Victoria: A LECTURE BY MR. W. H. ASH.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XI, Issue 612, 25 June 1881, Page 3

Victoria: A LECTURE BY MR. W. H. ASH.

i>elivered'ih'several of-the.OtagpGoldficlds Towns in themonth of March, 1881. ■' : 5,- ;., (CoricliUted from' lastweek's *ssite.) v ■ l ' '■."■:■':>•-■ ! .-t. climatic. ...'■'.;:—■.' ." We lienr a lot about the dreadful heat in Victoria. On enquiry I find that'the greatest heat registered in the shade in Victoria, in 1R79, was at .Bendigo—ll2 degrees, while in Melbourne the greatest heat was 106 degrees. The mean temperature of tho Colony is about 56 degrees.Now, in my own office, inNaseby, ■on three or four occasions this summer, the heat was registered by the thermometer as 100 degrees. The irioan temperature of the North Island of NewlZea--1 md, according to Government statistics, is about 57 .degrees; or slightly over that of Victoria, and of the South Island abotit 52 degrees. • I may. say here that tho mo*t of the figuresThave quoted about Victoria are. from an excellent work, by the Government Statist in Victoria, Mr Hayter. "The rainfall in Melbourne the average of the Colony is a little more, than .this'. In Gippslarid I believe it is very rainy. The rainfall in Otago is 31 inches; in New' Zealand, not counting tho West Coast, 42 inches ; arid counting the West, Const, 50 inches. Ton will thus see that Victoria has •not really a much less favorablo climate than Now Zealand. There are a few uncomfortably hot days in -the year in Victoria, but not more, I understand,, than Bor 10. I felt it a little warm ; but with the «xcetion of one day," I did not find it oppressive. . Sometimes I found it a little cold, and I am accustomed; to living in one of the very coldest places in New Zealand., These deductions are confirmed if we .tnrn to the statistics of births and deaths. Tho excess of birth's over deaths in New Zealand is 222 per *ent.; in New South Wales, 136; South Australia. -134; Victoria, 101. The death rate in Victoria is larger in males than females. The rate is about the isamein New South Wales, Western Australia, and Tasmania. But it is by far the lowest in New Zealand. In no European country is the death rate so low tis in the Colonies. New Zealand has the lowest . Tatein tho world—in fact. Now Zealand's vital statistics cannot Victoria compares very well, I saw an extract in a Victorian paper "the other day from a letter published in India, which "".stated that tho Coldnies wore not fit for Europeans to _livein. The letter was well written, "and it assumed va tone of authority. One could hardly have expected to find such ignorance in theso times. The average mortality of Melbourne is lower than moss of the ."large towns in the "United. Kingdom. Most of the " deaths in Victoria are set down to lung arid brain diseases. I notice that 1691 deaths are attributed to .-'* alcoholism," a new word, invented by statisticians. >A.nd when we noto that the beer made in Victoria 'amounts to about 16,t0 17 gallons per head of the population, it is not to be wondered, at.. The real number of deaths from this cause is not known. Sir William Fox was in the habit of telling a good story rabout this. He used to remark'the impossibility of 1 finding out the proper number of deaths, and in- . the verdict of a Jury in the case of an inquest ■on the body of a man who was found dead in a field, "with a bottle of sprits in his pocket. The man had "been known; to havo been drinking for some time. Yet the Jury found, that he had died " By the yisita- :\ Jiori ofGod." In the registrar's returns it would be -entered that that nian died from natural causes.

' • '• VICTORIA'S GROWTH. I think yon will find it interesting if I trace the rise •■of tho.Colfiny of Victoria, and the increase of popula- : ftion.. It will givo .von an idea of the astonishing way "in which it went ahead. It wnsjin August, 1835, that "the Colony was first settled,in byFawkner, and he ' "located himself in the vicinity of "what is nowMol;b<mrne. The district was calM Port Philip, and it '"tv.is a dependency of New South Wales. Attempts • sat colonisation had been made some years previously, . Ipat they wero abandoned, as it was said that the ' LColony was nnsuited for habitation bv human beings. "After Fawkner landed there it prospered. 1n1837 • ! tho rvillage received the name of Melbourne. It 'becamo an incorporated town in 1842, and a city in . VIB4B. After several years'persistent agitation," the Philip district was declared a separate Colonv, finder tho name of Victoria., This was in 185.1,, in tlie .. ...'month of July. In the same month' gold was found. Jin 1836 the population 'was only 224 persons. . The were estimated to number 5000. The population then doubled itself each year till 1841, and it gradually increased, till in 1851 it was 97;000. In that „vcar, as I have said, gold was found, and 145,0000z5. of.it was exported." The population increased to ItiS.OOOb.r]Bs2, and;the gold export to 2,738,000bz5. - No'npprecTable difference in other exports took place in that year. In 1853 the population had again increased greatly* to no -less than 222.000, and-in that .'.. year the gold export reached its highest point—viz.; ■ -'"3.150,0000z5. : The next.year. saw a still further increase in the population to 312,000, but theryield of "gold declined. Since that time the amount of gold ;*.;oDtained has decreased, although one or two years • ; have shown an advance, until how the export is only ' 758,0000z5., the lowest it-has ever been since the first'

Tear of tho rush;. The population : has steadily increased, 1 and it is now. (1879). 899.000. The Natives .havo died away. It is estimated that there arc only abontlOOO of them alive. Nine-tenths of them-have •jlied from lung disease. Erom 1870 to 1879 there was .an increase in. Victoria of 172,734 persons, and in Zealand of 215,329. In the latter case the po'pu/lationhad abont doubled itself;, in the for : ner there .had been an increase of not quite one-fourth. As'tho -population increased, and the gold decreased, it is evident that other industries.must have A„ noticeable increase- tiatnrally took place in land cultivation. When the rush broke out in 1851 thoro were 57.000 acres under cultivation, very littlo more than there is: under cultivation in.the

• 'Conntyof Maniofoto at the present time. Th»rehad tTieen a gradual increasetip to that year. 30 acres.and in 1838 only 150 acres were cultivatea.ih the whole Colony. During tho three years following ,!t.he break-put.of the rush, the area Cultivated fell in ;-; 1 =< lß an i t i fc y—many of the farmers were Off to the dig- . "Rings. In 1855 it'again rose, and then steadily in•*sreasedY.tiJl;inlri79 the total areain cultivation was. i ja,6Bß,ooo i acres. .The yield of £old iri Victoria in 29 •■ .jaars.was 48.058.6940z5.'va1ued at £192;234,59G. being an average of i;657,1950zH.-pervear. TTd to 1878 New produced 8;645,9960z5., or an -average of -■4Bo;son6zs.:peryear..being three and a-half times less . Vthan.Victoria's yield. New Zealand was in 1878 producing nearly half as miich as Victoria per year; ! almost throe times as much 7 as New South Wales; v :and about 26,0000z5. more than Queensland. Victo..Tiastandß.ntthe.top_ of the tree, and Sew Zealand is . next, all things being considered, by a.long way. Victoria has prodnced more than double as much gold ,asall,the other Colonies put together. The Colonies ' altogether have prodnced nearly sixty-nine millions -rof ounces of gold, valued at 271 millions of money. •The. Orient s.s. is the vessel with the largest tonnage ■t-5334 tons—that has ever entered Kobson's Bay. fiho was lying there when wo steimid np in the -Rotomahana, as I mentioned. If allthegold thatthe Colonies have produced were stored at Melbourne for . -shipment, the Orioht, if she were loaded each time .■up to her registered-tonnageV would have to make pver ten trips to triko it away, and if she were taking .. it lo England it would occupv her for nearly four ; :.years. The population to.rho'sqnare milein' Victo- ~ ria—nine a little more than double that of. any other Colony. Tasmania and New Zealand are , next, and then Now South "Wales. Two-ttfths of the Inhabitants of Australasia live in Victoria. The population to the square mile in Great Britain.is 282. The greatest numbqr'in Europe to the square mile is in •Belgium, where there are 469. China proper, which has one-fourth the population of the globe, has only 236 persons to the square mile. Melbourne itself has an estimated population of about 300,000, or onethird tfrit of the w.'»ole Colony. And if the population of the other large towns—Ballarat (which -has a larger population than Pnnedin), Geelong, Sandhurst.(or Bendigo, as it is known to vou) are '■; Jidrted.it will be found that abontone-half of'the population is located in the cities. It is a significant comparative fact that in New Zealand certainly not more than one-fourth of the population are located in larger towns. This centralisation of the population Is one of the greatest blots in Victorian government. -Melbourne, of conrse, h'es the largest amount of attention paid to it. In fact it is to be regretted that there is good reason for believing that there is no s.rpall amount of Truth in the oft-made statement, that "Melbourne is, by many people, considered to be Victoria. ■■. _ '. _../. . the *:XHißmo>r, '-" '' I will begin the second part of my lecture with a acconnt of the Exhibition. I will hot particularise, for if I commenced to do so, I should scarcely knov where to stop. One might givo a lecture on this .subject alone, and then he would need to labor hard to do Ins theme justice. The idea of World's Fairs, «s Exibitions are sometimes called, originated from the Prince Consort, as you know, and I need not go' further into their history. Different countries have now held them, the latest on a large scale being America and France. Sydney also held one a short time ago, and a most expensive luxury it has proved, ■ according to the accounts, which have recently boon • tion is slightly inferior to the Sydney one. The Exhibition Buildings are substantially built, and it is pro-' ■«. .posod, I believe, to utilise them ultimately as a main railway terminus.- The buildings are rather massive than ornamental. The main ps.rts of the gardens, : however, are beautifully laid out, and are planted with handsome, flowers and shrnbs. Viewed from the dome, the different beds present an appearance of noautifnlly-eolorpd squares, circles, triangles, and other geometrical figures. The paths are ashphalted, and on hot days there is some danger of finding oneself made prisoner bylhefeet. When one enters- the building, one is completely dazzled by the profusion ■of heautiful objccs. There are great quantities of ornaments and jewellery, in gold, silver, enamel, coral, and other substances, tho names of which I do not know; and beantifnl glass and China-ware,-colorless, tmted, painted, and gossamer. The latter pecnlinrity is very beautiful, and tho exhibits are •various. The musical instrument makers of the worjd -are well represented. I may say that the great rfeatnro of the Exhibition is the fancy and non-useful ■exhibits.. Inflict, the largest countries—the various of Europe and America—cnfine thoir'cxhibits "i principally, to; -fancv-waro and ma-hinery. The machinery was very interesting—none the less so was sill in full work. The binders, in connection with thsfreapers and binders, were busy; fine .Jsaws w-re cutting out, in nn almost magical manner, ,/ancyh'ttle chairs, &c, from blocks of wood ; Italian v;J jewellers were'working at their trades ; a glasscntter was doing his best to meet: the demand for water:,:glasses,win which he cut the purchasers' names; >; fwomeh were showing by actual results tho merits of washing machines; and two or three Frenchmen were revealing to the'public tho processes ; and-mysteries of 1 lly-making. The Colonial courts the most diverse features, and the New ;; % ;alanfl department was one of tho best, and attracted ; ;a great deal of attention. The exhibits of New Zealand ferns' and moss pleased the ladies very much. i/Tiere were a. lot -of New Zealand representatives in

the : fernery—intact. the,mo'st of tjie'fernscame from, ithis Colony. ,Victbriaris—especially the ladies, that is to say the majority of those I met—were in quite a state of furore about New Zealand ferns and scenery. There is a fine exhibit of portraits from a Arm in Auckland, and there are some capital views of the Lakes, by Hart, Campbell, and Co. One of the finest industrial exhibits—and perhaps the best and most varied lot of hats—were those exhibited by Alraao and Co: of Dtmcdin. I saw some gold there which • had ■bean ohtained at St. Bathans, some at Na«eby, and some at Mount Burster. A nice chain and pin, made of gold chiefly found in forwarded by Mr John Cogan, of Serpentine, was also on view. There are two storeys in the building, the top storey containing little else but works of "art of different kinds. The paintings were very numerous, but I do not consider that they were, as a whole, equal to those to be found in the gallery of the Public Library. The statuary was far better, however, many of tho statuettes being particularly good. Some of tho r•presentations of children, in different moods and attitudes, were charming. The buildings, I believe, cover about ten acres of ground. You can easily imagine, therefore, that't would be quite possible for one to lose himself—not in the crowd —for the average daily attendance is only about 5000, while that of the Great Exhibition in London was 60,000 or 70,000—but one forgets his bearings at first, in the maze of avenues and walks. Being musically inclined I looked forward to hearing the'far-famed Austrian Band, who were brought out at an expense of £IO,OOO, but I was much disappointed in them. They make a very great noise with their brass instruments. They play'well together, and in good time, but: their music "is not pleasant. The members are not individually extra good players. There are far better in Victoria, and even in Now Zealand also. They play best as a string band. There is a band called the Australian Band, got up by M, Caroh, which many people consider superior to the Austrian. 1 was a little dubious as to how my opinion of the Austrian Band would bo received, but I see that many of tho papers have criticised them in much the same way as I now do. The piano playing was grand. The different exhibitors engaged good players—who came especially to the Colony for that purpose—to display the merits of their instruments. Mdlle. Charbonnet, M. Kowalski, and M. Ketten were the best I hoard, and they played with incredible skill. Ketten, however, wa3 the only one who carried his hearers out of themselves, as it were. He .used to have magnificent audiences in the Town Hall, whero he kept his auditors entranced for two hours at least, and ho did nothing all the while but play the piano—and make faces. When he became excited, he worked his features in a most remarkable way, and his scalp seemed to travel froni his shoulders to' his chin—that is, comparatively speaking. He could move one's feelings in any manner that he chose. He would make ono smile at one moment. Then ho would melt ono into tenderness, and the next minute ho would have one clenching his hands, and making him feel as if he must " go for somebody." Hehas a marvellous power. He extracted the smallest degree of sound from a piano that I ever heard, arid I certainly never heard a man mako so much noise when he was "riled."' Ton would fancy that he had mnde up his muid, come what would, to break his piano into bitsy**! also heard some good music in the churches,

' THE CHURCHES. ■ ■•'' 'I noticed that the Presbyterians were as f,ir advanced in the matter of music as any other churches —more advanced, in fact, than some. The Presbyterians, Church of England, Wesleyans, and Catholics are most numerous, the Presbyterians being slightly in advance of the Church of England. Air these churches appear flourishing, and some of the buildings aregrand.; In the early times a grant of £50,000 yearly had, by the Constitution' Act, to be made, to the churches. It was distributed according to the number of members of each denomination. In 1870 State aid was withdrawn.

•■»'.-' THE liA?.D. • After seeing most of the" sights in Melbourne, I. went up the country. I noticed that the land was, ■as a rule, light and sandy.'- It grows splendid fruit and flowers, but does not seem so well, adapted.for agriculture as the New Zealand land. Ibelievefor growing fruit and flowers our land would be much better if it were loosened and sweetened with sand. Indeed, one gentleman with, whom I am acquainted has experimented very successfully in this direction. I noticed that a great deal of the best land near the cities—notably from Melbourne to Geelong—was owned in large blocks* as is the case in New Zealand. Of the estates taxable in Victoria; there were 930 (amounting to 6,865,995 acres), and owned by 817 persons, with an average to each proprietor of 8,404 acres. The tax aveiages about 4djd per acre. The area'of Victoria is 56,446,720 acres, of which 33,500,000, it is estimated, aro suitable for cultivation. There. havo been 19,201,780 acres soid'and solected. Theresidue'amounts; therefore, to 37,242,940. Only 10,711,022 acres of this are' suitable. for settlement. 9,905,500 acres have been selected by settlers, but about two and a-balf million acres .of .'this havo been abandoned or forfeited, and reverted' to the Crown. Seven and a-half millions are in process of alienation by deferred payments. .About one-fifth of the land sold has been sold by auction,'-the average'price obtairicdVbaving been £1 12s 7£d per acre. 'The average area of selection's is about 170 v'acres;; Two and throe-quarter million acres of land are under occupation for squatting, there beiug.JOl ruus, of an average sisso of twenty-four and a-half thousand acres. There are eight acres per head of the 'population under tillage in South Australia; three in Tasmania; two ia New Zealand r-ono. in Victoria; .and hardly one in New South Wales. In Victoria, as I have said, the total area isififty-six.and a-liiilf millions, of which one aero •in thirty-three is cultivated; New Zealand has sixtyseven and a-half millions of acros, of which one acre in fifty-two is cultivated; New South Wales has one hundred and ninety-nine• millions : of acres, of :Whichone in 313 is cultivated In the average of yield 3! of • crops Victoria stands fourth among the Colonies. /Wo hear a lot about Adelaide wheat, and we are.always. led to understand that it is the best in point "of quality produced in the Colonies, Now Zealand coming next.- 'lft.we look at the yields per acre of the two Colonies it .will be seen'tlia't it is more profitable to grow, wheat in New Zealand, even if the price per bushelwe re much less. The average yield ofwheatiri tho Colony of which Adelaide is the capital, is eight' bushels per acre ; in New Zealand it is 27 bushels; almost three and a-half times as much. New •Zealand produces far more to the acre; of every kind of crop usually'grown-by if armers than any other Colony, Tasmania being second, to her. As the most of you are interested in farming,' I' will give some figures of tho average yields in tho different Colonies.; Wheat—New Zealand,. 27 bushels; Tasmania,. 17 bushels; New South Wales, 14 bushels ; 'Victoria. 12 bushels; Queensland, 12 bushels: Western Australia, , II bushels; South Australia (Adelaide); 8 bushels. Oats—New Zealand, 32 bushels ; Tasmania, 24 bushels ; New South Wales, 19 bushels; Victoria, 18 bushels ; South Australia, 12 bushels; Queensland, 9 bushels. Potatoes—New Zealand, 5 tons ; Victoria, 3 tons; Tasmania, 3'tons; South Australia, 3 tons ; New South Wales,2 tons; and Queensland, 2 tons. The yield of wheat in Victoria is about the same as in the United States. The country with the lowest average in the world is Russia. There, wheat only averages 5 bushels to the acre. New Zealand and Denmark are ' about equal, and havo tho highest averages as wheat-producing countries in the world. Victoria does not take first rank is a producer of root and grain crops. No conntry, as far as I can And, equals New Zealand in producing that useful tuber—the potato. In growing ever kind of grain and produce New Zealand excels; : Indeed, it is doubtful whether there is a country in tho world which can equal it, and this would bo seen if an average were struck between all the different crops grown. More wheat is grown in Victoria than any other cereal. Thepriceof wheat there (1879) is 4s per bushel; oats, 2s 3d ; barley, 4s 8d; polatoes,£3 10s per ton; and hay, £3 3s per ten. In 1879 there were over 4000 acres in vines, and nearly 600,000 gallons of wine were made, and over 3000 gallons of brandy. There, as here, the maximum allowed for selection under tho Land Act is 320 acres. The manner of agricultural occupation, and the provisions of the Land Act, aro much the same as with us. In Victoria the system that approaches nearest to our deferred payment system gives the selector more advantages. He gives Is per acre for six years; and if he fulfils all the conditions, he can pay ;14s Jown, and got his Crown •grant, or he can have anew lease for 14 years, when the land becomes his; Own. At anytime during the currency of the .14 years'lease he can pay up the balance he owes, and obtain his grant. He has to reside on his selection for five years out of the six, and within six years he must put up a fence, and cultivate one acre oat of ten acres, and he must make improvements to the value of 20s per acre,' There is a system like our agricultural lease, by which residence is dispensed with, but the price;per. acre of land under that system is 40s, The upset price .for ordinary land in Victoria is 20s per acre. There Is a clause like our Homestead Clause of the Mines Act, for goldfields, by which a man who has been in possession for two and a-half yearsc an acquire 20 acres of land at upset price, if the Board of Works is satisfied that it is not auriferous. Commons exist, and are under the super- j vision of Mining Boards. Pastoral licenses aro issued ' from year to year ; not. as' with us, for long periods. Tho rent up to January, 1875, amounted to 8d per sheep; and .since then it ljas amounted to Is per sheep per year. In New South Wales the best pastoral lands are leased for one year, and tho second-rate for five and ten yeara, the leases being let by tender or .by auction. There is a proviso in New South ■Wales that no run shall consist,of moro than 100 square miles of country. Fancy"that! You may form an idea of the extent of the.unoccupied land therefrom the nature of this proviso. The regulations for the lease and disposal of agricultural lands in New South Wales are much the same as in Victoria, but in New South Wales 640 acres is allowed to be selected by one person, the price boing £1 per acre. The upset price of sections on goldfields there, of from half an-acre to two acres, is "not loss than £B." In New Zealand it is £3O. In the best-settled Colonics the agricultural regulations are very similar to,each other, differing only in some points; The New Zealand regulations are the- most illiberal of all, but it is only fa.r to say that in New Zealand tho land is much superior, on the average, to that of the other Colonies. .;

MINING. Ballarat is perhaps the bist mining town in Victoria. There is an immense lot of gold being taken out of its mines, which are principally quartz. There are a few deep alluvial ones. There is machinery and shafts in about every other back-yard along some of the streets. Trading in shares is very brisk, and a crowd of perhaps 100 persons hangs about the doors of the broking-office from Monday morning till Saturday night. There are 37,553 miners in the Colony. About 1000 more Buropeens are engaged in quartz-, miniug than hi alluvial, and fil per cent of the goldof the Colony is being obtained from quartz. The' number of miners has been gradually'decreasing for years.' Four pounds per. ounce is tho price paid for gold in Victoria. There is no export dutyin either Victoria or New South "Wales, as there is in New Zealand. The miner's right in both Colonies is only ss. Ao the time of the Ballarat riots the Government charged 30s per mofftlf?; The fee was then reduced to £l, and was again fuMierrcducod. Thoaverageyield

.of gold from qnartz in Victoria is about lOdwts. to the fern. The average earnings of the. miners, accor jing to the estimate of officials,aremuch;thosame as in New Zealand. .The wages of ordinary miners are from £llos to £2 10s per week. There are 9110 Chinese miners in Victoria, and 8945 are engaged in alluvial mining. There aro 17,695 Chinese altogether in Victoria. The; majority of them are engaged in various industries'—furniture-making and gardening being the most patronised. Tho Chinese luve a 'rather nice building for a Joss Houso in Emerald Hill. They are not popular, though some writers defend them. I cannot say I like them. They are not desirable colonists ; they don't caro two straws for tho country or its institutions ; from their habits of life they do not contribute a fair amount to the taxes in the country—the ordinary incidence of taxation which affects Europeans does not touch them ; and whenever they make money, instead of remaining in the country and giving it the benefit of its use, they go straighten/way to China. Apart from all these considerations, I say that tho fact, observable in every town, that they haunt tho lowest localities, and cohabit with the vilest of the vile, i 3 enough to stamp them as being debased and undesirable constituents of a community. In Melbourne this trait is particularly observable, for they regularly swarm in Little Bourke street. In New Zealand there are 4440 altogether ; in New South Wales, 9500; Queensland. 14,524 ; South Australia, 2000 ; Tasmania, 7500. Total in Australia in 1879,44,000 I would have more fully dealt with this question had time allowed, and would have laid before you some of the economic considerations which it suggests. The Chinese compete in many trades and occupations. EDUCATIONATj. When I was in Ballarat I noticed a building, over which were the words " School of Mines." There is another school of this kind at Sandhurst. Tho Government of Victoria seems to appreciate tho value that the gold industry is to tho State, and endeavour to foster it. Their policy is in marked contrast to that of the NewjZealand Government. The School of Mines, Ballarat, has been open ten and a-half years and the one at Sandhurst eight years. In them ia taught all pertaining .to tho scienco of mining. This is ono of the many things in which Victoria is so much ahead of us, For the years 1878-9 the Government grant in aid of these schools was £2OOO, The rest of the receipts were from fees. Thero are about 200 students at Sandhurst, and 70 «it Ballarat, There are also Schools of Design in Victoria. Melbourne has a "University, which was established in 1853. It receives £9OOO annually from the general revenue .This is different to our style of giving endowments in land. Degrees granted by the Melbourne Un iversity are recognised all over the Empire. Thero are C nrch of England and Presbyterian Colleges. The Presbyterian College is one of the prettiest largo buildings I saw about Melbourne. Thero are othor religious colleges. Free secular State education has beon in vogue since 1873. I notice that thero are far more female than male teachers. About thirty children are allotted to each instructor, which is slightly over the number in Now Zealand, as a whole, but is under that of Otago. There are 111 Roman Catholic private schools, and 41 Church of England. Tho school age is from 4to 16; in New Zealand it is from sto 15. The cost per scholar in Victoria is £4 9s per year (1879). In Now Zealand it is about £7 lis. In victoria, during tho first few years that the Act was in operation, tho expenditure was very great, owing to the number of school buildings that were required. As time goes on.no doubt the cost per scholar in New Zealand will be reduced. There aro no Education Boards scattered over Victoria, nor School Cominittees, as there aro in New Zealand. A central department controls and w.>rks everything. QOVERXSIENTAL.

Although a groat deal is said about local selfgovernment in Victoria, it seems to mo that there is a very marked leaning towards centralisation. The Government offices in Melbourne are capital buildings, and I was particularly struck with the process of erecting them, which is in vogue there. In New Zealand, if wo want a public building, it is erected complete, and in a few years we want more accommodation. In Victoria they appear to calculate their probable needs for several years. They then commence building according to a large plan, and finish the erection as it appears necessary. I had the honor of inspecting Parliament Buildings, and very handsome they aro inside. They are built of stone, I think, and the interior has been plastered and polished, so that it has the appearance of white marble. The rooms are well-lighted, and present a very costly and elaborato appearance. The buildings are not nearly finished, although they have been in course of erection for years. I was present one evening when the Council was in session, and say all Vao great guns—Berry, Service, Murray-Smith, Sir John O'Shannassy, Dr Madden, and many others, including a great number of smaller guns, and I heard several gentlemen speak. I can't say. that I was favorably impressed with the personnel, of the members as a whole. In Victoria, tw. iii ovory nine persons aro electors, or 22 per cent, of the population. There is one" member to every 10,457 person's. In New South Wales 25 per cent, are electors, and in New Zealand 15 per cent.—a very low percentage. The revenue of Victoria from 1870 to 1879 was about £5 per head. In New South "Wales it was £B'; South Australia, £5 ; and in New Zealand, £lO. New Zealand has more revenue per head than any of the Colonies. Tastna-.. nia is last, and Victoria second last. As the revenue per head not infrequently meaus the taxation per head, this .position is creditable to Victoria. The. average revenue; of the whole of the Colonies is £6 15s 10Jd per head of the population (1879). In! the United Kingdom it is £2 8s 8d in India it is6s2d; and in Canada, £1 ss. The revenuo of France is £3 6s Id ; of Germany, £ll9s 2d; United States and Kussia, £1 15s, The taxation in Victoria is £ll9a per head ;in New South Wales, £118s; in New Zealand, £3 12s ; in the United Kingdom, £2 ; in India, 12s 7d; in Canada, £l. Thirty-fivo per cent, of the revenuo in all the Colonies is raised by taxation (a great item in the revenue of all of them b3ing receipts from land sales.) Eighty-four-per cent in the United Kingdom is raised by taxation; 44 per cent, in India; 79 per. cent, in Canada; 71 per cent, in Russia; and 93 per cent.in the "United States. The indebtedness of Victoria to 1878 was £l9 7s per head ; New South Wales, £l6 16s ; Queensland, £42 Bs;' Now Zealand, £52.55.' The indebtedness of the "United Kingdom is £22 15s per head; of India, 14s 6d; of Canada,. £7 10s. New Zealand is the most heavily indebted country in the : world, in proportion to her population. After her comes Queensland, and the United Kingdom is next. 'The annual interest on the debt of the UnitedKing-. domis considerably over the total debt of NewZealaud. It is interesting to note that one man has had the courage to say that tho discovery of the goldfields was not beneficial to the Colonies. That man is the writer of the book called "Tho Old Identities-of Otago," and in many respects it is a very excellent book. But if that writer had studied the figures of the revenuo of tho Colonies, and their general monetary condition before the gold rush, while the rush was at its height, and afterwards, he would be glad to give up his theory, I think. These figures disclose the fact—which nearly everyone knows—that in proportion to the amount of gold being obtained, and tho number of miners employed, so did the Colony progress. Only two things do not seem to have benefitted through the discovery of gold in Victoria—the wool and tallow-producing industries. Tho year before the rush broke out 18,000,0001b5. of wool were exported. It varied from that to 21,000 OOOlbs. for over ten years, when it gradually rose, until, in 1876, it reached over 106.000.0001b5. This is the greatest quantity exported in anv one year The tallow export in 1850 was 10,000,0001b5. Next year it wont down to 9,000,0001b5., next year4,ooo,ooolbs., and next year 900,0001b5. Tho fact is. that animals that, under the Colonies, old state, would have been boiled down for fat, wore now being used for human food, the population having increased so much.! Gradually the supply was swelled, till boiling down had again to bo resorted to, and in 1869 11,000,0001b5. of tallow w.jro exported. It has averaged about that ever since, though in 1871 it rose to over 30,000,0001b5. Banks increased in number and in capital to a very noticeablo dogreo after thj rush commenced, thus showing that wool has not had all to do with the creation of the capital of the Colony. In fact, it shows that the miners really created it; and it would bo only natural to supposo that if this industry, were fostered it could at any time increase tho country's capital, even if the wool production did decline. Tho value of mining produco in 1879 in Victoria was £3,136,527; of agricultural produce, £5,575,313 ; of pastoral produco £6,375,965, so that the pastoral interest does not preponderate so greatly as we are sometimes led to suppose.

THE KELLYS. Ono of the things that excited the public mind most while I was in-Victoria was tho execution of the leader of the Kelly gang. Ho was hung whilo I was in tho Colony.. I was much surprised at tho great crowds of larrikins that used to meet and agitate for a reprieve, and at the sympathy shown for him generally. Travelling about in tho railways, I heard all kinds of opinions expressed. Everyone seemed to deprecato tho murder* committed by tho gang, but I am constrained to confess that the majority of tho middle and laboring classes at least seemed to think they had done something heroic and commendable in sticking up and robbing the banks. Notwithstanding all that was done—with Mr Gaunson, the Chairman of Committees in tho Victorian Parliament, at the head of tho movement—the last of tho gang was hung. (Sir Redmond Barry also died whilo I was in Victoria. He was a great patron of arts, and to him may be attributed the excellence of tho Public Library and Universities.) Although I mentioned that a great deal of sympathy was shown to these criminals, you must not imagine that Victoria is a convict Colony. Somo people entertain this belief. There wero never any convicts kept by Government in Victoria, and- her criminal statistics are very creditable to her. New South Wales, Tasmania, and Western Australia were places of convict settlement, and their criminal statistics even now show tho influence of theso settlements. It mayintorest yon to know that from 1787 to 1868, tho number of convicts landed in Now South Wales was 59,783; in Van Dicman's Land (or Tasmania), 67,555 ; in Western Australia, 9,718 ; or no less than 137,161 in all. :

PROTECTION, I have now adduced as much information about the Colony, and what I saw, as I can well work up into a lecture of this kind, for I do not want to ask too much of your patience. It only remains for me to refer to one more subject, which can hardly be left disregarded in a lecture about tbo Colony. ' I moan Victoria's...great political peculiarity—Protection. The Protective tariff camo in force in August, 1877. In that year the Customs revenue foil £144,000: and next year £109,000. The largest decrease took place in spirits, wines, tobaccos, &c. In 1879 the value of imports was less than 1878 by £1,126.342 ; and exports, £21,471,537. Imports were less than any year sinco 1872, and exports than any year since 1354, or three years after the rush i will give some instances of the import duties. On playingcards,'por dozen, in New Zealand, the duty is 6d ; in Victoria it is 3s. On stationary, in Victoria, the duty is 20 per cent..; in other Colonies, 10 per cent. On musical instruments there, it is 25 per cent.; othor Colonies, 10 per cent. CI cks or watches, 20 por cent.; other Colonies, 10 per cent. Machinery, 25 per cent.; othor Colonies, 6 and 10 per cent. Carriages ,earts

and things-pertaining to them, 10 per cent, in moHt Colonies, but hi Victoria the duty is, 40 and 50 per cent, Blankets, in Victoria, 20 per cent; most other Colonies, 10 per cent. Ready-made clothing, 25 per cent.; most other Colonies, about 10 per cent. In Victoria the duty; on potatoes; is lOspcr 1001bs ; in South Australia,. 6d per cwt. Jams and Jollies, 2d per lb; New South Wales and Now Zealand, Id per lb. The duty on leather is 28 and 25 per cenf, instead of 10 percent., ns in most Colonies. Timber-ware and wicker-waro, double other Colonics. All raetnl-ware is charged ' one and a-half times as ranch per cent, as other Colonies. Anything that, c.-in-possibly be produced in Victoria is protected in this way. While Victoria has the privilege of exporting to other countries at a comparatively low rate of export, and she charges those countries which send produce to her a high import duty, she manifestly has an advantage. It would bo only fair if all other countries agreed to return her act in its own kind, if it were not to their own loss to do so. But it seems that protection is really a loss, even in a young country. It Victoria puts 50 per cent, duty on carriages, it is plain that she cannot make carriages nearly so cheaply as other countries, and every man who use* a carriage, or rides in an omnibus, has to pay to encourage local carriage builders. Coach 'pnmrioton and road-side hotel-keepers, have been' mined by railways, but for those reasons a Government would never think of impeding the construction of railways I do not want to give you alecturo on Protection" v. Freetrade, bnt such a lecture, as this would not bo complete without some mention of the subject. I will Just add a word or two from Professor Fawcett'« work on Political Economy. In concluding a paragraph on tins question, he says :-"The additional wealth which is produced when commerce is unrestricted far more than compensates a nation for the temporary loss inflicted on individuals by the abolition of protective duties." CONCLUSION. I will now add Just a few closing words: Mv visit to the Colony camo to an end, as a matter of course m time, and it is not too much to say that I left tho Co ony with regret. I had spent a very pleasant and interesting time m it. I think Victoria would be a delightful place to live in, if anyone were in moderately good or affluent circumstances. In such case it would perhaps be found tho best of all tho Colonies. Victoria seems to mo to boar the sami relation, m a degree, to tho other Colonies that Franco does to Britain and other European countries. Wealth and pleasure in each seem almost to be considered everything, and each manifests this apparent anomaly—that it is governed by a more democratic Government than any of its neighbors are. I do not think that Victoria offers to tho average farmer, miner, or laboring man nearly so great advantage as New Zealand, and notwithstanding all the praise I have bestowed on Victoria, I still think there is no Colony like our own. I returned in the Albion, commanded by Captain Garrard. Coming across « tho pond, as it is irreverently called, I again experienced all" the horrors of the deep," of course. This was perhaps noi. an unmixed evil, for. lying on deck, looking at the stars, I had excellent opportunities for quiet thought, and for indulging in those dreams which are, more or less, a part of every man'B life. It has been appropriately said—

Night is the time to watch On Ocean's dark expanse. To hail the Pleiades, or catch The fall moon's earliest glance. That brings into the homesick mi ltd All we have loved and left bchiud. Night is the time for dreams— The gay romance of life— When truth that is, and truth that aeoms Blond in fantastic strife. Ahl visions less beguiling far, Than waking dreams by daylight are. Though I had great pleasure when in Victoria, I experienced no inoro pleasaut sensation while there than that which came over me when I put uiy feot again on Now Zealand's shores. Though our cities look small, aud their streets narrow, in comparison with Collins street, Melbourne, and Stnrt street Ballarat—the latter being three chains wide, with an avenuo of trees up the middle of it-there is no feeling so pleasnreablo as that which warms a man, and which causes him to understand and feel completely in unison with tlio celebrated Scotchman, who unburdened himself in these words— My foot i s on my native heath, My -name's MacDougall 1