Our Australian Letter.

Otago Witness, Issue 1583, 25 March 1882, Page 14

Our Australian Letter.

(FROM OUR OWN 'CORRESPONDENT.) - JfEOBOURNE, March 7th. ] The Victorian Tariff Commission is beginning to be regarded as a sort of political Frankenstein i by its Radical creators. They would like , to \ stifle the inquiry-Avhich a few months, ago they . were so anxious to commence. • I must not be \ misundew >',d to mean that the O'Loghlen ■ Government take up this' view. They were ■only int.tnuu^ntal in appointing the Royal ; 'Commission, which' the /Radical organs and '. party demanded, and they did so upon terms ' ho favourable' to the Protectionists that that ' f-.ection' of the community had no complaints to make. When the Commission was gazetteed is consisted of 13 doclared Protectionists (some > ax&e'mo, some moderate), five Freetraders, and ' three' unclassified members (two of whom, ' however, ought to be 1 Protectionist in sympathy, owing to the t , business they carry • on— i.e., if the arguments -of that | school of thought are worth anything). With such an overpowering majority, the supporters of the existing fiscal system ought to 1 : ieel supremely contented, especially when it.is ' remempered.that'Mr Mirams, the chairman "of the Commission, is an ultra-Protectionist himself. It is simple justice to him to say that up to the • present he has acted with scrupulous . fairnessmtheexaminationofwitnesses. Th'eAge . is. however, bec'omingalarmed a,t .the revelations ' which are being made. The,Fr,eetrade m,em- ! hers 1 &ie pushing their i'inquiries.fao.rfar .to /be< agreeable, and, strange to say, the bulk;of the' vfttntesjses are fesi>bndmg in terms indicative of , ! a craving to be "allowed' -increased facilities for ca'rry'irig on their operations^ instead $f demaiid- j '. ing additional State [coddling. ' The cry is' now' being raised that the tariff is in danger,; and , that the Commission was^neyer authorised to. ; ' 'push its inquiries into matters radically affecting' ! tho'fiso^l policy of the country... iys.even auda- ; ciotisly- asserted , that, ,a , majority ..the Commission are Freetraders^ ! a'nd -consequently ■ littleUjss than i .traitors toj their i^country. 1 '.The' average, Radical can swallow a good deal 'to oblige ithedrganJiof his paftyj.but a;Btat&1 -raent bo palpably 1 -false apparently taxes ; his. powers' of digestion;'' Some' fevidence has recently' b'Wen''ta'lcen" '.in 'the' country, districts;, , and it indicates that tiie' farming j arid .mining industries are ,awakening,{qja; sens.eiof,<the disr-advantJageß-iof < their positibnVi-.iQne < witness signifidantly remarked that .the selectors read' with env£bf the cricketing '" wh" i#i goes on'i^ , ' ,the' to\|n. ; 'TJiw.^igma'ti^alj'^ljs^rvatipn He' c.x- , - > plained by'saying thatifftrmers^who'cbuld .only, -make a living by working 16,<0r 18 hours a; day, . ■ iwereibeginning to think thatftownsmen'whoy1 by working only eight 'hoursj'cbul.d hot-only maintain .themselves but' go ,irf f o^'jex^feiisivb amtfselnents'j jaimbt ' uri on' iheir, more igporant <ai\Ql' less .protected . ■ -fellow fcolonists.j'/Taere -is i f moretitruthi (.in . jthe'i .> suggesjiori'thaitita' originatoriprobably thinks.* '„ t uAThe protracted drought' is ofccUsifcrnny great' / . unfeasihe^o^e^lers; b'6th\irFthe'?ar 'mteri'or/ t lan&oifthe^a:^ .floods |in,'jparj;£uof , jQu f Qenslaj}dj - a'^ijhe. f \, Kavevtp somevextentnrelieved/.thejDarlingidis,--5 / £rictj but farther 'south thestate of •affairs cons tinues {most ! ' s.ef iouS:' ' 'lri 'thef riorth'arid' n^rth"- ' ; western districts' of; Victbria^lffi^G^VeAitoehf, . -have )y^Mm^msmW^:M order to.affprd,uthe,^un,fortiuna'i®{ sglQctors^a,. H $SPPIH of',the>chief'neoessary/:ofiilifa',nbu<7isuoh partial aid'williriot i preserve'the''»settlers from' utter ruin' ''UnleSS a spie'dy^ d6wn|)lsu'r''-ciome's.' , Th,e s&me^disirla i r,.s.ttjry7reacHea !r hyr«mNew J 'SouthlWalesilhtil tne'lptidayorftwia^when. I' the .Img.^expectedr. ' r r.aiA,i.des,Qendedr,pretty, , "generally-, ii'fln" South -Ausiiralijfctheri.condition ' ' of the farmers in 1 ' the northern- areasi' where ' some j300;000'" acres "; ■arb"' > iiflder^"bropj'- is ; most jdistreSsing 1 .' 1 ' p&nd''wiji§h >n ßhouia''yißld'" 1 'eight or! 'nine ", acres Viper bushelj .^..thj^, . 'year^ in .. consequence »of» .drought n and locusts, not average, more- than "from. fone. ; ,to' three »and" a^half bushels ' of^wheat. -'A'subsciiptibn' is' being"made l I Tai^g"',futi&s' tb purchase'^se'ea wheat 'for 'the 1 strlckfen of ,the selectors, and the GoVernment," ' propose to grant certain concessions which may possibly enable them to continue on the land. ' Water-boring on a large scale is also likely-to-be Resorted to. A variety of , impracticable 1 1 suggestions , are thrown out with^the' 'view of influencing the rainfall. „It is proposed," whenever rain-clouds appear, to send up a small balloon* charged with dynamiteor some other explosive, with' a time-fuze attached, so regulated jas to go ' off at the exact' moment the clouds' are reached. Probably Professor; Paper's unlucky experiences will prevent' this being tried. The Roman Catholio Archbishop of Melbourne on Sunday week directed prayers to be made for rain, and a welcome downpour came to encourage the faithful before night closed in. The Anglican -Bishop, when asked to direct a similar appeal to Providence, blankly refused, as he considers we have brought our i present trouble upon ourselves by systematically neglecting to conserve'the abundant rains which' have been sent in the winter. His utterances are regarded with pained surprise by the i " orthodox" of his flock, but the, sceptically in- . clihed inquire how, if his logic Ibe1 be correct, Dr Moorhouse can possibly preach that sinners . should pray to God to savethem from the legi- . tima,te consequences of their own acts. • : The Russian > Squadron, after - spending a . month in Melbourne and a week in Adelaide, 1 i has now scattered, the Plastoun and Vestrik sailing for Batavia direct, and the Afrika for King George's Sound, and thence to the China Seas. A country paper in Victoria, on the authority" of its metropolitan correspondent, alleged that the officers of the sqxiadron had : complained of the want of hospitality shown > to them in Melbourne. This irritating state1 ment • was promptly refuted by the publication of a list of the festivities in which the i squadron participated, and of a statement of i the social courtesies extended to them. It is ■ 'gratifying to find, from a' letter which the first . flag-lieut6narit ' has since addressed to , the ,•' Argus', that ho and all his confreres were highly ! .pleaded with tho • attontion and kinduoss shown to them, both officially >and pri- * vately. 'In fact, with graceful ' exaggeration t the ' courteous officer says the hospitality I shown, to the fleet "can, with' truth bo l- compared to that tenderod by tho. Russian » Government, during the visit of H.R.H. the ' Duke of '.Edinburgh at Cronstadt." It is rather I laughable to learivthat the admiral was greatly incensed at Uieficlitious dispatch which the Ago alleged he forwarded to the Uuspian Minister of r Marine upon .tho defenceless' position l of Mcli , bourne. He addressed a formal complaint to tho - I Victorian Govornment, in which lie stated that . he regarded the perpetration of the hoax as in .' bad taste and a great breach of hospitality; and 3 ■ alleged that a largo number of people to whom 'ho arid his offipcrs had spoken had accepted it seriously. Possibly, however, they wore carrying the hoax a stage further. The vixif" of tho fleet" 4nd tho threatening tone of the recent 3 , cablogjrarns have combined to create a small KC.ii ( e lon 'the subject of our,' defences'. The' - coriseduonce is that our monitor, the Cerberus, is to 'lie at onco fitted _ with now. boilers, that Rojne Heavy guns are being ordered fromJ Foino, , and that the Swan Island fort, which is to pro- ' ' tect Port Phillip, ia being rapidly* completed

The ' O'Loghlen Government have at last ventured to dispose of the recommendations of the Police Commission in respect to the Kelly episode and the conduct of the officers engaged in it. They have virtually disregarded the recommendations altogether, and have, on the whole,, arrived at decisions which are considered ( to give substantial justice to most of those' concerned. The two officers primarily interested— Assistant-commissioner Nicolson, who paralysed the Kelly gang, and forced them from their mountain lair into the open ; and Superintendent Hare, who was wounded while gallantly leading his men to the, attack at 'Glehrowan— are to be temporarily reinstated in the force and then appointed Police Magistrates ; the command of the force is to be conferred upon Superintendent Chomley, who, fortunately for himself, took no partm tHe Kelly hunt. - Mr Nicolson is reported to .be contented, notwithstanding that he loses his Chief Commissionership at £900 a year and takes a less responsible appointment at £600. Probably he is glad toescape theunpleasant task of reorganising the force. The other officers and non-commissioned officers censured by the Commission have been treated with consideration by the Government, and the only persons actually dismissed the force are the four constables, who' exhibited such gross cowardice at Sebd,st6pol on the night of Aaron Sherritt's murder. • •

It is, : to be hoped that the last of the Milburn Creek 'scandal can now be told. The three trustees of "the 'Company— E. A. Baker (exMinister of Mines), G. W. Waddell, and C. Mathieson— have been tried for conspiracy to (defraud the shareholders by retaining among themselves £4500 out of the £17,198 voted as ■compensation by the Legislature., The Jury cbuld hot agpree updn the merits of the case, and' ware, discharged, as was anticipated from ihe outset. The defendants have been bound over tb appear when summoned, but. it is scarcely probable that the case will be reheard. •The Chief Justice of New South Wales em'phaticall^dj'clafe'd that the Company ' never had' any claim, on tho Government, and were not entitled to any compensation, sit is to be hoped jthe lesson will not be lost upon the Legislature, and that it will be more difficult in future to engineer doubtful claims through •Parliament. ( ' ■' ' ' ' •The? sufferers -by the J.olimont railway disaster, which occurred in August last, are no^v proceeding against the Victoria^ Railway ,I)epar ment for compensation, for their sufferings aid loss. Several cases have been disposed | >f, the .damages awarded being generous, without beingiexcessiye. The presiding Judge 'is' Mr austice Higinbpthamj who is himself an '.tiabilu tl traveller' by the very line 6n which .^e.a^idpnfc, occurred. The Crown admitted j negligence,' so ,that the assessment of damages was tl c ~oniy. point .for. the > jury to consider. 'Mfs"E mfe'lie Stephen^ the widow- of a Government < lerk- who was' m r receipt of £300 a year "a't^e time I 'of* his death', has been awarded £3000 br^ereelf and 10 children ; a Melbourne •'auctioneer,',.has' received.- £2500 for serious injuries, a solicitor, '£llso, and so 'on. The soliCitor i| questiori'exhibited' less, 'judgment than might fiave'beM' expected from .a" professional Vh'aiv IsVs^m^months 1 ag'o,£e',paicira visit, to ■jyjjJnef $Jes(ie'p > 'wh^claims „to be , a miracle- 1 . worker. ."^e.j^asi^bwathed-iupon, " 'and before iheleftfbelieved he.was so- much better that he 'was innuced'to 'sigh ! a certificate jfcHat ! h'e' was "perf eejly .cured. ' It is| f me ,'when he got home.he ,sysiiß felt- as bad. 1 as' jsyer, ajid telegraphed ..that'iSie'J'ceHi'ftcate, must, not; be published,; .butiof cou.rie, Milner Stephen disregarded such a 1 preposterous hint.' The cross-examination of the 1 'credulous -solicitor /and the particularly ' wid&aVako professional miracle! worker created vipime4se 'ainusejhent., ;',!£' has often been as- '.' Berry .blight." was a fiction} am| '.'that, .trade idid riot suffer by the long ireignOf • the revolutionary party. It was, •however, elicited during the hearing 1 of tho Vjpluhont railway cases, fron^the leading firm 'o£lahd auctioneers in, Melbourne, that between 1877 a"nd J ,ißßl' their sales of real estate only amounted',' to. £258,000, while in 1881 they iteachrfd a total.of £722,000. ■ ! 'Avery singular case of alleged fraud upon the Melbourne insurance companies— the Australia)^ Mutual'' and 'the Australian Alliance , Office- 5 - has' lately engaged a large share of public attention. The story, based, it must be remembered, upon prima facie evidence, has a very ,suspicpus appearance, but the accusod profess to be»able to clear up the misunderstanding which they allege exists. The facts as stated are briefly these :— James Barker, a travelling agent i for an Adelaide insurance company, r and "VVilliain Hicks, a Victorian medical student, are said to have conceived the idea of defrauding the two companies before mentioned of £8000 by insuring the life of a man named Weath'erhead, a storeman, for the amount named, though he was at the time in the last stage of pulmonary consumption. In last September or October they succeeded in ■insuring the man's life, but whether by means of impersonation or otherwise is not clearly known. In December they came to Melbourne, bringing W;eatherhead with them, and took up their abode! at the Sydney Hotel, where the sickman remained for some weeks, but was ultimately removed to Emerald Hill, where he lived in a boarding-house kept by Mrs Littlewood, until January 22nd, when he died. According to one version, Hicks, who attended to the deceased, neglected him, but on the other hand it is alleged he was kind to him up to the last. His behaviour, however, aroused Mrs Littlewood's suspicions, and when she was tidying his room, after Weatherhead's death, she found on the floor a telegram which was torn into moderately-sized pieces. She placed the pieces together through curiosity, and the contents, though enigmatical, induced her to make a similar attempt to reproduce a letter which she found on the floor torn up into small scraps. She was again successful, and though no direct clue to the conspiracy was given, yet the hints thrown out were so suspicious as to induce her to consult a lawyer. When she told Hicks of what she had done he was at first terribly indignant, but, on calming down, 1 offered hor £100 for the letter, and to put her into a, hotel if she would say nothing about, the matter. Finding that she and hor husband wero obdurate, Hicks threatened violence, but was ultimately ordered to quit the house. He was arrested at Adelaide. Whether Weatherhead was a party, to the alleged frauds does not appear, though it is said he was willing to agree to anything on condition that ho was provided for until nis bnd. A third man, named ]?orsyth, has since been apprehended, One of the policies' appears to have been' assigned to him ou condition lie made certain' advances'.' He admits having been in correspondenc with the other prisoners, but refused to oxplain tho meaning of certain suggestive passages in his letters and tolcgrams. One policy for £3000 was paid on the death of Weatherhead. The preliminary examination of the prisoners is not yet concluded. Sir 'George Strahan is making himself immensely popular amongst all classes in Tasmania. He is fond of dispensing hospitality, and although a widower he has already given •I several delightful balls at Government House, with the assistance of Lady Smith, the wife of ' the -Chief Justice. Recently he has visited , Bcaconsfield, which is described as tho Ballarat of Tasmania. He. inspected the Tasmania ftold-mine, and accepted, an a.d,d,rew from the

miners. The immense tunnel by which this mine is worked was lighted up for a distance of 2500 ft with sperm candles, giving it a singular and effective appearance on the occasion of the visit. In a chamber some 1700 ft from the entrance the miners — about 200 in number — assembled, and received his Excellency and Commodore Erskine. Their address, which was not couched in the usual stereotyped • terms, greatly pleased Sir George Strahan,' ' who responded in a few manly words, which gained him the heartiest cheers he had received in Tasmania. Writing of Governors reminds . me 1 that Lord Normanby will shortly . proceed to Queensland on a three weeks' visit to Lord Harvey Phipps. The census returns of the birthplaces of the people of Victoria disclose the important fact that the native-born population of the Colony has increased 169,602 during the last 10 years, and now constitutes 58 21 per cent, of the whole. In other words, the number of nativeborn Victorians now amounts to 499,199, out of a total of 862,346. In 1871 it was only 329,527 out of 731,528. The English-born residents number 142,906 ; Irish, 86,733 ; and Scotch, 48,153. The next largest nationalities are Tasmania with 11,876, and China with 11,799. It is said that all is fair in love and war, and 1 in Queensland politics are included in the latter category. The tide of popular favour is slowly turning against the present squatters' Administration. Two seats are now virtually vacant through the insolvency of the sitting members, but they have not been declared vacant, and the delay is accounted for by the fact that Oppositionists are likely to be returned in both cases. Another Government supporter, the representative of a "hitherto-ultra-squatting constituency, has recently left for England, having placed his resignation in , the hands of the Ministry. They, it is alleged, believing that a popular man, witn views not in sympathy with the Government, might come forward, withheld the resignation until the dangerous candidate must either abandon the contest to enjoy his honeymoon, or his honeymoon to roam over the vast electorate of the Gregory on a canvassing tour. It is not surprising that gallantry prevailed, and that now the seat is pretty sure to be filled by a "straight" man. In connection with Ministerial prospects for next session, it must be remembered that the Queensland mail service to England is now admitted to be a failure, and that the negotiations for the TransContiriental railway scheme have for the present fallen through. The Government have no great s.ucces'sestQ set against the non-realisation of these two important features in their policy. '