The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-16 00:00:00

AUSTRALIA.

SUMMARY FOR EUROPE.
(From the Melbourne Herald, of April 15.)

The Ministerial re-e!ections and the resumption
of the session—the final one of the present Assembly
have been the two great incidents of the past
month. Mr G'Shanassy's Cabinet is now fa;rly in-
stalled in office • for not only was there no substan-
tial opposition Offered to the re-election of any of
its members, but there was a very general expres-
sion of confidence in them as a Government, and a
determination to give them, at all events, a fair
trial, spontaneously uttered by their several con-
stituencies at the hustings. In addition to this,
one member of the Cabinet, Mr. Henry Miller, the
Commissioner of Customs, was elected to his seat
in the upper house by two constituencies at the
same time,—his own former one, and another in
which there happened to be a vaciucy at the mo-
ment. Add to this fact that there is no declared
opposition to the Ministry on the part of any sec-
tion of the Press, either metropolitan or provincial;
but rather a general avowal of their right to sup-
port and confidence, until they shall have done
something to forfeit both; and the sezurity of their
position I ecomes still more evident. Nor is their
any united opposition offered to them by any party
in the Assembly. A few irregular and utterly in-
effectual opponents have declared themselves in the
house ; but they are actuated by motives so pal-
pably personal in one case, and so purely factious
in other, that no account can be taken of their
hostility. For the present, then, it May be affirmed
that the new Ministry have the game entirely in
their own hands.
In their addresses to their constituents from
the hustings the -new ministers exelainei very
fully and very satisfactorily for the public at
large, their _united views and intentions. In par-
ticular, the Chief Seerrtqry, - Mr. O'Shanassy,,
gave his constituents at Kilniore an exceedingly
able exposition of the projected ministerial policy.
He told them that it was their design to limit the
business of the existing Assembly to the task of
passing a brief, but effective, Reform Bill, increas-
ing the number of representatives from sixty to
about ninety ; revising the electoral divisions so
as to secure a much fairer distribution of the repre-
sentation ; and taking, as its general b Isis, the
simple 'principle of population. The measure,
moreover, was not to be hampered by the introduc-
tion of the ex-chief secretary's favourite principle of
representing minorities. The dissolution of the
present house was immediately to follow the passing
of this measure, and the general election, and as-
sembling of the new house, were to be proceeded
wth without delay. He also told them that the
otopullaa y r principles, which
before the new
house. p
ministry were considering a new Laud Bill, based
toinleythewmoulosdt lbibeeprarle
aanrde d p

It was their design to prosecute vigorously the
public
works •of the country, which their prede-
cessors had allowed to fall somewhat into arrear ;
and, in particular, to carry out, without the least
delay, the great railway enterprise. They bad it
in contemplation to carry sweeping reforms through
all the departments of the government service,
especially (where reform was most needed) into the
Survey-office, so as to accomplish a comple'e topo-
graphical survey of the territory within a very few
years, and at a cost vastly below that which this
branch of the service at present entails upon the
public. They bad also various other measures of
legislative and practical reform in view ; and they
were ready to pledge themselves before the country
to the accomplishment of them all, if their tenure
of office should allow of it. These promises and
designs were, of course, repeated by the various
other ministers—with wh,tt result we have already
stated.

The session was resumed on the Bth inst., and
one day was devoted to the ministerial explanations
—in which, as there was nothing striking or curi-
ous elicited, there was no great degree of public in-
terest felt. The Assembly then adjourned till the
13th inst., when the Attorney-General Mr. Chap-
man, formeby moved for leave to bring in his new
Reform Bill ; and the remainder of a protracted
sitting was d -voted to a sharp and far too personal
discussion, arising out of the dismissal from office
of.. Mr. Adamson, a member of the house and a
barrister, who had been appointed a Crown Prose-
cutor by the defunct ministry, under very peculiar
political circumstances, just prior to its fall from
power. The defence set up for the conduct in the
matter by the present government simply was that
the appointment of Mr. Adamson was a gross job,
that it entailed a needless cost upon the public and
that it rather confused and obstructed than aided
the business of the law officers of the Crown. In
the course of the conflicting debate raised on this
matter, a most damaging exposure was made of
the system upou which the late ministry were ac-
customed to distribute their patronage, and the net
result of the debate was the entire explosion of Mr.
Adamson's grievance. An incident so trifling in
itself would not have bleu worth mentioning, but
for the additional illustration it affords of the exact
position of parties at the moment we are writing ;
and, also, the fact that it served to draw out the
intentions of the new government in reference to
subordinate place-holders having seats in the as-
sembly. During the late ministry's tenure of office
they issued a minute to all their subordinate officers
to the effect that such of them as were members of
the Assembly would be hell to consider them-
selves bound to vote on all occasions with the go-
vernment. This minute, although deemed rather
despotic by the opposition party in the house at
that time, was not objected to by them, because
they saw
well as that of their opponents, if they should ever
get into power. Accordingly, when they found
themselves installed in office, they proceeded to
put the aforesaid minute in force, and Mr. Adam-
son was the first " victinl"—that gentleman having
always been forward to display an oa entatious hos-
tility to the popular side of the house. A strong
opinion prevails, both within the Assembly and
outside of it, th it no placebolders, except the Ca-
binet, should have seats in the Legislature ; and a
bill expressly excluding them was carried through
the two houses by the late Ministry, but yet lost,
because the majority in favour of it in the Council
was below the iiambzr required by the constitution.
It was not till last night however, that the real
cc tug of war" came on between the two parties in
the Assembly. The Attorney General moved the
second reading of the Reform Bill. Mr. Adamson
raised au opposition to what he cal'ed its principle
of a purely arithmetical distribution of the repre-
and a
aentation ; desultory and ineffectual discus-
sion followed, which, we are sorry to state, speedily
degenerated into a more fiercely personal alterca-
tion, between two or three members of the past
and present Governments, than perhaps has ever
been before witnessed within the walls of the Le-
gislature. When the division was taken it was
found that, notwithstanding the previous ill-tem-
pered contest of several hours, there were 37 votes
for the second reading of the bill, and only five
against it, so that the bill may be considered safe,
.
although there doubtless be a good deal of
wrangling over the schedule to it, which contains
the new scheme of electoral distribution.' Such
being the state of affairs, it is very probable that
the dissolution of the Assembly will take place be-
fore our next monthly summary shall be published.
e election—an
Then will speedily follow
the general
event whose results it is quite impossible for the
sharpest sagacity
to foresee. Meantime it is satis-
factory to record that the Ministry ar© proceeding
vigorously with the railway enterprise, as is shown
more at length in another part of this summary,
and are also engaged in effecting their projected
departmental and practical reforms, Bo that it is
certain that their popularity
.will increase with
every day of their continuance in power.