MELBOURNE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5266, 4 January 1879, Page 1 (Supplement)

MELBOURNE.

(FUOM OUU OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

December 24th,

Sinco the prorogation of Parliament, which passed eff so taineiy, political excitement has not been allowed to subside. As it is plain to all parties that the Embassy is determined on, and will indubitably leave by the mail on fSatuuby next, no further efforts have bssu made to obstruct its departure. The Conservatives, however, have redoubled the energy of their attacks upon its personnel and character ; every possible rtfltiction upon its purposes and origin is being raked up, in order that a. perusal of the Press of this party for the few days preceding the despatch of the deleg..tt3 may place Home readers in pjßsessiou of all the Blanderß which have ever been circulated in respect to this much-vexed question. The Liberal party and Press, on the other hand, assume an attitude of confident expectation, and profess themselves assured of the success of Mr Berry's mission. It is very doubtful if they really have any great hope of his obtaiaiug from the Colonial Office what he has promised to ask for, but more moderate member.) trust that at least a clear understanding o! the position to be taken up by the English Government will be arrived at, and thin a foundation obtained for a final campaign against the Council. The sensation of the day has been the publication of a despatch from Bir Michael Hicks-Beach in reply to an intimation from the Ministry informing him that an appeal to him and his colleagues might be considered probable in the early future. A-t conveying the first distinct disclosure of the feeling of the Colonial Secretary, the document is a very important one, and a3 its anival was known some days before it was published, there wai great and general anxiety as to its contents. The fact tuat the Governor hid received an important despatch oozed out immediately after the p/orogation. The Conservatives at once declared that the despatch was very unfavourable to the Ministerial proposal, and that the prorogation had been hastened, and the document kept out of the way by the cowardice of tho Government. The Liberal organs on their purs announced aulhotitativeiy that the despatch was a favourable one, and frotnised a welcome tt the ambassadors. As the Governor had left town tha despatch could not be published. Upon his return tho two Opposition journals, the Argus aud Daily Telegraph, appeared with notices that the despatch would be published in a Government gazette that day. The Ministerial journal, the Age, appeared,'much to the indignation of ita rivals, with the document itself, and pubiic anxioty was atf once set at rest. It may bs B*fely said, that the. whvlo tpoy of, &§ |!aper

is against the Ministerial appeal, for though thero aro various qualifications to be made, tho curroat of the baronet's thought is altogether opposed to their aohome. He points out juafcly enough that it is very desirable that the reform question should be settled in the Colony, states his conviction that a direct appeal to the people is necessary on such a momentous change, notes that_ the plebiscitum is entirely a novelty in British constitutions, and finally says that an embassy from both Houses will meet, as might necessarily bo expected, with, a courteous reception, and every assistance from him, if all other means of settlement should fail. Of course it is to bs remembered that when Sir Michael Hicks-Beach wrote in thia strain he was only familiar with the course of events as far as the debate on the second reading of the Reform Bill." He did not know of the conferences, nor of the many attempts at compromise that wore made by both parties. Still it is very questionable if a Conservative of his type will comprehend the necessities of a community as young as ours, where it is not the gradual enfranchisement of English law that will satisfy a people already free in their desires, if not in their,. Constitution, in imagination if not m reality. The Liberal party consider that they have oxhausted every possible compromise, but it is at least likely that the English Minister will inform them that they have omitted the great solvent of complications at Home— that is, delay. We have delayed a decade, —or it may be almost said two decades— and this seems to us a long period. It would be very English, or at all events very Conservative English, if to such a statement of our patience Sir Michael should reply, "Try three decades." The one chief point, however, is the appeal not to England, but to the people, and it can hardly be doubted but that the Colonial Secretary thinks there ought to be a general election before calling on him for advice. The effective answer to this will be, "Well, tell us the most Liberal kind of Bill you will engage to legalise for us, supposing the people assent to it." If this is done -the question will be much simplified, and the embassy will be a substantial success. Tbe fact that it is only delegates from the Aesembly who will go Home is not a matter of first importance. The Council knew that they had perfect liberty to send representatives if they chose, and as they preferred a lengthy memorandum to peroonal representation, they must abide by their choice without complaint. It is not to be fcupposed, therefore, that Mr Berry is quite disposed of by the despatch. Far from it. He has good answers to make to the objections raised, and good arguments to urge, which are not yet answered. Nevertheless it is plain that three months ago the Colonial Secretary did not view the prospect of an embassy with any superfluous delight. It was only natural that the approaching departure of the ambassadors should be signalised in some way, but it was. a very unfortunate thiug that one, or two nobodies, were allowed to take such steps at first, as comprised the whole affair. In the initiation it was proposed that some thirty or forty members of Parliament should combine and give a dinner to Mr Berry and Professor Pearson, This idea, however, proved too email for some of the, aspiring promoters, who refused to be satisfied with anything but a "public demonstration, The difficulty in the way was that if it was desired that representative men from all parts of the C.'lony should attend, the railway farts would make the dinner too costly. The M'Culloch Ministry once sent five.hundred guests ud to Beeebworth to attend a; ball given to Mr Kerferd without charge, under colour of signalising the opening of the railway to that place, and in an unlucky moment it was resolved to do somathing similar. Accordingly it was announced that tickets for the dinner, price 10s 6d, would include a free pass to and from Melbourne from any station on the Government lines. As it was estimated that the dinner would cost 7s a head, this was leaving only 3a 6d a head for the railway department, which would have to convey purchasers dietaaces for which the ordinary fare would bs £2 or £3. The Conservative Press at once seized upon this proposal, which, having been endorsed by the Ministry, became in : a sense their own, and denounced it in the most frantic manner. Public feeling was to a certain extent aroused, but, as a rule, the matter was thought beneath notice. Suoh things had been done before under Conservative Ministries and no complaints were made, and so it was rathsr as a jest that the grand political demonstra. tion presented itself. The Op^csition declared that people a:l over the country were purchasing the tickets in order to get a cheap Christmas trip to town, and protested that'a mere glaring instance of corruption had never been known. This had little effect. But the Age was silent, and it was understood only silent because unwilling to administer correction to the Ministry. Attempts were made to retrace some of the steps taLen. Only those attending tho banquet, and therefore p^r tiillv bona fidn pu-cuasars, would bo permitted to return free, and all must return not later than the Monday. This, however, could not appease the journal which felt the honour of the party called in question. Accordingly, a day before the dinner, the Age spoke out, declared the whole proceeding indefeasible, and demanded that the Government Railways should receive full fare. A hasty Cabinet meeting was held, and-Ministers out of their own pockets provided the requisite sum. All iares, therefore, are to be paid in full, and tho wrong iaa been changed, into a blunder. The dinner itself was a great success Nearly 750 gentlemen sat down in the Town Hall, while a large number of ladies witnessed the proceedings from the galleries. Mr Beiry made a great speech, in which he wai continually interrupted by tumultuous cheering., A few sentences from it give the key notes of the Ministerial policy. He said "the constitution we have was obtained from tho Imperial Parliament by a favoured section of the community alone," and only in order to get the fee-simple of their vast estates, which Imperial statesmen had refused them; therefore it was necessarily an impsrfeot constitution. He continued : " We will ask the Secretary of State what further must the people of Victoria suffer before the 'las>t resort comoa. Do:s he wanb broken heads and houses in flames? I shall be able to tell the Imperial Government what the people of this Colony have gono through. They have run the risk of four deadlocks, and have been four times on the verge of anarchy and revolution. They have been confronted by an oligarchy ho unscrupulous and so little able to learn, that in the face of a public opiaion more united than has ever been displayed in any country, instead of yielding gracefully half of what the people require, they have made fresh demandshave asked that the Legislative Assembly shall grovel at their feet, and have wanted a power greater than the nation itself can exercise. ' Tell us,' we shall aak them, 'if we go back to Melbourne and pass the Reform Bill in the last session of this Parliament ;if we then dissolve the Parliament, aud the country sends that Parliament back to pass that Constitution again, will you then think that the ' last resort' haa come, and will you pass ifc into law." Professor Pea;s m was received with a similar enthusiasm, aud delivered a speech but little leas stirriug than Mr Berry's. The oompany s jparated after a moat pleasmt aud unanimous evening. A rather clever device to throw discredit upon the Embassy has been devised by tiie Conservatives, who have caused a coloured man named Dauiel Henderson, and known as Henderson. Africanus, to benominally selected by working men as their ambassador to lay their case before the Colonial Secretary. Henderson, an idle loafer about the city, is well known as a stump orator at mass meetings, and was until recently a steadfast Liberal, On the embassy question, however, he has gone over to the other s.de, and the idea suggested itself to somo of the rowdier Conservative members to make him a workman's delegate. Accordingly he was interviewed, and his vanity fouud readily susceptible to the scheme. A meeting was held, a subscription got up, and in imitation of tbe dinner at tha Town Hjll, a grand banquet announeod at two guineas a head, the purchasers of tiokets to ba franked'per otnoibus from any district. Of course the 'tickets were given away to tho employes by tho well-to-do merchants aad othera who supported the farce. At the dinner, Headeraon was presented with a parohrcant document purporting tabshu commission as amba-saadyr, a,iid. (speeches wore made'''with as muoii nolemnity as was possible by tho peißoijs present. Henderson repliqi at ltugthin a grandiloquent strain, apparastly wavering between belief iv the redity of his mission and thefear that it was only a joke. It is slid that h's p.*ssagsi money is already paid, and that he has obtained a cabin next to that of Mr Berry in the mail steamer. However thw maybe, the travestie has been a very amusing onp, k'fli. to-ha tak-.n aback, the Literal Press. have solemnly m e;oomei Henderson aa the representative of the Council, of Con swy&tisffi, 9i wwlib, 8.»4 <?{ lam! taoaopoly,'

and have given reason for his'pecullar fitness for the post, so that altogether, the gentleman, one of whose chief advantages is that ho cannot blush, has attained a great deal of transient notor'ety. ■ Sir George Bowen is to continue in office ; until the arrival of LordNormanby. This is being generally interpreted to be a desire to escape an interregnum, and the rule of that most bigoted of extreme Conservatives —Sir William StawelJ. Is was his refnsal to grant a dissolution which occasioned the Stonewall, and the Stonewall was the beginning of the turbulent timea which have not yet ceased. As it is impossible to say how he might not have abused his power, the Colonial Office has acted very wisely in keepi ing him out of office. Although the police and public are agaia roused by the daring outrage of the Kelly gang, nothing more has been heard of them that can be relied upon, and though the garrison force has been stationed in the surrounding townships, and the police are scouring the country in every direction, a general feeling of insecurity prevails throughout the district in which they are supposed to be. The reward for Edward Kelly has been raised from £500 to LIOOO, but as* yet without producing any result. A letter from this, the chief ruffian, has been received by a Member of Parliament. It is written in a very melodramatic style, and of course lays the wholu blame upon the police, who have so long persecuted his family. Considering that this family obtained a live* lihood solely by dishonest means, this is very little to be wondered at. It is evident that our police, as at present disciplined and officered, is quite unable to cope with bush desperadoes of this stamp, and it is probable that before long there will be an entire reorganisation of the force. A Mr McArthar, a member of one of the largest soft goods firms, Alderman for London, and a member of the British Parliament, has just arrived here, ■ and has been received, as in England, with exceptional distinction by commercial men. Martin Wiberg, the confessed gold robber .from the mail steamer, has escaped from the detectives, whom he led down into Gippaland under pretence of discovering to them a hoard of concealed sovereigns. . The wheat crop has almost totally failed, owing to the rust, and so this is the third bad year we have had. The consequences 'are likely to ba disastrous to many of the agricultural class, Eust is the chief destroying agent, but at the present time there is a great need of rain, and though we have very squally weather, nothing but a few ineffectual showers have come. Toe Australian Eleven are still the heroes of the hour, and their reception in Melbourne has been even more cordial than in Sydney. They defeated the Victorian Fifteen by splcnded phy, although at one time it seemed as if the game would go against them. Business is very brisk now on account of the approach, of Christmas, and on every side preparations are being made for tho holiday season. Baldwin, the Expo3er of Spiritualism, has been here, and has done veiy well. Tha general opinion appears to be that ha exposes a little too locstly, aud that if what ara called spiritual manifestations were anything like his copies of them there could- not be anyone so imbecile as to believe in them. He oarinot therefore be said to have satisfied the public as to any exposure, but contrived to do very well by means of advertising of a very sensational character. Charles ,'• Clark has taken his farewell, Ada Ward is <f doing a season at tbe Theatro Royal, and' Mr Fred. Hamilton and Mr Wheatleigh are finishing their engagements at the Opera House.. At the Academy of Music Bracy's Opera Biuffe Company have been doing very we'l, and Dttvey Read's Ghost is still run. nicg.