QUEENSLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 5467, 27 August 1879, Page 2 (Supplement)

QUEENSLAND.

(TBOH OUB OWN 00BRESP0MDIKT.) Brisbane, August Sfab, OHrXBCH OF ENGLAND SYNOD.

This miinio parliament, with its president, chairman of committees, s-iandiag order*, and other be ivy machinery of the typical talking •hop, has lately held a " session." The result would bo astounding for its bwrenueis, were we not accustomed to tbe role, which it ha* no v permanently assumed, of vox etprqeterea nihil. A week of continuous sitting of some BO persons hy and clerical, wilh what ought, to ba a common causa to promote, and primirily, the interests of aoond Protestantism, and in seoond degree those o( the Episoopalian Protestant Churcb, should-produce some tangible aud practical result. Of this, how mtt ft* outcoisi* lw* Pm w«eedi4giy

small, while the amount of biokering, jealousy, and invective has been up to the mark, and far beyond the great originals of which this little asuembly is a far-off copy. Day by day full reports appeared in the papers, _ but the quiot, earnest Churchman looked in vain for signs of that uninimous, hard-beaded, should-ar-to-shoulder effort at legislation which oould alone evontn*te in strengthening and enriching Uie body, and serving the oauao of religion. Questions, surmises, and insinuations occupied most of the time ; while much alao was devoted to the washing bo fora the publio eye of a whole laundryfull of dirty linen, in the form of statement and counter-statement of differences which had arisen between a turbulent priest and a very good • bißhop. That the priest was out-' . rageously in the wrong; did not affect the fact that the dispute constituted a scandal, and occupied much valuablo time. B.ayond some matters of purely parochial detail, the " session" resulted in nothing bub tbe eettlo ment of a canon dealing with the Clergy Superannuation Fuad. Thi3 fund itself is avery fair typo of the mite'able parsimony with whioh moneys are doled out for tha purposes of their elm eh by a denomination numerically ond other-* iae Btrong. -£145, whioh is tho sum total applicable to superannuation, widows, orphans, could, it might bo oon oeived, be dispense! without the heavy michinery of a canon, and elaborate bjrelaws; but I can' only suppose that the legislation in the matter baa been pasaed for a une distant future, when ihere shall be something tD administer.. My somewhit deprecafory remarks abiut tbo Synod do not, however, apply to what is the real governing body of thia Ohu-ch—namely, tbe bishop and a council of 12 advisers, half clerical and h»lf lay. From thb report, whioh is is eminently practical and business - like, of this body it is abundantly oleir that the affairs of the Ohuroh ara being well managed; the various, properties all over the Colony i being pro parly vested and mado to yield their full value, while the work of ch'iroh and parsonage buildiog has gone on creditably. The General Ohuroh Fund is oertainly out of debt, and has helped iieveral clergymen to the Colony during the year, having besides aided in building a parsonage and church; but the magnitude of the revenues of the Church may be gathered from the fact that this fund stands now at somethiag less than £250. The new Bishop of Northern Queens Hnd, Dr Stanton, attended the Synod as a spectator, _ bat it is to be hoped for the sake of his diooose that the principal leeeon whioh it -his taught him is wbat not to do. The- new bishop is a man uuder 50, with a great cleil of sterling sense, and with nothing'of the high-prieat ab mt him. Being an enorgetio mm of simple tastes audi habits, and a single man, he io l.kcly to mix a great dealwith h's prople all over the diooeae, and if he cm only wake up the sleepy hollow over whioh he has come to preside, he seems to be a likely man to ensure the rei-pect and support of his people, and ti advance the cause of sound Protestatitiam—a very deair&b'e ob jeot.at alltimes bat especially in theae days of arohiepisoopal miiiifentoes and intolerant threatenings. THE EXaifilTlON. ~- • . I have not tho faintest doubt that between the past and the Immeiiate future of this phase of Colonial progress your readers are pretty well sick of the subject. I know I am, and what is more, I have not mjtelf the least room for question that the gome is not worth tha candle; or in other woids, that the outlay and worry, the prominence whioh is given to preparation of the;e big fairs to the exolusion of other more sober and less showy topics, is not c.unterbalanoed by. any impetus given to trade, tbe publication of inventions, and gene rally the -promotion of knowledge cf tli kinds, whioh go to make up tho groundwork of substantial progress. The particular exhibition to whioh I now refer is the annual Metropolitan Show held in Brisbane. Despite depression of trade and. scare ty of money, the attractions of th* ocoasion brought tozether more than 22,000 people at Bowen Parkduring tha woek, thashiUinKS at the gites being indisputable -evidencs tf numbers, _ while ' the numbers themselv* s may be accepted iv fair evidenoa that there was at least something to sea. Icisicdeed one of the wonders of these somewhat wearisome gathering* ti ,tbiuk what a big shilling's worth tbeae strong'organisations . manage to provide for thoir visitors. Although the Brisbane Exhibition of 1879 showed the natural falling off compared with its immediate predeotssor that mijht bs expected fromi the dulness of oommeice, the collection of exhibits was highly illustrative, end replete withintsiest andinstruotion. Not only were there shown the full-blown manufactured artiole, bat the. procesi of minafaoture wa» displayed from the making of ' a jujube or a drain pipe to the infiltration of a bullock. We were, however, peculiarly fortunate that ai a set-off, tj the disinclination bf exhibitbrsfcocornoforward'eautedbythegeneraldeprefsionoftrade, andtheprobability that theinxpjisaandt'oible would fail of practi oil result, the exhibits prepared for the International Exhibition about to bi held in Sydney, ocoupied of themselves sufficient spaoj in the building to obviate any appearance of emptiness. The same cam-in whioh have operated to prevent our manufacturers and producers from putting in an appear ance at the_local Exhibition,* hiva alg> prevented their representation at Sydney at their own expense j and ift is a 'sign of the times that the extremely interesting and illustrative, display whioh the Qaeensland Court will preaent in Sydney haa been prinoipally got together by purchase from a liberal Farlhmentary grs nt, voted fjr ; the purpose of the represenutioi of the : Colony, but whioh it was not expeoted would be so heaviljr drawn upon for tho aotual purchase of exhibits. * "DISUNION OP SQUA'nBBDOM." '. The preservation of whole bullocks by the infiltration process was repeatedly exemplified during the week. The large increase in i numbers and the low pricen of stock has for * soms time engaged the serious attention of* ' our gnz'wrs, but after repeated meetings to ' discuss the poiition, no prnotical result has j been arrived at. In recent letters I have alluded to the apparent itnf b isibilitjr of stook i owners agreeing to auy common oSurse of ; aotion in their own interests. Whether they i mistrust each other, or really that opinions J are widely divergent, or whether possibly it J is tbat many, of them are noit free agents, the ' faot remains that they cannot unite for any t purpose of furthering the general interests of a the olais, tbe one solitary exception being ] the strong political alliances of which they t are Otpab.e for giving a certain direction to t land legislation. Failing numerous attempts to give an impetu* to ths pro >of stook by means of associations among themselves for ? the.purpose of preserving and exporting ' meat, an amusiog attempt was lately ' mide tJ obtain l\*rl:*pentary inter- F position by means of a bill to oreate I an assessment on stock for the purpose 1 of encouraging meat-preserving companies, ii The proposition was utterly indofensible o upon any prinoip'ea of common tense, apart a from all consideration of those of p litical c eojnomy, and waa laughed out of the House £ in which it was introduced ; bat the strong <. diffarenoe of opinion upon the measure among -r the squatting members themselves, afforded , another illustration of the want of any Jj common bond of UDion amonp those following " the occupation of stock-breeding, t' : BIGAMY MADE ZISY. " A recent judgment of the Supreme Court fl of Q leenkland indicates this Colony as a p very paradise for persons disposed to shake 1 off matrimonial ties, who_ having married t( here have the means of going elsewhere to f £ contract a second alliance. Prior to 186S an j ( Imperial Statute (9 Gcorae IV., cap 31), gave authority to our courts to deal with cases of bigamy, where the second marriage , took plaoe anywhere else, uni er British rule. cl In that year, however, our Legislature, w urged thereto by the then Atliorney-General Ul and the Chief Justioe, took a fit of con>oli et dating the law upon a host of subjects ; the Ba consolidation bills being the work of the two tr functionaries named, and certain other of the tl; shining lights of the profession. I may just ,m alanoe at the fact that the consolidation was fi, r Fuli vf— blunders, but Parliament. not m understanding- the matter, took th 9 whole bs,toh of bilis-spo-O the faith of the Commission, and pasJeti them into . law. Among other changes"thereby etteStsA I _.• was the repeal of the statute referred to, *~. and the substitution of a provision giving "■" the Queensland Conrt jurisdiction in cases 861 in whioh the second marriago shull kave in taken place "iv Queeuxland .or elsewhere." to If the judgment just given'is sound, and. I In believe there is no doubt of ftbis, it turns qu out that our Legislature, having no juris- tui diotion outside of its own territory, had no Q g power to enaot anything of the kind, and ltint the words "or elsewhere " might post • sibly be operative in our dependencies if we had any, but having none,, the words are 9 U' mere surplusage. Under this unexpeoted &V' interpretation of the law, a very thorough "^ scoundrel has esoaped by the hair of his bai teetb, and it lute buen mado abmidaptly m<

clear that tha law of bigamy ih this part o* her Majesty's dominions requires amending. THE HEW LOAN. Her Majesty's Opposition evidently do hot consider tbat in the determined stand whioh they are taking against Mr M'llwraith's proposals for railway extension, they aro kicking against the pricks, The impression, however, which they expect to make by their vigorous recalcitrattons oanuot be upon th» Government party, or in the expectation of materially modifying the intended expendi* ture; but rather, it is to be supposed, to strengthen their cause with the country when the inevitable day of doom comes, which the party are not keeping back by their excess of discretion, for the Conservative Government. The Premier has made a special financial statement with reference to hia loan, but it was directed rather to explanation of the items thau to general polioy, and tbe leader of the Opposition hat given sdemn notice of his intention to move an amendment on the Ilth inatant upon the motion for going into Committee of Supply, the terms of which, though not actually yet expressed, shall in effect be a general: condemnation of the financial policy of the Governmtnt. One prominent supporter of the Government has : been suddenly called; to Eo'ghnd, and rumour attributes' to. two more a disposition to waver in their allegiance, and their circumstances are doubtless not without their influence upon Mr Griffith, whose unceasing catlike watchfulness makes him a dangerous. ■ opponent. I have no expectation whatever of the Government sustaining a defeat, although their tenure of offioe is rendered difficult by the cx'.remely restive and independent charaoter of some of their supporters, whose vot°B come to bo influenced more by deteststio.l of tbe personnel of the leader of the otber side thau by Btrong attachment to their own pirty. SUGAB. .;"'*.;' While contending faotions in-Parliament ( are fighting fcr plaoe, the material progress of the Colony hat ih a large measure to look after itself. It is a fortunate circumstance that, despite bad government and no goverLment, the sugar industry, upon whioh the utilisation of our vast acreage .on the coastline so much depends, and the- pros-; pectß of which looked so gloomy a few years ago, has quite recovered, and gives high promise for the future. The plantations, large,! and small, are now all in the hands of sxperien.ed growers, so tbat ths nume-'; ions causes of failure which beset the industry in its earlier years, ahd .led to co much discredit being thrown upon 1 its future, no longer exist, and nothing now but exceptionally bad Btasons oanaffeotthe product ot sugar and ruin. The crop which in 18756 fell fro-n 12108 tons of the previom year, to 0322 tons, has for the seaton of 1878-9 come nearly up to 14 000 tona}. while tbe important new appliances for cheapening the manufacture, which are now coming into use, promise to largely influence the jield next j ear. Nearly one-half of the, entire crop cem is from Maokay, the sea port: town of the extensive and fertile bottom lands of the Pior-eer Biver. The land under: cave altogether amounts to 16,000 acres, of Whioh 10 700 were crushed for the season's' crop. Beiide* the sugar, the enormous quantity of 216.000 gallons of rum was manufactured. The figures I have given' apply only to the petiod ended on 31st March, 1879; but the prospects ofthe present crop are magnificent, and the results of oruahiog to date, on some of the; leading 'plantations, justify the expectation of a produotfou of nut lets tban 15,000 tons. * . ,'