of
inquiry, which was negatived only by a small ma-
jority of five.
The Council, on the motion of Dr. Lang, has
discussed the question of erecting the Moreton-bay
district of New South Wales into a separate pro-
vince, to which it is proposed to give the name of
Cooksland. The suggestion excites a stronger op-
position than the circumstances justify ; these di-
visions of territory are inevitable, and are merely
questions of time and expediency. The province
of New South Wales extends over an area equal to
the surface of Great Britain and France combined;
it is evident that the enormous distances from point
to point must render the administration of the
local affairs of a distant settlement, when they
have to be referred to the centre, both tedious and.
uncertain. The increase of population in the dis-
tant north of the province must eventually compel
the Colonial-office to give that rising district a
separate local Government ; toe much importance
should not be attached to the feeling against the
proposal in the capital. The only questions should
be whether the population of Moreton-bay really
suffer in their interests by the remoteness of the
scat of Government, and whether they aro as able
as they say they are willing to pay the expenses of
a local administration. In the district north of the
30th parallel of latitude there are about 15,000 in-
habitants, and the exports from it arc valued at
1500,000/. sterling a year. It "possesses laud both
arable and pastural of the finest description, navi-
gable rivers, and a harbour," and is as well calcu-
lated to be the centre of another colonial system as
Port Jackson or Port Philip. On the other hand,
it is alleged that the demand for separation is pre-
mature, and that the district is not yet able to
support the rather expensive machinery of a Colo-
nial Government. It is remarked that for all prac-
tical purposes Moreton-bay is nearer to Sydney than
many places in the interior, that its resources are
overrated, that a local board to manage local mat-
ters is all that can be required, and that an inde-
pendent Executive would merely involve it in debt
and difficulties with the other colonies. A popula-
tion of 15,000 is, it must be confessed, a very small
one for a province, and in general the case of the
advocates of separation is much weak v in the facts
advanced in support of it than in prMeiple. Dr.
Lang's motion was negatived by 25 votes to 7.
The important question connected with the in-
crease of the Australian provinces in number and
power has hitherto been strangely overlooked or
forgotten. Nothing has ever been done to lay the
foundation of a systom of general control over
their legislation, or to secure the means of any com-
mon action between them like that supplied by the
federal authority of the United States. It might
be supposed that the Imperial power ,pr the Colo-
nial-office would supply the deficiency, but it does
not ; nor can it ever do so. It disallows certain
acts or laws that happen to be at variance with the
principles of the English constitution, or trench
on the prerogatives of the Crown, and thus exer-
cises a certain control over the legislation of the
provinces in those questions that affect the relations
between them, as dependencies of England, and the
Imperial authority ; but on local affairs the several
Councils show a decided tendency to legislate with-
out the slightest care how their policy may affect
their neighbours. It is even now easy to foresee on
what points the most difficult conflicts will hereafter
arise. Many acts may receive the sanction of the
Crown, as containing nothing objectionable as far as
the authority or interests of the mother country are
concerned, which may cause the most mischievous
confusion in the relations of the provinces to each
other. Thus the several tariffs of Customs' duties are
becoming yearly more different ; the import duties
of Victoria already differ so much from those of
New Sonth Wales, that on the frontier between
these provinces on the River Murray they have
rival Custom-houses, between which the settlers
are as methodically harassed and impeded in their
trade as if the two colonies were foreign States. If
a new province wore created at Moreton-bay its
tariff would probably differ from both those above-
mentioned, and more Custom-houses would be re-
quired on another inland frontier. Victoria has
just passed an absurd postage act, differing from
the system of all the other provinces, and that of
England also, making any arrangement of a gene-
ral system of postal communication with Europe
for this continent almost impossible, and throwing
the correspondence between • the two provinces
themselves into the greatest confusion. Any of
the other Councils have it in their power to add to
the mischief by some blunder of the same kind. In
granting the Mint to New South Wales, it appears
to have been left doubtful whether the gold coined
in it will be current in either of the other three
provinces, and it is by no means impossible they
may each at some future time petition for a Mint
of their own, though one well-appointed establish-
ment could with ease issue more coin yearly than
the whole continent will require for its annual
supply for the next two centuries. There is an
University at Sydney, with au able staff of pro-
fessors and an endowment of 5,0001. a year, which
the Government, with much good nature, pays for
finishing the education of 15 young gentlemen. As
there is no public or preparatory school to feed the
University, it is all but useless ; one educational
establishment of this kind would more than meet
the requirements of the whole of the provinces for
several generations, yet another is being founded in
Melbourne, with a second endowment and another
body of professors, and an equal certainty of failure
in its chief object, from the same cause. The two
provinces might have given some value to one esta-
blishment, had any power directed the respective
Governments in a united action ; but two Univer-
sities for a population less than that of a small
English county, whore there is not a single public
or high school, to give the previous education re-
quired to "graduate" with any advantage, is a de-
plorable error. Even pursuits common to both
provinces are governed by different systems, though
the nature of the case required that ono principle
should be observed. The tendency to legislate
without regard to the general effect of their policy,
or in a spirit of provincial rivalry, is rapidly in-
creasing, and the establishment of some authority,
federal in effect, if not in name, will soon become
absolutely necessary. The provincial Legislatures
will shortly receive increased powers ; but the esta-
blishment of what is called "responsible govern-
ment," without creating an authority to control
the acts of the COIIII6IB as they may affect the
whole group of colonies, will produce many enor-
mous evils. The constitutions sent home for
approval all vary ; but none of them contain any
provision—nor could they contain it—for creat-
ing a central authority within tho colonies
that may supply the kind of supervision hitherto
exercised, though very imperfectly, by the
Crown. If this is left undone, a few years hence
there will be on the Australian continent several
independent States (there are already four, with a
fifth fast growing up), each with a local Govern-
ment and Legislature, strongly imbued with local
feelings and jealousies. Theywtiiille setoilultbroeldoefpteinie-
dencies of England, but, having
colonial finances and the land- fund, the imperial
power will present but a slight check in practice to