GAVAN DUFFY ON THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume II, Issue 554, 22 August 1865, Page 6

GAVAN DUFFY ON THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

Mit. Gavax Dtfi-'y lias been entertained at a dinner in St. Jnines's JTall, by about one hundred Irish members of Parluunent and Australian gentlemen in London. In returninir thanks for the toast of his health, lie made the following remarks in defence of the system of representation adopted in the Australian colonies, recently made the .subject of attack in the ilouse of Commons ;—

All tlu l fascinations of Europe would not have drawn him across tin- Atlantic anil Pacific Oceans, if there inul not been also on the other side the friends of his early manhood. It was in Ireland chiefly that he expected to meet them, but he was rejoiced and moved to see round that table men with whom he had been associated —some curlier. some Inter—over the entire period during which lie had been connected wiih public affairs. Finding himself again among so manv old allies and associates, his lirst impulse naturally was to recur to the subject which tliev had treated in common —the polities of Ireland. 33ut many considerations restrained him from doing so. Returning after an absence of nearly ten years, and from a distance of more than 13.'mi) miles. lie desired to see and hear ratln r than attempt to teach ; especially as almost every man there, from his position and duties, might rather tearjh him. He rather turned to a country, of which ho might speak i'reelv. as having a recent knowledge "f it. and in respect of which he had only to guard against the temptation to exaggerate its advantages wloeh sprang from a sense of gratitude. No man. indeed, had more reason lobe gritefu!. He had found in that country all the essential conditions of happiness—work to do. which he was pleased to be engaged in. and which had suilicient success to be easy and agreeable—a liberal and even a bountiful reward for labour--friends, health. and content ment. Coming back with such re coilec!ions and impression*, he felt surprised and wounded at the tone which prevailed in respect of the Australian colonies in the Press and in the Parliament of this country. He thought there was agi mistake of policy, and a strange lack of good feeling, in the eagerness with which every tact that appeared to damage or lower the reputation of the Australian communities was received in l-'ngland. A century ago the same prejudices existed towards the colonies of North Vmeriea: and the evi l consequences had not died out vet. and perhaps would never die out. i f there were less friendly feeling towards this country in the America of Andrew Johnson I han in the America of George Washington, the chief cause, he believed, was the ill-feeling created by the contemptuous criticism in Kng--1 md. "We are puzzled to account for this sentiment towards Australia. What had Victoria, for evample. done to provoke hostility? She hail never cost the Imperial treasury a guinea, except tor strictly Imperial purposes. She had managed her own a flairs without pestering the Imperial Parliament, and managed them with notable success: she had poured a tide of gold — averaging nearly a quarter of a million sterling every week —for the last dozen years into the commercial capital of Englaud, and from which wealth every class and almost every individual in this community was more prosperous than lie would otherwise have been. In the reform debate Mr. Gregory read an extract from an Australian newspaper to show how the Legislative Assembly in Victoria under democratic influence had refused to grant £50.000 a year in ai'.l of the assisted female immigration, notwithstanding a great inequality of the sexes in our population. But Mr. Gregory had omitted to tell Parliament the extract was from a newspaper nearly five years old ; and he omitted to tell Parliament, if he knew it, that every year since the date of that paper. .£SO,(XX) a year had actually been spent on assisted immigration ; in fact, the London daily papers of the very week in which this speech was made contained advertisements otl'ering free passage to the colony of Victoria to suitable female immigrants. If Mr. Gregory wished to present to Parliament a startling contrast between the old country and the new, he would furnish him one which had the advantage of being founded on fact. He might ride over a distiict in Victoria larger than the county he represented without meeting a man who bad not suilicient to eat and drink anil wear, and without seeing a farmer who did not own the land he tilled in fee simple, or held it on terms of independence, without seeing a clergyman living at the cost of the country without a (lock, or a church built by the State without a congregation. When Mr. Gregory could say as much for Galway lie might throw the first stone at Australia. But on the same evening a much more important person, and one who ought to know Australia better, had been nearly as completely mistaken. He declared that the democracy of Victoria were prevented from applying for the franchise because a registration fee of Is. had been established by law, which they considered too high a price to pay fur enfranchisement. But the fact was.*that 1 , whatever extent the new system had diminished the number ol electors—and the extent was much less than .Mr. Lowe supposed—it had not arisen from the paltry fee, but from the necessity of personal attendance at the registrar's oliice. He would cite against the conclusions of a political philosopher like Mr. Lowe, the doctrine of a greater political philosopher, Kdmund Burke—that it was a more natural and tolerable evil that Parliament should be infected even with popular epidemics, as this would indicate some consanguinity with the nation, than that they should be wholly untouched (as a certain moribund !'ou<e of Commons seemed to be), bv the opinions and feeling out of floors. He asked the gentlemen around him to remember that the people ol' Australia were simply their own countryrncH who had passed through the tropics to a new home ; that they were not the worse for that adventure, but rather the better, as evincing their courage and self-reliance, and that the friends whom they had left behind ought to- rejoice iu their prosperity, and feel that their character was part of the possessions of this country.

AUSTRALIAN TEL OGHAMS. (From the Sydney Morning Herald.) Melbocune, August 8. The monster meeting hold last night was largely attended. Both parties cairied resolutions declarn g th ßoth"'flouses of Parliament, met tor a short time, and then a ijourned till iu..da}. Nothing wa< elicited from the t»..v«-rnmont rcspeetintr the crisis, but the mere fu't that the propos. dispensin E with any salaries pending the final issue of the qiies.ion in dispute. Not.™ of motion was given asking tho Governor to interfere on b.ha fof fhe civil servants, and relieve them from the injustice of Ivving their sala.ies sopped. _ At irk'-ts dull. Nothing dom, in breadstulls. Tlie City of Melbourne (s.) arrived irons dney during the ni.'ht, and will sail again on ™ursd*y- ° August v. A conference took pb.ee to-day between the two Chambers of the Legislature. "£ h, j of Lower House respecting money bills was fully stated by Mr. Michie on behalf of the Assembly; and .lr. Fellowes, on behalf of the Council, opposed the post tion assumed in a speech of some length, and the conference adjourned. , Ihe Isabella left Tome on the 13th nf May. She reports the following vessels theni loidin? for the colo .ies :-The R.chad, Albi ,n, Wild Wave, bir George tfrey, Annie Woods, G-loriosa, Fayav.ay, Miller, and -it. Magnus. 'LVo hundred tons of wheat, ex Isabella, and tho balance of the Ann Gamble's cargo were sold to-day, at about 9d. ; and a parcel of flour, ex Isabella, at £I'.) Medium congous, Is. 7d. Business quiet, pending the arrival of the JingllsE. mU "' August 10. The estate of Messrs. Nordt, Heyde, and Co. has been assigned to Sir. J. G. Francis and Mr. Murray, of Messrs. Bright, Brothers, in trust for the creditors. It is expected that tho estate will yield a fail' dividend. , , t>- • aMr. Robertson, a. squatter, late of the iuverino uisdistrict, c mmitted s .icide to-day. Some transactions took place to-day at slightly lower rates. 350 'ons of Adelaide flour were placed at a little under £J1 18s , and about -.000 bushels of wheat at about 9s. fid The cont'eren e between the two Houses "f Parliament had adj >urned until Monday, without coming to any conclusion. iJobart Town advices to the R th instant state that (l"ur is quoted at £21, and wheat 9s. 6d. to 10s Launcest >n advices to tiie same date give flour at £21, and wheat at 8s to Ss 9d. August 11. There is little doing in business matters, pending the arrival of tlie English mail. oOuO bushels of wheat, ex Anno Gamble, sold today at 9s. ; and 9000 bushels of Adelaide wheat at 9s. 4d. to 9s. 7d. August 12 The Northam arrived in tho Bay at noon, and sailed again at 3 p m. Private advices report-* shipments of kerosene, from America to tlie colonies during the month, -1 1 >00 ca-es for Melbourne, 1500 for Sydney. Shipments of tobacco—3 1,000 lbs. from New York, and 50,00" lbs. from London.

Calcutta advices to the Sth Juiy state that the liiehelieu, with "360 tons rice, was the only Teasel for A ustralia

From Foichow, the Hdgar Ross, with 357,0001b?. of tea, for Melb urne, was the only shiument of the month The .Musi -, for it lbourne and Sydney, was loading. Market quiet. The new teas were of inferior quality, and prices were lower than at the beginning ot the season. August 14. Mr. Dowli g's racehorse Illumination, one of the first (avi'uritfS for tn« Cup. d.-.d this morning. liie llolmsdde has cleared for Lond.m, with 107.000 of gold. Tw • ships, i-Mcli conveying about 300 convicts, will be sent annually to Western Au tralia daring the pn set aud two following years, when trausuortatiun will entirely cea-e '1 he impoit market has been unsteadied by tin mail news, and v- ry few transactions have been effected. Bread.-tufis dull; prices unchanged. DELA IDE, August 8. At a meeting of the creditors of E. J. spence, it was determined to put the estate into the Insolvency Court. It is rumourpd that, in consequence of the decision of the Judges of the Supreme Court re-p-'Ctmt the invalidi y of the Insolvcivv Court, a writ has been iss.ied against a person for an old debt released by a cert.licate of that Court. .Springs, with c >pi us supplies of water, hav; been discovered near Mount Margaret, about 100 miles westward of Strangeway's springs JS'o business doing. Small s lies of wheat are reported a S*. Gjd. at the fort. No sales of (lour are mentioned ; quotat oris are unaltered. The Aldinga (s.) sa Is for Melbourne to-morrow. Augast 9. Mr. Q-. "\V. Francis, Superintendent Botanical Gardens, died at one o'clock this morning. At a meeting of shareholder-* of the new Adelaide Bank Company, Messrs Jo.-eph Fislier, Jas. Smith, and Anthony Hall were appointed trustees, and Messrs. Henry Avers, Thomas G. Waterhouse, Robert Birr Snii:h, Thomas Magarey, aud G. P. Harris wercelected director*. The other candidates were Mr \\ illiam Morgau, t e hon. W. Peacock, and Mr. C. Smedley. The quaiitications for directors was reduced to one hundred and fifty shares. The chairman stated business would not be commenced till January next. Preparations are being made by the Volunteers for a rille match with Sydney Markets very dull; nothing doing j" 3000 to 4000 bushels of wheat sold this morning, at the Port, at Ss. IdFlour in no demand, prices nominal. August 10. Tho Agricultural Society's show of stock and ploughing match was held to-day. The attendance was large, and the show was a great success. The weather was very line. At the Government land sale to-day the amount realised was £11- 000. About 90u0 shuns have been taken up in tho Adelaide Liie Assurance Companv. Business is ve y dull. Small parcels of wh"at have been sold this morning at Ss. 3d. to Ss.-Lt, but there is little offering. Flour is nominal, at £1S 10s. to £20. August 11. Br. J. H.Brown and Captain Hart. M.P., have been appointed local directors of the Union Bank. His Excellency the Governor is to inspect the newTown Hail to-morrow. It appears, from Government statistics, that there has been a fading off of 60,000 head in the stock of cattle in South Australia in the last four years. Bu-iue s is suspended, owiug to the arrival of the English mail. August 12. r l"he Governor inspect ;d tho Town Uall this mornill—- lniK-heon was provided by the Mayor, to which about one hundred and tif y eitizens sat down, I'ne whole passed off very successfully. A boat party from \dam Bay report that just previous to tiieir arrival at Camion Haroour, the settlemen: had been visited hy a fleet of Mal ty proas, with four hun ire,l men, in want of water. Mr. Sholl directed them to .in ishmd m the bay, where thev were attacked and r.-puis d by a body of armed natives. { I he> then set .-ail, and disappeared. ! Iho Adelaide butehers have refused to give mere ' than 27s for imported beef; a ouceher from Mel- 1 bourne at once opened u shop at tho port, and is doing a thriving trade. i

J hero is a brisker demand for wheat. Sales of several thousand busnels reported at Ss (3d at the port. iN'o transactions in (lour. Arrived—fcouth Australia. August 14. In the inquiry into the working of the land sale system, the Gov. rnment -tate t that ti 0 ' 00 acres of land would b,- oIT ud during the e"Miin.r year The object of this is eon-idered to be to exhaust the purchasing powers of Mjuatteis. A grand i'ii'ert;iinm lit i-i to be siven to-ni"-ht in aid oi the L.pi\ hlwrdt Seiieh Fund. 'I'll'- iiro-pectu-i of jn Aemtv'd Bread Company is advertised, an . is likely t.T be very successful. All th e shares are taken up in the Murummic Bismuth and C <pp> r and Mining and Smelting Company. .Busine-s r. n'imirs very <p i't. Cuir.uits :i'o in rieiiiiiud at 4'dThe wheat nnrket is qui-t; the nominal price being Ss (3d. Tie arrival of the Kohinoor, with wheat, from C hid, caused some speculation as to her

final destination. It is go on. Ca rgo v;There is no enquiry for flour. Akbived —Mary Sewart from ftivcr p mania; Sea Bisd, irow liobirt io-.v;, ■ f " re - T«. London ; Eucalyptus, from HoVm : iW \... itfes«rs. Collier, Kourke, an ,j yj.' "^ !, t i'„ £15 >,000, for ilie construction ot' t!to R:i-C" :tr r A WesUvo.nl U> liOoKliampton, ha- be -n #c '. '---IB* Governor will turn tlio first sod on* thL 2^ :i : Ess tember. ,j i j e; . Arkivkd. —Lady Bowen ($.), i' r , m g, v ; r again to-morrow, at noon. .'-"-v.