The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-14 00:00:00

AUSTRALIA.

We have received our letters and papers brought
by the Royal mail steam-ship Columbian, which
left Melbourne on the 16th of August.
(From the Melbourne Herald.)
Following our custom of preparing for the de-
spatch of the mail for Europe, we append our usual
summary of events since the sailing of the last
packet :
Another wholly uneventful month : the single
incident of a public kind which has marked it being
the further prorogation of the Legislature from the
10th Aug. to the 10th Sept.—to be then prorogued
again for another month or six weeks ! We shall
probably have advanced well into October before
the houses meet for the despatch of business. The
delay arises solely from the deadlock into which
affairs have been brought through the Council's
rejection of the Ministerial measure of reform. No
course is left open to the Ministry excepting that
of patiently awaiting the result of the pending
elections for the Council, in the room of the six
members who first retire by rotation. Those elec-
tions cannot, according to the terms of the Consti-
tution Act, be taken sooner than October, because
the first period of two years will not expire till
then.

The depressing effects of the protracted recess
are felt, more or less, in every department of pub-
lic affairs. Our railways, for instance, are not pro-
gressing as spiritedly as they might be. Complaints
of dulness and stagnation are heard everywhere—
in commercial circles, in the agricultural districts,
on the gold fields, and even (but with very. little
cause) amongst the squatters.
One of the minor political incidents of the past
month has been the return to Victoria of Mr. Wm.
Nicholson, the introducer of the ballot into this
country. _

Since the departure of the steamer Emeu, with

the July mail, the commerce of this colony has con-
tinued in son. unsatisfactory condition, and very few
transactions have taken place of sufficient import-
ance to improve the position of importers, or to give
activity to trade. This extremely cheerless state of
business affairs has been in part attributed to the
irregularities which appear to be inseparable from
the postal system which is at present recognised
by the Home and Colonial Governments ; and we
can scarcely hope that our local trade will fairly
revive until this imperfect system is thoroughly
reorganised. The advices which after vexatious
delays reached us by the Victoria, and subsequently
by the European, have not tended to restore confi-
dence ; inasmuch as they contain abundant evi-
dence that shippers in the United Kingdom had
extended their foreign transactions, and. had in-
creased their missions to this colony. The export
returns for May and June exhibited a serious in-
crease in the declared values of consignments from
British ports to Melbourne and Geelong, and we
fear that the news of this unlooked-for augmenta-
tion will seriously affect quotations in this market.
It is absolutely unaccountable that exporters should
in the face of the most urgent and repeated remon-
strances, persist in following out a course which not
only entails heavy losses upon them, but which
likewise contributes to check the prosperity of this
country. It has been emphatically declared, over
and over again, that Victoria cannot absorb enor-
mous supplies of every variety of merchandise, and,
that our own importers are fully capable of esti- i
mating the extent of our requirements.
The works on the Geelong and Ballarat line,
for which Messrs. Evans and Merry were the suc-
cessful tenderers, are to be commenced. to-day.
The Government has declined the offer of the
Geelong. Railyrny Company to purchase the line nn
the terms proposed. In the letter announcing the
determination of the Government to reject the pro-
posal of the company, the Vice-President of the
Board of Land and Works assigns the following
reasons :—First, Because the proposed terms are in
excess of those proposed in December last ; second,
because the assent of the parties interested in the
sale of the property of the railway company (in
number and value), has not been obtained ; third,
because the liabilities of the company are not defi-
nitely ascertained and submitted to the Govern-
ment ; and, fourth, because the proposal to fix the
value of the Government debentures bearing inte-
rest at six per cent. for 25 years at par in exchange
for the railway property, is not equitable, and may
be calculated to injure the railway undertakings of
the Government now in progress.
The Hobson's Bay Company maintains the pros-
perity which has attended it since the opening of
the branch to St. Kilda. The course of the perma-
nent way at the Melbourne end is being diverted
in order that the awkward curve which occurs at
the commencement of the line may be avoided. A
new bridge has been thrown over the Yarra for the
purpose of connecting the new work with the op-
posite bank. The traffic receipts of the company
for the last four weeks have amounted to
4,6471. 10s. sd.
The Melbourne and Suburban Railway Company,
whose works were commenced on the Ist July,
have got to work in earnest, and in a few months
an important portion of their permanent way will
no doubt be finished.

IMMIGRATION AND THE LABOUR

MARKET.

The balance of colonial arrivals and departures
for the last four months has added some 9,000 souls
to our population. The subjoined figures indicate
the proportion which the immigration and emigra-
tion bear to each other :

Arrived. Departed.
April
May
June
July
August

13,567 5,181
Deduct departed

Nett immigration 8,386