The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-08 00:00:00

gather in the corn as it ripens. For some weeks the State, then advanced and read the following reseript,
past the Government has been sending many written by the Shah himself Ili the name of the
of the unemployed men from Melbourne to Great and Almighty God : our well-beloved son, the
work on the roads up the country until they can eldest of our children, Ereir-Mehemtned-Cassm-Khan,
obtain engagements in private service, and these Emir-Nizeen (the Commandant in-Chief of the regular
army) having been trained and brought up
draughts have helped to furnish the extra number since hi
birthi until the present day, by our care, instructed by
of bands needed to meet the requirements of the
ozehoss.sers whose forehead and look express the majesty
spring ; but the numbers thus sent up are not
to supportmeekne the
fthrone, and at the same time
lain,sot o the
sufficient to account for the total absence of the thew proper submission,
highest
degreeour Majestyof splendour has
demand that usually exists in Melbourne at this decided on raising
season for the services of all men capable of shear- among our children. This is whyg we this year name
ing or mowing, or for aiding effectually in those our eldest and well-beloved eon ,be successor to the
operations. There has lately been no inquiry throne. This ie the first dignity of the empire, and we
worthy of mention, except for a few grooms hereby confer it on him. We recommend our well-
and coachmen, gardeners, or men and boys beloved son to the Almighty God, who, we hope, will
willing to make themselves useful about a support him in all his undertakings. We confide the
house near town. Now that the preliminary care of him to all the inhabitants of Persia, great and
measures have passed a portion of the rail- "lan• The saerazan is one of our first and of our-most
way works will soon be commenced ; but, as
aithful servants, the guardian of our secret®, and pos-
sesses all our esteem. Oar well-beloved son will have
can be judged at present, these will not
every consideration for him, and for his counsels.' The
afford employment for so many men as there firman, as published in the Teheran Gazette, was then
was at one time reason to expect they would. The read, and the young prince, after receiving the congra-
amount of money available in the first instance will tulations of the grandees and of the ambassadors, returned
not allow of the works being commenced on that into the palace. The fetes, which lasted three days,
scale which the colony would be justified in adopt- passed off without the slightest disturbance."
ing were it certain that the funds necessary for
their completion could be readily obtained. Nor
is there any certainty that even the moderate
amount of work that we can offer in the first in-
stance will be continued for more than a twelve-
month without interruption. This will depend
on the favour with which our railway scheme is
entertained in England, for the colonial autho-
rities in money matters say that no more can be
raised here than will be sufficient to meet the
expenditure of one year • so, if the funds are not
forthcoming from England, we may look for-
ward to the works being stopped at the end
of that period. If an arrangement for the con-
struction of one or both of the lines should be eiatered
into with one of the large English contracting
houses, this alternative might be avoided ; but,
whatever probability of an arrangement of this sort
existed a few months back, we believe it is scarcely
to be looked for now. Tenders are to be called for,
so as to allow of competition of contractors of large
end of small means ; and the colonial contractors,
having at present little or nothing to do, will be
likely to tender at very low rates. Their ability
to perform the works they propose to undertake
will not be called in question, so we may cal-
culate on their being entrusted with the con-
struction of the railways, as the lowest
tenders will be accepted. Leaving out of the •
questions the advantages or disadvantages, in
other respects, of this mode of letting the
works, it increases the difficulty of predicting what
the prospects of the labouring classes are likely to
be a twelvemonth hence ; or, rather, it renders
these absolutely dependent on the sale of our rail-
way debentures in England. None of the colonial
contractors have sufficient capital to carry out a
large undertaking without frequent payments ; and
if the money is not forthcoming, whatever engage-
ments they may have entered into, they will be
obliged to dismiss their men. We need not point
out that a sudden stoppage of extensive works of
this nature will cause a most serious disturbance
in the labour market, and will, after a temporary
gleam of prosperity, leave this in a more unsatis-
factory state than it has been in of late.
" Many of our readers in England will not be
prepared for such a disheartening picture of the
present state of this so-called paradise of the work-
ing man, and such it really is to those who are for-
tunate enough to obtain constant employment at
trades or occupations which they understand, but
difficulties are looming in the distance to which our
rulers are either wilfully or fJolishly blind, and the
greater the number of persons coming to our shores
with false expectations before them, the more
arduous will be the struggle that is likely to
arise. The present unpopular land system is at
the root of the evil, and the adjustment of this on a
liberal basis will not be effected without engen-
dering animosity on both sides. In the meantime
we have only the railways to look to for the em-
ployment of a large proportion of the working popu-
lation, and there is at present no certainty of these
being carried on uninterruptedly.• A better sys
tem of managing and working the gold-fields, so as
to offer more encouragement for investment of capi-
tal in productive works calculated to facilitate the
obtaining of the precious metal is much needed, and
will eventually be the means of affording employ-
ment to large numbers of men ; but our immediate
prOspects are such as we have endeavoured faith-
fully to describe them. Our powers of absorbing
labour have been oveitaxed of late, and until the
land and railway questions are satisfactorily and
permanently settled we cannot pretend to offer
ready employment to such numbers of people
as have flocked hither within the last few
months. Those who may think of coming to
Australia, and have friends and relatives here, will,
of course be guided by their representations ; but all
without these sources of trustworthy information
should for a time be very cautious in their move-
ments. Any such who may determine on emi-
grating to Victoria, dependent solely on hired
service, should time their departure from home so as
to arrive here between the months of September
and February inclusive. Thus no one without
friends to receive him, or independent means of his
own, should leaveEnglaed for isco th. 1 ony during the
five or six months that will elapse after the receipt
of this intelligence, by the end of which period we
trust that pur principal difficulties will be over-
come, and that all doubts as to the steadiness and
rapidity of our industrial progress will be removed.
" AGRICULTURE. ..
" During the past month no event of especial
importance to the agricultural interest has occurred.
There has been a downward tendency in the prices
of most articles of produce, but this more nearly
affects importers than our own farmers, who had
mostly disposed of- last season's crops before the
fall in prices commenced. We are now on the eve
of what promises to be an abundant harvest, and
there is no fear this year of any of the corn being
lost for want of hands to gather it."

The "act" for the navigation of the Danube,
drawn up by tho Riverain Commission, is in 47
articles. The Nord of Brussels, which publishes
the principal portions of it, complains that all the
most important articles are worded in such a way
as to give undue advantage to thevessels of Austria.

The Emperor of Russia has just promulgated new
regulations for the government of Mingrelia during
the minority of the Prince Sovereign. They enact
that the province shall be under the authority of
the Emperor's Lieutenant in the Caucasus, and that
the local ladministration shall be confided to a
Russian functionary assisted by a council of five
members—two nominated by the Russian govern-
ment, two elected by the native princes, and one
elected by the class of the Aznaours.

A letter from Constantinople of the 25th ult.,
in the Gazette du Midi, says :—" Reschid
Effendi has been nominated conservator of the
relics of Mecca and Medina. His predecessor
was dismissed for having abstracted some of
the sacred objects; amongst other things, he is
accused of having sold to the Shah of Persia
for a large sum the mantle and standard of the
Prophet. A fire a few days ago in the Dardanelles
destroyed 24 houses, 16 khans, and a great many
shops. The Government is causing to be con-
structed, under the direction of Englishmen, steam
mills at Tetimburnu for making good bread at a
cheap rate for the army. From snow and bad
weather the routes of the caravans from Erzeroura
to Trebisonde are impracticable."

The Constitutionnel says that a modification is
about to take place in the Sardinian Cabinet by the
retirement of M. Ratazzi, Minister of the Interior.

FRANCE.

PARIS, THURSDAY.

A despatch, received here yesterday, announced
the rather serious illness of the King of Wiirtem-
burg. This morning his Majesty was somewhat
better.

The death of General Havelock has caused the
deepest regret amongst the English in Paris. The
same feeling was expressed by the Emperor and
those around his Majesty.
A Council of Ministers, at which the Emperor
presided, was held yesterday at the Tuileries.
" Sir H. Bulwer and Baron de Talleyrand-
Perigord, the English and French Oommissioners
in the Principalities," says a Paris letter in the
Nord, " are expected in Paris towards the middle
of the month. It will not be until after their
arrival that it will be possible to settle the bases of
the reorganisation of tue Principalities and the date
of the meeting of the conference."
BOURSE, Jan. 7.—The following wue the last
quotations :
C 3 per Cents
Do. end month

95 -

Credit Foncier

Belgian 4.1
,__.

3 per Cent. ..... 70 15
Do. end month 6U 45
Bank Shares..
Credit Mobilier -
Do. Account 962 50

Piedmontuse (5)
Roman
Austrian
Spanish Threes
Home Debt 37
VAY S.

RAIL'
Orleans
Northern

Midi
Western 7lO
Strasburg
Grand Central
Sardinian
Austrian

Now Ditto

. 820

Lyon and Mediteran. 910

New Ditto

Geneva, . 732 i

PERSIA.

A letter from Teheran of the 14th Nov., in the
Presse d'Orient, gives the following details of the
proclamation of the heir presumptive to the throne,
which was said by some journals to have given rive
io a protest on the part of Mr. Murray, the English
minister :
" On the 31st of October the fetes commenced in
celebration of the proclamation of the veliat or heir
presumptive to the crown of Persia. Invitations had
been sent some time before to all the ulemas, savans,
and distinguished poets of the kingdom, and orders
had been transmitted to all the governors of provinces
to fete this important event. On the Meidan;i-Ak,
or large square in front of the palace, a large orchestra
was erected, which was filled by the first musicians
and singers in the capital. This erection was ar-
ranged with rich hangings and lighted by numerous
lamps and candelabra. Behind the orchestra, on a
terrace on which some pieces of cannon had been
placed, was a large piece of wooden framework for
letting off a brilliant display of fireworks. Lines of
seats, one over the other, were also erected on either
side of the orchestra for the accommodation of the
principal persons of the city. The Russian and Eng-
lish ministers walked about the square together and
were received with marked respect. The throne room
and two large saloons of the re.l4ce were opened to the
guests. On the diplomatic body entering the palace they
were received with the usual military honours, and were
met in the throne room by the sadrawsn, who con-
ducted them, with the high functionaries assembled into
an inner saloon, where sherbets and pipes were offered
to them in the name of the Shah. When all the invited
guests had assembled, the political parts of the fete
commenced. A small throne was brought into the
centre of the principal court of the palace, and soon
there was seen approaching from the royal apartments
a brilliant cortege, in the midst of which was a child of
from seven to eight years of age. Tnis was the Prince
Emir-Mehemmee-Cassitu-Khan, the son of the Shah,
who was ab )ut to be proclaimed he:r to the crown. The
diplomatic body and the ministers immediately advanced
to meet the young prince, and offer congratulations. The
, secretary of the palo.ce,'M iraz Taghi (a distinguished poet,
who bears the title of lican-ul.moulk—the Tongue of