The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-17 00:00:00

OCTOBER 17, 1861,"

both in the composition and the political tenden-
cies of the Lower House. We mentioned in our
previous summary that the opposition party objected
to the Governor's granting a dissolution, on the
ground of its being both an imexpedientnnd an tub.
constitutional step. They professed themselves per-
fectly willing to stand the is
sae of an apwal, to the
country on that point. But when ,The tap.. peel
actually came to be made, they found that the
people would not listen to any ±scussionbi a purely
abstract qticstion, and a question, moreover, which
had been already practically settled by the disso-
lution itself. The popular call was for a definite
programme of measures of a liberal and progressive
character. But the opposition was not prepared
with 'anything of the kind. They were not a
United and compact party' with a distinctive policy
and an effective organigation, but only a chance-
collected body acting together on,a single occasion.
Here the Ministerial party had immensely the ad-
vantage of them. Again, the opposition " went•to.
the country" mainly, if not exclusively, to reverse
the Governor's decree of dissolution and to turn out
the Ministry. The other side went with an exceed-
ingly taking programme of popular measures, and
with boundless promises of benefits to come. That
the latter, Ocnad, under these circumstances, be -
strikingly successful as compared with their oppo-
nctats is not at all to be wondered at. This is the
simple and sufficient explanation of the general re-
sults the late elections.
There had been a serious strike, attended with
violence, t the works on Government railways.

STEW SOUTH WALES.
•Advices front Sydney are to the 21st of Septem-
bor. The most important relate to the political

excitement arising out of the fatal disturbance at
the Burrangong gold-field. The following account

of these occurrences ie from the Sydney Morning

Herald :

Almost the only event which has called forth any
degree of political excitement during the past month
&is been the fatal disturbance at the Burrangong
gold-field. The police force assembled there being

insufficient to meet an anticipated attack from the

rioters, the military were sent up ; and although a
collision was loudly threatened, and by some appre-

hended, a number of arrests were made without the

slightest resistance. The only action taken by the
diggers was to hold meetings to draw up a petition
to the Governor, praying for an official inquiry into
the circumstances of the collision, and to appoint

delegates to present the petition to the Governor.
These proceedings were to some extent seconded by
a handful of people in Sydney, who, by means of
wilful and barefaced misrepresentations of the case,
made an attempt to excite a public sympathy for
.the rioters. Obviously for this purpose, but osten-
sibly with the view of considering the Chinese
immigration, a public meeting was convened, and
nawithstanding the glaring fact that the disturb-
ances at Burrangong were the result of a savage
and entirely unprovoked assault by the Europeans
upon the Chinese, the speakers, several of whom
were members of the Assembly, directed their com-
plaints at the unfortunate Itlongolians as the cause
of the: disturbance, and indulged freely in all those
&lie and wanton. vilifications of the Chinese which
are so immensely popular with large numbers of the
working and illiterate classes. The delegates sent
with the petition from the diggers were recognised
as having been mixed up with the rioters, and Sir
S. Young refused to receive them, but promised that
their petition if forwarded should be laid before the
Executive Council. A second public meeting was held
for the purpose of urging on the Government to
suspend the operations of the military until an in-
quiry should. have been made into the circumstances
of the collision. The two delegates were present,
and made speeches, partly justifying the conduct of
the rioters; and by the others the conduct of the

governor, in refusing to see them, was denounced as

unconstitutional. To show the malignant hatred o
the CLinese, shared in common with the rioters o

Burrangong, by the majority of those present at the
meeting—when a speaker rose to denounce the ruf-
fianly attack upon the Chinese,•he was assailed with
hooting and yelling, and was not allowed a hearing.
Torpy—one of the delegates, and who was a publi-
can at Burrangong--was, on the morning of the
meeting, arrested on a charge of being concerned in
the riots, and was allowed bail for his appearance be-
fore the magistrates at Burrangong, where he has

since been discharged, owing to the departure from
the gold-field of those who were prepared to give
evidence against him. The deputation appointed at
the meeting waited upon the Governor with the
petition, but were very plainly informed by his ex-
cellency that the circumstances did not justify his
suspension of the ordinary operation of the law, and
that the judicial tribunals would afford them all the
inquiry that 'they desired. No other proceedings
have since 'been taken, and the attempt to arouse
public sympathy on behalf pf the diggers has been
a ludicrous failure. The statements they furnished
with regard to the collision, impugning the truth of
the official reports, have been proved to have been
so entirely mendacious and exaggerated, that their
cause has become utterly contemptible, and most of
those who at first took it up warmly, believing
there had been some injustice, have since abandoned
it in disgust.
The public at large were not misled by these per-
versions ; they saw at once that the assemblage of a
company of armed men in front of the camp, demand-
ing the release of prisoners, was only the prelimi-
uary to the attempt to rescue them. It was no less
obvious that, whether the Riot Act had been read or
not, or whether the police or the diggers fired first
was of little consequence, and that the troopers
were justified in the vigorous steps they took to
disperse the rioters. All the evidence that has been
given respecting the occurrences has served to con-
firm and justify that opinion.
The recent proceedings at the gold-fields have
afforded proof, if such had been needed, that the
animosity which is entertained by a large class
against the Chinese, and which has been freely
pandered to by the touters for popularity in the
Assembly, is the result not of any actual experience
of the immorality or the offensive habits of that
people, but of the selfish and indefensible prejudice
against them. As those who entertain this senti-
ment are more noisy and demonstrative than others
whose intelligence and social position better entitle
them to be heard, it is likely that some measure of
a prohibitory character with regard to the Chinese
may be forced on the legislature.
The elections that had taken place since the Par-
liament was prorogued had somewhat affected the
relative strength of parties in the Assembly, the
return of Mr. Forster, of Mr. Holt, and of Mr. Faw-
cett affording valuable accessions to the Opposition.
The Ministerial party is numerically strong, but it
is only in two or three leading questions that the
support of any large proportion of these can be
relied on, and it is not at all unlikely that upon the
announcement of their financial or their educational
policy many of their uncertain supporters may
turn against them, and assist to put them out.
The Land Bill and the Legislative Council Bill
were to be introduced early in the session, and
would probably be quickly passed with little altera-
tion by the Assembly.

AUSTRALIAN MARKETS.
(From the Argus of August 24.)
The excitement and bustle of the general election have
interfered in no small degree with the buKiness of the month,
as much on account cf the issues involved as from the
valuable time lost to the producing and commercial interests
of the colony, and absorbed in the political struggles of the
various constituencies.
The mail steamship Salsotte arrived ill Hull' 'c 3D-J ou,
the morning of tho iota the tmglisit mails of
2Gth June. The heads of intelligence reached Xelbourne
during the afternoon of the 9th inst., by telegrph from
Adelaide. The commercial news was not consid red very
cheering. The high rates of discount ruling in London
and. the decline in Consols were canvassed with tegard to
A ti3eir poWie effot on the prim of our railway oecurities,