Thb bitter and prolonged political con test in Victoria must have an injurioui effect upon the prosperity, not only o that colony, but of the whole Australia! group. .The wholesale dismissals of publii officials by the Berry Government wa calculated to lead people at home to thin] that there was something wrong in th public administration to make it possible fo a Government to do such a thing, while •ii the other hand, the fierce and perßis tout attacks by a section of the Victoria! Press ou the members of the Ministry, ai a set of low robbers and ruffians, must by affecting reputation and credit, greatlj injure the colony. We may give an in stance of how closely the business an< credit of these colonies are connected Victoria is at present raising a loan ii the London market, and if she is success ful New Zealand will reap part of th benefit, for the banks trading in Victori; ar.d New Zealand will have more capita to deal with in the latter colony if the; are not pinched in the former. What therefore, affects Victoria injuriously als hurts us. It is an old proverb, to thro\ plenty of dirt and some will stick, and cei tainly if the members of the Berry Ministr are not well blackened it is not becaus they have not been the objects of mos copious showers of mud. It has oftei been said that the characters of the publi men of a colony are public property, an that wilfully and undeservedly to damag them is a public injury. There is n doubt this i 3 true. If an utterly reekles scoundrel, with no character, eithe public or private, attains an influentij public position, those who placed hir there must be immoral. There liav been great faults on both sides in Vi< toria. It would not deliver that colon out of all its troubles to have the Berr administration ousted. Notwithstandin tho absurdities of their fiscal legisla tion, the Government party have to much truth and right on their side they are too closely in harmony wit some of the great movements of the ago to be extinguished by a mere change c administration. They coutend for prin ciples, and the battle and turmoil wouL simply, if they were ejected from office take other, and, perhaps, worse forms. The organ of the Opposition party i; Victoria is the Artjns, and it has certainl, served its party faithfully, so far as mud throwing is concerned, and has aometime engaged in that business with a thorough ness which is surprising, considering th high talent and good taste displayed ii other than the leading columns of th paper. This, of course, is simply to b ascribed to tho strong party feeling whic! exists. The other side retaliate as strong! ' as is in their power, although they can d little mischief to a newspaper commer cially. The last plia3e of the quarrel i the issue of the following notice in th Government Gazette NOTICE. In consequence of tho fabrication by, and th publication in the Anjua journal of false nowa purporting to be genuine and authoritative concerning proceedings and discussions o the Cabinet, being continuously persevered ii for several weeks last past, the public ar hereby cautioned against giving any credenc to either those statements or any similar kirn of news for tho future in that journal. The Argus journal has been refused any otlicial in formation of the kind by the Acting Chief Secretary, who feels justified in taking thi: courso, as that journal has for several month unpatriotically attempted to depreciate th financial credit of Victoria. Bryan O'Loohlen-, Acting Chiof-Secretary. Chief-Socretary's Oflico, Melbourne, February 20, 1579. It is seldom that a Government resort: to such means to discredit political oppo nents, and tho success or otherwise oi tho experiment will be interesting t< journalists and politicians. In Britisl colonies, tho Government canno send a warning message to a news paper, to be obeyed at tho ponalti of suspension. It remains to be seei whether the power of the Fourth Estat* can be affected by a volley of blank cart ridge. In replying to tho notice, thi Artjns is as wrathful as possible, and doe: not hesitate about applying tho mostdirec phraseology to the Acting Chief-Secretary After calling the proclamation " an oxhibi tion of malice made pitiable by its feeble ness," it says that in only ono instanci has it made any complaint of tho conduc af Sir Bryan O'Loglilen, the occasion o ivluch it narrates as follows :— That instance was when Sir Bryan O'Loghloi stole a despatch. An important communica tion was given to the Attorney-General by Hi Excellency the Governor for publication in thi Gazette and for public information. Sir Bryu O'Loghlon did not publish the despatch at thi time in tho Gazette, but pocketed it, and gavi it to a Ministerial journal. The breach of faitl was gross. If the employeo who copied thi Salisbury-Schouvaloff Treaty in tho Foreigi Oflico, and transferred it to tho Globe, wa treated as a common thiaf, it is not difficult ti aay in wbat light Sir Bryan O'Loghlen shouli be regarded; and it was necessary, in thi interests of good faith, and so that Governor of the colony may know tho man with whon they aro dealing, to expose tho proceeding. N< plea that we can imagino can excuse, even ti i partisan, the filching of an Imperial docu ment. It styles the proclamation, "a ridicu lous excuse for an absurd imitation o petty despot attacks upon tho Press," anc says that the Acting Chief-Secretary " i: but carrying out tho ordinary tactic 3 o tho Government, which oscillate betweei Boss-Tweedism and liouis Napoleonism. : As wo have said, the only prospect fo i better state of affairs in Victoria is tha Mr. Berry should succeed in his mission » the extent of getting the Iraperia government to look into the matter tnd to_ alter the constitution of thi [legislative Council, in whose viciou node of election lies, we believe, thi lource of all these confusions. Thei ;hero will be some chance of getting a he head of affairs in Victoria a Miniatn somposed of moderate men, under whoa'
C i* re that colony will make better process than she has done, owing to the°late political disturbances.
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New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5399, 7 March 1879, Page 2
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1,054Untitled New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5399, 7 March 1879, Page 2
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