NEW SOUTH WALES.

Press, Volume XXXI, Issue 4264, 29 March 1879, Page 2

NEW SOUTH WALES.

[FBOXOTJSOWK COB_SSPONDBNT.J Svdh-T, March 15. According to present . arrangements, the Governor's departure is fixed for Wednesday next, the 19th instant. His original intention was to lleaye'f 6-day. Tbe delay is partly attributable to the fact that the Lands Office has suddenly woke up to the necessity of securing his Excellency's signature to several thousands of deeds, whioh hava been slumbering for months or years in its multitudinous recesses. T/nless Sir Hercules Robinson signs them they will become a caitload of worthless parchment. A Governor's last days in a colony wherein he has spent seven years ought to be spent in pleasant leavetaking, and not in the drudgery of signing his name with endless repetition. In this emergency the Ministry have had a stamp prepared which Sir"Hercules has used for the sake of rapidity and relief from the act of writing. The validity of this kind of signature has been called in question in Parliament ; but the Attorney-General has defended it with all the showy legal learning whioh Attorney-General, have at command. Should, however, the Judges ever be appealed to, with the issue of Mr Windeyer's opinion being reversed, we shall have an immense number of complications and difficulties in respect to the holding and transfer of country property. Sydney is strongly inclined to show some enthusiasm of kindly feeling towards Sir Hercules Robinson now that he is leaving the city of which be has been so popular a resident. The boisterous demonstrativeness which loyalty assumes throughout the empire in the presence of a member of the Royal Family cannot be expected to extend to Her Majesty's deputies in these distant dependencies ; but the Governor of whom I write has iul—led. the high functions of his office as custodian of Imperial interests bo industriously, so conscientiously, and with I such conspicuous ability, that there is an evident disposition to indulge in some hearty valedictory gushing. Sir Hercules has quietly intimated that the official regulations, in their spirit if not in their letter, forbid bis acceptance of anything but quiet expressions of goodwill. Therefore those insipid invention* of civilisation —addresses —are the order of the day. Tbe most eminent of these are one from the Assembly, one from the International Exhibition Commission, and another from the citizens of Sydney. Advantage has been taken by tbe orators of the colony of current opportunities to sound his Excellency', praises. And the Press is devoting itself to the same task. For instance, the " Sydney Mail" of to-day says, "During the last seven yeara Parhamentary life in this colony has been anything but mild in its temper. Parties have been separated by passions rather than by politics, and it has been no easy task for the Governor to hold himself above the passing storm. ; but, now that tbe most violent of tho belligerents have become the fastest of friends, now that peace broods over the Assembly, and now that public men can reflect dispassionately over the events of the past, it can neither be proved nor suspected that Sir Hercules ever designedly allied himself with a side, or that he can be identified, on the eve of his departure, with any political party. And so much cannot be said of every colonial Governor." Again, the same journal says, " Gifted with a quick, fertile, and vigorous intellect - , rich in the culture that comes from what Wordsworth calls'astrong book-mindednes*,* broad with the breadth that rewards extensive and observant travel, and largely experienced in the Imperial service, his speeches on. questions of Australian interest are his enduring monument. They are the antipodes of the bubbling talk of a dignified chatterer. Eloquent in phrase, masterly in rhetorical effects, healthy in moral tone, and wide in ■vision, they have won an appreciation that any orator might be proud of." There is a general impression over here that Sir Hercules is the very man for the Governorship of New Zealand. And for two reasons. First, because his robust temperament will find a congenial sphere amongst the throbbing activities cf your colony; and, secondly, because he will be as pronounced in the mamtonance of Imperialism as Sir George Grey may. be insidious and persistent in his tendencies towards ultimate separation. In this connection I may mention that the Marquis of Normanby's remarks at Dunedin re an elective Governor, have been widely republished, and commented upon here. I need..—*-_y say that' they have been tho- i roughly approved. We are in no hurry to cnt.-ti^ -painter _ to. —SvtHd CounSy. *' ~' "■ ~"-"-~ The matrons and maidens of Sydney have made some valuable presentations to Lady Robinson, in the form of some splendid

jewellery and & very choice silver tea service Her ladyship has not taken "any part in philanthropic work, but she has exercised a genial influence in society. "Without affecta-tioovdpen-hearted, fond of innocentpleasure, she has quite cariied the goodwill of her fair sisters, whom she flatters by saving that the Seven happiest years of her life have been spett in Sydney. The two houses of the Legislature cannot agree about the Parliamentary Powers and Privileges BilL Itis hard at present to.see how the utter divergence* of opinion is to be arranged. The Assembly thinks Parliament should clothe itself with all the powers and privileges of the House of Commons; the Council thinks, that those powers and privileges are an old-fashioned vesture of tyranny. •Hence the' latter tiirew 1 out those* clauses of the Bill which gave Parliament unlimited power over people outside, and denounced what it rejected with refreshing vehemenoe of declamation. Then tnel Assembly; in an in-; dignant mood, and led by Sir Henry Parke*,: one of those " politicians who are not infrequently, blind to. liberty, put : the obnoxious clauses into tbVijßill again. And now the equally indignant .Connoil has cut j the clauses out by a more significant vote than I ever. Throughout the dispute the pr_salmbst j without exception, the metropolitan press; literally, without exception, has supported Hie: CounciL An instinct of prudence is perhaps partly accountable for this. It is w:eU known that certain Parliamentary orators, profoundly, convinced of their own infallibility, are ab-J iurdly secsitiye to criticism, and would like to gag the newspapers. Even Sir John Robertson has in substanoe described leader writers as politicians who are too cowardly to append their names to articles. Of course it is nope-i less to reason against a wilful prejudice like that.! The Press has over and over again asserted that] the Council, not the Assembly* is the true interpreter of popular feeling. But just at this oritical juncture a most unfortunate episode h_» occurred in the Ascembly. On Wednes-; day last the Council excised the clauses for the seoond time, and on Thursday, in the Lower House, while Mr M'Elhone, the inwpressible exposer of abuses, was speaking about the inferiority of certain articles supplied by ; a Government contractor, the contractor in question, who had got wind of the coming attack and had posted himself in the Speaker's gallery, shouted out, " It's a lie!'' Whereupon there was a soene. The Speaker ordered one of the messengers to put the offen-; der, Mr —id—an, out, which was done. Then a; long debate ensued upon the insult, which was concluded by a resolution directing the At-torney-General to prosecute the wrong/doer. Sir Henry Parkes _ triumphant Parliament, he says, the powers and privileges: of tbe House of Commons, and. we should be able to put a summary stops to. larrikinism in; the galleries of the Legislative Chambers. j The Assembly is setting itself doggedly totbe task of stamping out the "yellow agony." Bir Henry Parkes moved the second reading of;tbe Chinese Immigration Bill in one of his dullest and longest speeches. Indeed, the whole debate was characterised by a want of fire. 'The recent scare was, at bottom, ohiy a dispute betwixt the A.S.N. Company and the labour unions, and when the strike terminated the agitation, whioh was founded thereon, fell flat in a day. There is no danger whatever of a Chinese invasion. Sufficient proof of that is embodied in the fact that there are not half as many Chinamen in the colony as there were twenty yeaTs ago. The proportion to the European population is only one to seventy. No formidable omen in that. However, the Government is determined to win the working-men's ephemeral favour by building this unnecessary protective wall around New. South Wales. The measure is in committee. now, and the poll-tax clause, after vehement protest from a small minority, has been endorsed. Every China, man, not a British subject, is to pay £10 or go to prison for six months. Fanoyimprisonmg a foreigner for six months for the crime of coming to these shores! This will be the freest country under the sun when a Chinaman is either fined, or imprisoned for landing in it. But it was pointed out to some of the sapient legislators that any Chinaman could leap this barbarous wall by taking out letters of naturalization at Hong Kong, at the expense of a dollar and a half. And if they want to come here, they will spend the dollar and a-half at that end of the journey to save the £10 at this end. Another point should be mentioned. The one thing the Bill is supposed to do is the one thing it cannot do—that is, prevent companies and other large employers from importing Chinese labor. What is £10 when the difference of wages in a two or three years' contract is considered ? . At the same time, it is not probable that the recent experiment will be repeated. , The losses of the inevitable Btrike, and the" public indignation that would be aroused, are enough to warn people from importing cheap labor. The proprietors of the "Sydney Morning Herald" have offered a prize of £100 for the best poem on the approach—g International Exhibition in Sydney. No condition as to length, metre, Ac., are imposed, and there ia no restriction in the competition. For the £100 recently offered by the same firm for the best story, there were several New Zealand competitors, two of whom were found amongst the fix highest in rank—and not one belonging to this colony !

Lord Harris will not be comforted over what has come to be known as the " Sydney riot." He cannot forget and forgive. At a Melbourne batquet he has rated us soundly. Now, we hardly deserve all this iteration of angry denunciation. The Press and the Cricket Association have made interminable apologies, and there i. always this to be maintained in mitigation of what transpired here, that Coulthard's decision in Murdoch's case was a scandalous one. If Murdoch was really out I will never trust my eyes on a cricket field again. Let it be remembered that Murdoch had carried his bat right through the first innings, and, when his side had to follow on, went in again, and it will be easily understood that a crowd of intensely-excited spectator, would not be very dignified at the putting out of such a magnificent batarnan by a blockhead of an umpire. We think no end of Lord Harris's cricket, but not much of his temper. The lowest phase of Sydney life has just been illustrated by an event known as the Prince street tragedy. It is another case of passion excited by drink. Husband and wife occasionally drank themselves drunk, and at last murder was the result. The man— Maguire—in one of his fits of intoxication turned his wife and son, the latter only twelve years of age, out of the house in the evening. In the small hours of the morning he found them sleeping in the yard, awoke them, hurried them into the dwelling, and then attacked the woman with a hammer. She, poor creature, ran into the fireplace, and stood up in the chimney to save her head and •houldera. Then ensued the diabolical part of the business. The man was mad with drink, and exclaiming, " I'll soon get her out of that," took some paper and deliberately set the woman on fire. All this was witnessed by tho boy. When ablaze the poor woman rushed out of the house and roused the neighborhood. Her husband and son extinguished the flames, and Bbc was quickly removed to the Infirmary, but after lingering a few days, died of tetanus, induced by the burns. Before dying she did all she could to exculpate her husband, affirming that there wa. fire in the fireplace. But the boy', evidence, unshaken by cross-examination and sustained by the neighbors' evidence, is most damning. At the inquest a verdict of "Wilful Murder" was promptly returned. A maritime disaster of peculiarly sad comflexion happened on Monday evening off <ake Macquarie, near Newcastle, when the Barrabool (steamer) bound for Sydney collided with the Bonnie Dundee (steamer) bound for the - Manning River. The Barrabool i. a large and powerful boat, owned by the Melbourne Steamship Company, and, striking the other vessel,' a small coasting craft, amidships, almost cnt her in two. She sank in four minutes. Two things are remarkable. One is that this event occurred on a beautifully fine night, with the moon at the full, and when navigation with ample searoom ought to have been as easy as in the daylight. The other is that all the men on board the Bonnie Dundee were saved, and all the women were lost! Five poor creatures found a watery grave. The Press has lashed the seamen for desertingthe women, and not too fiercely. X a crew of Chinamen had done this thing, we should never have heard the last of it, Apparently the only man that had an atom of c_valry in him was the captain. He stood by them, furnished them with lifebuoys, and went down with them in the awful suction caused by the steamer's fous dering. He and one of the ladies came to the surface sgain, and were rescued,by the. boaii» "The latter was alive, but died a few* minute, afterwards; the former was severely injured. This is not the first time the Barrabool has performed tbe feat of cutting

another steamer down in mid-ocean. A yew or two ago she met the Queensland, one of the Torres Straits mail-steamers, a splendid boat and .almost new, betwixt Sydney and Melbourne,, and cut her down almost as easily as the Bonnie Dundee, and in the same manner. There is a loud outcry fur a searching examination by tiie Marine Board. The Sydney Corporation ia practically insolvent. The aldermen assert that they cannot carry on the municipal business of the city, unless the Government sponges, out the . entire indebtedness of the OonuciL" whioh i amounts to considerably over a million. They threaten to resign in a body, and throw all their" on Government And : the country municipalities are in an almost 'equally emaciated condition and rebellious i temper.'' ,' .--• S— !■■ -Of the Kellys we'have heard nothing since the Jerilderie raid. Our:, Government has secured the services of the black trooper*, who are reported to have executed such summary and, extensive justice at Cooktown lately, •andathey.are ncwonthe southern; aide of tbe Murray trying to decipher the tracks of the desperadoes. The Hatfield *« bushrangers'* are in safe custody, and aro only a. gang of infatuated bush bids. The Exhibition works are being pushed on night and day, and will be completed to time. From Europe, Asia, and America there will: ,be so many exhibits that we shall scarce-know whers to bestow them. The Hon. J. J. Casey, the Victorian Commissioner, did a nice little sum in arithmetic before the Commission yesterday. Complete tho extension to Albury, thus linking Sydney to Melbourne by railway, said he, and then 100,000 Victorians will visit the Exhibition, eaob of whom will pay at least £3 to the railway department, and spend £5 in Sydney. Total, £800,000. The Commission listened incredulously, but thanked Mr Casey most courteously. Mr Caeay is an Irishman.