AUSTRALIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 4465, 5 June 1875, Page 3

AUSTRALIA.

{Argut, May 14 to 20.) The New South Wales Government i* preparing a Bill to deal with the sewagequestion. In Sonth Australia, thirty-two thousand acres of land were selected daring April. Hail way extension is progressing in New South Wales, but some difficulty is experienced in obtaining the necessary labour. Mr David Grayson, ex-alderman of Brisbane, has been sent to gaol for three months, having failed to pay the fine of £75 imposed upon him for a breach of the municipal laws, Pie Board appointed at Sydney to inquire

into the nutter hu reported that 38,000 tone ofthe rallwayiron lent out from. England, for' Government railway*, was not according to the specifications. The iteamahip companies and railway authorities bare expressed their willingness to convey exhibits intended for the Melbourne Exhibition free of charge. A. curious fatal accident is reported by the Hobart Town }£ereutjf of May 7“ On Tuesday last, at Norwood, Bothwoll, Mr Edward Blyth was taking a pa-ir of cheats from off a shelf above a bed in which his little daughter Harriet was lying, and in doing so displaced another pair, which fell upon the child’s neck, the point. penetrating the jugular rein. A doctor woe sent for, but before his arrival the child had bled to death. At an inquest the jury returned si verdict of * accidental |death,' with the rider that no blame could be attached to the parent of the child.”

Hitherto the New South Wales Legislative Oouneil has always rejected the Bill for legalising marriages witha deceased wife’s sister, but now the majority is in its favour. All the old ecclesiastical arguments have, been repeated, but on the other hand their intrinsic validity has been denied, and the secular arguments in favour of such marriages have been strongly urged. The Bill is in committee, and there is still some difficulty about framing the clauses which refer to the retrospective action of the Bill, but there seems little doubt no.w but that the measure will pass. “ Mr Parrott has recently made some further experiments with his new signalling instrument (the sematrope),” says the Sydney Morning Herald , “ and finds that it is adapted for signalling purposes by means of the reflected light from the moon as well as the sun. On a recent occasion he tested it from Forest Lodge by means of the refleption of the moon’s light, and sent messages with great success to the heights at Woolloomooloo, at which point Mr Yessey was stationed, who said the light shown by the sematrope oh this occasion—it was within about fifty hours of full moon—surpassed the light shown by a Chatham signalling lamp, which is visible with the naked eye to about five miles. Mr Yessey, who received the messages from the sematrope, thinks it will be available with the moon’s fight up to about ten miles,”

The correspondence relating to the Pacific mail service has been laid on the table of the New South Wales Parliament, though it is scarcely yet published. It is very voluminous, and probably very few but those who want to make it a means of attack on the late Ministry will read through it. It divulges the maximum amount which thq united Governments are willing to pay for the new contract. For this the Ministry have been blamed, but it is said that the figure was already known to interested persons, and that the publication has but revealed an open secret. We are still in a state of considerable darkness as to what is likely to be the upshot of the telegraphic negotiations. Mr Yogel has been making bargains about the cable to New Zealand at the other end of the world, while the Cabinet here has been opening fresh negotiations with Mr Audley Coote, and prides itself on being likely to secure better terms than the late Government had bargained for. The Ballarat Woollen Company have now got all their machinery in full swing, but as there has been some little difficulty in getting skilled men and women to take their respective positions at the various portions of the machinery, s.oertain number of partially, if not totally unskilled persons had to be engaged; find these are now acquiring that knowledge which in a short time will perfect them for their respective positions. The new engine does its duty splendidly. The want of skul on the part of a good many of the hands hais-the effect of retarding operations a little, but it is expected this will be entirely overcome in a couple of months at most. Labouring under this disadvantage, the productive power of the company at present in the three articles to which they are limiting their attention, viz., tweeds, flannels, and shawls, in the weekly product of each is as follows: Tweeds, about 1200 yards; flannels, from 800 tO: 900 yards; shawls, from 240 to 260 yards. The demand for the company’s fabrics seems to be improving rapidly, judging from the almost empty state of their warehouse. A correspondent'writes stating that he has 640 acres of ground that he desires to offer to the corporation for a depdt for nightsoil. The ground is 86 miles from Melbourne, and two and, a half miles from the North-Eastern Bailway, and, he states, is admirably situated for such a purpose, being level, or nearly so. He proposes to give the corporation 20s per acre for the manuring of his ground with the nightsoil, trenched Ift deep, a load of nightsoil to be put upon every 12ft x 6ft of ground, and covered in in the usual way. He would also give the corporation the whole of the timber, of which their is a considerable quantity on some parts of the section, which could be sold, the corporation charging so much per mile for the use of the tramway which it would be necessary to construct. The tramway would also accommodate our correspondent’s neighbours, who have a large quantity of timber to come to market, say : tens of thousands of tons. He has no doubt that the other owners of land in the neighbourhood would enter into contracts of a similar nature to the one he proposes. The following resolutions on the subject of unsectarian education in schools supported by the State, were unanimously re-affirmed by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Ohuroh of Queensland, at its sittings held recently:—“That in connection with a system of national education, efficient means should be adopted to secure the education of all young persons in the colony. That to support, or assist to support, any school in which sectarian instruction is given by the teacher, or that is under the control of any religious denomination, is inconsistent with the principles of a system of national education suited to the wants and circumstances‘of Queensland. That no reformaatory, orphanage, or other similar institution, in which the young are educated, that belongs to, or is under the control of, any religious denomination; should receive any support from the national funds; and that all such institutions, receiving such support, should be under the same management as the national schools. That those entrusted with the administration of a national system of education ought to be directly responsible to Parliament, and their meetings open to the public.” A meeting of the committee who have undertaken the raising of local funds in aid of the testimonial which has been lately initiated in London to the great Jewish philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefiore, was held at the vestry room of the Bourke street Synagogue. Mr Henry Harris in the chair. It was resolved that the appeal for subscriptions should not be confined to members of the Hebrew faith, as the venerable baronet has always exerted his influence in the cause of humanity without regard to class or creed, and it was decided that a public meeting on the subject should be called for Thursday, May 20, in the upper room of the Town Hall. The information received from England is, that Sir Moses having been invited to indicate the nature of the memorial which would be most congenial to his own feelings, and would at the same time be likely to meet with general approval, suggested an undertaking for permanently improving the condition of the Jews of the Holy Land, which was approved of by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and it is understood that no portion of the funds is to be applied to almsgiving. The manner in which the industrial schools of the colony are misused has been forced upon the serious attention of the Government. Every year the maintenance of a large number of children, is foisted on the State by parents who are unwilling to camber themselves sfith the support of their offspring. The burden which properly rests upon the individual is cast upon the general community, and the parent relieves himself almost entirely of responsibility. The magistrates of the various courts throughout the colony, through not exercising a proper discretion in committing children to the schools, have assisted the parents thus to divest themselves of their duty. In the Press, attention has frequently been called to oases in which ,children whose parents were in a position to maintain them have been sent to the schools for a term of years. Only recently the Brighton Bench sent little boy to the industrial schools for seven

years for stealing two apples; his parents aft the time residing in Brighton, and being perfectly able to maintainand control him. Under these circumstances, the Acting Chief Secretary,. Mr Bamsay, has desired his colleague the ; Solicitor-General to send a circular to all magistrates in the colony, calling attention to the necessity of a strict inquiry into the circumstances of parents before committing the children to the'industrial schools.

The following, on -the abject of wooldumping, is from the Oeelong Advertiser “ Two seasons ago the agents of some of the regular line of wool ships trading between London and Melbourne adopted a new system of dumping wool, viz,, after a bale of wool had been dumped, two of those so dumped were put under a very powerful hydraulic press, and the two bales bound round with, strong hoop iron. This extra pressure wu found to be Tery injurious to the wool—more particularly skin wools—depreciating their value fully 2d per lb. From the outcry raised by shippers, this injurious system was discontinued by ships’ agents after the first season. At that time a good deal of discussion took place in the trade as to the injury sustained by wool being dumped at all, and Messrs A. Douglass and Co. inform us, to test this for their own satisfaction, they shipped 50 bales of skin wool by the Loch Tay undumped at an freight, and another 60 bales dumped by Messrs 0. J. Dennys and Co., at the same time, requesting their London agents to examine and: report fully upon the condition of each parcel .By the last mad they received advices from Messrs Dalgety, Du Croz and Co., in which they say:—* Wo were in our view tbat reasonable damping is not to the prejudice of your wools,by the appearance of the shipment of the Loch Tay upon the floor, where nothing called attention to. the difference between the dumped and undumped bales, to the prejudice of the former/ 'This is satisfactory information for shippers of wool, as during the season the bales are invariably dumped before shipping, and the foregoing information will relieve the minds of those parties who are still under the impression that dumping was injurious.” A movement has been initiated amongst barristers admitted to the bar in this colony, with the view of removing certain disadvantages under which colonial barristers labour, as compared with their brethren who have been admitted to the bar in England. English barristers can, after complying with certain prescribed forms, be admitted to practice in any Court in the Empire. For example, an English barrister coming to any of these colonies may be admitted without passing any examination, but a colonial barrister can only practise in .the Courts of the colony to the bar of which he belongs, and if he desires to practise in any other colony, or in England, be has to qualify himself for the bar there. This state of things is considered by colonial barristers to be a grievance, and it has been resolved to memorialise the Secretary of State for the colonies on the subject, urging the necessity for legislation in the Imperial Parliament to remedy this evil. There are now eighty barristers admitted in this colony affected by this state of thing* Attorneys admitted in the colonies are nob subject to the same disabilities. The Colonial Attorneys Belief Amendment' Act, 1874, which amends 20 and 21 Viet., o. 39, provide* that the examination previously required should be dispensed with where the attorney had actually practised for seven' years in any colony or dependency, and had passed an examination previous to admission. A memorial has been prepared, and will be forwarded through the Governor, by the next mail. The memorialists -ask that colonial barristers, in colonies whisre the . standard of examination is equal to that in England, and where the two branches of the. profession are kept distinct, shall be placed on an equal footing with the barristers admitted in England. It is somewhat anomalous that colonial barristers should possess that right to appear before the Privy Council, the. highest court of the realm, which is denied them in the inferior courts. It is understood. *>iafc similar action is being taken by the members of the colonial bar in Sydney. At the annual meeting of the South Austro lian Chamber of Commerce, held bn Wednesday,' May 12, the following resolution, we learn from the Register, was moved by Mr F. Wright" That this Chamber views with satisfaction the desire of the Government to promote free as well as assisted immigration and that it be a request to the committee to memorialise the Legislature to support the Government in the matter, so that no H<«« may be lost in securing an accession of laboufr into the colony in time for the next harvest; and that it be a suggestion to the committee to communicate with the various district councils of the colony to memorialise the Government simultaneously.” The subject, Mr Wright said.recommended itself to all. On the hustings it had been urged that the Government ought not to import labour at thepublio expense to the detriment of some of the classe* of the community. During the last 10 yean the colony had not made the solid progress it would otherwise have made. The increase in the population was little more than the excess of births over deaths. In England the other colonies were straining' every nerve to secure immigration by offering free passage*. Liberalising our land laws, bad not attracted a single immigrant to South Australia. Every trade was suffering through the Want of population, which was indeed wretchedly small, everything considered. Daring the last ten years wool was the only product which hod materially increased, as reference to Mi Boothby’s statistics would show. In every branch of business the want of immigration was felt. A special vote should' be granted by Parliament to secure this desideratum. To show how one trade had suffered, be would refer to the builders. The cost of building had greatly increased, one cans* being the high price and scarcity of labour. The Bank of South Australia, he had heard that day, declined to accept a contract for the erection of their new buildings owing to the expense of construction. The farmer* also greatly needed labour, and |its importation would directly or indirectly benefit all classes. The resolution was unanimously passed. For some time past there has been a good deal of discussion, as to what is the best mode of introducing Australian wool to the notice of the public. Some say that a considerable proportion of it should be sent to America, where fine merino wools, to mix with coarser native wools, are in great demand, and no doubt a considerable quantity of wool goes to the States. But the American import dutise put great difficulties in the way of this trade. There is a tax upon foreign wool introduced into America which is all but prohibitive, and though it has often been reported hen that this tax is to be modified or repealed, we do not yet knpw for certain that it has been either modified or repealed. Another suggestion is that a market foe Australian wool should be found or mod* on the Continent of Europe. Writers in the correspondence columns of The Argute have shown over and over again, that Australian wool landed at Antwerp would fetch more remunerative prices than the same commodity landed in London, while others of our correspondents have denied this altogether. So far as we can make Australian wool sold on the Continent would sometimes realise more than the same staple would bring in, if sold in London. But then the cost of landing it at Antwerp must be taken into consideration. Shipowners do not like to discharge cargo where no loading lis to be obtained, and. the extra freight j and insurance which would accrue on wool shipped to a continental port, would most probably far outweigh the advantage gained through its selling at a higher price. Another point in dispute in regard to the sale of Australian wool in London, is, as to the comparative advantages of showing it at the' London Docks warehouses and at the Millwall warehouses. From perfectly authentic report* of sales, which have appeared in our column* it appears quite clearly, that{the wool sold at Millwall brought in about a penny a lb. mom than wool sold: at the London Dock warehouses through the same agency, and we think Australian wool growers can scarcely desire any better: evidence. In course of tim*. it may become profitable to send oar wool to America and to the Continent of Europe; in the meantime, it seems that the best place to which to send it if Millwall, on (he Xkamea.