The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-11 00:00:00

LONDON, sAri LT RD ± Y EVENING, APRIL 11, 1657.

STS

DARTMOUTH, FRIDAY MORNING.

The Copenhagen, Capt. Godfrey, 83 days from
Port Philip, arrived off the port this morning, and
'andel her mad 3 and passengers.
She has a full cargo of wool and 50,000 ounces of
geld.
She spoke the ship Ellenhorough, 40 days from
Sydney, for London.

From the files ofenewspapers brought to England
by the Jura we extract the following :
(From the Melbourne Argus of Feb. 14.)
The corn crops being now secured in all but the
very late districts, the demand for farm servants is
not so urgent as it has been ; still there is work to
be had by all who really seek it. The farmers and
settlers all want more hands to carry out improve-
ments and extend their operations, andeare willing
to engage as many as they can get at the ordinary
rate of wages, which men would not accept during
the time,of shearing and harvest. While the busy
season laSts, wages for short terms of ,engagement
rise so rhuch above the usual rate, that all other
works on alatiens and farms are at a standstill.
Now that the work which admits of no delay is over
and employment at these extra rates is no longer to
be had, masters are anxious to engage men for
longer periods at the standard wages, and resume
their suspended impro-Vements ; 1;4 so long as the
restless characters who always take advantage of the
unsettle d state of affairs during the spring and sum-
mer months to indulge their rambling propensities,
and at the samfaime reap a harvest for themselves,
have money in,their pockets, their, are not inclined
to settle down to work for which they will receive
a smaller remuneration. For th;s reaeon the labour
market is rather unsettled at this season, and will
remain so for a few weeks. On the gold fields the
diggers and quartz miners are gradually becoming
,more settled and more systematic in their mode of
working. The consequence is that those who have
not sufficient funds to enable them to work on their
own account more readily find employment, and on
some of the diggings at a very high rate of wages.
On the Ovens gold field, where the American sys-
tem has been adopted, and the work is mostly done
by men in large parties, the regular wage for an
ordinary labouring man is twenty shillings a day.
On the other gold fields the parties engaged in
washing the alluvial spit are generally smaller and
mostly composed of men working in partnership,
so there is not so much demand for labourera for
that purpose ; but there are very many quartz-
reefs now worked on all the diggings, which afford
plenty of employment both to labourers and me-
chanics. A great deal of machinery is constantly
sent up from Melbourne, for which
.the necessary
buildings have to be erected. Very much capital
is also expended in improving the inland towns, in
which large hotels, theatres, concert-rooms, and
substantial shops ant dwelling-houses ,have re-
placed the calico and canvas covered erections of
the early days of gold-digging.
Besides the amount of work afforded by private
enterprise, there are all the public works of the
colony, such as roads and bridges, publie.buildings,
&c. ; and in addition to those already in progress,
the main lines of railway to the interior will soon
be commenced on a scale commensurate with what
we may expect our requirements to be a few years
hence. These railways alone will afford employ-
ment to a great number of men for a longer time
than we can look foryVard to ; and every new line
will open up and give increased yalue to a fresh
track of agricultural land ; so that notwithstanding
the alarmist views of many persons in the old coun-
try, who do not understand high wages, and who
believe that they must ruin either individuals or
communities, who are obliged for long to pay them,
we believe that we may safely promise their 'con-
tinuance here, and that without the slightest
danger of our being ruined. The expense of living
is now very moderate, and the labour of every
working man, unless sadly misdirected, adds con-
siderably to our wealth; so that We really cannot
sea from what quarter ruin is to aesail us.
The export of gold from Victoria during the
year 1856 amounted to one hundred and twenty-
five tons.

The vessels which have sailed to foreign ports
with shipments of gold during the current year are
given below.

January 1. Or well
6. Good Hope
7. Austral (Geelong)... London
13. Copenhagen
13. White Star
16. Marco Polo
15. Telegraph Bombay .
15. Royal Charter .. Liverpool
• - -22. Canton
27. Oneida
27. Podesta Hong Kong 7,215
27. Thames (Geelong) London
February 1. Anglesey
3. South Carolina...... Liver o°l
. 3. Sydenham London
3. Star of the East ... Bombay 1,591
9. James Paton Hong Kong 7,240
12. MOrning Star Bristol ......... 48,380
12. Seringapatam
A proposition has been put forth by Dr. Lang
for the establishment of an independent territory,
to comprise the extensive tract of country lying be-
tween the Murray and the Murrumbidgee, to the
north of our own colony, and, at present, including
in that of New South Wales. The district referred
to contains au area of 30,000 square miles. It is
peculiarly favoured in respect to the possession of
two noble rivers, equally valuable for the purposes
of navigation and irrigation, and of a vast breadth
of alluvial land bordering the rivers ; while, in
other districts, the soil is said to be favourable for
pastoral purposes. Dr. Lang suggests the Tumut
river as the eastern, boundary of the proposed ter-
ritory, but the Border Post (a paper published at
Albury) contends for a coast line about 100 miles in
long h, extending between Cape Howe and Point
Dromedary, and including the settlements of Eden
and Twofold Bay, as the more natural boundary ;
while Albury is indicated, as the future capital of
the new province.
In reply to some objections which have been
urged against the propositien on the ground of its
prematurity, arid of the inability of the population
to support a Government. Dr. Lang observes :
" As the separation of Port Philip was not granted
till ten years from the time when it was first asked
for, and as the separation of Moreton Bay has only
been conceded after it had been expressly provided
for by Act of Parliament six years before, it surely
cannot be too soon to agitate for• the separation of
the territory intervening between the Murray and
the Murrumbidgeoi. As to the ability of these new
colonies (in, 'esse alid posse) to support a Govern-
ment, it has beeutcertained that the export from
the Moreton Bay, inuntry, even without gold, ex-
ceeds 301. for every man, woman, and child in the
district ; and -it is *estimated that New. South
Wales draws about 600,0001. per annum from stook
exported to the southward, chiefly, of course, .to
Victoria. Now the greater portion of this stock
comes from the Murrumbidgee country."
The " theatrical world" of Melbourne has been
barren of incidents since-the date of our last sum-
mary. The season at the Theatre Royal terminated
on the 31st ult., when the manager, Mr. George
Coppin, took his benefit, as Sir Peter Teazle, in the
" School for Scandal." There was a very large
attendance ; and in a valedictory speech, retrospec-
tive of the business of the season, Mr. Coppin stated
that he had lost 4,0001. in his endeavour to make
the Italian opera a colonial institution, but that he
had retrieved his losses by the gains accruing from
the performance of the regular drama.
Mr. Brooke, with Mr. and Mrs. Robt. 'Heir, are
still playing successfully in Sydney ; and Madame
Anna Bishop appears to have fairly turned the
heads of the people in Tasmania. Miska Hauser has
returned to Melbourne from Adelaide, and pur-
poses to give some' farewell concerts in this city,
and will immediately afterwards take his departure
• for Europe,. visiting Vienna, en route for London ;
where we shall be very much mistaken if he does
not excite a sensation second only to that occasioned
by tbe extraordinary powers of Paganini.
The bill for abolishing the property qualification
of members of the Legislative Assembly has passed
through that chamber; and boon read a second time
in the council.
On the 12th of February a debate of great im-
portance took place ill the Legislature if Victoria on
a bill which then passed through committee—au
to provide for the establishment of an emigration
department in England to manage the funds pro-
vided by the colony for emigration purposes—funds
which have hitherto been administered by the com-
missioners appointed in England.