The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-27 00:00:00

OXFORD

BILL.

On the motion for going into committee on this bill,
Mr. B. PALMER moved that it be an instruction to
the committee that they have power to provide for the
case of Winchester College in connection with New Col-
lege.

LIEALTII OP LONDO N DURING THE WEEK.

AUSTRALIA.

SYDNEY, JAN. 25.

At the half-yearly meeting of the Australian
Joint-stock Bank, held yesterday (24th), a divi-
dend of 4 per cent. on the paid-up capital of
125,0001. was declared. Considering the low rate
of interest, and the fact that the bank is still in
its infancy, the directors consider the result of the
half-year satisfactory. The bank has established
an agency at the Ovens for the purchase of gold.
The general half-yearly meeting of the Commer-
cial Bank was held on the same day. The report
stated the profits of the half-year to have been
17,9611. 11s. 10d., which, with an undivided profit
on the previous half-year, left 20,5401. ss. avail-
able for appropriation ; the directors, therefore,
declared a dividend for the half-year of 15 per
cent. ; 3,0001. is added to the reserve fund.
At the half-yearly general meeting of the share-
holders of the Sydney Railway Company, held on
the 16th Jau., a very favourable report was pre-
sented. From the progress of the works there is
scarcely a doubt that the line will be open for traffic
from Sydney to Para matta in the early part of 1855.
The engineer, Mr. Wallace, states in his report that
five and a-quarter miles of the road are already pre-
pared for laying down the rails. The cost of the
line, however, as might have been expected, will
greatly exceed the first estimate ; the additional
expense is caused, not only by the increased rate
of wages and the price of materials, but by a depar
ture from the original plan, by which the works
will be rendered more extensive. The line, it is
estimated, will cost 139,0001. more than the direc-
tors have at their disposal from the subscribed
capital and the Government loan together. In order
to supply the deficiency, they have resolved to ask
the shareholders for power to raise 100,0001. by
issuing 20,000 new shares, and also to apply to the
Government for the prona'se of a further loan of
150,0001. The amount received from the Govern-
ment up to the present time, on account of the
loan already obtained, is 50,0001. The company
has also received from the executive an additional
grant of 21 acres of laud, to enlarge the area of the
Sydney terminus. It appeared from the proceed-
ings that some of the owners of land along the line
had asked such enormous prices for it as to excite
the indignation of the directors ; it seems, too, that
the provisions of the Railway Act for securing a
proper valuation of such lands by surveyors are
very unsatisfactory, and it was resolved to apply
to the Council for definite powers. The resolutions
approving the issue of new shares to the amount of
100,0001., and of the application to the Govern-
ment for a new loan were carried. In the purchase
of these new shares the present shareholders are to
have a preference.
The subject of railway communication generally
is exciting more attention than it has ever yet done.
It has even been possible to get a publi3 meeting
together 'in Sydney to consider the project of a
railway from Sydney to Melbourne. When a line
beteen the capitals was proposed some two years
ago the scheme was ridiculed out of doors, and met
with no encouragement even in the Council.
Where a railroad. has never existed there may be a
pardonable degree of incredulity as to the extraor-
dinary effect which rapidity of communication pro-
duces ; but with the example of America before
them, the better informed among the colonists
should not have so completely discouraged all en-
terprise in this direction. In the United States
the first road through the forest is the rail ; there
is no reason why it should not also be the first road
through the " bush" of Australia. Yet one of the
greatest colonial authorities discouraged the idea,
declaring that the lumbering bullock-dray was the
" naturaal conveyance of the colony." It is so at
present, but must bo discarded in course of time ;
it is slow, clumsy, and expensive. Where there
are no roads draught by horses would not be
any better, and there is no possibility of con-
structing highways on the principle of Macadam
_throughout the colony, or even roads of the
parish trust standard ; there is actually nothing
between the scriptural and classic bullock
team and the locomotive. The first train
that runs between Sydney and Paramatta will work
a moral revolution by dissipating much prejudice
disguised under the name of "colonial experience."
It is quite time some efforts should be made ; the
wealthiest and most exclusively English of the
British colonies is the last to attempt the construc-
tion of a railroad. The nearly ruined colony of
Jamaica has one, largely patronised by the free and
independent negroes ; the stationary Hindoo already
sees the swift train dash past him ; almost every
nation is in advance of the Australian Briton. The
novelty-hating Spaniard has a fragment of a line ;
the Russian, a mere barbarian as we call him, ne-
gotiates loans for no other purpose than the con-
struction of railroads ; and it was till lately an
equal chance that the proverbially unenterprising
Turk would have had a line across his territory
before the colonists of Australia could be brought
to believe that steam communication by land was
either advantageous or possible. Now they are
beginning to perceive that some activity is abso-
lutely necessary. The roads of the province, even
in the vicinity of the capital, are fast deterio-
[ rating ; everywhere they are neglected, and in the
interior have become so perilous that the mails
are ordered to carry no passengers by night ; a
dreadful accident, by which the Bathurst mail
was a short time since thrown over the precipice
of the Victoria Pass, has frightened the autho-
rities into issuing the order ; but it is no less
retrograding from the former state of the means of
communication, bad as they were. After long, and
almost patiently, seeing wretched country roads
becoming worse every month, and continually
taught by the high rate of carriage for goods inland,
the merchants of Sydney are beginning to think
that something should be done. The last and most
direct impulse, however, has been given by the
opening of the river Murray to steam navigation.
Sydney is threatened with the loss of a large por-
tion of its traffic if the produce of the south of
New South Wales is floated down to Adelaide for
shipment, instead of being dragged up to the capi-
tal. Good authorities state that much of the wool
of the Goulburn district will find its way to the sea
by the Murray, and that the whole of the traffic
beyond Yass will take the same direction. The
fleeces grown in the province of New South Wales
will then swell the export returns of South Aus-
tralia, and Sydney will lose both in importance
and profit. The last item of the loss, at least, is
one the Sydney traders can fully estimate, and ac-
cordingly they are considering whether a railroad
to the district towards the head of the navigable
portion of the Murray would not enable the port and
capita] to keep its status in the colony. It is evident
nothing else will do it, and in any case the steamers
on the river, now they have really commenced
running, will command the traffic for many years.
The consideration of the necessity of a line in the
direction of the Murray has led to a better appre-
ciation of the advantages of others ; and the public
meeting above referred to also discussed the pro-
bable benefit of a railway to Newcastle or Mait-
land. But the more immediate object was stated
to be the construction of a great trunk line from
Sydney to Melbourne—
" By a company to be called the Sydney and Melbourne
Railway Company, to which it was to be expected, on
public grounds, the State would grant the amount of one-
half the estimated cost ; the amount to be raised by the
State issuing bonds, secured on the public revenues of the
colony, redeemable at the end of 30 or 50 years, the com-
pany raising the other half by the issue of shares of say, 51.
each, to be subscribed by the public in the colonies or iu
England, without any Government guarantee ; the Govern-
ment, if it subscribes half the capital, to retain control
over the railway and its management in the ratio of its
proprietorship."

(From the Report of ' the Registrar-General. )
The return for the week . that ended last Saturday dis-
covers an increase in th, s mortality. In the first and
second week of this montl s the deaths in London were re-
spectively 1,149 and I,oB', T; in the third—viz., last week,
they rose to 1,193. In t he ten corresponding weeks of
the years 1844-53 the ave rage number was 1,000, which,
if raised in proportion to i ncrease of population, becomes
1,100. The number of d :eaths registered last week is,
therefore, nearly 100 abet .e the calculated amount.
In comparing the result: t of the last two weeks, it ap-
pears that the increase arises mainly from the epidemic
class of diseases. The fol lowing are the special heads
under which it is found : -'Measles, which rose from 34
cases to 51 ; hoopingcougt 1,, which rose from 63 to 83 ;
and diarrhcea, which in tl to two weeks was fatal to 18
and 26. With regard to typhus and continued fever, the
cases were not so numerou is in the latter as in the former
week. Two deaths from ( tholera were registered, which
Occurred on the same day, the 13th of April, The fol-
lowing are the particulars
In the sub-district of .A.mwell, at 3, Baynes-row, the
son of a builder, aged 2 3-(!ars, died of " pertussis (two
weeks) cholera Anglica."

In the workhouse, Islington West, a female servant,
aged 24 years, died of "cholera, consecutive fever."
From smallpox the nurn'oer of deaths registered is nine,
two of which occurred ita the Smallpox Hospital. All
the persons who died were children, except a female ser-
vant from Old Quebec-street, who died in the above
hospital on the 20th of April, at the age of 34 years,
from " smallpox, distinct, modified (seven days) ; the
brain and nervous system rou,ch affected by the disease.
She had been vaccinated iu infancy near Tonbridge
Wells ; two indifferent cicatriices."
Mr. Jorden, registrar of the Belgrave sub-district,
writes in his report for the quarter ending March 31 :
"Smallpox bas been epidermic in this district this last
quarter. All the fatal cas es, were in persons unvacci-
nated. Parents are only &riven to have their children
vaccinated at the eleventh h onr, when smallpox has made
its appearance in the house or in some member of their
family."
In the sub-district of Broi np ton, at 4, Sloane-place, on
the 20th of April, the daughter of a musician, aged 1 year,
died of " scarlatina maligna, t(six daya)." The medical
attendant mentions that " o other children have died
of scarlatina in this house ,mithin the last two weeks ;
the drains are very offensiv, e, and there is a cesspool in
front of No. 3, the smell fr( ma which is very bad."
At 87, Tower-hill, Aldga ,te, on the 14th and 15th of
April, two sons of a warehouseman, aged 0 and 3 years,
died of " scarlatina anginos. a.," one after seven days', the
other after 4 days' illness. Mr. Spencer, the registrar,
says,—" The house in which_ these children lived is large,
well drained and ventilated.."

In the sub-district of London-road, Southwark, at 9,-
Smith's-place, Gibraltar-row, .on the 21st of April, the
daughter of a carver and gilder, aged 3 years, died of
" searletina, dropsy (two weeks)." Mr. Hentech, the
registrar, states that " there are a great number of cases
of scarlatina in this sub-distriict at the present time, but
it does not appear to be mor it fatal than usual."
In Islington West, at 32, Catherine-street, on the 20th
of April, a shirt-collar maker, aged 29 years, died of
" phthisis pulmonalis (six months)." The disease was
attributed to her receiving the linen from the warehouse
in a damp state.
Last week the births of 891 boys and 898 girls, in
all 1,789 children, were register, ad in London. In nine
corresponding weeks of the yea rs 1545-53 the average
number was 1,437.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
height of the barometer in the w eek was 29 733 in. The
mean daily reading was above 30 in. on Sunday and
Monday. The reading was 30.114 in. at noon on Tues-
day. The mean temperature of the week was 52.6 deg.,
which is 5.8 deg. above the ave rage of the same week
in 38 years. The mean daily •temperature was above
the average on every day excepi, Monday, when it was
0.8 deg. below it, and Saturday , when it was 2'l deg.
below it. It rose from 45.5 deg. .on Monday to 58.2 deg.
on Wednesday, 59.9 deg. on Thursday, and 58.2 deg.
on Friday. It again fell to 45'4 deg. on Saturday. The
highest temperature occurred c,ri Thursday, and was
77'5 deg. ; the lowest on Sunday, and was 34.2 deg.,
showing a range of 43'3 deg. The dew-point tempera-
ture was 44.5 deg., the differeneg) between this and the
air-temperature being B'l deg_ The wind blew first
from east-north-east, then from east-south-east, after-
wards from the east, and at the end of the week from
the north-east. Of rain scarc•!ly any fell till Saturday,
when the amount was 0.27 in. The whole that fell in
the week was o'3o in.

MORTALITY IN THE ;METROPOLIS.
NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM Ara, CAUSES REGISTERED
IN THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, APRIL 22.
Zymotic Diseases
Diseases of Uncertain Seat
Tubercular Diseases
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves and Senses
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels 34
Diseases of the Lungs and other Organs of
Respiration
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs
of Digestion
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c.
Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c.
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Muscles
Diseases of the Skin, &c.
Malformations
10
Premature Birth and Debility 35
Atrophy
27
Old Age

Sudden
Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance l3
Causes not specified

DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES
Population Deaths in corre- Deaths
Enumerated. spending week in the

1851. of 1853. Week.
West Districts
North Districts 490,396
Central Districts 393,256
East Districts 485,522 262
South Districts

Totals

Males
Females

1,243

1,193

This is the first shadowy outline of the scheme,
which has not yet taken shape enough to be sub-
mitted to the public ; a second meeting, called to
discuss the details, was adjourned in consequence
of the arrival of the overland mail. _

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER assented
to the motic‘.
After a few Words from Mr. WALPOLE, the motion
was agreed to.
Mr. HEYWOOD
moved as an amendment that the
selectcommittee, as the bill em-
braced matters which could not be so well disposed
of in a committee of the
fwhole house as in a
select committee consisting
bill°
were thoroughly conversat °vital:, few members who
thei?r
rwechooghleissinugbjpecrti..
a great
There was no provision in the
pri-
vate tutors, which was
a select committee.
but which
could be easily remedied by
The
university of Oxford, from its eminence
import-
ance, ought to be able to command all the the talent
in the country ; but owing to the system
prevailed
there it certainly did not ; and t which
e effect
of this bill, if it passed as it now stood, would
be to perpetuate its bad features instead ofre
forming the system. A much
largermeasure of reform,
was required by the country than this, and he was con-
vinced the question would not be satisfactorily settled
until the colleges of the university ceased to be institu-
tions simply of a monastic character. The question
of fellowships was one which required a great deal of
consideration—it was not a proper one to be dealt
With in a committee of the whole house, but should be
rather referred to a select committee. The constitution
of the university required a thorough change—much
greater, indeed, than the bill proposed, and it was very
much on that ground that he wished it to be committed
to a select committee, where its provisions could be ex-
tended and improved.
Mr. MIALL seconded the amendment.
Mr. NEWDEGATE should support the amendment,
but from a very
different
motive to that of the hon.
member who proposed it. He did not believe the house
could, in its collective capacity, understand
of this question, or - the
constitutionn erd the merihis
ts
ancient university. Besides, theh of this
was
un-
just in its provisions ; it most unwarrantably
proposed to disfranchise the corporation of the
Unurn
and
spirit -
sity, while It also legislated in a s • 't
which would ultimately lead
to on a principle
the separation of the

The intelligence from the goldfields is a shade
more favourable. The diggers are returning to work
after a somewhat prolonged indulgence in the fes-
tivities of Christmas ; and the quantity of gold
brought down by the last escort shows a slight in-
crease. In the early part of January a rich vein of
auriferous quartz was found upon Hawkins-ridge,
near Tambaroora, which is now being worked suc-
cessfully. Specimens of the vein have been sent
down to Sydney ; they are very good, though the
exact proportion of gold to the rock has not yet
been minutely ascertained. The published accounts
of similar discoveries are generally to be accepted
with a large abatement, but as to the Tambaroora
vein, private letters confirm the first reports of its
richness. The following is the description of the
locality and the discovery given by the Bathurst
Free Press of the 7th of January :

" Some eight or nine days ago a digger came upon a piece
of auriferous quartz on the side of the Bald Hill, about 200
yards from 1% ilson's public-house, and made known the
circumstance to Mr. Joseph Withers, publican, who at once
put a party to work on the point with splendid success. In
a very short time the discovery was bruited about Tamba-
roora, and a sudden rush was the consequence. Claims were
speedily marked out on all sides of the lucky spot, and the
earth turned up with a celerity which nothing but the pro-
spect of a golden reward could have produced. At present
there are about 130 people at work on the point, all of whom
are doing remarkably well, and many of them bagging
their 20 to 30 ounces of the pure metal per clay each party.
One lump of quartz of about the size of a brick was found
on the surface, which, when broken up and divided among
the six diggers who had a joint interest in it, was found
to contain 1001. worth of gold of a brilliant bright colour ;
some of the pieces of the precious metal scattered through
the quartz weighing several pennyweights, and the largest
17 pennyweights. The locale of the new discovery is not
more than 300 or 400 yards from the head of the Golden
Gully, where the diggers have latterly been doing so well,
and is supposed to be a continuation of the same vein or
`lode,, extending thence to the Turon. The richness of
some of the claims may be estimated from the fact that

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL 27, 1854.

3001. was refused for one of them, out of which it is known
that nine ounces of gold have been taken in six buckets of 1
earth. As before stated, the gold is found in the quartz
matrix, and at no considerable depth. The first layer is
generally found to be too poor to pay for breaking up, and
is therefore cast away as stripping,' but the sparkling dust
is invariably found in the second layer, which as yet has
in no case disappointed the hopes of the gold hunter, where
they have been confined within moderate limits."
The same journal adds :
" The news of these new diggings has inspired fresh life
into the frames of our business people, who were fast settling
down into a moody despondency under a growing but
groundless conviction that our goldfields were exhausted,
or that their slender attractions were powerless to draw
hither a population from Victoria. The idea now appears
to prevail that, with a large accession of diggers, diggings
equally rich would be found over a surface of country com-
prising hundreds of square miles, and we are as hopeful as
we have hitherto been desponding. The future looks bright
from the reflected light shed by the quartz ridges of Tam ba-
roora, and the views of some of our business people have
undergone, within the last two or three days, a most
thorough and surprising change. Some few scintillations
of the electric excitement which in the early days of the
gold discovery were wont to rouse us to a temporary deli-
rium have manifested themselves in our hitherto quiet
' and many who were looking towards Victoria as their
theatre of action have philosophically resolved to wait
ntoewxtn
a little and watch the course of events."
The best review of the facts connected with the
goldmines for the past year is given in the last gold
circular of Messrs. Lloyd and Co., from which the
subjoined particulars are extracted :
"The northern mines, consisting of the Hanging Rock,
Rocky River, and Bingera, have been worked with consider-
able success. The favourite method has been the system of
sluicing, which was established by some Americans from
California, and has been carried on upon a, very large scale.
By its means water has been brought to spots previously un-
workable for want of it. New diggings have been found in
the northern district of Cameron's Creek, near Armidale.
It is difficult to give any proximate estimate of the amount
of gold obtained from this district, as it has nearly all been
brought down to Sydney by private hand. In consequence,
the Government escort to the north has been discontinued.
A very large amount is, nevertheless, believed to have been
obtained. The produce of the western mines has been fluc-
tuating owing to the uncertainty in which the question of
the gold license fee was left during a large portion of the
year ; but the average brought down by the escort per week
from those mines for the year may be stated at 1,600 ounce.
Some new diggings have been discovered here on the Mac-
quarie river at Burrandong ; these promise to turn out the
richest diggings in our western goldfield. The southern
mines near Braidwood have not been so productive this
year, having sent to Sydney by escort, on an average,
only about 600 ounces per week. Some new fields have
lately been discovered here also, the richness of which has
not yet been tried. On the southern boundary of the
colony, near the far-famed Ovens, but on this side of the
Murray River, some new diggings have been opened at
Adelong Creak, which have yielded a large amount of the
precious metal. One spot, to which there is at present an
immense rush, is named Buffalo Range. Some thousands
of miners are on their way thither, and the older worked
deposits on the Ovens are comparatively deserted. On
the whole it is believed that, under the reduced amount of
license fee, a much larger development of the mineral
wealth of the Colony will take place, and that many of our
miners, who had gone over to the Victoria fields, will re-
turn. The more moderate price of the necessaries of life,
the greater degree of security and order, and the more
equal distribution of remuneration being taken to counter-
balance the splendid prizes and numerous blanks that cha-
racterise that district.
" As a proof that the general produce of the New South
Wales mines is sufficient to afford ample remuneration to
all the diggers employed, the following statistics may be
produced :—The number of licenses issued to diggers in
New South Wales for the first 10 months of 1853 was
3:;,670, or, on an average, 3,267 miners per month. The
total arrival of gold per escort and mail (exclusive of the
amount received from the Ovens diggings, which belong to
Victoria) is 145,036 ounces for the twelve months. This
divided by 3,267 will give as the individual earnings of
each digger a sum of 424 ounces, or, in value, about 1501.
per annum. But it will be seen that in this estimate only
the amount of gold brought down by escort and mail has
been taken into account, and that the amount at present
in the hands of diggers has not been estimated. There is
little doubt that the real produce is double the amount
stated, or, in other words, that the average earnings of
each digger is about 2501. per annum. Another calcula-
tion, founded on the export of gold from Sydney, produces
the same result, making the earnings of each person em-
ployed in digging 73 ounces of gold, or 2501. to 2601. per
annum. By several old diggers this is regarded as a very
moderate estimate ; and, from the unquestionable data
on which it is founded, it is capable of proof that it is
not ktoo much, though it is impossible to be certain
that it is not under the mark. It is very much to be
doubted whether the colony of Victoria can exhibit an
equally large return per man. The escorts provided by the
Government for the pretection of the gold during its tran-
sit from the mines to the capital have been conducted at
a heavy loss to the revenue, as they have not received
the encouragement from the public that they deserved.
In consequence, the northern escort has been discon-
tinued ; and we already hear of one robbery of gold hav-
ing taken place upon that road, and another of the
southern mail. The price of New South Wales gold has
fluctuated considerably during the year, having been in
Jan., 1853, as low as 70s. 9d., and in Sept. 775. 9d.
" The extreme fluctuations have arisen from the altera-
tion of the exchange in London, which has varied from 66
per cent. dis. to 26 per cent. prem., and is at present 1 per
cent. pm. The highest rates have been paid for shipments
to the East, where the exchange has lately operated most
heavily against bills on England. Our present quotation
is 775. to 775. 6d. for Victoria, and 755. for N.S.W. gold.
" The total export of gold from Sydney for the year end-
ing 1853 has been 624,9170unce5, and the total export from
its discovery to the end of the year 1853 has been 1,615,555
ounces, which, valued at Si. 15s. per ounce, gives a total of
6,058,3311. ss. There is calculated to be at present in Syd-
ney upwards of 50,000 ounces."
The produce of the fields of Victoria does not in-
crease, and the " bad luck" of many of the diggers
is no doubt at the bottom of much of the agitation
against licence fee and general regulations. But
there is still no evidence that the old diggings are
actually exhausted, though the correspondence of
the Sydney journals contains very gloomy predic-
tions in regard to them. There is a little jealousy
between the provinces on the merits of their respec-
tive fields; those of New South Wales, though the
earliest discovered, have long been eclipsed by Mount
Alexander, Bendigo, and Ballarat, by which Mel-
bourne is maintained. Still, it is evident from the
crowded population on those fields, the increasing
discontent among it, and the stationary or even
slightly diminished quantities of the escort returns,
that the discovery of a new field equal to either of
the old ones is beginning to be very desirable.
Mr. Forster, the Colonial Secretary of Victoria,
has visited Bendigo ; notwithstanding their differ-
ences with the Government, he was generally well
received by the diggers. It was remarked, as
something like an omen, that in the week before
Christmas the number of departures from the co-
lony of Victoria exceeded the arrivals, the difference
the wrong way, being 150. The last Melbourne
Gold Circular is to January 7. It states :
" From Ballarat a slight decrease has taken place this
week, and the same has occurred at Mount Alexander and
Bendigo. From M'lvor a small quantity has been received,
while the neighbouring field of Waranga or Goulburn has
ceased to be productive. Favourable reports have reached
town of a new and rich field having turned up about 12
miles from Mount Mellagull, on M'lntyre's station. The
numbers at work are not given, but those employed are
doing well. The reports from the Buckland are contradic-
tory, one party stating that, from the success of the dig-
gers, a very large increase of gold may be looked for by
next escort, while another states that numbers are return-
ing to their old quarters at Reid's and Spring Creeks. The
escorts brought from—

the strike of the London cabmen before it found
itself in a similar difficulty. For the last few days
the cabstands have been deserted, the proprietors
having taken off their vehicles in a fit of indigna-
tion, and to defy the new city commissioners.
These officials have had to revise the scale of cab
fares, and in consideration of the high price of
forage, have allowed double the old rates to be
charged ; this would have been submitted to the
more readily as any tariff is nominal only, and,
practically, the drivers charge what they please.
But the new scale of fares was coupled with an
order to place the number of each cab on the door-
panels, instead of its old place, the end of the
driver's box, whore it could be conveniently
covered with a carelessly-hung coat, either to
elude identification or produce an impression
that the turn-out is a private one. Compliance
with this order involves the painting out of all
the shields, crests, lions, and griffins of heraldry
with which the doors of the vehicles are now
decorated, and in defence of these monsters the
cabmen have " struck" o ith a spirit worthy of the
old French noblesse resisting the advance of Repub-
licanism. On the first day of the strike the omni-
buses out of the city were loaded with emancipated
Jebus, enjoying the sensation of being driven ;
while the public was puzzled by the sudden disap-
pearance of the ordinary conveyances. The licenses
expired a day or two after the strike, and the city
commissioners refuse to grant any new ones unless
the order as to the numbering is complied with.
The Supreme Court will have to settle the dispute,
as the cab proprietors intend to apply for a manda-
mus to compel the commissioners to show cause
why they refuse to license a ♦ehicle without a con-
dition'that would degrade the nobility of its door-
panels.
Since the above was written the cab proprietors
have applied to the Supreme Court for a mandamus
calling on the city commissioners to issue a license
to one of the number. The court decided that the
mandamus must be granted, as, according to the
present act, the commissioners had no pawer to an-
nex any condition to the issue of a license if the
individual applying for it were of good character ;
any default of the licensee must be the ground for
an after prosecution. The commissioners might
make the place on which the numbers of the cabs
should be painted the subject of a clause in the
by-laws relating to carriages, but they were bound
to issue the license ministerially, without reference
to the position of the number. In consequence of
this decision the cabs are again placed on the
stands.

The following paragraphs are taken from the re•
view of colonial affairs for the past month given by
the Sydney Empire

"The annual return of the revenue of the colony of New
South Wales gives the following results for the year 1853
as compared with the year 1852 :
The total amount for 1852 was £505,656 16 6
The total amount for 1853 was 815,859 2 10
The gross increase for the year 1853
being £359,69513 4
From which deduct a
decrease of 49,493 7 0

The real increase for the year 1853
being
" The principal items in which this large in-
crease is observable are the revenue from spirits and
the revenue from the sales of land. There having
been :

Year Gallons
Spirits imported
Ditto

s. d.
Duty on spirits .
Ditto
" The territorial revenue exhibits the following
large additions:
froceeds from the sale of lands and
town allotments for 1852
For 1853 158,837 2 7

Mount Alexander and Bendigo ... 18,640
Ballarat, including Geelong ... 8,567
... ... ... ... 422

Being an increase 0f...1A17,579 3 1
(Or nearly 3CO per cent.)
" With the sad exception of the crime of drunkenness,
the colony is at present very frde from violence and dis-
order. The ample wages which all classes are able to ob-
tain and the general prosperity that prevails contribute as
much to this satisfactory condition as the large and expen-
sive police force which is kept up. The crimes that are
committed are nearly all of them traceable to the influence
of liquor.
" The harvest which is now being got in is generally very
good. In thg early pat tof the season great fears were enter-
tained from a long-continued drought. Some copious rains
at length fell, and resuscitated the crops in a most surprising
manner. Reports from the Hunter River district, the
Illawarra district, from Shoalhaven, and from the interior,
all concur in stating that the crop of wheat has been abun-
dant, and hay, of which an unusual breadth is laid down in
consequence of the enormous prices that this article has
realised, will also be a large crop. In the Hunter River
district the crops are heavier than has been known for 36
years past. The clip of wool also is large ; and, although
there is the usual complaint of want of labour for shearing,
it seems now to have settled down more into a question of
the price to be paid than absolute impossibility of procur-
ing hands for the work.
" The unprecedented abundance of money and the keen
competition introduced by new banking establishments had
the effect, a short time ago, of reducing discounts from 6 per
cent to 2§ per cent. But it was felt that this low rate could
not be sustained, and a rapid and decided rise has taken
place, as the very heavy importation and the sluggish state
of the markets are causing a large demand for money. The
savings-bank, which had placed a large amount of its de-
posits in the hands of the leading banking establishments,
has recently withdrawn 200,000/. and deposited it in the
Government vaults. There is still an immense amount of
capital lying unemployed, the high price of labour and the
general want of enterprise in the colony rendering its in-
vestment at a profit exceedingly difficult.
" The half-hearly meeting of the Great Nugget Vein
Company was held on the 16th of January. The report
stated that the Government had conceded to the company a
lease of the claims for 21 years. The machinery had scarcely
got to work, so that no result could be reported, but
sanguine expectations were held out. The balance of profit
on the sale of shares in England enabled the directors
to declare a dividend of a per cent, for the half year. The
balance-sheet showed credits 229,4911. 14s. 7d., and debits
191,5791. 9s. Bd. The result of experiments made in this
claim showed that the average produce of the quartz
crushed was loz. 1 Owt. per ton, and of the alluvium washed
llidwt. per ton.
" A new settlement has been made in the northern dis-
trict at Port Curtis. A surveying party is at present em-
ployed there, and has marked out the site of a town, to be
called Gladstone. The country is described as auriferous
in its appearance and very fertile. The harbour is mag-
nificent. A large river has been discovered, and it is
named after the Governor-General ; it runs into the sea
about forty miles north of Port Curtis, and it is probable
that by its means the interior of that district will be
opened out.
"A larger amount of waste land has been taken into occu-
pation for farming purposes during the past year than in any
previous year; but still it is felt that, with a surplus of
500,0001. in the savings banks, and some millions in other
establishments, no more desirable means of investment
could be offered, if official difficulties and squatting privi-
leges did not stand in the way. Mr. Wentworth declared
his determined opposition to what he denominated ' the
picking out the eyes of the country and it is to be feared
that the squatting interest generally look with extreme
jealousy on the occupation of the waste lands by small
settlers, as they must be aware that the increased value
thus given to the waste lands will interfere with their
monopoly."

The Ovens ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4,734

32,363
" Gold shipped from Victoria in 1854 :
Per Evadno to Calcutta 3,613

Or 3qrs 11b. loz., at 755. ... £13,548
" Exchange on London.—Draughts against gold taken
at 1 per cent. discount.
" The banks advance from 50s. to 60s. per ounce.
" Freight of gold delivered at the Bullion-office, London,
41d. per ounce.
("Insurance, 2& guineas per cent. free of war risk."
A little stimulus has been given to the out-of-
doors agitation againt the Constitution Bill by the
reappearance of Dr. Lang in the arena. He arrived
from Europe when the discussion in the Council was
about to close, but immediately launched against
the plan some letters in the journals. But it was
not till last week he addressed a public meeting on
the question ; it was called by himself in the Circus,
and was numerously attended. Considering the
doctor's fame as an agitator, his speech did not
justify his reputation. He nearly wearied his
hearers by a long and pointless introduction, with-
out connection with the matter in hand ; he got
beyond their depth in a laboured parallel of the
landed aristocracy of Rome with the squatters of
Australia, and between the fall of that empire,
under the invasion of the Gauls and Germans, and
the probable result of a supposed invasion of the
colony by the French. He declared that, in case
of such an invasion, the people, under the projected
new constitution, would have nothing to fight for,
and, consequently, would offer no resistance. The
audience, not at once perceiving the doctor was
putting an assumed case, thought he was asserting
a fact not complimentary to the national spirit, and
showed signs of dissent, on which he was obliged to
explain. All this part of his address was a failure.
He succeeded best in an analysis of the present
electoral law, bestowing on the authors of it, how-
ever, coarser terms of abuse than political contro-
versy can justify. His remedy for all political evils
is independence, and separation of the colonies
under a federal government ; rut a great change
has come over society since Dr. Lang first started
his agitation. The colonies were never less disposed
to quarrel with the mother country than now. All
the immigration of the last two years has tended
to strengthen the bonds of union. The power of
the home Government is considered the best
protection against the undue influence of the
" great interest" of the colony. Fresh blood,
quicker, or, at least, more frequent communica-
tion, and the removal of most of the chief causes
of colonial discontent, especially the cessation of
convictism, have done wonders in changing both
opinions and feeling. Another generation has
arisen that knows not Dr. Lang ; and a theory
which gained attention a few years would now ex-
cite no interest beyond the circle of the Doctor's
personal partisans.
The Sydney public had scarcely done laughing at

INFERNAL MACHINES.-It is reported, whether truly
or not, that several Americans, headed by ex-Alderman
Wesley Smith, jun., of this city, accompanied by a
Russian officer, left in the Baltic on her last outward
trip, to engage in % contract with Russia to destroy
British and French ships of war that approach near
enough to Russian ports by means of Taylor's submarine
armor and Colt's submarine battery. They have also an
invention called the catapult, a vessel with double bows,
armed with long sharp iron beaks, to break the sides of
hostile ships. It will be propelled by steam, which
drives a wheel in her bottom. It is so arranged that
jets of scalding water are thrown from the vessel on all
attempting to board her.—New York lierald.

LAIPYEIiS IN AUSTRALIA.—There has been a large
emigration of lawyers to Australia, and, from inquiries
continually being made by correspondents as to the regu-
lations for practice there, it would appear that many are
contemplating the same step. Let us give to such a timely
warning. There lies now before us a letter from ayoung
lawyer, who had gone to the land of gold with the
fullest confidence that fortune was to be certainly and
easily secured. Bitter has been his disappointment.
He finds that lawyers are but little wanted there ;
that for such business as there is the competitors
are so numerous that no one can thrive. He has been
obliged to turn his hand to labours for which he had re-
ceived no previous training. The day-labourer was bet-
ter off by far than the barrister or the attorney. He
had seen gentlemen belonging to both branches of the
profession glad to earn a maintenance as porters, ostlers,
and waggoners—even as domestic servants. Trade, too,
is overdone, and is not profitable, because everything is
so expensive. Let those of our readers who may have
entertained thoughts of emigration to Australia pause be-
fore they resolve ; and, if they go, it should not be as
lawyers, or with any hope to thrive by the law.—Law
Times.

REMOVAL OF SPIRITS BY RAILWAY.—IMPORTANT
NEW REGULATIONS.—The following order has been
issued by the Board of Inland Revenue, establishing
regulations for the removal of spirits from Scotland to
England by inland conveyance : —•‘ It is ordered that
the several officers of this revenue take notice, for their
information and guidance, of the following regulations,
under which only such removal of spirits can legally b‘.‘
made :—Foreign or British spirits removing under Cus-
toms bonds must be accompanied by an advice letter
signed by a Customs officer, containing a specification
of the packages and the quantity and description of
the spirits, and the casks or packages must be ad-
dressed only to the officer of Customs at the port of
destination. Spirits upon which the full English duty
has been paid may also be removed from Scotland to
England, as at present, by inland carriage, and must be
accompanied by a warehousing permit, endorsed with a
specification of the spirits and a certificate that the full
duty has been paid. In order that the examination of
spirits removed by inland carriage may he properly at-
tended to, it is further ordered that the collectors in
whose collections railway termini and goods stations are
situate, immediately state what arrangements it may be
necessary to make for the efficient performance of this
duty. On the removal of spirits from the Customs
bonded premises the advice letter is to be prepared by
the officers in duplicate, ono copy to accompany the
goods in the same manner as a permit, and the other to
be forwarded by port to the port of destination, .