The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-04 00:00:00

AU ST BALI A.

eetnrefers
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
The files of papers I have enclosed will furnish
your readers with everything of interest that has
occurred since the last mail left. The Queen of the
South returns with the next mail. Oa her arrival
with the April news, I was at Geelong. The mails
were landed at Queenscliff at half-past ten o'clock.
Taking the minimum rate of mail conveyance—six
miles an hour—they should have arrived in Geelong
by two o'clock. At that hour, two or three light
bags, carried on pack horses, were received,—but
all the heavy packages, with the whole of the news-
paper mail, were left on the beach, to be forwarded
on a dray—whether drawn by horses or bullocks I
know not ; but suppose the latter, for no tidings of
the royal mail were obtainable at a late hour that
night. Ocean Penny Postage may be all very well
if people would direct their letters to their ultimate
destination; but to send them to the "Post-office,"
as is usual, is next to useless. You can form no idea
of the heaps of newspapers, &c.,. that accumulate,
and as to their ever reaching their destination, the
odds are " the world against a China orange." I
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IMMIGRATION.
At a recent meeting of the Sydney Chamber of Com-
merce the chairman read a very voluminous report on
the subject of Immigration. The document opens with
an elaborate argument—demonstrative of the advan-
tages derived by the colony from the importation of
labour. It then points out, at considerable length, the
defects of the old and present system ; and, finally, pro-
ceeds to develope a new scheme, which is detailed as
follows :

" That every adult British subject residing in Great
Britain or Ireland, and desirous of immigrating to this
colony should, on presentation or transmission by post
of a certificate of healthy, and of moral character to a
commissioner to be appointed for that purpose, resident
in London, receive from him a Permit to Emigrate'
from any port in Great Britain or Ireland, in any ship
or vessel possessed of the requisite qualifications under
the British Passenger Act ; and that, on presentation of
this permit to the Immigration Agent in Sydney, the
emigrant, or the captain of the vessel to whom the per-
mit may be assigned (appendix C) presenting, such immi-
grant should be then entitled to receive in exchange for
such permit a transferable remission order of the value
of 201., available at the Colonial Treasury in payment of
any land purchased at auction from the Government."
The committee then detail the advantages of their pro-
posed system at considerable length, which are enume-
rated under the heads of simplicity, justice, economy,
efficiency, and comprehensiveness.
Justice.—The waste lands of this colony belong of
right to the British nation, and it is but just that any
British subject willing to avail himself by emigration of
his interest in this right, should be allowed to do so on
some such equitable principle as is here proposed. This
view of the question does away entirely with the elee-
mosynary or pauper element which is at present so
thoroughly blended with the emigration system. Let
the honest emigrant understand that it is a privilege
which he avails himself of, and he will have no feeling
of degradation in applying for and using his permit to
emigrate. The absence of this feeling will insure a
better class of immigrants.
Economy. —The Government is relieved from all
monied consideration in regard to immigration. There
is no necessity for borrowing money or incurring debt
on debentures. An immigrant is landed in the colony,
and simultaneously the Government undertake to con-
vey, when properly demanded, twenty acres of land.
The Government incurs no further responsibility. The
land must be purchased at the Government auction in
the usual manner, and none of the usual forms or ar-
rangements on this subject are interfered with.
Efficiency,—The chief foreign competitors for surplus
British labour are North America on the one hand, and
the Australian colonies on the other, either of which
is capable 'of absorbing the whole available supply,
and whichever of theta can bid highest will be sup-
plied at the expense of the other. Australia has
some advantages over America in the allurement of
the gold fields; but it labours under the disadvantage
of the natural adversion to encounter so long a voyage.
We may, however, fairly estimate that the allurement
of the gold-diggings will counterbalance the adversion to
the length of the voyage—leaving to Australia only to
overcome the difficulty arising out of the difference be•
tween the expense of the two voyages. Any system of
emigration to this colony to be efficient must overcome
this difficulty, and it is believed that it will be overcome
by the system now suggested. It must be borne in
mind that it is the pressure of poverty during commercial
distress which chiefly induces emigration. The cheapest,
or most easily available, escape from this pressure is
generally accepted.
The outfit will cost about the same to both places,
but the difference will be in favour of America. The
passage-money to America will be estimated at 41. If,
therefore, a passage can he obtained for less than this
sum Australia will have the preference, and not other-
wise.

It is proposed that the remission order to be granted
to the immigrant on arrival in the colony should be for
a sum exceeding the value of a steerage passage to

the colony by 10 per cent., to allow for the depre-
ciation in value arising from agency in negotiating
and expense of remitting the proceeds back to Eng-
land, and also as a guarantee or insurance against
death of the emigrant on the voyage ; and, if 10 per
cent. is not sufficient for these purposes, a further
allowance should be made.

Your committee see no reason whatever for supposing
that such permits would not be taken by shipowners in
Britain (less the discount abovementioned) in payment
of passage money. All respectable shipowners and ship-
pin.' agents trading to these culonies would have the
fullest information from their agents here as to the
nature and value of such documents, and their deprecia-
tion in England could only arise from a belief, emanat-
ing from hence, that they would not be marketable in
the colony. Their market value in the colony, however,
is so certain that any false belief of this sort would
speedily be dissipated. So long as land is purchased
from Government (and the greater the influx of immi-
gration the greater would be the demand for Govern-
ment land), so long will these orders be marketable here
to pay fur such lai.d at the smallest depreciation of
which the trouble connected with their negotiation can
be estimated. Brokers would receive standing orders
from capitalists to purchase as many as they
could obtain at a discount of (say) 2A per cent.,
and to sell again at 1 per cent. ; and all pur-
chasers of Government in any considerable amount
would pay in such orders in preference to money, if they
could obtain them at a rate to save 1 per cent. on their
purchases. Thus they will acquire a fixed value in the
colony ; and the value being so fixed here will fix it also
in Britain. . . _

The. permit to emigrate would, therefore, acquire a
standard value at every shipping port in Great Britain
equal to its amount, less commissions, colonial discount,
exchange, and the estimated risk, or in.4irance against
death during the voyage (which could be insured against
and thus ascertained) ; all of which, it is estimated,
would be covered by a deduction of 10 per cent.
Your committee a•innot doubt, therefore, that this
system would work efficiently in inducing a large influx
of free and independent immigration.
Persons resident in the colony desirous of bringing
out their friends, and employers desirous of importing
labour, by sending home the amount of the passage-
money, would not only obtain their necessary passages,
but would obtain also the remission-orders on receipt of
the immigrants here ; and thus farms would be pur-
chased simultaneously with the arrival of the labour in-
tended for their cultivation, and squatters would, in
purchasing their homesteads, procure at the same time
the labour necessary for their improvement ; but in
practice even greater facilities would be given in such
cases.

The system is applicable to all classes willing to avail
themselves of free passages ; not only to the free labourer
groaning under poverty at home, and glad to escape
from it to a land of plenty, but also to the small capi-
talist or yeoman, who may be able to pay the passage
of his family ; and who, under this system, would re-
serve his remission-order for the purchase of a home-
stead on his arrival. This system will secure the con-
tinuous flow of immigration.

WHITENVASTIING.—London is a dark place ; its narrow
streets, high houses, and smoke-pall make its various
apartments gloomy and cheerless. We obviate this
somewhat by the expensive reflectors of Chappuis and
others ; but much more might be done, and by very
cheap means. Whitewashed boards, placed at an angle
of 45 deg. in the areas of cellars, and against the win-
dows of many dark apartments, will strangely illuminate
them, and make places clear as daylight which were
otherwise quite dark. Much also might be done by the
very simple and cleanly process of whitewashing the
backs of all houses. These very often in the City form
irregular quadrangles, which, if whitewashed all round
once a year, would add much to the cheerfulness and
lightsomeness of places that are now gloomy and miser-
able enough; at the cost of a few shillings the daylight
might be extended an hour in every twenty-four.—The
Builder.

ANOTHER CLAIMANT FOR THE EARLDOM OF PERTH.—
Another claimant for this peerage has emerged in the
person of a pitman's son, who styles himself Thomas
Drummond, of Biddick, county of Durham, grandson
and heir-male of James Drummond, sixth earl of
Perth. He has issued a circular to the " nobility,
clergy, and gentry of England and Scotland."
LOLA MONTES.—This well-known personage has be-
come a bona fide Californian settler, and seems as con-
tented in Grass Valley as if she had lived there her life-
time. She has become quite an explorer, forming
parties, and penetrating through the prairies and over
the mountains hundreds of miles. She returned a few
weeks since from an excursion to the Truckee Meadow,
and had a narrow escape from being captured by the
Indians.
SUPPRESSION OF IMPROPER HOUSES.—An influential
committee has been formed at the went-and of the town,
under the auspices of the Earl of Carnarvon, for the pur-
pose of suppressing some infamous places in the neigh-
bourhood of Hanover-square and surrounding streets,
which have for a length of time been carried on with im-
punity. A vigorous effort will be made to put a stop to
the existing evil. The " Society for the Protection of
young Females" have undertaken to assist the commit-
tee. Many cases have already claimed and received
attention, and every legal and other measures will be
adopted to close those dens of infamy by compelling
the keeper. to Atomic% their ugari?ux traxo,

OOMPA.RATIVE POWER OF ENGLAND

AND RUSSIA.

The Trieste Journal of September 27 exhibits a
wonderful change of opinions and language, as will
be seen by the following article. Events in the
Crimea have opened the editor's (and doubtless the
Emperor's) eyes.
We have recently directed attention to a numbei of
fallacious calculations, which have materially contributed
to bring about the present state of affairs. The false
data upon which these calculations are based have for
the most part been supplied by Russia, for the errors
made by this power are the reason why the whole situa-
tion has been formed in the manner it is, such as no one
desired, and Russia herself least of all. It is a misfor-
tune of despotic governments—one that is constantly
recurring, and yet never steered clear of—that they are
not capable of appreciating the power of spiritual forces.
All autocrats, from Xerxes downwards, have treated
men merely as masses ; they have never taken into their
consideration what a people can do, where each indivi-
dual has the conscious feeling that he himself is a party
concerned when all are concerned. Greece in olden and
England in modern times have furnished examples of
this. The islands, with about seventeen millions of
men, not to speak of Ireland, withstood the autocracy
of Napoleon when he ruled the world. The undis-
ciplined crowds of Spain put to shame the victors of
Austerlitz and Friedland. Whoever challenges Eng-
land to the contest must know that lie has to do with
every Englishman, and that the last penny with the last
man will have to disappear before England ca❑ yield.
England regards every war as one of defence; for,
strictly defined in her European territorial extent,
she fears the aggrandisement of every power besides
her own, were it only by a few miles. More especi-
ally does she fear it when such territorial increase
includes fluvial and littoral districts, since on •very
reach of coast ships may perchance be built to destroy
the might of Albion. England's existence requires
free movement in trade ; and, whore any power
that favours the prohibitive system enlarges itself
England feels herself straitened. Every Englishman
knows, too, that the prosperity of his country and his
own advantage are thereby menaced. They should have
known at St. Petersburg this spirit of the English nation
—they should have comprehended it ; heavily do they
feel there now what weight a nation has whose whole
spiritual tenison can be embodied in the field. No one
will deny the influence which its press exercises on Eng-
land itself—a means, an instrument, that can in vain be
replaced by the enthusiasm of Russian priests. In like
degree no one can deny the influence that this same press
exercises on the public opinion of entire Europe, which
in the end no government can ignore. Only in England
could documents like those that contained the conversa-
tions of the Czar with Sir H. Seymour be published.
Queen Victoria may, so soon as peace shall have been
restored, become again good friends with the Emperor
Nicholas, yet those documents injured him more than a
lost battle.

Russia deemed her territory unassailable, but the Czar
had not computed the means which the advance of sci-
entific knowledge and the improvements in navigation
had rendered available. Not merely steam-power, but
the application of the motive powers in general, has re-
ceived such extension, that at this day an army of
100,000 men can be thrown on the coast of the Crimea.
The domain of the mathematical sciences is no secret,
and an insight into them is equally open to the Russian
as to the Briton or Frenchman. They can study me-
chanics
at St. Petersburg with as much success as any-
where else in the world ; yet they may summon as many
good professors from all the corners of the earth as they
please ; they may encourage as many foreign architects
as they like. There foreign savans may deliver splendid
lectures, produce a few scholars, or a few machines,
to rival any in Manchester or Birmingham. But ever-
advancing improvements aro conditioned by continual
progress. The spring of the mind must always be
kept in tenison, be the nation what it may. The
zealous rivalry, the free movement, the space for
free activity, the space which animates specula-
tion, must all excite capital, urge on mental and
bodily labour, in order that the mind of the people may
train itself universally as well as individually, so as to
mark every sign given by nature and her laws, so as to
subject every difficulty that inert matter presents, and
kvhich progressive mind alone subjugates.
Where the mental power is forced, as it were, to stand
in a tight shoe, like a Chinese foot, in order that it may
have no room to stretch itself, it can only set in motion
a poor knock-kneed body. In such a case, a certain
portion of knowledge is melted out to each caste, where
the close guild-and-corporation spirit clogs work and its
activity, capital and its employment—where narrow-
minded trade laws impound restless industry, the key to
the pound being kept by jacks in office, who open the
gate through favour and caprice. In such a country the
progress, which depends on the mathematical and physi-
cal sciences, will always limp. Create as many mathe-
mathical schools as it may, call into being as many poly-
technical institutes as it chooses, St. Petersburg for all
that will never be the spot where an Archimedes, or a
Newton, or aLa Place can thrive. Even if successful
in producing men of consequence to render the mind of
the nation practical, to make it perceptive, ingenious,
and inventive, is what no Russian system can do, nor
any system like it. Now power by sea so much depends
on this national mind, that it constantly increases in
exact ratio to the growth of the latter, and becomes most
intense among those nations where the mind attains its
greatetir development, be the historic period what it inay.
Herein lies the mystery why the fleets of Russia cower
behind granite walls, while the English and French are
bold enough to launch their tens of thousands of land
soldiers across the sea on the Russian coast. This ex-
pedition may succeed or it mayf ail—it still remains a
proof what nations can achieve where the industrial
spirit of enterprise, not being imprisoned, wings its flight,
anti converts seas into mainland. The old proverb still
proves itself true :
" The folk that do by sea command
Have on all shores the stronger hand."