NEW SOUTH WALES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 543, 16 January 1858, Page 5

NEW SOUTH WALES.

THE DISSOLUTION. ' (From the Empire, December 191h.) i! Before the sun sets this evening the members of our first Assembly will be sent back to their constituents.. The House was prorogued yesterday as a preliminary step to its dissolution ; '• which it is believed will be promulgated by proclamation to-day. Its inglorious f history is crowded into, the space of twenty-one months: Though barren of, useful results to the country, it has yet carried on its stream of events four separate administrations, the last of which has not remained intact to witness its final hour. The sum of the experience gained by our first experiments in Parliamentary government is that several leading men of former days from whom much servico was expected have proved themselves incompetent to govern. The ability

of some of these gentlemen cannot be doubted • even the irascible and ' erratic Mr. Holt is not deficient of talent. But they have, as if afflicted with a fatal blindness, singularly missed their wmtfie moment they stepped forth as Ministers of State. One and all they may carry the beautiful words of the 1 sanctuary to their constituent"*/ '* We Have done the things vvhich we ought not to have done, and left undone the things which we ought to have done, and there is no health in us." . ' . . Mr. Cowper, however, has taken the right course in dissolving at'once, under the' cireifmstances in which he found himself placed by the adverse vote on Thur^ay night. Resignation of office would have been unpatriotic, for, we conceive, thes elements of another working Mm:- --: istry N aid not' exist;in the Assembly. How in this respect the country; will answer the appeal now made we do not pretend to 3ay. We see no.reason to doubt the issue:' Some "heavenborn minister" may* be found among the new men; at all events the influx of new men may completely change thecharacter of the House, which indeed is by, no mtens improbable. The strength of fresh blood will, we apprehend, be equal to one-third of the whole number of representatives. It is easy to distinguish beforehand th,e texture of some of the impending" changes, but in some cases the event will doubts less be unforeseen. Had Mr. Cowper appealed to the country while he was home upon the \ wave which carried hinvinto power, there is no' shadow- } of, doubt his hands would have been i strengthened by the action of the constituencies, J and a succession of measures framed on sound ' principles and in a bold, liberal spirit would have I drawn; to his Ministry an iticrea&ed popular sup- i port. / The first weakness of his Government was a desire to propitiate those who are now rampant with delight'at what they suppose is ! his approaching fall. The grand defects of each ; Ministry .have been the, want. of sagacity to comprehend the spirit'of. the ;times,' : and" the want of forecast to measure the culmination.of coming events; and these; defects have been re- j markably conspicuous in the present Cabinet ' THE COMING PA>'IC. ! (From the ' Border Post,' December 12.) j ; Fifteen years ago sheep were sold in Sydney i at a shilling each, and on the stations at sixpence a-head. The flock-owners with few exceptions were in the insolvent court, and the general ruin of course extended itself to every branch of industry. This unfortunate state of affairs was brought aboufc by extravagance and by reckless speculation inland. It is extremely doubtful whether even these labsurdly low prices would have been maintained, were it"not for the fact that the process of j boiling down was at that time introduced, tHereby creatins::s .demand for J;allovy as akarticle^r^ Colonial prophets tell M that the Australian; . C^T^y-^fr^l*-*^-:--"^^."-.'?v:Yij-^o -~ :^~:-r a~*«gi-tsig-r;. differinsr, of course, from the fdrnier dries in proportion to the altered/'bir^mstances under which trade, cot" -crce^ and agriculture; are how pur""011 Dy the colonists. We must confess that, the present aspect of affairs appears to support this conclusion. All kinds of produce: and manufactured goods are mere: ".dri^gs" in.the market, whilst money is the.only article in general demand. The unemployed are becoming troublesome, and .are only kept quiet jby being engaged on unproductive Government {works. The commercial world is perplexed with failures and rumours of failures, arid the hearts of money-lenders are failing them for fear. " Paper" is scarcely negociable, and the banks are putting on the screw. Our Governments are struggling amidst financial difficulties, and it is found necessary to borrow "money to make up the deficiency in the Exchequer. But even the £10; New South Wales Debentures will not go down, and the Victorian Debentures are only taken .up by Government iboards having money to invests ■In the midst iof this:.unmistakable; ," tightness^ I.^Victoria. S about to raise a loan of; eight millions to carry on her l'ailways; and .there^ appears-to be some prospect of our' own Government attempting to borrow, say five millions, for the same purpose. As if to stimulate speculation to the utmost possible extent, our Legislature propose to throw open the public lands at five shillings per acrej and it is quite impossible to form iany approximate idea of the amount of capital which may, under the new Land Bill, be invested in the purchase of gum-tree forests and stringy-bark ranges. Under these circumstances, can it be wondered at that half our property-holders are anxious to sell out, and that the cry of " hard times" has resounded throughout the length and breadth of the land? The only trades ex- ; hibiting any liveliness are those of the auc- \ tioneer and the pawnbroker, as'evidenced by the numerous sales advertised and by the fierce controversy now raging in the "newspapers in reference to the profits of these last-mentioned : tender-hearted gentry. Victoria has her annual twelve millions of gold, and this valuable resource speedily tides } her over each successive monetary crisis. A single individual may be taken as the type of her entire population, and she may be excused for occasional extravagance, just as a lucky . digger is pardoned for celebrating his. saeossrbf~ ! "going on the sprae." ' But the eircunSsiances j of New South Wales are entirely different, and any attempt on her part to ape th<*.,proceßdings of"her more fortunate sister must;end in.disap- j pointment and humiliation. Railways in New (' South Wales must either be left .to private.enterprise or left alone altogether,, and .it will not do to talk of raising millions on loan. The London stock-brokers have been so frequently appealed to to advance money on the security of the public lands in New South Wales, that they have become blase of these speculations, ! particularly wheu they see about one-half of

Moi'tonß y separation of Moreton Bay. Nor wit probable that they will hnd reason to alter their opinion, when X Z?^ 11:^™ tbat the Ir^ew .South Wales, we are an in^ecuntus' and v slow going people, and we muit be carelul not to outrun our means. A crisis at the present time would be attended with most disastroua results, and this colony would occupy as many years to recover itself as Victoria would months. We therefore hope that the report of the Select Committee on Railways w 11. be acted upon, and that these undertakings will I be left to private enterprise. ' Time will rectify the prostration in commercial matters : but so far as the Government is : concerned, we can see no other prospect than a .steady increase in the public debt. The estab- , hdhment of a natioiial bank of issue would go far to relieve the Government from its difficulties, and might be used to impose a check upon the operations of the proprietary banks. The large profits which now find their way into the pockets ot tne shareholders in the established banks would go to swell the general revenue ; and it wouid not be in the power of any class in the community to strike a blow at the credit of the colonists, by suddenly raising the rate of dis cpunt 9 r using other, means occasionally prac- ; tised by the banks. PAELIAMEKTABT. Our summary of Parliamentary intelligence I will show that the Cowper Ministry are prof ceeding but slowly in passing the few great ; measures which they thought it prudent to in- ' troduce into the house during the present session. j The Municipalities Bill for the purpose of ; establishing local taxation throughout the country is not yet passed through committee, and even should iteventually be carried through both Houses, there, will be much difficulty in I bringing it into practical operation. I ; In many districts there would doubtless be considerable resistance to any scheme of direct taxation for local purposes. '. But the great difficulty will be, in the present state of our revenue, the providing such sums for the endowment of these localities as will enable them to be worked effectually. - .. .;; * The bill for the repair and maintenance of ihegreat main'roads of the. colony-, though it will involve a larger expenditure, is more likely to meet with success, though; it is not improbable that the carrying out of this desirable measure may be obstructed by local jealousies. ■ The Crown Lands Bill, the most important measure of the.session, is still, in £fffßJv'tise&-~' £nie^&^^~ ThTproposed classification 6r:lanas J _ot;hjrthari...tawn and suburban, into agricultural ana pastoral lands, the minimum price of the former to be £1 per acre, and of the latter ss. were expunged/from the bill, and a uniform minimum price of ss. placed on both classes. This clause was passed by a majority of two, but there are "other clauses on which the bill may be upset before it gets out of co.mmittee. At all events, it'is not likely to go 1 through'a third reading, and, even, should it do so, it will certainly be thrown out in the Legislative Council. Tbe bill is, most-unpopular all through the country; the Press is unanimously arrayed against it; meetings have been held in Sydney,,to petition for a dissolution, knd in many of the .country- districts- strong popular manifestations have been-made against the bill. •■-•;': '..■■■■- ;;...•: '

The opposition io this measure;unites the; sympathies of the" two " extreme parties. !& the'"; colony. The Conservative* party, are 6pp6sed fo it, because they see tKatthe effect of the reduction will bato create speculation/and in.reality. •to prevent the settlement :of the land for culii-^i jvation, and, t.hat'itw\ll'besides"* absorb;; in the.j ;purchase:of land, the: capital ,w;hich is necessary" for carrying on other' colonial pursuits. They lalso object on the ground that it is a'breach of 'faith to the public creditor, .who hits lent his money on theisecUrity of these lands". The other c l ass _^the ultra-TRadical class—are crying out jbr a fixed price of 55., with a right of selection j of the lands where,they will. A considerable section of "the;.party would; prefer the rightidf selection without" any1 price'■"'at* all.— -8. M. &erald,Dec. 10.

Our predictions as to the fate of the Ministerial Land Bill have been fulfilled sooner than we anticipated. After having dragged on an igminious existence through several debates in committee, the majority on the Government s ide all the while progressively declining, it was I ;at last dealt a mortal blow by~the ruthless hands of Mr. Robertson, who was evidently anxious to atone for his late apparent detection from many of the principles he ouce advocated . in opposition, by thus leading the assault upon the obnoxious measure of which the honorable gentleman now seems thoroughly ashamed. Nearly every member present in committee thought it his duty to turn orator on Mr. Robertson's- motion " That the Chairman do | now leave the chair V( report progress, and ask [ leavelo^srtr again' that day six; months;" vir- ! tually throwing but 'the bill, which was felt to I involve "an important'cvisis. TheresultAvas an equal division, seventeen vot ing for and the same number against the motion, '. winch was ; only carried by the casting vote of the Chair- ' nian. : This affair sej-ved by way of prelude to l| the withdrawal of their bill by the Government,, which followed last night, to the surprise of nobody, as a soit of natural consequence of the expression of opinian elicJteSoo r Wednesday night. The discharge of the bill from the pnper was accompanied by an animated discussion, ! but was not met by any direct or decided opposition. — Empire, Dec. I.l^ , ..'.•■.