OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9042, 18 February 1891, Page 4

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

(Fbom Oub Own Cobrespondent.) February 10, THE LOAN. The failure of the South Australian loan in London is not reassuring as regards the prospeots of this colony on the market. The Treasurer (Mr Munro), however, professes to be confident, but he bas postponed the floating of the loan indefinitely. The public are Bomewbat doubtful about Mr Munro's ability »3 a financier now. His pet compauy, the Real Estate Bank, which is a creation of his own, and of which he is president, is nofc flourishing by any means. Its .shares (SOs paid up) have dropped like lead in the market during the last fortnight or so, till now they are selling at about 255. The fall is without apparent cause. The shareholders have a dread of a further call of capital, and there are demands thafc the directors should make an explanation. If, therefore, Mr Munro cannot manage the finances of a local concern successfully, the public seek for a guarantee that those of the colony will not suffer at his hands. But we hope for tho best. To say the truth it will not be the fault of Mr Munro if our loan prove a failure. The extravagances and errors of Mr Gillies are bearing fcheir natural fruit in a distrust of the colony by the English investor. Mr Munro's watchword is economy. Speaking at the mayor's luncheon yostorday, ho said the Government sympathised with tho general community in fche dullness of trade, and he, as Treasurer, had particular reason for doing so, because the income was nofc equal to the expenditure, and he would like to see things a little more brisk. They all hoped to see a change before long, and that everything would once more be satisfactory. So far as he was personally concerned, he had to call upon his colleagues in all departments toseconomise as much as possible, and he thought that this was much preferable, under the circumstances to casting aboufc for new sources of taxation. RAILWAY REFORMS. One of the principal planks of the platform on which fche Munro Government came into office was " railway reform." The details were not well defined, bufc a kind of general improvement was thought necessary. One of the principal grievances was against tho engineering department, which had supplied ridiculous estimates of the cost of new lines. The works in most instances had run into figures at least a third higher than those given as the estimates to Parliament. The Government have therefore been putting a proposal before the railway commissioners for the retirement of Mr Watson, the head of the engineering department, and perhaps of a member or two of his staff, with the view of filling their places wifch younger men, wifch more modern ideas and knowledge. One of these new men.it is proposed, shonld come from America. There is a general feeling that our system of railway construction is altogether too expensive. The interior of Victoria presents few engineering difficulties, and it is thought that railways built afc a cost as low as £4000 or £5000 a mile would answer fche purpose quite as well as the fully equipped line which runs into £10,000 or £12,000. The railway commissioners,however,cannotsee that anything is to be learned from America. Mr Speight has only recently returned from a trip to Europe and America, and in the latter country he declares he could_ pick up no "wrinkles." He declares that our lines are as well constructed as those of either England or America, and as cheaply constructed also, and he cannot see any advantage to be gained from tho introduction of American bloodinto the service. The greatest length to which he will go is to express his willingness to have the Victorian system of railway surveying and construction, and everything appertaining thereto, inspected and reported on by an eminent railway engineer, either from America or any other country. The Government have not yet made up their minds on the matter, but it is evident that the relations between themselves and the railway commissioners are a little strained. Mr Speight naturally cannot be brought to admit that "railway reform" is necessary. THE PREMIER PERMANENT PROSECUTIONS. I mentioned last week that the Attorneygeneral (Mr Shieis) had determined to abandon the further prosecution of Gourlay and Doherty, regarding whose guilt in the charge of conspiracy in the Premier Permanent Bnilding Society the jury failed to agree. Probably your readers fail to understand how deep an interest is taken in this question in this colony, and may be inclined to resent tho constant reference to it in these columns. I can only reiterate the words of tbe Chief Justice, that ifc is the most important caie which has ever como on for trial in Australia. You must nofc think thafc Mr Shieis' decision is the end of the matter. No doubt there cannot now be another trial; but the liquidator of the society hs% a civil remedy if he cannot proceed wifch a criminal one, and he may set ifc in motion; and there is a very large section of tho publio which is inclined to regard Mr Shieis' decision as a scandal. The Argus leads this section of publio opinion, and has expressed itself very strongly on the point. I would point oufc that the result of the prosecutions has been the conviction of Mr Mirams and Mr Doherty, the secretaries, only. Neither of these made any money out of the society, or if they did make a little they lpsfc ifc otherwise, and the former more especially is a beggar. The men who made the money were Gourlay (tho borrowing director) and the Murphys (his dummies). Yet these men escape scot free. Listen to what the Argus has to say :—

"Ifc would have b2en bad enough if the society had succumbed simply to incapacity. Its epitaph, however, is not blander, blunder, blunder, bufc plunder, plunder, plunder. And yet we are to supp&3e that there is no plunderer. If the law is responsible for this lame result, then the law is terribly imperfect, and in fairness to honest men, and for the future protection of the thrifty, the rectification should be immediate and oomplete. We doubfc the imperfection of the law, and we fear that influence, already shamefully and shamelessly exhibited, has not been without its effect in biasing the judgment of the Crown Law Office. The people whose savings hare been dissipated are a poor folk and feeble. The men who have made away with the money for which thoy were trustees, or have allowed it to be made away with, have property and credit and business sympathisers and Ministerial friends, and so on. Thus ever miserably does the world go round. Yet we shall be mistaken if fche result ia nofc something more than a passing show of indignation."

I have told you in previous letters that the son of Mr Munro, the present Premier, was one of the original defendants in the ceie, though eventually the charge was withdrawn, and in discussing the possibility of a second trial I hinted that the influence of the Premier would be put into tho scale against it. This is what the Argns refers to when it makes the reference to " Ministerial friends."

Another evidence of the singular manner in which the decision of the Attorney-general haa been arrived at is afforded by the fact that the counsel who conducted fche prosecution was never consulted. This was Mr Purves, Q.C. I have referred in previous letters to the marvellously clear insight into the whole of the involved transactions of the society and its robberies possessed by Mr Purves, who never distinguished himself more than he did in these prosecutions. Dr Madden, the principal counsel for the defence, floundered dreadfully in his address to the jury, finding that the intricate details overpowered him. But Mr Purves knew the whole thing off like his alphabet. In tho Argus yesterday morning Mr Purves makes a lengthy statement of his views on the decision of tho Attorney-general, iv which he exhibits most plainly his dissatisfaction, not to eny disgust, with it. He has been spending his holidays on a yachting cruise, and he says :— " I was at sea since the day following the conclusion of fche trial, occasionally landing on the Tasmanian coast. In Hobart I met Mr Shiel*, and had a conversation with him on matters generally, but the question of the Premier Permanent trials was never mooted, I was in Hobart during the week that the Attorneygeneral wai thsre, and received no communication from him on the subject. To my surprise, when I arrived in Tictoria, I found from a paragraph in the Argus that the matter had been considered and concluded during my absence without consulting any of the learned gentlemen retained with me, and who were the only persons thoroughly conversaut with all the details of the case." Then he goes on to explain how he believes a second trial of Gourlay and Doherty might havo been more satisfactory than the first. He declares that from the beginning ho had yery little hope of a unanimous verdict. Not to put too fine a point on it Mr Purves makes very direct hint of bribery. " From certain information which was conveyed to me," he says, " I had little hopo of a unanimous verdict. This was from the very opening of the trial. One incident was that ono of the jurymen went ostentatiously to sleep." And he proceeds to explain that, guided by tho experience of tho first trial, a stronger case could have been presented, "It would have been possible, as I am at present advised, to havo called Messrs Nimmo and Stewart, and I should probably havo taken the extreme course of putting the two Murphys and Corkill in the box and have asked them to explain fche written documents which so materially affected their good fame and characters." One objection to a second trial was that of expense, but Mr Purves ridicules this objection. No expenditure can be too great, and no efforts too laborious, to punish crime of this nature. And he concludes with a pungent reference to the matter of " Ministerial influeuce." He points out that Mr Munro, tho present Premier of the cobny, while in Opposition, took a step in Parliament that was, to say the least, unprecedented, when he put the question to tho Gillies Government whether it was their intention to pay the costs of the defendants in the conspiracy trials. And Mr Shieh niußt of course have been familiar with the views of his chief. Then, ho adds (and I cannot resist quoting his words in full):—"Even in the caso of gentlemen of undoubted honour and ability, such aa the present and late Attor-ney-generals, tho atinosphero they breathe must hiu-e its influence. It is not ouly in this casp, but in others that this undoubted fact has occurred. I need h»rd!y niakn allusiou to tho lute notorious case arising oufc nf transactional in the land boom, in which (lisclo.mren were made which seemed to indicate the absolute necessity of prosecution; bufc in consequence

of monetary compromises, and the satisfaction i of certain private creditors, no prosecution was ' ever instituted. In another notorious case, in I 1 which a man of great wealth and influence was i concerned, although it was more than hinted that a prosecution would be instituted for per- i jury, and in which I myself was consulted, for i no reason that I am aware of the matter appears to have been dropped. Taking the opposite i view of the ease, I am aware of a case arising i out of purely private matters, in which a bench < of magistrates refused to commit, and, for cer- : tain reasons which can only be guessed at, the ' Attorney-general thinks fit to intervene and institute a prosecution, the costs of which will amount to a sum exceeding the costs of the second trial of these defendants for conspiracy. ■ Influences are brought to bear in the Crown law officers which should be altogether excluded. The time has come, apart altogether from tho paltry question of expenditure when some in- i dividual of high attainments and undoubted - impartiality will have to be elected and paid a very large sum by the State to act as public > prosecutor, who shall be entirely dissociated from the demoralising influences which at present exist and impede the fair course of justice " Your readers will admit that this is strong language, and it will serve to show them how strong is the feeling in regard to the case amongst those who regret, as the vast majority of the reputable population of Melbourne do, fchafc tho " plunderers," as the Argnß calls them, are to be allowed to escape scot free. Another incident in connection with the same cases is the decision of the fnll court upon the appeal made by Doherty against his "conviction in what may be termed the larceny prosecution. This is the case in which Doherty Bold his own shares, instead of the society's, over the counter to a customer. The society had made a new issue of shares at a premium. Doherty had taken up some of the original issue, by paying only tho deposit fee of 2s 6d on them. When a Mrs Miller camo in to buy 125 shares of the new issue, he sold her his shares, paying to the society their original value (£5 per share), and putting into his own pocket the premium (£3 per share). He was found guilty upon trial for this offence, bufc appealed. The court sternly set its face against him, pointing out that it was clearly embezzlement for a servant to take money paid for his master's goods and substitute his own goods for those of his master. The sentecce on Doherty—namely, 18 months' imprisonmentwas therefore confirmed. TRINITY COLLEGE. The miserable trouble in Trinity College has been patched up by the Anglican Church Assembly. You will remember that the students burned the warden of the college (Dr Leeper) in effigy; that he thereupon expelled a number of thorn; that they formulated a set of charges against him;_ and that a committee of the assembly wes appointed to report npon these. Their complaints were so petty as to be almost ridiculous (being upon such matters, for instance, es the absence of jam at breakfast), but Dr Leeper is a man of the kind who drives his enemies to despair with worries so small as to be almost nameless. One of his principal faults was his tendency to speak in parables. Hia hearer would understand one thing, and Dr Leeper would intend him to understand it; bufc the doctor's language would bear another interpretation, and upon this ho would fall back. For instance, he announced by advertisement from time to time certain scholarships for competition. These were announced at so mnch " per annum," which words Dr Leeper interpreted to mean " one year." The simple student of course took them to mean something very different, and would be surprised to find his scholarship money discontinued when the first ' 12 months had elapsed. As Mr Justice Hodges said in the Assembly, the claim to put such an interpretation upon language of this kind in an , ordinary business advertisement would be , ouriously characterised in a court of justice. , One great drawback to Dr Lceper's successful ; management of the college was that he ! " farmed " it. He received a certain salary, and , any profit from the boarders he could squeeze . out of them. Thus at once, as has been said, he was tho Solon and the Soyerof the establishment. The conclusion come to by the assembly is that from this source pretty well all the trouble arose. They, therefore, have determined ■ that in future " the direction of the college work i shall be separated from its domestic arrange- , ments." Dr Leeper's "eminent services" are to be retained, and the students who havo i withdrawn or been expelled are to be welcomed i back. Whether they will go back under Dr Leeper is another question. MURDER IN NEW SOUTH WALES. A cold-blooded murder has been perpetrated i near Emmaville, in New South Wales. A miner named Samuel Montgomery, who had been ; mining for tin at a place called Tucker Gully, : about three miles from the township, disappeared suddenly about two weeks ago. It was afc firsfc thought that he might have been buried by a fall of earth in the claim at which he was working, bufc a search there showed that no collapse had taken place. Search parties were then organised, and after several days' exploring the body was found in an abandoned shaft aboufc three-quarters of a mile from the man's but. The body was partially covered with dirt, and was in an advanced stage of decomposition. An examination showed that the deceased had met with foul play. Over his heart was a large hole, which had evidenly been caused by some heavy, blunt instrument, such as a pick. No clue has yet been obtained as to the murderer. It is stated that Montgomery complained some time ago of the tin ore being stolen from his hut, and ifc is surmised thafc the thief had made a second visit to the hut, but was discovered by tho owner, and then in the struggle for freedom murdered him. MISCELLANEOUS. A dreadful accident happened on the Yarra on Saturday last. One steamer—the Elingamite— was casting off, while another —the Despatch—was also on her way down stream. Twoseamepof the Elingamite—named Lambert and Lobrovitch—were in a small boat with a line to be attached to the wharf where the steamer swings round. The Despatch came down on tbem suddenly. Lambert, seeing that the'boat was to be jambed between the two steamers, tried to climb on board fche Elingamite, but just as he reached half way the two vessels closed in on him, and he fell into the eea so terribly crushed and mutilated as to be actually in pieces. The other man remained in the small boat, which was also crushed in, and he is injured so badly that his recovery is doubtful. Mr Barnard, the famous handicapper of tbo Victoria Racing Club, has resigned, after a service since 1869. He is now over 70 years of age, and his handicaps of some recent events haye given poor satisfaction. The case which has excited most comment is that of Greygown, who has been thrown into various good events. No one hints that Mr Barnard has wilfully shown favouritism, There has never been a shred of suspicion against him. But the clnb were beginning to feel that he was failing, and it is understood they procured his resignation. Mr Scarr, of Sydney, will .in all probability be his successor. The Anglion Church Assembly has carried a resolution to petition Parliament once more in favour of permitting the Scriptures to form part of fcho school instruction. The mover of the resolution was Mr Fitzgibbon, the town clerk of Melbourne, who made an eloquent and impassioned speech in favour of it. The Trustees, Executors, and Agency Company, of Melbourne, has just declared a dividend of 22.V per cent, and a bonus at the same rate in addition. The founder of the company and its manager, Mr W. Templeton, is dead, and tho shareholders have agreed to pay his widow and family £500 per year for 10 years in recognition of his services. Mr George Evans Labertouche, the clerk in charge of the Imperial Pensions branch of the Colonial Treasurer's department of New South Wales, has been arrested for embezzlement. Grave irregularities have been discovered, and £10,000 is mentioned as the amount of the supposed defalcations. It is alleged that large sums have been recently. debited to fche pensions accounts of persons who bave been dead for years, and In this way the auditors were unable to discover that anything was wrong. Labertouche has been a well-known figure in the civil service since 1872, aud at the time of his suspension was in receipt of £390 per annum. A sad case of drowning occurred on Friday afc

the Lower Hawkesbury river, near Sydney. Miss Clara Miller, aged about 18 years, a teacher at the Lower Hawkesbury Provisional School, was returning with Mrs Mappin from the post office in a boat to the opposite side of the river, and when within a hundred yards of Mappin's wharf, by some means she overbalanced herself and fell into the river. Mrs Mappin, on seeing this, fainted, and consequently, there being no ono else near, the girl was drowned. The body has not yet been recovered.

Tho passengers by the train from Brighton to Melbourne had something of a sensation the other morning. The train had just passed Prahran, when two shots were heard from a yard in Darling street. Mr Daniel Robertson, a Blate merchant, was oue of the passengers, and

the bullet passed through his hat, just grazing his scalp. The bulled came from a saloon rifle, with which a youth was practising in the back yard. The luggage room at Spencer street railway station nns burnt down on Sunday evening, and about 1000 persons are claiming compensation from the department for the loss of their belongings. In ono case no loss a sum than £230 is claimed. Although some young ladies who had lost their wardrobes in the fire were loud in their denunciation of the department, none of the claimants expressed resentment more strongly than a clergyman, whose loss involved the destruction of hia manuscript of tho sermons of the year. When informed that he would receive compensation on proving his claim, he exclaimed, " How can you compensate me for the loss of my sermons ? "

Arthur Sieber, a native of Austria, who in August 1882 had sentence of death recorded against him for attempted murder in Melbourne, and nfterwards had his sentence commuted to one of imprisonment, was released from Pentridge on Friday on the petition of the Austrian consul and tho captain of the Austrian warship Saida, and will return to h'u native country in that vessel. In April 1882 Sieber wa^ a lodger nfc Rvfovick'H Exford Hole), at the corner of Rn»poll street nnd IfttlU Bnnrke ftre.et, and, in v. fi1; of i-nbmiy of sunh p. M?.hire fis to puiTG[ pft an niibiiigod ra'ind, he pbifc -fc Elfzibclh Maher, a uiece nf tbe occupier of the hotel, nnd also attempted to commit suicide. The affair

caused_ considerable sensation at the time. Ho was tried for attempted murder, and since then bas been in gaol under the circumstances already mentioned.

The depression in Melbourne is made apparent on the Stock Exchange, on which the business since New Year has been extremely dull, and is becoming worse. Stocks are not only low in price, but the volume of business is extremely small. In general bnsiness the summer has been one of the poorest known in Melbourne for somo years. The weather and the strike are blamed. The former has been so cool that summer goods in tha drapers' shops have been unsaleable, aud vast stocks are being sold off at great reductions. In the publichouse trade, business has also been extremely dull, while breweries and lemonade factories have been doing absolutely nothing. The last news from Queensland in regard to the shearing difficulty is that at a meeting of shearers held at Barcaldine recently it was decided to procure 200 rabbits from New South Wales to turn oufc on the Barcoo and Thompson country. This proposed act of revenge upon the squatters is caueing great indignation.