NEW SOUTH WALES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7827, 22 December 1886, Page 6

NEW SOUTH WALES.

I [from our own corbkspondent. | Sydney, December 10. SHIPPING DISASTER. At the present moment the shipping disasters of the last few days forms the most prominent subjeot of discussion here. The fact that within a very few months four large steamers have been lost on the coast, two of them occasioning great loss of life, has roused attention to what appears • very extraordinary state of things. Ten days ago a large and nearly new ship, of between two and three thousand tons, steamed straight upon the rooks at Jervis Bay, about a hundred miles from Sydney, in broad daylight, although in misty weather, and apparently at full speed. Fortunately the sea was smooth, and the breeze off shore, and no lives were lost by the disaster to the Corangamitei A few days later, however, the disaster to the Keilawarra was attended with fearful loss of life, under ciroumstanoea that were even more incomprehensible than those surrounding the loss of the Corangamite. From the investigation now going on it seems evident that the night was perfectly clear, the sea smooth, and the wind almost nothing, and that under these circumstances the one steamer ran straight into the other amidships almost at full speed. At first sight the officers of the Helen Nioholl would appear to be Infi* nitely more liable to prosecution for manslaughter than the captain of the ill-fated Lye-ee-moon. Suoh, at all events, is the popular feeling, and it is hardly likely the public will be satisfied unless some one is made an example of for these repeated tragedies. In the meantime, the owners of the Keilawarra have begun an action for £25,000, the supposed value of the ship, against the owners of the Helen Nioholl; so the facts, and very harrowing facts they are, are likely to be kept prominently before the public eye for some time to oome. For the present, the effeot is to make people chary of going to sea for pleasure, and it would not be at all surprising if these disasters on the Australian coast made themselves felt in a considerable reduotion in the number of New Zealand tourists at the approaohing holiday season. It may be that the Union company's boats are managed with more care than seems to prevail on the Australian lines, but people generally do not make fair distinctions, and for the present the prejudices against going to sea, if they can help it, is well established in moat people a minds. . THE CENTENARY. We are to have an exhibition here to celebrate the Australian Centenary after all. When the Parliament some two months ago rejected the Government proposals, almost without discussion, the Premier grew Bulky, and said he would do no more in the matter, and no more would have been done bat for the Viotorian Government, who, seeing the way dear, prepared to take the position of celebrating the centenary themselves. Nobody here would have minded the omission of a oelebration altogether, but everybody objects to its being oelebrated by Victoria. If Mr. Gillies had intended to make sure of an exhibition in Sydney in 1888 he could not possibly have hit on a plan more certain to* bring one about than writing to say he would be glad to co-operate in any oelebration Sydney might propose, but he meant to have one for Melbourne. All parties are now agreed that Sydney must exert herself. The idea of Melbourne ascendancy is, to put it vulgarly, like a red rag to a bull in the minds of the New South Welshmen, and the Parliament and people will be ready to do anything and go to any expense in order to eclipse Victoria. The Government originally suggested •an inter - colonial exhibition. Under the new pressure they have expanded this idea into on# for Great Britain and the colonies ; and if Melbourne still holds to her idea of an inter-national exhibition, New South Wales will expand her ideas to that also. The result will be another great exhibition at a great expense without anffioient time to get ready for it. It Is far from unlikely that, weak as the original programme was, it may turn out to have been quite as good and a great deal cheaper than the new one adopted out of jealousy of our neighbours. 6 JUDGES. The new Chief Justice has been sworn in, congratulated, and feasted to an extent which is as rare as it is undesirable, Few people doubt that Mr. Darley will make a good Chief Justice, but it is hardly safe to ■tart with exaggerated expectations. In his own interests, it would have been better to let him change from a useful Legislative Councillor and popular barrister into a sober and hard-working Chief Justice, with a good deal less speech-making and fuss. The mess into which matters were drifting until Mr. Darley consented to accept the office has, no doubt, a good deal to do with it, and as the feeling is abroad that the rest of the Bench is not remarkable for talent, and has not oome very creditably oat of the lata embroalio, we aro the more eager to persuade ourselves that in the new Chief we have scoured something very first-rate. THE HARVEST. The exceptional weather has not been so unmixed a benefit as night have been supposed. Last Sunday thanksgivings for rain were offered in all the Church of England places of worship, and the occasion was emphasized by a downpour of rain, which flooded whole districts, levelled the standing crops, and carried away considerable pieces of railway lines, So far the weather has been excellent for the grazier, but with muoh promise seems likely to prove a great disappointment to the farmers. Over a great part of the colony the hay harvest has been ruined by the rain, and in some of the best and most extensive agricultural districts it is reported that the standing grain has been for the most part levelled with the ground. Huge quantities of damaged hay, both grass and oaten, are poured into the Sydney market from day to day, and are being sold for less than the railway carriage. The opinion of those best able to judae seems to be, on the whole, that the farmers will reap little if any benefit from the almost unprecedented rainfall of the last month,, The expectation which was entertained by many that for once New South Wales would need to buy but little grain outside her own limits will net, it is pretty certain, be realised; so that if the New Zealand harvest leaves, as usual, a large surplus it is hot likely to be shut out of this market by local production. Nevertheless feeling is buoyant in commercial circles, and there is a generally improved feeling everywhere. The huge wool export, which now pours in a stream through this city, is enough probably to justify such an improvement.