The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-07 00:00:00

TIM STATE OF VICTORIA.

MELBOURNE, JAN. 1, 1853.—The last moments of an
eventful year have fled, and it will be interesting to
ponder for a while on the marvellous position and pros.
pects of this favoured province of the great continent of
the south.

In little more than twelve months this small commu-
nity has had a greater amount of riches thrown into its
lap than has• ever fallen to the lot of any people in any
period of history ; and in attempting a brief portraiture
of its position one is almost as much puzzled where to
begin as it is difficult to make credible the vast changes
that have come over this hitherto amicultural country.
Fortunately for this city and province, the existence
of golden treasures in the soil was not discovered earlier
—for although it has come soon enough upon so young
a colony, the evils that attend the rapid acquisition of
gold (as witnessed in California) have been averted by
the existence of a Government whose arms have been
generally sufficiently strong to protect its people from a
villain's attack or the adoption of a frightful Lynch law
for themselves. Of crime there is a great amount to
deplore, and which usually has its cause in the same
source—viz., intemperance, both in the assassin who
chooses stolen lucre rather than industry, and the poor
digger who shows the glittering wealth and then drinks
until he becomes a listless prey to the spoiler ; yet one
wonders that in such a strange mixed community there
should not be more causes of violence and robbery, and
probably in no city in the world was there ever con-
tained a larger amount of property unmolested in such
slender security as in Melbourne at this moment.
It is by the blessing of a Government that society is
held together, and the churches and courts of law are
often attended as crowdedly as at home. The streams
of wealth are flowing to this city by many different
channels, but which are chiefly dependent on the suc-
cessful results to the labour of the digging community.
It is quite impossible to form a correct estimate of the
quantity of gold derived from the soil of this province
during the year 1853 ; for 'although the number of
ounces brought down by the armed escorts is published,
there is no clue to the quantity brought down privately,
nor can we arrive at any data as to the quantity held by
parties here, nor do our ships' manifests pretend to tell
us of all that leaves the port in the pockets of their
passengers. As the production can only be proble-
matically ascertained, it is well state the two extreme
estimates —viz., eleven and fifteen millions sterling value.
When it is considered what large sums are kept back by
the diggers themselves, the vast increase in the circu-
lating medium, the enormous known export, and the
great aggregate amount of bullion in deposit at the
banks, the latter estimate of fifteen millions is probably
not far from the fact.
Land, houses, shops, and warehouse property have
advanced many hundredfold in value ; and although
progresses at a magic pace, it is still impossible
to find roof for the multitudes daily arriving ; conse-
quently many thousands are necessarily tented. Rents
of land and every species of tenement are most extrava-
gant. A two-roomed wooden house-shed lets readily at
40s. to 508. per week, and a warehouse, to contain 400
tons of merchandise, 1,2001. per annum.

. .
Provisions are also much enhanced in value by the
high price of labour and house rent ; these high prices,
unfortunately, fall most heavily upon those commodities
particularly prized by an English population, such as the
following, viz..:—Milk, is. per quart ; eggs, 6d. each ;
fresh butter, 3s. 6d. per lb. ; bread, 2s. 6d. per 41b. loaf ;
cabbages, 2s. each ; onions, is. 6d. per lb. ; potatoes,
4d. • other vegetables equally dear. Water, 3s. per hhd. ;
and wood for fuel, 31. per cart load. Fresh meat is corn;
paratively reasonable—beef and mutton 4d., veal 6d. per
lb. ; but the luxury of chicken can only be indulged in
at 16s. per couple, or a goose at 20s. ! Cattle feed is
very expensive. Green oat grass, 61. 10s. ; new hay,
201. ; old hay, 251. per ton ; oats, 14s. per bushel.
Labour commands 10s. per diem for the unskilled.
Good artisans are much wanted, and as high as 30s. for
clever carpenters is given. Servants and laundresses
find ready employment. Occupation for all strong ma-
nual labourers is readily found ; the only suffering class
is that which is dependent on the pen, and a great num-
ber of clerks are by necessity working at the gold fields,
finding suitable engagements unattainable in the port.
The shipping from distant parts has been in a worse
dilemma than any other interest, from the several causes

~ --~

of crews deserting on arrival, and the difficulties and
expenses attending lighterage and ballasting. It is to
be feared that much of the splendid shipping in the bay
will continue to be delayed by the same adverse causes. '
Having rapidly touched some points of interest, let us
hasten to glance at the prospects of the new year opening
upon us, which is likely to prove interesting not only to
this community itself, but to the world at large. Wo
shall soon find a list of vessels making their way here in
numbers beyond anything hitherto experienced ; it will
include a gathering from all nations and languages, and
altogether form a spectacle engaging alike to the Chris-
tian philanthropist, the statesman, and the philosopher.
First, as to the Government. It is the fashion to
abuse the "powers that be," but 4 should be rather a
matter of surprise that so much has been effected by so
young a legislature ; it is, however, found expedient to
increase the number of members of the Council to 64,
and when important measures come before them it will
be time enough to make comments. The estimates
have liberally granted additions to the stipends of the
officials in some accordance with the altered circum-
stances of the colony. The simple tariff on imported
commodities affecting only five, viz., spirits, wine, to-
bacco, ten, and coffee, is worthy of remark, and leads one
to expect that by some future means a revenue will be
raised without the expense of a custom-house or a
temptation held out to the smuggler. The revenue for
the year has augmented to 1,700,0001.
The prospect of the yield of gold must be a pure mat-
ter of opinion, but from the most careful inquiries as to
the auriferous regions, it is likely that with the increase
of diggers and the intelligence and experience now at
work a much larger aggregate yield of gold will be forth-
coming. Continual fresh localities are being discovered,
and there is no assignable reason why deposits equally
as rich as have already been found should not exist in a
vast number of spots equally favourably situated.
It is not thought that labour will recede in value for
some time to come, as the yearning for the diggings
among all the working classes is too general, and while
the chances of success at the golden lottery are held
out, there will be a restlessness among the brawny-
armed population which will deter them from the old
routine of steady labour.
:As the inflated prosperity and high prices of every
thing depends on the golden harvest as its main spring,
we will leave this part of the subject, and turn to the
shadows of the scene, whence arise some gloomy
thoughts for -consideration. One evil is unavoidable,
viz., the overcrowded state of the greater part of our
city, and this is coupled with very bad drainage. A case
'
of cholera of ar Asiatic complexion occurred 'yesterday,
and any qtreadmg of such a calamity
is too dreadful to
contemplate.
Another evil is chargeable to those who have furnished
England with such glowing descriptions of the climate
of this colony ; and it is a gross deception practised on
the poor emigrant to tell him that this is so delect-
able a climate. We have people from all regions
arrived at this time, uninterested in colouring any
report, and who readily pronounce these glowing de-
scriptions unfounded, and should never have been pro-
mulgated. For instance, yesterday morning the
i ther-
mometer stood at 102 deg. indoors, and 128 deg. n the
sun, with a violent gale of blinding, burning dust, as
bad as on a Nubian desert, and ere sunset the tempera.
ture fell 40 deg. ; this is a frequent occurrence during
the summer months, and should suffice to prevent such
glowing reporta,of the'exeellence of the climate. Dysen-
tery has been a prevailing complaint among all classes,
of all ages, and in many instances rapidly fatal.
Money-making is charm enough to bring multitudes here,
but they should not be deceived regarding the climate,
which is more adapted to vigorous constitutions than to
those labouring under infirmity, who should pause ere
they venture to come to this distant land, where the
usual comforts of life are not obtainable, except at an
exorbitant cost.

The immigration includes all classes of a civilized
people, and as society becomes cemented thereby, the
present year bids fair to present to the world such a
rapidly-formed community as the world has never wit-
nessed. The population of the province is now estimated
at 200,000 Ronls, and it is to its rapid augmentation
that Gre-t Britain is indebted for its supply of wool,
which is,noiv shipping to the usual extent.

SELF-CONFESSION OF THE MURDER OF A
WOMAN BY HER HUSBAND IN SCOTLAND.

Yesterday much excitement prevailed in the neighbour-
Hood of the Marylebone Policec-ourt, arising from a know-
ledge of the fact that a man was in custody and about to
be examined upon the serious charge of murder. At 12
o'clock, by which period a number of cases of minorim-
portance had been disposed of, the prisoner was placed
at the bar before the sitting magistrate, Mr. Broughton,
charged on his own confession with having caused the
death of his wife, Mary, at a house in Edinburgh, by
throwing her down stairs and breaking her neck, and
afterwards concealing her body under some flag stones
in the cellar.

The prisoner, who had the appearance of a labourer,
and seemed to be about 35 years of age, had at the sta-
tion-house refused to give any other name than that of
" Robert ~" he was very much dejected, and, resting
upon the bar, covered his face with his hands during the
greater part of the investigation.
Mr. Broughton (to the prisoner)—What is your sur-
name ? Prisoner—l have given my name as far as I
mean to tell it. Ido not want my friends to know of
this affair.

Sergeant Battersby, 4 D, on being sworn, said—At a
quarter past three this morning I saw the prisoner out-
side of the Marylebone station-house, and he said to me,
"I want to speak to you about my having killed my
wife."

Mr. Broughton—Was he the worse for drink ? Wit-
ness—No, sir ; he was quite sober. A constable who
was outside brought him into the room where I was
doing duty as acting inspector, and after I had cautionod
him with regard to what he might say he made this
voluntary statement :—" I and my wife went into a
lodging-house in Blair's-close, Old Town, Edinburgh,
at half-past twelve on the morning of the Ist of
last January. I gave her 55., and told her to
get me some supper. I then went out and re-
turned in the course of half-an-hour, when I found
that my wife had not provided supper, as I ex-
pected she would have done. I asked her what she had
done with the money, but I received from her nothing
more than abuse. I sat down and smoked my pipe for
an hour or so, and let her go on as long as she liked. She
got so enraged at my not saying anything to her that
she cried out, " Speak to me, speak, or I shall burst 1"
She then flew at me, and scratched my face. I seized
her by the wrists and held her down on the seat, and
said to her, " Now, Mary, this is the last row you and
I will have," and I told her that I would go and leave
her. She still went on, thinking that I was not in
earnest about going. I reasoned with her a long while,
and on my at last leaving the room she followed me. By
the time I had got to the bottom of the stairs she
reached me, and laying hold of my arm, said, " Where
thou goest there will Igo too." She clung to me, and
I shook her off, and she fell down the stairs - in fact I
threw her down. I did not know that the stairs were
there ; it was quite dark. She gave a scream. I rushed
down stairs, and spoke to her, but she gave me no
answer. I then went up and got a light. and on my re-
turn I found her senseless. I dare say there was life in
her, and that's all. I carried her up stairs, and laid her
on the bed. She Was then quite dead. I was afraid
of being taken up for the murder, so I took the
light down stairs and found in the cellar a heap
of rubbish and ashes. I lifted up some of the flag-
stones, and havinc, dug a hole about three feet deep,
I fetched my wife° down and put her in the hole after
which I covered her up, and put the stones down
again in their proper places. I then mixed the
earth with the ashes and rubbish, which I threw over
the stones. I left the house at six in the morning, and
went to a public-house, where I remained till daylight.
I pawned my watch, and went to Leith, from which
place I came back by steam-beat to Hull, and from
thence to London. lam satisfied that I could point out
the precise spot where the body now lies.'
Mr. Broughton (to the prisoner, who seemed lost in
thought, and scarcely raised his head from the bar in the
course of the inquiry)—Have you heard all that the ser-
igtl
e:ni.t has said l—Prisoner (carelessly) —Yes; I have heard

Mr. Broughton (to Battersby)—Have you been able
to get any information about the prisoner as to who he
is or where be has been living since he has been in Lon-
don ?—Battersby—l have not, sir. Ile told me that the
maiden name of his wife was McLaren ; further than
that I could get nothing from him, with the exception of
his telling me that when lie did the (teed all the other
lodgers in the lower part of the house were out for a
holiday.
Mr. Broughton—The idea cf the hole dug under the
flagstones, seems to have been borrowed from the Man-
nings' case.
Inspector Jackson, D, said
itohnaetdheinhe.thlredutslumalpmrisaontnleer
say that he had not been long in London. Re (the
r
inspector) knew that there was such a place 8.8 Blair's-
him till 'Wednesday next,
by the magistrate, had nothinsgontotosay
ands fel
dri ,
ei.
repße acri
ti.noseooudnnggei
ir:ttn,toesnw,p
heEico.
remanded
mowi nraabusujdcralcauhkt.
cause a copy of the
circumstantial statement of the murder made by the pri-
soner to be sent to the superintendent of the Edinburgh
pofolcioceu,rsbey,
bwe hi
memomadi
strict relative to the ll inquiry
into all the circum-
stancesaeged murder of the female would,
The prisoner was at 6l and strictly instituted.
then removed from the bar by Addey,
the gaoler, and locked up.

MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR.—Five weeks ago, a navvie.
named Barratt arrived at Rentchurch, and met with a
former companion (John Letts), who had worked on the
London and York line at Newark, and who treated him
kindly. The same evening, Saturday, Feb. 26, they
went together to the Bridge Inn, Rentchurch, where
" forfeit money" had to be spent, and there the stranger
fought for a short time with another navvie. Late at
-night the parties left, Barratt (who bad arranged to go
to Lett's lodgings) having been observed to go out pre-
viously. From that time nothing was seen of him until
Thursday last, when the landlord of the Bridge Inn
found his body (the face having come to the surface) in
a cesspool or privy on his premises. H. Underwood,
Esq., held an inquest on Monday last, when Mr. Lane,
surgeon, thus described its appearance :—" I found the
man quite dead, and covered with filth. I examined
the face. I then gave orders for the body to be cleaned
in order to its examination, and on the following morn-
ing.
I proceeded to make a more careful exa,mination_.v.is-
found a mark on the eye and nose, as though smile blows
had had been given to the -1 ,eased when alive. T
y otheeuffieient
and blows were of a trifling kind,
mc,e must have
body. lam of opinion that the
to produce death. There was no
I.;id been suffocated
fallen headlong into the cesspool,
Verdict, " Found
instantly
in the mire of the cesspool.
-dead." certainly
nwihantever on the