QUEENSLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5112, 6 July 1878, Page 6

QUEENSLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) Brisbane, June ISth, PARLTJMEXTARY LETHARGY.

Were it not for the constitutional necessity for a meeting of Parliament once in every twelve months, we should have been at least a 5) well without the present session. Twenty-two times has the Legislative Assembly met and gone through the solemn farce or occupying, on an average, five mortal hours of conclave upon the want 3of the country. The piece de resistance of the session is the Bill for redistributing and increasing the electorates ; but it is nearly admitted on all hands that there has been no demand for the Bill, which is used merely as a peg upon which to hang speeches for the edification of the constituencies in view of the comiug general election. Nobody outside believes in the House individually or collectively ; or in its doings, which are such palpable "bunkum," that the members themselves can hardly, with becoming gravity, deliver their most telling speeches, so thoroughly is it understood that they are delivered for the reading of constituents, and for no other purpose what- j ever. As for the Upper House, if it were n r..t that it has a perpetual succession in theory, it must die of inanition. It has struggled to get a quorum seven times in as many week=>, and has succeeded on five occasions ; but either not able, or unwilling, to initiate business for itself, it has adjourned again from time to time, until at last the repi-esentatives of the people have provided a fmbjtct for their Lordships' collective wisdom to deal with, in the shape of a Bill to better provide against the invasion of enclosed land by pigs and geese. The Electoral Districts Bill has gone through Committee, and stands now for third reading ; but it is still doubtful if it will pass. The fact is that the Government are in a, quandary. As the leader ot the Liberal party, tbty were bound in large measure to base the re-distribution upon population ; but in doing^ so they were obliged to modify the principle in some degree when applying it to the Metropolitan constituencies, in orderto make it palatable to their country supporters. The metropolis, therefore, was limited to the same number of members which it has always had, although upon the population basi3, as applied in the Bill, it was in reality entitled to at least two additional members. The Government, however, not only got no thanks for this, but the number as it stood in the Bill has be-jn reduced by one, and that upon the motion of a leading supporter of the Government, while a new squatting constituency, not provided for, has been created. If the Bill as it stands becomes law, it is decidedly a conservative measure ; unless, as it is supposed, the Government calculate, will be the case, a number of the constituencies cleat Brisbane residents to represent them, in the dearth of local men who can spare the time and money. The Government cannot, however, accept the provisions made by the House for the representation ot Brisbane without a sacrifice of principle ; but this i 3 an article with which they are not much troubled, and if they can see their way, by hook or by crook, by fair means or foul, to get a majority at the general election, they would not hesftate to leave Brisbane out in the cold altogether.

OUR FINANCIAL CONDITION.

I shall dismiss this in a short paragraph. The Treasurer assures us, upon "the inexorable logic of facts," that we are prosperous in all respeet3—that bis estimates of revenue have proved within the mark, and that despite the fact that the elements have been against us, and he looks for and prophecies continued prosperity. We have the usual denials from the opposite side of the table, and another array of facts and figures to prove that our prosperity ia only seemiDg, and that the evil times so long predicted are now close at hand. _ The surplus revenue is disputed; and a deficit prophecied for the end of the current year, and if not then, why next year ; and if, again, the revenue obstinately keep 3up then, why it is safe to fail the year after. In fact, Her Majesty's Opposition will never rest until financial dis aster befalls the Colony, and it can be distinctly traced to the Liberal party, which will then be ignominiously driven from office to make room for the saviours of their country. Thank goodness lam not a politician, but can and do look oa dispassionately at tbe public affairs of a country in which tho lot of myself and mine is cast, and having nothing to gain by misrepresentation, c-vu afford to give my real impressions. Well, then, I think the Treasurer ia not far out, and that our present condition and our present prospects are both fair—not to say good. But lal o think that neither he nor any of his immediate predecessors have contributed much to this result, but tint our progress, like much of the progress elsewhere in Australasia, haa been the result of the pluck and enterprise, the money and the wit, of the Colonists themselves, in developing the wonderful resources of nature and incrossing commerce. Governments have rather followed than led, have retarded more than promoted. Our last loan of .£1,322,000 has been succesefuily pliced at £92 Us a result which speaks well for the opinion on. tertained of us by investors in the Mother couatry.

MEDICAL MORALS AND ETIQUETTE. Turn'ng from public to social affairs, I must refer to a gigantic scandal which has recently occurred in connection with hospital management. As the matter has be.n the subject of magi tsiisl enquiry, as well a3 of investigation by thn Hospital Committee in the presence of the Piess, my statements will be practicilly a rts ime of published reports, although confirmed by other sources of information. The s^ory shortly told is this. A patient was brought to ihe Bmlane General Hospital one afte:n->or>, from a remote c >untry distiiot, suffering from a severe gunshot wound in the loa. It was then tea hours from the time of the accident occurring. Upm arrival th* h',ue surgeon examined the patient, and concluded that immediate amputation was necessary. At 8 o'clock p.m., failing any better meats of getting the viqtinf surgeons to attend, he took h;s°horte and rode round to them, arranging a consultation for 10 o'clock. Before tho hour fixed one of the number arrived, but although agreeing in the necessity for immediate amputation, did not, could not, or would not opr-ratj until the arrival of the otht-r surgeon?. At half-past 11 o'clock two more did arrive, but both so drunk that No. 1 doctor, acting in conjunction with the Resident Medical Oflicer, refused to permit them to perform the operation ; supported in their action by *,he wretched patient to whom their state was so apparent that he bsgged that he might not be left in their hind.l--. Th-vre wca a scandalous and misy scene over tho dyin« nwn, and at its close one of th« n»w arrivals went to sleep it off, while the other ra«ed and fumed about the balconies. Hours elapsed, and at last the honoraiy consultingsurgeon was got to attend at 4 o'clock the next morning. Mortification had then set in, ?;nd the leg was taken off; but the system of th.3 por-r victim had got too low, and he died. These are tho facts, but we have th-j sworn testimony of the proff.ssiou that the c nelay of eight weary hours after arrival at the Hrspital—a delay wholly attributable to the scandalous circumstances describe:! -had no prejudicial effect, and neither accelerated nor indirectly caused death. Thin; have not been, nor are Jikely to bo, any chancres in the honorary st:ilF; but there is a shocked ai:d lasgu^ted feeling in the public mind which nothing can a)lay. The chief off'endcis are men of influence and standing and nobody feels disposed to "ball the cat"; but if the affair is allowed to blow over puMio confidence will be greatly shaken in the institution. The non-professional mind will not believe for a moment that tho un fortunate chief actor in my etary was no^

sacrificed partly to professional etiquette and partly to a demoralised state of matters in the management of the Hospital ; and it is difficult to understand why the Committee —or, if they won't act, the Government—do not remove from their appointments the offending members of the staff.

CHIEF JUSTICE SIR JAMES COCKLE,

While the Judicial Bench in New South Wales is offending public morals by ugly altercations in Court, the highest legal practitioners in Queensland aro weeping in each other's arms, so fraternal are their mutual feeiinga, and so heartbroken are they ovßr their approaohing separation. Sir James Cockle's departure being now imminent, oocasion was taken a ft w days since by the Attorney General, in the name of the Bar, to wish Hia Honor God speed, and to express the respact felt for him and the regret expe rienced at his departure. This over, and the Chief Justice having suitably replied, Mr Justice Lutwyche bore hia testimony to the Bame purport, and, in doing so, " was bo affected as to be unable to coaclude his remarks." The lay public look on at all this in simple astonishment, because, while quite recognising the fact that Sir James is a man of great learning and stern integrity of character, he has never been known to conctrn himself much personally in the social Gr moral improvement qf his kind ; but, when off the Bench, for anything that has ever been seen or heard of him, might as well have spent his intervals o£ leisure in Timbuctco. The profession have, moreover, been in the habit of speaking disrespectfully of his decisions, and jurymen have been known to aver that, if they had a faint filinimeriog of the bearings of a case before the Judge summed up, that process left them in a state of hop La 33 bewilderment. Besides the mauifcs'atioa of gcod will in <pen Court, the Attorney-General has picnicked him and the Bar, and a farewell dincer by the Bir, and a finish in the way of a dinner to the B ir by Sir Jam=s himself, come off this week. This no doubt is all as it should be, and, unless there is still more humbug in the world than I think exists, must be indicative of much mutual goodwill. But still it dofs not settle ihe question wkich, throughout the festivities, was always uppermost in the mind forensic, "who is to be the next Chief Justice ?" This question, however, will not require a definite emwer until His Honor's leave expires, and he resigns, and that will not be for 12 monthp. I hope all rray be as harmonious then ; but it is greatly doubted.

WHEAT RETURNS,

It may be accepted as a marked indication of the change which free selection has made on the Darling Downs—that hotbed in old times of ultra squatterdom—that it is found worfch while to publish special official returns of produce of wheat in different parts of that district, where in years gone by it was confidently asserted that "a cabbage would not grow." There is a little wheat grown on the coast side of the "Range, but so little as to be unimportant in the total returns. The area uuder wheat jumped up from 5967 acres, in 1876, to 9-ISI, in 1877—a very large proportionate increase, but unfortunately very poorly resulting. While the area reaped for grain shows an increase of 2220 acres compared with 1876, the yield fell short of that of the previous year by 7870 bushels—the decrease being chiefly attributable to the drought, which iv some instances caused a total failure of the crop. Rusb, too, seems to have ridden rampant during the same season, and probably from the aarne cause, as the yield of grain unaffected by rust in 1877 wa3 only 12 bushels 40^ pounds per acre, as against 20 bushels 28 pounds in 1876.

NEW GUINEA GOLX> FKVER,

I a*n not in the Jea3t disposed to crow over the realisation of my prophecy of failure for the ill-considered gold expedition to New Guinea, as the miseries of the unfortunate fellows may well make one weep instead of laugh. No gold, but plenty of fever, and shortner.fi of f>od, such are the accounts to hand. A third of the party disabled, the rest discouraged, does not look hopeful, and it is quite c-xpected that such of the party as are physically able will return as opportunities offer. Ab an indication of the reckless spirit in which the Cook'own contingent went into the project, ifc appears that they took -with them to Port Moresby two notorious females. The missionaries and

Mr Inghara, however, made short work of these ladies by deporting them again by the first trip of the Ellangowan, and the last heard of them is that they are encamped on the beach at Thursday Island, whence the captain of the mail steamer ungallantly declined to bring them back to their old haunts.