OUR VICTORIAN LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2522, 16 July 1902, Page 13

OUR VICTORIAN LETTER.

(Fboii Otnt Own Cobbespondent.)

MELBOURNE, June 25

Kyabram has carried the day. Kyabram 8s a country village. Its inhabitants pronounce its name with the accent on the *'ab." Its principal inhabitant is Benjamin Goddard. He is the storekeeper of the Bittle town, and king of the place— in fact, the "is" Ky-"ab"-ram; and in addition is a bit of an oddity — always speaks of himself as "B. G-," and talks politics all day long, and night, too, if anybody wifl listen to liim. He has engineered the Kyabram movement, which has swept the country comipletely, and caught on like a new fashion in women's clothes. The movement was ffor reduction of the State Parliament, and as a corollary for economy generally. The (Stale Parliament opposed it ; that was natural ; no member knew whether he would mot be one of the reduced ones. But the people rose to it almost to a man. Now (that a Federal Parliamnet has robbed the JState Parliament of so much of its work, 5t is too ridiculous that the State Parliament should continue at its present size, and everyone sees this. -The Kyabram movement was so warmly supported in the country that even members of Parliament had to admit that they could no longer fight against it. The Irvine Government hesitated * litt'e. Mr Irvine returned a highly diplomatic answer to_ a Eyabram deputation ; but with the entire s>res3 and the entire country behind Kyabxaro. he had to bow; and at his Nhill declaration of policy he gave in his adihesion to the Kyabram programme — not completely, but enough to satisfy the leaders 'pf the movement. They had proposed that the Assembly should be reduced to 46 members. He has promised to reduce it tq. 56, which they have accepted. Of course, his task now is to persuade Parliament to accept also. Seme persons think Parliament will throw him out on the question, and go to a dissolution ; but this seems improbable, for this reason : In case of a new election the Kyabram organisation — now known as the Citizens' Reform League, with a branch an every city, town, village, and hamlet in Victoria, and ito members the eolid a r -id responsible men of the community — would oppoie every opponent of its programme, and It is more than likely that its candidates rwould win the seat every time. Consequently members are pretty certain not to run the risk of a dissolution. The Irvine (Jovernment will remain in office ; and [Kyabram has carried the day. The movement has been a notable and historical one, and "B. G." and his compatriots arc the neroes of the hour.

Ijord Hopetoun hae Riven 300 bottles of champagne to the Melbourne unemployed as a Coronation gift. Be has also given them £100 in cash. "■ About the cash nobody grumbles much, but about the champagne many do. They think the champagne had better have gone to the hospitals. Even about the cash gift there is some criticism, principally as to the method of distribution. iMany people doubt the genuineness of the '" unemployed." In big cities there are always an army of "wastrels." Just at present in Melbourne the army is a good deal in evidence, just because it has procured for itself a leader who is persistent and energetic to a degree, and conscientious Vfithal. He is one Fleming — a repairing bootmaker in a back street, a member of the Trades Hall Council, a Freetrader (unlike most Melbourne tradesmen), and an Anarchist. Every Sunday he harangues Yarra. Bankers under the "red flag." For the pure love and delight of leading some body, he has hooked himself on to the unemployed : and though not unemployed himself, does all the speaking for them— •organises deputations, waylays Ministers, writes letters to the newspapers, and so forth. To this amiable, misguided, uneducated enthusiast Lord Hopetoun has entrusted the distribution of both the cash and the champagne. The "Anarchist" side of Fleming's character sticks in the gizzard a little. The Governor-general might have found * more respectable agent. Another point is that Fleming accepts his lollowers at their own valuation. Lord Hopetoun'i money and wine will reach many an undesserving recipient, no doubt. But, after all, what's the odds? Out of the £100 each married man is to get 5s and each single man 2s. Even an undeserving individual can't get "on the burst" to any very large extent on se. As for the champagne, 1 suppose each married man will get a bottle. If he chooses to sell it, what matter? It ■would be the best thing he could do. But if he chooses to drink it, and if it goes to his head and his wife's head-* is there any great evil? It's Coronation time, and he «md she can remember King Edward, and 'his Governor-General too, all the more fondly if they have the accompaniment of the only champagne spree of their lives to remember them by. So perhaps Lord Hopeioun is not so far wroug after all, though there are many good people who think he is. — [The cable has informed us of the unfortunate results which followed the dis dribution of the wine.] The famous explorer, Sturt, drew a terrible picture of Central Australia. His party passed a dreadful time, unable to advance or return. The heat was marvellous. They were unable to write, as the dok dried at once on their pens ; their combs E>pht, their nails became brittle and broke, and if they touched a piece of metal it Wistered their fingers. Sturt must have struck a summer following upon some such period of drought as Central Australia is experiencing now. Bourke, once a flourishing town in the north-west of New South Wales, has a sad tale to tell. As the result of no rain for years, there are 260 unoccupied "houses and shops in the town ; the municipal rates have fallen from £1800 to £800, the meat works have closed down, and all the population' that could has left the town. Tet it is only some 10 years back that thousands of pounds were subscribed throughout Australia as the Bourke Floods Relief Fund. The storm waters surrounded "the town, and the inhabitants built hastilyponstructed dam walls to keep them back [For days on days all Australia anxiously watched whether the dam would hold ; but at length it burst, and dire damage was «Jone. To-day Bourke could well do -with m. drought relief fund, and, indeed, is asking for Government assistance to help it jpver a worse time of need than in the flood period. Surely Australia is a country of contradictions. - The Protestant clergy of Victoria are up in arms against the "Catholic vote." Tim Presbyterian Assembly and the Weeleyan Conference each adopted resolutions at its last sittings in favour of "organising a permanent opposition to the Roman Catholic if£t* in regard to religious instruction in

State schools and kindred questions." The outcome is that a meeting has been convened for June 30 to form a league " for meeting and counteracting the organised Roman Catholic influence on the legislation and Administration of thi9 State, without in any way combating or interfering with the Roman Catholic religiou3 position." The circular convening the meeting is signed by the Anglican bishops, as well as the Presbyterians, Wesleyaus, etc. This is the first attempt to organise any movement of the kind. It is easy to predict failure for it, and for this reason : The Protestant laity are not behind it. They do not support their clergy on the religions education question. Only one section of the Protestant laity will support it— the Orange section; and that section wiil not respect the clause that is to prevent the league interfering with the Roman Catholic religious position. The movement, therefore, will have the support of Orangemen only ; and if the Orangemen are prominent in it nothing else wjll so quickly discredit it. To do the clergy justice, they do not now ask for religious education in the schools ; they s>re for Scripture lessons only. But there i* no enthusiasm behind the movement. A handful of Kyabram farmers started the agitation for the reform, of Parliament, and they infected the entire community. The whole body of clergy has been asking for religious education for years, and are as far off infectmg the community as ever. Earnestness and enthusiasm some of the clergy have ; but they have not got right and justice on their side. Mr Kingston, the Federal Minister of Customs, is declared by the Argus to take as much pleasure in imputing criminality •to an importer a« an inquisitor in the dark ages took in fastening a charge of heresy on a suspect. "Insolence and incompetence in office " is how his administration of the department is characterised. This is strong writing, but it would appear to have some justification by the stories which are told almost daily of how importers are harassed. For instance, a dining-room euite was sent from Melbourne to Tasmania, and being described as manufactured within the Commonwealth. Mas free of duty. But a particularly alert customs clerk in Tasmania made the bril'iant discovery that the tacks and gimp used in ornamenting the furniture must have been imported from abroad, and he charged the consignee Is 9d duty on these articles. Another case was the summoning of Alcock and Co., the well-known billiardtable manufacturers, for describing a billiard table as of their own manufacture, whereas the nails used must have been imported. The charge was dismissed in the Police Court, but it is unbearable that respectable, honourable firms should be treated in such a way. A third case has just occurred in Brisbane. A leading (inn, Chapman and Co., was nroseouted by the Collector pf Customs for falsely describing certain flannelettes as cottcn -piece goods. It was not even pretended that there was an intention to defraud, and in the end tho magistrate held that on the evidence of the prosecution's witnesses, witb which his own common sense agreed, the goods had been rightly described in die entry, so that if there was fraud it was on the part of the Customs in endeavouring to extort illegal tolls. Costs were given against the Collector of Customs, who was 6imply obeying crdere.