The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-18 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, J ULY 18, 1854.

AUSTRALIA.

By the arrival of the Royal Mail steam-ship Mag-
dalena at Southampton we have dates from Syd-
ney to the 11th, and from Melbourne the sth, of
May.

This news is considerably later than that hitherto
received, and is most important as being brought
by the first steam-ship that has yet crossed the
Pacific Ocean.
The steamer Golden Age, Captain Porter, ar-
rived at Panama on the 19th, also from Australia,
vid Tahiti, in 38 days. She brought 200 passengers,
$200,000 in specie, and about $lOO,OOO in the hands
of passengers. Among her passengers are Mr. J.
C. La Trobe, late Lieutenant-Governor, from Mel-
bourne, and Mr. Hargreaves, the discoverer of
Australian gold.
The General Screw Company's steam-ship
Croasus reached Sydney from: Southampton on the-
19th of April.
The following is from a letter just received :
" SYDNEY, MAY 10.
"To an American company will belong the credit of
making the first attempt to open the direct communica-
tion between the Australian colonies and Europe by the.
Pacific Ocean and Panama. The large and powerful
steamer, the Golden Age, sails hence to-day for the
Isthmus, and, if she catches either of the West Indian
steamers, it is possible this packet will be one of the first
letters delivered in Great Britain within 60 days of its
date from the antipodes. The Golden Age takes above
100 passengers for Europe, a greater number than was
expected on what can only be considered an experimental
voyage. Among them is Mr. La Trobe, the late Gover-
nor of Victoria.
"If, as we believe here, from the tenour of the last
intelligence, England is-now engaged in the operations
of a great war, with France as an ally, we must expect
our distant politics to be thrown into the shade by events
so much more exciting. Our gold mines, however, and
their prospects must still command some degree of atten-
tion ; they are our permanent security from oblivion.
"The most important public event, since the departure
of the, last mail, is another strong and overwhelming
demonstration on the part of the citizens of Sydney
against the New Constitution Bill. It has been again
condemned and rejected by the most numerous and influ-
ential comm unity i n the colony—the electors of the capital.
When Mr. Wentworth sailed for England, at the end of
March, he of course resigned his seat for the city ; as
the Council was not sitting, his resignation was forward-
ed to the Governor-General, then on his northern tour.
This caused some delay before the Speaker could issue a
new writ • but the election for the vacancy wes finally
fixed for the Ist of May. It was for some time doubt-
ful whether there would be any contest at all, but at last
it became a very sharp one, not only between the Con-
servative interest, including the party of the Government
and the Constitution Act, as it stands, and the Opposi-
tion, now in so small a minority in the Council, though
every day growing in power out of doors—but between
two candidates identified with the journals that are the
organs of these parties--Mr. Charles Kemp, late pro-
prietor of the Sydney Herald, and Mr. Parkes, proprie-
tor and editor of the Sydney Empire. Mr. Kemp has
just retired from business and been made a magistrate ;
he stood on what may be called the old interests of the
colony, official and social, the Herald being, by many
years, the longest established paper in the country. In
politics it professes neutrality, or independence of party,
but it was a strong supporter o f Mr. Wentworth and
the Constitution Act in every particular except the un-
lucky proposal of a peerage ; it has also been the con-
stant advocate of the Squatting interest, the only insti-
tution, if it may be called so, with respect to which a
profession of Conservatism' is intelligible in this
colony. In religious questions the Herald supports no
particular sect, and from its standing it has a very large
commercial connexion. It is necessary to describe its
position, because it has been so mixed up with the recent
contest. The Empire has only been established three or
four years ; it has endeavoured in that time to stir up the
somewhat sluggish disposition of the colonists, and rouse
them to a sense of the necessity of improvement and pro-
gress, more self-exertion, and less dependence on the Go-
vernment for everything. It contends for a totally dif-
ferent distribution of the franchise ; that the capital, which
contains one-third of the population of the province and
the greater portion of its wealth and intelligence, may
no longer be paralyzed in the Legislature by three
or four districts containing scarcely a human habita

tion, or as many nominees of the Crown, who cannot
be said to represent anything. It is one of the chief
objections to the constitution itself, that it leaves the
anomalies of the electoral system only slightly modified ;
the principle is unchanged. The Empire opposes the
Squatting interest, because, by the land regulations it
necessitates, it prevents the development of agriculture
and a more equal distribution of the population, while it
has virtually got possession of nearly all the political
power of the colony. If these details seem too local in
their bearing, it must be remembered that on them
turned an election decisive of, the opinion of the colonists
on an important measure now probably before the Im-
perial Parliament. Mr. Kemp was the first in the field,
on a requisitio❑ signed by 400 electors ; it was not till a
week before the election that Mr. Parkes was brought
forward. The nomination was held on the Ist of May ;
Mr. Kemp was proposed by Mr. Mort, the leading
auctioneer, and sec.nded by Mr. Mackellar. Mr.
Parkes by Mr. Campbell, a wealthy merchant ; seconded
by Mr. Montefiore. The show of bands was in his
favour, and on the poll, taken the following day, he was
returned by a majority of 648 votes, the numbers being
—for Mr. Parkes, 1,427 ; for Mr. Kemp, 779. At no
former election have so many electors ever been polled
by orie candidate, and Mr. Parkes received' about 100
more votes than any member yet returned to the Colo-
nial Legislature. The election was conducted in the
most orderly manner, and, though the crowd at the
nomination and the declaration of the poll was unusually
numerous, there was no display of bad temper or ill-
feeling on either side. The result is the strongest pro-
test against the new constitution yet made ; on every,
opportunity offered, in every way, by petition, by public
meeting, and by their votes, the inhatitants of the metro-
polis, the only largo constituency in the country, have
expressed their condemnation of the act framed by the
Council, and the electoral system it includes. Some
days before the Sydney election another strong opponent
of the bill, Mr. Lang, had been returned for a county in
the Northern District.

." Tile Lecislative Council was to have been opened
yesterday ; but as the Governor-General has not yet
returned from his cruise, though hourly expected, it
merely met from its prorogation, and adjourned.
"A return of the expenditure of the Government of
New South Wales for 1854, as estimated and voted,
is unusually
framing the estimates, or that the Council
proves-that the Executive has been either too frugal in
generous in.voting more in almost every case than was
required. For the whole service of the year the Go-
vernment asked 562,7311. ; the Council voted 590,1351.,
an excess of 27,4041. For the supplementary service of
1853 the Government asked 49,8471., and the Council
voted 82,5031., being a surplus of 32,6561. The aggre-
gate amount estimated was 612,578/. ; the amount
voted was 672,6381., an excess of 60,0601. The revenue
returns for the quarter ending the 31st of ,March are
favourable. On the total receipts of the Treasury the
increase above the corresponding quarter of 1853 is 87
per cent. 'The amount of the increase from every source
is 126,3251. The increase from • Customs duties is
26,7421., or 3i per cent. ; tea, sugar, and coffee are the
only articles on which there has been a decrease. The
importations of ardent spirits still furnish the largest
portion of the revenue ; in the last quarter duty was
paid on 255,610 gallons, giving- a gallon per head for
the consumption of every man, woman, and child in the
colony ; it exceeds the quantity imported in the cor-
responding quarter of last year by 62,982 gallons; to
this must be added 41,184 gallons distilled in the go-
.
bony, that quantity having been taken out of bond
during the quarter for consumption. The duties on in-
toxicating drinks have yielded an increase of 26,5651. on
the quarter above the return of the first quarter of la-st
year ; while the duties on tea and coffee show a decrease
in the same period of 1,6331. The revenue from gold
tt n
quarter the
e March,prese n
t 1 year 85 3,t
it s wlicenses, royalty and escort fees, shows a falling off of
floor, 5t
h32elfi. rs;
a05n11y76,0,418861.1;i.
In the territorial
revenue there is, all the principal. on
heads, a large increase. The land sales, including de-
posits for the purchase of land, amounted in the last
quarter to 92,8001., an advance of 76,7801.; the Go-
vernment has recently sold some spots of ground in the
city of Sydney which fetched very high prices.
" The value of the exports from New South Wales during
1853 was 4,523,346/. ; far thegreater portion of this amount
is, of course, to Great Britain and British colonies. The ex-
ports to the-United Kingdom are valued at 2,980,7631. ; to
British colonies, 1,245,9471. The *United States figure
for a very small amount, only 3,0281. On the total value
for the year there is a decrease of more than 80,000/.
" In the same period this province has imported Bri-
tish manufactures to the amount of 4,679,4351., and
goods from all countries, Great Britain included, to the .
value of 6,342,7571.; this is above 4,500,000/, more than
the consumption of 1852—a rapid rise in one year.
"The Chamber of Commerce has agreed to present a
memorial to the Governor, representing the necessity of
the Government, both here and at home, taking some
measures for the greater security of Sydney, and the de-
fence of the trade of the colony against any possible at-
tack. It suggests that a volunteer force of 1,000 men
should be armed; that the Naval force—a very inefficient
one—now on the station should be retained, and increas-
ed by a screw line-of-battle ship and two steam-frigates
from England.
"An order of Council of the 29th December last hav-
ing finally declared that no more convicts are to be sent
to Van Diemen's Land or Norfolk Island, the Anti-
Transportation League of all the Colonies has been for-
mally dissolved by order of the executive committee. It
has been inactive for a considerable period, the step now
taken by the Home Government having been long ex-
pected. It was resolved, however, to keep the body to-
gether till transportation to-either of the settlid colonies
of :Australia should have been officially declared at an
end. The committee had intended to celebrate the dls-
solutien of the League by a grand ..banquet. at. Sydney,
but the idea was some time since abandoned. The great
object had been fully plod, and 4 Vf" .1191Ight

to mark its attainment by a demonstration that might
have awakened ill-feeling in what is now the minority of
the population.
.The Swan River, or'Western Australia,
is now the only part of the continent to which transpor-
tation is continued.
"The Turon Golden Ridge Quartz-crushing Company
held its adjourned half-yearly meeting on the 28th April,
under new and peculiar difficulties. A dispute as to
tenancy has occurred between the owner of the premises
the company occupy as offices and the Sydney Build-
ing Society, which sublet them to the Turon Golden
Ridge Quartz Company. The landlord has locked
up the looms and locked out the company. Half-a-dozen
actions and cross-actions have been commenced in the
Supreme Court, and, till they are decided, the company
is deprived of its books, share-list, accounts, and papers.
Under these circumstances, the directors could only pre-
sent a supplementary report, which, in itself, was not
very promising. The first opinion taken of the speci-
mens of the quartz from the ridge was unfavourable,
and the directors, therefore, doubted the expediency of
spending any more of the company's capital. But an-
other professional gentleman, by whom they were as-
sayed, having reported that they are likely to produce
an average of 31 oz. to the ton of quartz, the directors
asked the authority of the shareholders to purchase one
of Berdan's crushing and amalgamating machines, by
which it is believed the ridge may be worked at a profit.
The shareholders present were disposed to accede to the
proposal, but as no ballot could be taken without the
share-list, and that could not be obtained, the meeting
was adjourned tilt June, when it is hoped the actions at
law will have been settled ; the odmpany itself has no-
thing- to do with them. •
" The Roman Catholic Archbishop of New South
Wales, in consequence of letters received by the over-
I land mail, left by the Chusan on her return for Malta
and Rome. It is supposed his Grace has been called to
the centre of Catholic unity,' to answer or explain
certain chargei made against him there respecting his
administration of the affairs of his diocese; Alew days
after his departure a public meeting of the Catholic in-
habitants of Sydney was held in the cathedral, at which
some of these charges were described and disproved by
the Archbishop's friends, Mr. Justice Therry, who pre-
sided, and the Attorney-General. Reports, it'appears,
have reached high places at Rome, and received credence
there, that Dr. Polding has shown a reluctance to re-
ceive Irish secular priests into the diocese and that the
'mission' is, consequently, in a state of spiritual destitu-
tion ; also, that he has supported institutions not con-
tributive to the true and best interests of religion. The
worst part of the case is, that some person unknown has
been base enough to break open the Archbishop's desk and
steal various letters and papers, of which garbled extracts
and copies have, it isalleged, been forwarded to Rome. To
this fact Mr. Justice Therry referred in a tone of strong
indignation. He said the mere entertaining of charges,
without disclosing thnna,mes of the witnesses supporting
them,, was revolting to every man's sense of natural
justice.' But he might have added, for the instruction
of his audience, that it is a very usual Roman and
Italian practice. The Attorney-General spoke quite as
strongly, regretting that the informer and purloiner of
papers was not known and placed in his hands for pro-
Hia°tlhYeSr See
ef
wasthe
as eacoupttieodn fboyr
tf
be leo nmy
Faithful to decline the acceptance of the
-Archbishop's
eetAing,P
these accusations, as it is supposed it will be.
eptirtaiyoningtothtehe,
Court have suspended
"The judges of the Supreme
resignation., should it be tendered,' in consequence of
the license of Mr. James Husband, a solicitor, formerly
practising in London and Devouport, in consequence of
some circumstances that appeared in evidence in an
action, Husband v. Gilchrist,' recently tried here. Mr.
Gilchrist had arrested the plaintiff in England, bad fol-
lowed him to the colony, and sued him for debt ; the
plaintiff brought a counter-action for false imprisonment
in England, and got only a farthing damages.
"At the half-yearly meeting of the Bank of New
South Wales, the report stated the sum of 66,4971. 17s.
was available for division, A dividend of 10 per cent. was
declared, amounting to 40,0001., the sum of 20,0001.
was added to the reserve fund, and 6,4971.175. was car-
ried •forward for the equalisation of future dividends.
The notes in circulation amount to 577,479/. ; the de-
posits on
,the 31st of March were 2,064,204/. The re-
port adds that the business of the bank has steadily in-
creased ; it has established a branch at Kyneton, in the
immediate neighbourhood of the Victoria gold fields, and
a new agency at Sandhurst, the township of the Bendigo
diggings,
"The quantity of gold exported from Sydney to Great
Britain during the first quarter of the present year was
82,6340 z. 10dwt., which, at an average of 31. 19s. per
ounce, gives a value of 326,406/. ss. 6d. In the same
period produce was exported to the value of 812,0631.
The chief. exports of produce. to Great Britain were—
wool, 6,121,6441 b., valued at 397,7551. ; oil, 202 casks,
11,3601. ; and tallow, 531 tons 19 cwt., valued at
16,4851. To Victoria the largest items in the list are
bottled beer and drapery.
"The Duke of Newcastle's despatch, containing, it is
to be hoped, the final interpretation the Home Govern-
ment puts on the orders of 1847 on the occupation of
the Crown lands, and giving the substance of the regq-
latiora to which the holders of leases and grazing licensee
will in future hare to submit, has naturally excited con-
siderable discussion in the colony. All classes, except
the squatters, are satisfied with them, and the disposi-
tion they indicate; even the interest most immediately
affected by the terms laid down has received them with
more resignation than it would have displayed a very
few years ago. The change in the social condition of
the colony since 1851 has convinced even the most ob-
stinate that the time has arrived when some modifica-
tion of the present system of managing the public lands
must be made. In this province (New South Wales)
the squatting interest has not attempted even to remon-
strate collectively against the arguments and conclusions
of the Duke of Newcastle. In Victoria a meeting of
the great leaseholders has been held, at Melbourne, at
which it was resolved to endeavour to obtain a compro-
mise between what they assert are their rights and the
terms of the Crown. • They admit that in the altered
position of the country caused by the discovery of gold,'
the right of pre-emption could not be exercised to the
extent contemplated by the former orders, nor could
probable injury to other interests. They offer,
the country be kept locked up for so long a period with-
out
therefore, to abandon the right of pre-emption, the more
readily, perhaps, that they perceive their right to pur-
chase must at last depend on whether the Government
is or is not disposed to sell ; and the Government insists
att eh
lease
das teh datee
thewhen l leasesatt
et
rth there promised
aret
lactuallyate
it has on this point a full discretion, They protest
against the interpretation given in the despatch of the
words of the old orders in Council ; on which they con-
of Newcastle insists that when a license is changed into
:111:utitwyo
retrospectively, amr ea
d te
e o ut.and Thei commencen
Dukeellruedme
all the period of the actual oc •
cupaton that has elapsed
under the original license. On thispoint, too, the pub-
lic opinion of the colony is decidedl with the Colonial-
office.ferecl the Tshl ieg hl teeasste wrongg gives
s
enjoyed under the license, and the squatter has not suf-
tindwpasolincot
policy,
indeed, on the part of the Government, to convert what
was understood by all parties to be holding for 14
years, into an actual occupation ofa dating it
1854 instead of 1848.
It would be making
advantageeld b et hbal
the squat-
ters a gift of seven years' occupant nd above the
original compact. They may proyteOstveara•aainst the inter-
pretation if they please—it is the most harmless form of
opposition, but they will certainly have
to accept it.
On the disputed right of the Crowng
to make reserves
of land for various public
the
ss- they also offer to
concede something, but it is on the condition of . receiv-
ing ''CoMpensation, a formidable -word, which will re-
uire to be carefully considered or half the paid
q
money
lds
by the public for freeholds Bred
scarcely suffice to buy
the squatters off their square miles of surface. In the
words of the resolution of the Victoria
meeting, they
concede to the Governor the right of making reserves
for other purposes than those contemplated in the 9th
section of the orders in Council, upon
compensation be-
ing granted for the actual loss sustained by the occu-
pant.' And, again, the equitable leases being taken
to run from the let of January, 1852, it is also 'proposed
that where one-fourth of a run is included in a reserve,
it should be optional with the occupant to give up the
entire license and claim compensation for the whole.
,The,.compensation proposed is the difference in value be-
tween stock sold with and without a run, for the num-
ber of sheep or cattle which the land included in such
reserve would carry.' This will not be clearly under-
, stood; perhaps, but in substance it means, if the whole
run will carry (or feed) 20,000 sheep, and a fourth of it
is reserved or resumed by the Government, the difference
between the price of 5,000 Sheep sold with a transfer of
the lease, and the price they would fetch without it, is
to be the amount of compensation. With the lease
they are of course more valuable than without it. If,
as the chief advocate of the grazing lords, the Syd-
ney Herald, admits, the squatting interest has re-
ceived a blow that will make it reel,' the said interest
takes the blow very quietly. If its leases are to date
1848, it leaves nearly seven years, of the term still un-
expired, and seven years of present prices - may well
be a consolation. The runs in the more remote dis-1
tricts are tolerably safe from the invasion of purcbasers,
for a much longer period, and those more liable to be
broken in upon by reserves, venture to put in a claim to
compensation. The Government having let the squat.
tern large tracts of land at nominal rents, cannot regain
possession without
buying them out at their own terms.
The danger of creating a vested interest' has never been
more strikingly demonstrated than in Australia. The
practice of grazing cattle on the uncultivated lands of
the colony, at first actually illegal, and only winked at
from necessity, was next permitted from year to year.
by annual license ; then came the more formal occupa-
tion for a term of years ; now seven years in addition
are demanded, and the Crown cannot recover the land
it has leased at absurdly low rents, without combatting
a claim to compensation for quitting possession that, in
most cases, will quite equal the whole amount of rent
ever received from it. The political power of the inte-
rest may be estima • ted by the fact that 11 members of
the Victoria Legislature are among the squatters who
have signed the resolutions of the meeting. Either con.
vinced or intimidated by the influx of population, they
now offer a kind, of compromise; but formerly they
would have paralysed local Governraent rather tliansyiekl
deingle point: They are strong still ; there is no in-
stance in history of ono class obtaining such a complete-

grasp of a country and so complete a control over all its
interests. The paltry terms that must be employed in
describing or discussing the systehi of tenure in Aus-
tralia have in some degree averted attention from its
magnitude and power. Under the almost ignominious
name of 'Squatter,' by which is generally understood
the miserable encroacher on the skirts of a common, or
the small settler of Western A merica, it is difficult to
figure the holder of hundreds of square miles of territory,
and a member of the numerically small body that keeps
in its hands, for pasturage only, an area, containing
26,000 square miles more than the surface of Eng-
land, Wales, and Scotland, together. The present
number of Squatters in the province of Victoria is
stated to be 666 ; in 1849 the collective body, then pro-
bably rather less in number, held among them 73,360,000
acres ! Again, the lands in their occupation are,
even in official despatches and orders, very impro•
perly called waste, which means rejected and in-
ferior, and creates an impression that they are valueless;
that impression the Squatters themselves have not dis-
couraged ; but it is notorious the stations include 'mil-
lions of acres as good as any land in the colony. When
the cattle of a run are to be sold (the lease of the station
going with the stock) the-land is described by the lessees
as of the highest quality; rich alluvial tracts, fertile
plains, green savannahs, and thousands of acres of the
most luxuriant grass, are heard of in districts supposed
to produce only a scorched and scanty herbage, of which
it requires five acres for the existence of a sheep. The
colony requires exploring in the pastoral region as- well
as in the perfectly unknown interior, for the very nature
of the soil in the intermediate' and unsettled' dis-
tricts, is still a subject of controversy. To the public,
as it contains -the unwelcome purchasers, of freeholds;
the organs of the Squatters describe the soil as arid and
unblest, on which any attempt to settle would be lunacy;
yet every station has its cultivation paddock,' often
more than one, producing good crops ; and to most of
the houses a-garden is attached, well stocked with /slit
treei,' and frequently with vines.' The 'gardens of the
Squatters in the hitherto unknown district of the Murray
were; when discovered by Captain'Cadell's expedition up
the river, described as sections of Paradise, teeming with
an abundance of produce that the inhabitants of the two
capitals, with all their wealth, only see in their dreams.
It may be supposed that these gardens and paddocks are
not only the spots among thousands of acres capable of
cultivation,-yet in the official and legal language of the
colony, all the surface is alike waste.' Even the Go-
vernment, which has its own surveyors and district land
commissioners, appeared to have accepted the Squatters'
axiom, that the land is useless for any purpose save pas-
turage ; and there is a kind of fear of a better opinion of
the soil growing up at head-quarters. Colonel Mundy
states in his work, Our Antipodes,' that, when ac-
companying Sir C. Fitzroy, in his tour in 1846, they
crossed the rich lowlands' of King's-plains, after a
heavy rain, and it was easy to see that the Squatters
were alarmed lest the new governor should imbibe too
high an idea of the natural wealth of the soil, and thus
form too low an estimate of the risks and difficulties of
their position, with reference to his future legislation.'
"This, it is noted; was before they obtained the addi-
tional privileges as to tenure, &c., they enjoy under the
present regulations, on which they have founded the still
greater claims that have had to be checked by the Duke
of Newcastle's late despatch. In short, it may be re-
marked, that the character and capability of the soil of
the colony vary exactly according to the position of the
Squatters in relation to it. When they are seeking
licenses, leases, and privileges from the Government,
the land is perfectly useless to any one else. When
fairly in their hands, it is necessary to deter purchasers
and prevent being inconvenienced by 'reserves ; ' the
land is then worthless,' and will not pay for cultiva-
tion. When retiring from business and selling their
lease, the soil is surprisingly good and productive, as
above stated. If they could have changed their tenure
to fee-simple, there cannot be the smallest doubt Aus-
tralia would have been held up as one of the finest agri-
cultural countries in the world. At present, 'its general
character is the reverse ; but it is better than its repu-
tation, and in this respect neither from the Squatters
nor from the Government has it had fair play.
"The latest items of intelligence from the gold fields
are not very important. The gross produce, as proved
by the export returns, keeps up to the average, though
particular localities rise and fall in popularity with re-
markable rapidity. Of many new diggings' opened
since the beginning of the year none have yet developed
themselves into rivals of the largest and oldest—Balla-
rat and Mount Alexander. One of the richest of the
new spots has been the valley of the Buckland River,
but it was so unhealthy that many persons abandoned it
when 'doing a good stroke' in the diggers' phrase, glad
to _escape with their lives. The mortality from dysen-
tery and a fatal kind of low fever has been frightful.
The river flows through a deep ravine, in which, as the
high mountain walls on each side excluded the wind,the
air was stagnant and, from the scorching sun during the
day, intensely hot. At night the temperature rapidly fell to
a piercing cold, so that the inhabitants of this unhappy val-
ley were always either in an oven or an icehouse. As the
holes were in the bed of the river, the miners generally
worked to their waists in water. Constitutions that had
borne the hardships of other fields without injury broke
down here, and hundreds have perished, dying Anat-
tended• and unknown. The little levels between the
streams anti the base of the mountain wall, fur ten miles
along the valley, are so thickly studded with graves, that
the river appears to run through a churchyard. It was
known the field was unhealthy,' but those tempted to
it by the reported heavy finds' could only estimate the
excessively fatal nature of the place on settling in it.
One new coiner having counted eleven corpses carried
past his tent during the dinner-hour of his first working
day thought even gold might be bought-too dearly, and
left the Place instantly. Many abandoned it after a
somewhat longer trial, but the greater number remained
in defiance of disease, and 'took their chance,' with what
result the numerous graves of the valley testify. In
addition to the peculiar fever (of a typhoid character,
the doctors say) the miners suffered severely from eye-
blight, and were at all times half devoured by myriads
of flies. The general bad diet, and the want of vege-
tables, were among the causes of sickness that could not
be removed. Garden produce of any kind commanded
enormous prices—onions were 6s. a-pound, and cabbages
were cut up and sold in portions, by weight; from half-
a-crown to 4s. per lb. were freely paid for them. Physic,
or what passes for it, rose even" in-a greater ratio to its
cost than food ; Holloway's pills' were vended at ls.
each, or a guinea per box. Where there are no coroners
or juries the degree in which medicine has contributed
to mortality will never be ascertained, But it is well
known that medical impostors abound and flourish on all
the gold fields, and on the Buckland River, one particu-
larly fatal practitioner has been named, who, among other
less prominent exploits, killed off a working party of
nine, by mistaking their symptoms. By the last accounts
the place is described as nearly worked out ; those who
had the courage to stay, and the luck to survive, are
said to have done very well. Forest Creek is recovering
something of its old celebrity, the population having re-
turned from some of the late rushes' to spots that have
proved disappointments. Ballarat and Bendigo are in
full activity ; but heavy rains rendering the roads impas-
sable, carriage of stores is rising to the rate of last winter;
on the first-named field horse stealing is practised
to a most inconvenient extent ; drays, too, are so fre-
quently stolen, that the owners, as a means of security,
commonly take off one wheel and hide it when they
lay up for the night. At Kingo wer, a nugget of 220
ounces has been raised. Another of 182 ounces from
Ballarat has been purchased by a Sydney dealer. On
the Turon field no improvement is reported ; population
does not seek it, and the returns aro comparatively small.
On the Lower Turon, a sharing party is being formed to
work the Baldhill Quartz Vein ; this plan of partnership
appears to be extending. The local reports state that
'the party has the advantage of being disencumbered of a
large retinue of salaried offiers, whose credulous employ-
ers felicitite themselves on *having' secured the services
of those who disburse their money on a magnificent
scale, leaving results to Providenee., At Tambaroora,
above 1,000 diggers are at work with varied success.
Many could do well who neglect their work from
drunkenness. This curse of the gold fields, and indeed
of the colony generally, is- steadily increasing, and it is
feared the wealth of the mines will leave fewer perma-
nent results behind it than the hopeful anticipated. The
question causes much discussion, but the evil appears to
be beyond the reach of legislation.
"The quantity of gold brought down to Sydney by
the escort from the Ist of January to March 31st was
53,920 ounces. The return shovis a large decrease
compared with the same quarter of 1853.
"By a recent experiment a greater difference has
been found in the value of various samples of the gold
at Victoria than is generally supposed to exist. Six
samples tested at the Melbourne Assay-office varied
from 31.135. sd. to 4/. 4s. 7d. per ounce, a difference of
lls. 2d. Some of these samples, however, were small,
not above 1 ounce in weight, while another weighed 35
ounces. The average value of the six samples 41n
at 41. Is, per ounce—considerably above the standard
price.
"The Council of Victoria was prorogued aftietrawbhuicshy
session- on the 12th of April. In the adclressf
h
he dismissed the members from their labours, 11r L
had a Tr o be
formally announced that the Home Government w
ac-
cepted his resignation, and that his successor, Sir C.
Hotham, was on his way to the colony. The speech
passes over the Constitution Bill with a mere allusion,
but the other chief measures of the session
management
ereferred
to at considerable length. The act for the
of the gold fields is stated to have cos
inunderPletely secured the
its operation
results it was intended to obtain,
lm
Bb ofill
having
gold
there has been a large increase i
licenses issued. The General
by
a majority of one
Eiidutchaetinoun
passed its last stage in the Council
vote only, and having in
every other excited a very
strong opposition, the
it, Governor did not feel justified in
giving his assent to
and the act has fallen to the
ground. On this question religious feeling appears as
strong and implacable in this new country as in the old.
" The Governor warmly approves several measures
that have just been passed—among them an act legalising
.
partnerships with limited liabilities, and another to give
*p iotection to the originators of new inventions in arts
and manufactures ; but he administers to the Council a
kind of rebuke for having introduced into the act directed
against offenders illegally at large provisions that had
already been disallowed by the Imperial Government as
au infringement on the prerogative of the Crown, The
_