The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-06 00:00:00

..-..,.-...
AUSTRALIAN INTERESTS.

(From the South Australian Register, June 6.)
It is a coincidence somewhat out of the ordinary course
of events, that all the Australias—Eastern, Western,, and
Southern—should have experienced a change in the
person of their respective rulers within a few months of
each other. Governor Robe has recently succeeded
Governor Grey in South Australia ; Governor Clarke
has just followed Governor Hutt at Swan River ; and
Governor Fitzroy is on his passage to take the place of
our own Governor Gipps. Whether these new brooms,
one or all, will be distinguished by that clean sweeping
for which new brooms are usually valued, time alone
can determine. The three colonies, so similar in soil,
climate, and pursuits, and so identical in national habi-
tude and predilections, have so far a community of
interests as to require that the same general prin-
ciples of Government, legislative and executive,
should be applied to the whole. And, notwithstanding
the clamours of some of our owu colonists for political
dismemberment, or, as they are pleased to call it," sepa-
ration," we are inclined to believe, as we have said on
former oc msions, that if some system of federal govern•
scent could be established, which, leaving each colony to
'native its own peculiar affairs, should exercise a com-
prehensive supervision over the whole Australian terri •
tory, and legislate for what may be deemed national
as distinguished from sectional interests, the result
would be highly beneficial. There are at least two
great interests in which the Australias have a common
stake, and with reference to which it is desirable that
their administration should be uniform, and their efforts
in self-defence harmonised and combined. The first is
immigration. As with the heart of one man, they desire,
and, therefore, as with the voice of one man they should
call for, and as with the energy of one man seek to pro-
cure a continuous influx of capitalists and labourers. They
alike require this as the essential both to the maintenance
of their present well-doing, and to the development of
their still dormant resources. Put a stop to immigra-
tion, and the wheels of the Australian chariot must
stand still, or drag on at a dull and sluggish pace ; give
to immigration an impetus, not violent, but adequately
brisk, and the progress of Australian prosperity will be
rapid and triumphant. With a territory nearly as large
as Europe, and larger than the United States of Ame•
rice ; with a climate including all the varieties of the
tropics and of the temperate zone : and with a seaboard
commanding ready access to the treasures of the Pacific
and Indian Oceans, and to the teeming islands of the
Eastern Archipelago, all we want, to give us fair play
in laying the foundations of new empires, is, that
England should send to us all the capital
for which she has no domestic investment,
and all the population for which she has no
domestic employment. That capital and that popula-
tion would here germinate, and grow, and expand, and
fructify, so as to become an ornament on the face of the
earth, and a blessing to the human race. The other
great Interest common to the Australias, and upon
which, indeed, immigration itself mainly depends, is the
land system. Of what avail is it that we are surrounded
by these spacious regions, fit for all the purposes of
civilised man, if a rapacious Government step in, and
what with its extravagant demands for the freehold, and
its despotic restrictions upon leasehold, places them be-
yond the reach of capitalists, whether as purchasers
or temporary occupants ? Let the waste lands be
offered for sale at prices which men of capital can
afford to pay, or for lease upon terms and conditions
with which it would be prudent and advantageous to
comply, and men and money will flow in abundance. But
let a contrary policy be pursued—as, alas !it has been,
and is pursued—and men and money will wisely stay at
home, as we have bitterly experied for years past. This
train of thought has been suggested by the perusal of an
article in the Perth (Western Australia) Inquirer, in
which is given an extract of a letter written by C. Prin-
seps, Esq., of Calcutta. This gentleman, atter congratu-
lating the colonies upon the prospects open to them by
the Mauritius market, says—" Believe me, however,
nothing will give you an effectual start till you have
shaken off the 11. minimum price, which bars all emigra-
tion to your colony. The Procrustean bed which the
two last Colonial Ministers have subjected all Australia
to must of course operate to the total exclusion 'bf all
absentee capital, and must be got rid of coute qu coute."
Upon this extract the editor of the Inquirer has
the following excellent remarks, which, so far as they
apply to Colonel Clarke, we would sincerely apply
to Sir Charles Fitzroy:—" The above is in per-
fect accordance not only with the popular feeling
throughout Australia, but with public opinion in
all parts, which is now most decidedly in favour of a low
Government price for land. For ourselves we are really
unaware of the existence of a single newspaper, pe-
riodical, book, or other print (with the exception of
the reports of' the Land and Emigration Commissioners,
and the dispatches of Sir George Gipps), which now
advocates a contrary opinion. All the recent travellers
in New South We s (including Hood and Murray, the
latest writers of whom we have any account), have ex-
pressed themselves warmly opposed to the system of a
high uniform price throughout Australia, and have ex-
posed the evils arising out of it ; nay, we obser-e by a
late edition cf " M'Culloch's Dictionary," that ne, too,
has become a convert, and exclaims against the folly of
expecting that people will give li. per acre for land in
Australia, when they can buy it in the valley of the Mis-
sissippi for a dollar.

THE BRITISH AT ADEN.

COLONEL MILNER.

(From the Maidstone Journal.)
The following copy of a letter from a corporal in the
94th Foot, to one of the servants at Preston Ball, Kent,
is so creditable to the writer, and bears such undeniable
testimony to the amiable character of our kind-hearted
neighbour, Colonel 'Milner, and to the love which is de-
serv,tily felt for him in the regiment, that we have much
pleasure in publishing it, as a just and pleasinr, testi-
mony to his character. Thu letter, too, is in itself highly
interesting, and highly chsracteristic of the feelings
which animate our gallant defenders egainst whatever
odds they may have to contend.
" Aden, August 18, 1846.
" Your letter I received here on the 21st of June, and
nothing gives me more pleasure than to hear that all in
Preston Hall are well. Now, before Igo any further, I
must not keep you long without knowing that before No-
vember next you will have the pleasure of seeing the
Colonel once more in Preston Hall, as he expects to leave
this some time in October next. He has had very bad
health here lately, and is fully determined to proceed
home—and another reason is, we are on the eve of leav-
ing this place to proceed to Calcutta, and as he will be
in England in about twenty days from the time ho
leaves this place, he considers this a very fitting oppor-
tunity to get two years' leave ; but as he is going- to re-
main some time in Gibraltar, he may not, perhaps, be
able to get home, as I before said, until about November,
and I sincerely hope he may arrive there ail right and
well. He has already made application to the Com-
mander-in-Chief of India, for leave of absence for the
above period.

"We are now engaged with the enemy ; we are up
night and day watching for them. They are a very
savage race of people—Arabs as they are ; and the
force now against us is considered upwards of 6,000
men, commanded by one of their chiefs, who says
he is determined on taking this place. The batteries are
man,,ed, and our out-lying pickets on the alert in case of
a sudden attack on their side. Every man of ours is
under arms from sunset until six the following morning.
They attacked our out-lying picket the night before last,
in large numbers, but our gallant fellows soon made them
retire in double-quick time, with a parting farewell, let-
ting fly after th m nine field-pieces, and a volley from
right to left. Our heavy guns conanued their fire for
upwards of an hour, fire-balls thrown, and tar-bar-
rels burning—and you might plainly see the enemy
take their ch ad up as they were cut down by
our musketry and artillery, and continued their
retreat. This morning a party of horse went outside
the wall, and discovered only two of the enemy—
one dead and the other wounded mortally. He is now
in the hospital, and seems to say that we will in a short
time be attacked by upwards of 15,000, and they are
commanded by a religious enthusiast. They make sure
of destroying every man of us. They are well armed,
but it they were a hundred times better, Britons stand
before them—and I only hope, as the Colonel is on the
eve of going, that he may have an opportunity, as he
commands the whole force here, of showing a specimen
of his military talents, as I know full well nothing is
giving him more pleasure at this moment than our ex-
pectations of an hourly engagement—and, for my part,
I only hope it may be a general one. lam one, these
last two nights, that is in charge of the colours, which
is counted a very high post. I must not forget letting
you know that I am now full corporal, and have been
for some time. I am, for my own sake, very sorry in-
deed to say that the Colonel is going, of which I need
hardly tell you all—but again, when I cor.sider, in all
probability, the benefit he will derive from it, it cer-
tainly gratifies me a good deal, and, as he himself re-
marked, he will come out seven years younger—that
time will be looked for by all now in our regiment with
the greatest anxiety.
il
emnouustgnhottofomrake
forget lmetetiangpryeosnentalelfkhnois ownwthathewas
kin
watch—
that he has had in his possession for a number of years;
keep it as long as I live ; and ) awkaey always will
hear i
always from
him during his time in England, . .
it came from Maidstone, and fineraie,htlisiatsl
be short or long,
I am sure
forget letting me know
wherever he is. I
--rou must
whennot he arrives in England.
how he gets on with you
he will not forget writing to m. e as usual,
G., father '
Colonel speaks of the old man. Remember
Give my respects to John D.. Mr. and sisters
—often the
me to all friends. I will conclude—God bless you all,
and send your true friend safe home, with a happy and
prosperous passage when he does proceed.
Believe me to remain for ever, yours all sincerely,
J. S., Corporal H. M. S. 94th Mgt.,
Aden, Arabia Felix."

A case of considerable importance, it will be recol-
lected, occupied the notice of the Court of Aldermen a
few weeks back, in the charge brought against Messrs.
Roches and Co., of serious irregularities in their busi
ness as brokers of the city of London. Their transac-
tions referring to the purchase and sale of railway secu-
rities, the committee of the Stock-Exchange have taken
up the subject, and are about to institute a rigid investi-
gation into the nature of the complaint. At a meeting
of the committee to-day the subjoined resolution con-
nected with the inquiry was passed:—" The committee
having met to investigate the charge of improper dealing
on the part of Messrs. Rochas and Son, Mr. Roches,
jun., attended, and stated his willingness to enter into a
full explanation of the case recently brought before the
Court of Aldermen, but having alt.() stated that it was
his wish that such explanation should be postponed until
his father, who is now on the continent, could be present
—` Resolved, That the investigation be postned until
the returu of gr. &chap, sen., from the continent."'