MELBOURNE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4406, 3 April 1876, Page 3

MELBOURNE.

{FEOM OUR OWK COBEES^ONDEKT.)

March 27th.

; Oar politics have taken another curioua and unexpected turn—the last of this strange and anomalous session. A little while ago, if we had been asked to the outcome of our ten months 1 long session, the reply would have been the scheme of direct taxation on land, houses, aud incomes, which the Government was passing. To introduce direct taxation was rei»a/cled as the rauon. d'etre of Sir Jame« M'Culloch as Premier. His financial scheme was in other respects, and indeed, very much' also in this respect, the counterpart of taqse o£ Mr Service and Mr Berry, whom he had succeeded in ousting, on the ground that their proposals were not acceptable. When he came into office ?jid brought down his own Budget, it was only the greater extension given to direct taxation, and especially the introduction of the income tax, which differentiated it from those e'f his predecessor. The income tax proposal met witn a great deal of 'criticism in the Press ; but in the House, supported by the powerful majority behind Sir James Al'Culloch, the resolutions affirming it and the kindred taxes ™ent through in spite of the Opposition. This being done, the Bill to give effect-to them was submitted to -the House; -The 1 aspect of the Bill had the effect of giving something of a cnill to tiie enthusiasm on behalf of the.Bill.. It set forth in all its ghastly reality the grim machinery by-which: the new tax was to be enforced, the private inquisitions, the pajns and penalties, the sworn declarations, and all the rest of it The effect on the public miikl was something like that produced: on an unfor^ tunate patient who has screwed up his courage to submit to a surgical operation, but wfio would like to be allowed to reconsider his determination when he sees the operating instruments arrayed in all their methodical and terrible order. The Bill brought hema painfully to the public mind what direct taxation, which had been shown by economists to he so admirable a method, actually nieant in practice, and the public very much disliked the proaj>ect. ... • The second reading of the Bill was taken on Wednesday last, and the result of ,the. division was to g*ve 35 for'the Bill and 32 against; This . was a very small majority for bo important a measure, initiating so radical a change in our system of taxation. It became very doubtful whether it would pass the third reading at all, and in ary case, as opposition to the measure was anticipated in: the Upper House, it w-is evident that the Bill would fail to carry with it the weight of concurrence in the' Assembly needful to enable it to bear down the opposition of the Lords.. The_ Govemmentj. therefore, took a day to reconsider ita positaon, and tte result was that it determined to mthdraw the Bill for the present session, and' as it was todlate now to substitute any other scheme, the Government must submit to the unfavourable condition of a deficit to be carried on to next year. And now if the question which I supposed at the beginning of my letter were put, it would be impossible for us to give aa the products of the session. Tiny thing beyond the " iron-hand resolution," thV t( coal holing" of Mr M'Kean. a good ties! of bswllanguage,- a ud a defiiit of sopae £185,0<39,

I just now alluded to the case of the griat parliamentary bully, Mr M'Kean. My former letter left him in detention for misconduct in the Assembly, and dividing his time between weeping and vowing vengeance. The "Long 'un,' as he is facetiously called by his friends, swore that he would never submit or apologise, but after he had been in custody about a week, he was ready to present as abject-and truckling an apology as his bitterest fou could desire. An apology thus framed was presented, and Sir /antes M'Culloch thereupon moved a rssolution discharging him from cnstody. This was carried, and while the House was squabbling as to who should pay the fees of his detention, it was announced that an impetuous messenger had set Mr M'Kean at liberty, and that he had gone home. When the bluuder w*vs discovered, a message was sent to him, begging him to come back into custody, but this he prudently declined to do. By this time everybody had Uad enouga of the matter, and it has been allowed to rest here. It is very satisfactory to be able to state that this unpleasant affair has had a decidedly good effect on the order of the House, and its proceedings have since been almost as regular and lawabidinsr as those of other Colonial Parliaments. The passengers by the la3t mail steamer have been let out of quarantine, and Sir Charles Duffy has been welcomed warmly by his fellow countrymen. He has " orated" plentifully in reply to the congratulations he has received. From the political Opposition Sir Charles has liot met with so. flattering a reception. His name was mentioned in connexion with a vacancy caused by the death of a member for East G-eelong, but it was soon authoritatively stated that Sir Charles Duffy would not be ao oepted as the Opposition candidate, and so far from the Opposition being willing to take him as a leader, they would not have him at any price, or in any capacity. They preferred <he blundering of their own Berry, whom they believe at any rate to be honest even if lie ia not very wise or very fortunate. Moreover, the Opposition is not disposed to piit itself in the unpopular position of a mere Ultramontane contingent s worn to carry out the commands of Archbishop Goold, as it would be if it accepted the leadership of Sir Charles Duffy. It is a healthy symptom in our political system that a Eomin Catholic is regarded with an undis jruised suspicion, and, if he is believed to be a meie delegate cf the fjriest party, with some thing considerably stronger thair suspicionLong may this condition continue, at any rate as _ long as the state of things which makes it impossible for any Catholic to be at the same time in political matters a free independent citizen and a submisssve son of the church.

j , A number of pri-'ate, or semi private matters have given the "town" plenty to tnlk about during the last month or two. As a sample I may nientun a case which ivm started on the i wings of public gossip by a paragraph in aneven- , i?S paper. This stated in a style of low, sensational penny-a-lining that there would soon come before the courts a divorce case which would bear the same position in colonial circles that the Lady Mordaunt case held in England, and would involve some of the highest names in the colony. According to the same veracious authority it was to be brought by a military officer now holding a civil office against his wife and two gentlemen of the highest official rank in the Colony, and one leading gentleman in mercantile circles, were to be the co-respondents. Then a morning paper took up the matter and stated that i the scandal was an old one, quite well-known, and thatthe lady referred to had been expelled from the circles of the "best society." The rumour got wide currency; the" blanks for the names were soon filled up and the ..list of probable co respondents; was' extended to an alarming length. Ultimately, the injured husband, whose case the public had been aiding with much maudlin sympathy, thought it time to bestir himself, and formally to assume the cap which was presented to him by general consent. So he consvdted his_ solicitors, swore a statutory declaration denying everything both on behalf of himself and that of his wife, ..talked about a libel action against the evening paper, stud got it to insert a paragraph expressive of the gratification with which it learned that there was no truth in the wicked rumour to 'which it had before alluded and regretting that it ever noticed the matter. The injured husband having thus taken the report to himself .and proved that he had never been injured at sill, the public is of course convinced and perfectly satisfied, although in some quarters marked regrets are expressed that so promising a case is not to go on, and is, so^ to say, nipped in the bud. I could not mention the names which a scandal loving public has associated with the case without high treason, lese-majesty, high crime and misdeameanour against the privileges 1 of Parliament, besides ordinary libel, and I certainly have no idea of increasing the penalties connected with those heinous Offences. Besides, it is shown clearly and on the best authority that there never was any foundation whatever for the malicious report, and naturally all interest ceases with this announcement.

Thena large number of ■-soft goods traders havo been" i>ained and grieved to hear that a charge of defrauding the Customs had been preferred against the leading honse in that trade ia Melbourne, tKefiriu of Messrs J^. Sita^ venson and Co. The charge, it appears, is laid by a discharged employe of the firm, and there is no doubt that it is inspired by vindictive feelings. This is, of course, a strong reason for receiving it with caution: but, on the other side, it must be remembered that it is only in such ways as this that malpractices of this idnd are ever exposed. So the charge is one tnat may fairly be entertained and dealt with on its merits. This is the view taken by the Customs authorities, who have for a week or more been engaged in investigations with the object of testing its truth. Hitherto, <ye are told, nothing whatever has been found to lend ie the slightest support. It is, of course, to be ascribed merely to trade jealousy that this announcement is received by rival firms wiih ait expressive cynical sceptical chuckle. Plainly stated, the charge is that the firm has for years been in the habit of evading payment of its proper share of Customs duties by means of a system of cooked in voices. In other, words, another case of the Callaghan kind, which came before the public a year or two ago. I wonder what proportion the cases of this kind that are exposed bear to the whole number of shady transactions of,this nature which take place under our demoralising advaloreni Custom-house system.

Another Customs case has furnished; subject for a little gossip and amusement. A mere case of amateur smuggling. Mr Walter Sheiwin, who has so long travelled with the Caran» dini troupe, on his last trip down from India by the mail steamer, brought a few cases of cigars with him amongst his luggage.. ,Mr Sherwin fully intended to place them on board as dutiable goods, to sell them, and to pay the duty on them when taking them out of bond. A most legitimate transaction, rather creditable and businesslike than otherwise. Ui)f"rtunately these good inteutions were not pronerly carried out The goods were passed as luggage, aud were being taken from the Customs shed as such, when busy meddlesome officers insisted on examining them, and, on seeing th«ir cuntents, detaining them. Mr Sherwin was asked for an explanation, aud at once told the artless tale I have repeated; one, the childlike simplicity of which would commend it to the be ■ lief of anybody besides a Customs officer. However, the authorities decline to receive the explanation, and Mr Sherwin is notified that he is to. be proceeded against at the Police Uourfc It has appeared to me from several reference's in the Dunedin papers, an 1 in correspondence thence, that the repeated failure of Madlle. lima de Murska to keep her engagements has caused first a good deal of liisaj pointment, and later on, of ind'gnation aud resentinei-t I can sympathise with the impatience and amioyance caused by the circumstances which have prevented lovers of music in Duuedin from being as much, delighted and charmed as audiences have been on so many brilliant occasions in Melbourne. But I think • that iC those who have been most angered by these disappointments could but know the circumstances against which the gifted artuste has had to struggle during these recent weeks; the feeling of anger would give pla-e to that of deep crjcmifieratioii. It is of course publicly ■ known.that her detention was due to the illness of her husband, Mr Alfred Anderson, whom she married at Sydney some two or three months ago, and who died one day ia&t week. But besides this common sorrow, there have been peculiar conditions to occasion, pain and bitterness over and above the anxiety of uncertainty, and now the anguish of bereavement The stay is a very wretched one, and it is rather too soon to> tell it yet. It is understood, however, that legal proceedings have been instituted, which will make it public in a few days. The laarriage was one of mere romantic affectioa on the part of the lady, but it has proved one of those terrible blunders which it is the privilege of those to commit who have passed thejoeriod of youth and inexperience, when mistakes of affection are easily pardoned. It gave her- nothing but a husband broken down in health and dying of a mortal ailment. It gave him as a wife a gifted woman who had reaped & golden liar vest by the exercise of her wondrous, artistic talents in these Colonies. Mr Anderson, it seems, was not backward in asserting his claim to the ownership of this i haruast, and got possession of as much of it as possible as soon as he could. When his disease became serious, and a fatal termination was threatened, he was removed to the house of his parents in Melbourne, and bis wife was only allowed to see him at rare intervals—indeed, hardly at aIL It is understood that Mr Anderson—who, it may be incidentally mentioned, was a Jew—h«s left a will devising his wife's property aa his own, and leaving it to his own family. One does not care to characterise this transaction till all of the facts are before the public, ■which they soon will bo, as Mdlle. lima de Murska (to preserve the better known and the better name) has given notico of application for letters of administration. The particulars will probably all be brought out when the case comes before the Courts j but, as it is now Btatec> colloquially, it h a, jiiercerary, sordid, and- miserable atfjur, and no

one can help sympathising with the great artiste who has been thus bought and sold And what a grim irony is imparted to thewretched story by the death of one of tha chief actors just as his triumph is secured and his bargain is complete.