"NEW AUSTRALIA."

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10289, 21 February 1895, Page 3

"NEW AUSTRALIA."

Thf! Roy. .1. W. Fleming, a Presbyterian minister in Buenos Ayres, had written to the Key. Alexander Marshall, of Scots Church, Melbourne, asking for assistance for New Australian colonists now in that city. He sayrf thn climate, of Paraguay is quite unsuitable to Enfjlishmon. Some may stuud it, he says, bub many have already succumbed, and an time goes on it may be considered certain that a coustaut dribble of people suffering from fever and ague, sunstroke, and dysentery will take place. Now these people all drift to Buenos Ayros, and tlioy are already becoming a serious difficulty to tho British and American Benevolent Society, of which Mr Fleming is chairman. He goes on to say : " These people will never do good here. They are all longing to return, and those who could command the money have in most cases already left. As iv scheme, of course the colony is utterly and hopelessly a. failure, but, as I have said, that does not mean that tho colouiats may not make a living. Caaus, too, may occur where one or two will do well in other lines of business, but I believe that the (inal result will be that while some will stick to tho colony for years, and in nine cases out of ten make a bare subsistence, there will be others who will mouth by month yield to the climato and be compelled to leave Paraguay, aud 1 ask if anything could be done r,o assist such cases." He admits they don't deserve much of Australia, as they abused it well bafore they left it ; but ho aaks if the Government or the public caauob ba persuaded to help.

A BIMETALLIC ADVOCATE,

Mr Moreton Frewen, a brother-iu-law of Sir Randolph Churchill, is at present in Melbourne, and has been advocating in lectures the theory of bimetallism. He is not a good speaker, however, and his lectures have been disappointing, though in private, conversation he is enthusiastic and impressive on the subject. The Parliamentary Banking Commission, a body appointed to find evidence, in favour of a State bank, has had him up a3 a witness, but got cold comfort from him, for he ridiculed tho idea of a State baok, aud completely dumbfounded such eminent backing experts as Mr Winter (Labour member) and Mr Nat. Levi (railway advertiser). He put forward the following suggestion which if the Daily Times can Bnd room for it may interest the small knot of silver enthusiasts who have their headquarters in ths neighbourhood of Bond street;

"The Witness: There was one snggestion he could make which had authority behind it It waH a proposal first made in the report of the English commission of 1888. It was entirely orthodox, for it was supported not by the silver men, bat the gold men on the commission. The point was that the silver exchanges were falling from their face value, and there was very little loose silver on the market. The commissioners thought it would be a good palliative if bank nocen were issued secured by silver half-crowns. Of silver coinage not more than 12s 6d per head couid be got into circulation, but if certificates were issued representing eight half-crowns without raising the legal tender above 40s, a great mass of those notes would go into circulation and would be vary handy for pocket money. In Victoria four half-crown and eight half-crown notes could be issued. Victoria at present bought its silver coinage from Great Britain at 5s e.n ounca, and Broken Hill silver was being sold at 2s 3d an ounce. If »ilver were coined by Victoria and notes issued to represent it there would be a profit of 60 pal cent, on it. It would not be excessive to estimate that three of these half-sovereign notes could bo got into circulation per head of the population, making aboun £1,600,000 worth, on which there would be a profit of £1,000,000. The notes could be got into circulation at the rote of, say, £300,000 a year, on which there would be a profio of £180,000 a year till the limit was reached. If an ißaue of notes were made on gold, gold being at par, it would raise prices in the locality, and that would increase imports, which would have to be paid for in gold, and twnce there would be an export of gold. But the issue of silver notes would not raiaa prices, and therefore would not affect gold, but it would lead to an increase of deposits in the banks, for with the note in his pockot the citizen would deposit his gold in the bank."