MELBOURNE.

Otago Witness, Issue 921, 24 July 1869, Page 11

MELBOURNE.

fu (rBOM.WK OWKCO»B^_SPpNp]S^T,) ( j, !{) ,JjJ,ne New .Land^Ulprogresaeß^bUjtßlowly, through, its stage in the Legislative Assembly," ao sfpwly indeed that ii all ,the points in the measure still remaining open for discussion are debated as fully as those which have' "already"* oeeii "settled, several weeks }must elapse, before vthe Bill ' will s ba ready for transmis^io^ito'J/he TJppor House. This delay is the natural result of the course pursued on. the necond. readings a .large number of members 1 having then made common cause, in deferring the full assertion of their 'views W the principles ! of the Bill until it i should have passed into the hands of the Committe.' By what may be called a Mside wind " Mr "Higinbotham contrived to introduce a long discussion oil the respective merits of secular and denominational education in connexion with a clause relative to land roseives Jfor -school, purposes; and he ultimately .succeeded in carrying an amendment provide ■ing that, in future,.' reserves' shall be made only " fpri, suoh schools as, shall be vested in 'the, Board of Education* The -effeot- ofithis <prpv4sion.iWilly.be the establishment of. the ipiinoiple thab atiftll schools receiving support from the State, , the system of education will 1 be -simply secular, jti^e religious .instruction of the children being left t f or home, manage-, ment. There was another long discussion as' to the interpretation of the word '• occupy," ,in connection with, taking up agricultural lands, whioh term the Bill describes as meaning to ■' reside" upon the land. Ultimately the Government carried their point for 'tfie,' time ' being, with' the understanding, however,' that on a future clause the di«ousßibn onjthe subject could be reopened ; but ■as the Minister ot Lands considers that, in 'order to secure tie proper working of the Bill, it is of the • utmost importance that the land selector shonleVbe compelled to re;side;upon his allotment, it is not likely that ■the proviso to that effect will be given up. A still longer debate occurred upon one of those clauses to which I have referred in a previous letter, as being very strorigly objected to on the ground that they confer uponthe Land Minister of the day arbitrary and quasi unlimited powers in reference to the- disposal 'of the public territory. The clause to whichI refer . provides that the Governor may from time to time exempt any- lands from selection by a notice in the Government Gazette, and also at any time, by a similar notice, revoke such exemption. By some of the opponents of the provision, it was pretty broadly hinted that in the hands of an unscrupulous administrator of the department, land might be suddenly withdrawn from selectio », and, by a single notice in » paper which scarcely anybody .ever looks into, again thrown open for the peculiar benefit of some favoured individual who might be let into the seoret for a oonsiderationr Many hon. members, without throwing oat unpleasant insinuations of this kind, were still strongly opposed,, on general principle* of public policy,' to the arbitrary .character of the clause as it stood. In the course of the debate, the Government gave way to some extent before the very strong feeling against the proposal' prevailing in the House, and premised to introduce an amendment, making it obligatory upon the Government to"., advertise -all revocations for four consecutive weeks in the Gazette. Mr Kornnt moved, as *n amendment, a proviso, "that no such reservation or revocation shall take ■place, but in pursuance of regulations to be .made by the Governor in Conned, and which shall have no effect unless and until the same shall have been laid upon the. table of both Houses of Parliament for at least one month." The debate which ensued was long and fierce, but the amendment was ultimately lost by. a majority cf nine. Considering the large majorities which the present Ministry hay« f jfor ,a lomt time, past been in the habit of obtaining,, this victory must be looked upon as almost equivalent to a defeat upon one of the, main features of, the Bill ; and it is probable that the measure will not become law until some such provision as that' contained in tho rejected amendment! shall have been forced upon the Ministry, either in the subsequent stages of discussion }n the Assembly, or during the passage of 'the Bill through the Upper House— if; indeed, 'it it- destined to pass through that branoh of the Legislature at aIL The squatting clauses of the Bill have not yet been touched upon by. tho Committee, but there is bo doubt whatever that they will provoke a good deal of warm discussion. • One hon. member— Mr Evorard— his already given notice of Kit intention io move — "That all the squatting clauses be struck, out;' and, doubtless, there will bo at least naif a score of other amendments propoiod with reference to the mode in which the Bill deals with the squatting power. TTnder these circumstances, it will be at onoo peroeived that a oonsktarable time, will yot have to be -consumed in settling some «f ths m»in features of the Bill; while, after all, its ultimate fate is nit altogether (roe; from doubt. Whonoooib* Land Bill shall have been disposed of, -it is expected that th» House wiu hasten -to -deal with tho almost equally important, question o( Railway Extension to tho north-eastern district*. Tho SeleotOomr mitteeappointed by the Assembly 4o enquire in to th«, subject. Have *t booth oonoludod thyt arduous labours, , and brought up their report, That doonmont is of very consicUrable . langth. ■ After reviewing th» whol* svbjsct . of railway expenditure, ,a» •xflmplmed upon BHUsb, GoutinmtU, and -Arosrioaa linss, and takiug ih« btst ovidftope ofeteiuablo on the quwilToo o{* the. pppb*W« po*k- of a useful Urn iv Viototia, th« - Cooaittes haw ooma to.tba ooncludion that suoh * lint ought to bt ooostraoted btr« ak »

m&xuniftn cost of L6OOO/» taile. > It va'ow* re mains to be teen whether the- Government will Bhape their futiireiijo'jfse' in accordance with the economioaV recomtnetidations of the I'Committee, or whether- they* .will- .-persist 'in Ijtheir originaHntentiomto' spend upwards of )L9l)00 per mUeionthe.propoged line, i ,<„-, | There is a, good deal, of excitement here (just now on .the' subject of mining for, diamonds;' It has long been 'known to the public 'of this colony that these' precious stones [were occasionally- found in tlwOvetifi district |of iVdctoria, but it nawjseemsf that in certain 'districts in the neighbouring colony of JNew i South Wales there is at least one extensive tract of land in which the diamond may be almost said to " abound. " ' There seems, in fact, no room for doubt as to'the'exißtence 'of diamonds in considerable numbers on the Cudgegong ; but many persons here' are'stift inclined ' to doubt whether any of the gems 'will prove sufficiently large and pure to command a high price in the market. . - T - 1 'After having been kept open for a month longer than 1 it was Originally intended to be, 'our Fine Arts Exhibition was .brought' to a close at the end of last 'month. ' During the (time it was open, no less than 70,000 visitors •paid for admission, and 'this appears to be a sufficient reason to pronounce it a great sue.cess. ' '' ■ / \ r r , A,sad "Tale of the Sea" has been brought ito our shores by tho ship.Explorer, which arnved at this port a few days ago from Liverpool. On the night of the 2lst of April, when about 150 > leagues, from |tbe coast of Brazil the Explorer ran into the Bretagne, a F rench vessel, bound for Bordeaux, causing the latter to founder very shortly afterwards, with the loss of her captain,and four of the. crew.- Madame Ferrere, the captain's wife, and the remainder of those on board the unfortunate French ship at the time, of the collision were saved and landed at Bahia by the E plor r An official investigation into this i< tlano'i >Iy affair is now proceeding before the cteam Navigation Board in this city. So tar as the .examination of witnesses has already gone, it appears that a very ieape feet look out ,was kept on board both vessels. The latest ireik 6f fashion -in Melbourne life is 1 the velocipede manias Bicycles and tricycles are the themes of every tongue, and 1 have not yet been able to determine which have the warmest supporters; We have had races for each of them in every, direction, and schools are being established 'for the inst'iiotion of those who desire to teach their arms the true motion of the piston rod. As yet they are not common in the streets of the city, but out in the suburbs they are to be seen ful» tilt at all hours of the day. By and by ladies will learn to use them, no doubt, as they do in Paris. > - ■ Mr Darrell, now acting as agent for Mr Walter Montgomery, has created a litil« sensation here lately by his clever impersonation of the "girl of theperiod," at tho Theatre Royal. He introduces a song into th» character, which has become as popular as Tommy Dodd. These trashy effusions are all the rage, and I dou> t not will soon become more bo, an, on the best authority, I earn that tho great Vance, so cleverly d<;sci ed >y Edmund Yates, is on his way to Melbourne.

While on theatrical matters I may mention that there is no chance M your Boeing Mr Montgomery with, you till ( hristmas. as he is engaged to play, nfter loiving Melbourne next week, in Adelaide x-nd Sydney—a month at each place. Mr Prank Drew; a relation of the late John J >rew, the arrived from England, and opens at has Royal next week.

The Immigration Agent publishes the following conditions, under which* aosUted immigrants may be sent oat to Otago b> the agent of the province, Mr John Auld, 6D Prince* street, Edinburgh : — L7 10s for each adult, and the' half tf that sum for persons between the age of one and twelve, must be paid in Otago efore the names are* sent home ■ to the agent in Edinburgh. If the parties remain throe years in Otago, no further payment will require to be made. If they do not remain three years, another payment equal to the above must b* made. - The (n«noy will bo re'urnsd if the parties do not avail themsolves of a passage to Otago.

The weakness of tho Middle Island in the General Assembly,' as Compared with' the North, ie forcibly pointed out by tho Lytttilton Times of the sth in'itt — "The mombero of the North 'aro thoroughly in' earnest; and are therefore firmly united in currying out tbeir views. Tho«8 of the South are equally indifferent, and are therefore, as a ruto, divided one against tho other. Nelson is represented by men who, as long as they get what they want for their province from the General < GoVernment, are careless about war loans* and -eostsequent-fcutatton. The Wcatland mombers owe a debt of gratitude to the Ministry, which gave them birth, and till it becomes iujonvonirnt to romember tho obligation will vote (or Mr Stafford and war loans. Murlbormi^h is or was under the' thumb of tho Staff >rd Ministry,, while it was in power. The Canterbury mombers are split into separate factious, none of which represent tho popnlw fooling so far as it is oppoMd to war loans I and taxation. One naif of ihi mrmbflrs < ' support the Stafford . Miuiatrv, two •or ! threo others support Mr Fox, and tho rest snsunie an impr*ctica»lo indopendont attitude, suggested probably by Mr PitEtfer&ld. Tb« m- moon for Otago aro «f idn«tly b*-oo n* 'ing moM unitei in th«ir r.aws witH roq»rd to thft special interests of tho Middle 2»la 4, but they seem to lack a leader. The mnjo. rifcy of those for Southland »ro stcuplr maohinas naanipuUtcd by Mr Stafford