NEW SOUTH WALES.

Colonist, Volume III, Issue 226, 20 December 1859, Page 3

NEW SOUTH WALES.

NOTES OF THE WEEK. , (From. the . Sydney Morning Herald) 1 Saturday 3rd December. , The Parliament has re-assembled, and " Queeniland" has been called into existence as a distinct colony. These are the two great events of the past week, and their importance is patent. The re-assembling of Parliament was important in two ways. Id the first place the year is waxing old and little business has been done. In the second place, it was important to see how far the present Ministry were to be allowed a trial. For the present,,at all events, they appear to be safe. Deferring until next session their measures upon nearly all the great questions now in abeyance, they leave little for adversaries to lay hold of. - It is in connection with the second great event of the week—the separation of Queensland, that they are most seriously imperilled, but we believe they are secure on this ground also. Both houses of Parliament have expressd opinions most decidedly adverse to the dismemberment of the colony. It has been held that in the separation of Queensland at this juncture without a sufficiently emphatic demand for such separation, and without a due apportionment of the public debt, the Imperial Government has aoted illegally. But the Gover-nor-General hag, throughout this business, attended only to the orders of his Ministerial superior/. Treatiug the question as one of a purely Imperial character, his Excellency has not deigned to consult with his responsible advisers.

It was necessary, however, that the proclamation should be authenticated by the Great Seal of the Colony, and the signature of the Colonial Secretary for the time being. Mr. Forster was commanded to affix this signature and seal, arid he was advised $f the crown" law officers that it was -hw duty to do sp> lie had been in no way con^uUed^ .a,cc#rding to his view he d$ np.tf by tkk act make himself a. responsible party to the transaction which personally, he regarded as an illegal one.1 Hemight have refused, and have been dismissed, in which case the Governor could, and most probably would, have appointed another Colonial Secretary protempore, for the performance of this act. Thus the business of the country .would have been cast into abeyance, without any practical good resulting. The Estimates would have been thrown over until nest yeay alad the; squatting lea?e| m^tj fi&ve been W netted. '■• •* .*'""' "' ' ' ■••.; .'. .', -.-: .Such was the explanation of Mr. Forster, an 4 it seemed to be held sufficient by a majority of those who heard it. But Mr. Martin has given notice of a series of resolutions which not only condemns the dismemberment of Uie colony, but censured, the Ministry;for paving in any way. aided. \t, Yfyeargunreri( in' support qf tss i^otfon wiir'projatljr be' that; all Ba'nc-' I turn, or semblance of sanction ty Ministry, di,rectt'or"irid l iiicct^ ougbjt t,o have been That the Governor-general s)io\ildl htiye \^n lefy to deal with i\m Waiter upwallia own reaponwbiVty t\|pne. But vve doubt, w we think a ifltt|qvity of the Assembly will also doubt -r-whether any good could have resulted from this course We believe that the Goveroori General would have obeyed the ios|rqetiQnr'ql

and that the separation bf Queensland would not havtf been delayed an, hour. - The Ministerial explanations at the opening of Parliament were deemed insufficient/and the new Premier and his friends were badgered accordingly. iThe more, so as .this" badgering appeared to annoy, them. There is the old disposition to cavil and chatter upon every possible excuse. The only remedy is a firm, but good tempered discontinuance of this sort of thing, by men who think the public time is of too much conseqnence to be thus frittered away. The Ministerial programme for the present session includes only such things as will not admit of postponement, viz., the Estimates for 1859, the re-organisation of the Upper House, and the relief of the Executive from the compulsory renewal of the squatting leases, which will expire at the beginning of the year. Some progress has .already been effected in , the Estimates. At present little change has been made, but the Ministry seem to be " going in" for retrenchment. They have brought up a bill to reduce the salaries of ail future Go- | vernor3 from £7000 to .£SOOO, and of Ministers from" £2000 to £1200. This, it has . been avowed,.is intended as a screw for the compression of other high salaries. .The Ministerial1 plans for the re-oganisation of the Upper House has already been touched upon in the leading columns of the Herald, and will be yet further discussed. ,Tlie Jir3g a Peusiou'Bill has passed througb1 commitieej ;withoui ;being materially changed, and will no doubt, become law. There ia little doubt, also, that the necessary sura will be voted by. the House/for according to Sir Alfred .Stephen his well-earnod twelve months' leave. It ;is .understood that Sir William Manning, will not accept the vacant seat on the Bench which wil Ibe created by; Mr. Justice Dickinson's resumption of the acting Chief Justiceship. Who it Will be offered to has not .transpired. It is rumoured that Mr. Justice Lutwyche has claimed to take his seat as a Judge of the Supreme Court of New S >uth Wales, but that the opinion of the Crown' Law officers is adverse to his claim, and that he must remain at Moreton

•Sir Charles Nicholson, Bart., proceeds to Queensland to act as President for the first Legislative Couucil there. For this his great experience as Speaker of tlie Assembly eminently fits him; But it is hard that a man of such experience and eminence-—the Provost of our University too—should be thus spirited away from us. Surely the Government of New South Wales might have offered some inducement to retain him in this his more legitimate sphere of usefulness. .Has he refused a seat in pur Upper House ? or can; it be true .that it has not been offered to him ?

St. Andrew's Day1 was a general holiday, but the weather was,too boißterous for it to be thoroughly'enjoyed.' The* Balmain regatta came off to a certain extent, but only a few races could be run. The remainder in. which boats of less sea-enduring power are concerned, are going on today. " '" "*

There were some serious disturbances at the Theatre on last Saturday evening, the results of the Theßpian quarrels to which we alluded in our last week's notes. Matters are now however, we believe, likely to be amicably arranged. . .''■.[

A subscription has been set on foot to reimburse Mr. Ledger for his outlay in the production of;ihe alpacas ", bi»t the matter staiids"Tir abeyance until it is seen what the Government will do.. - Mr. Ledger's olaiins have, as yet, been grossly neglected, and we are not surprised that he should contemplate leaving the colony. It is proposed to increase his salary as superintendent of the alpacas, and to give him a ohance of repurchasing the flock within a given period. The Government, it is thought, will be disposed to receive these propositions favor-; ably, and the nonofficial subscription list will doubtless be well filled.

A fine zebra taken in the Orange River sovereignty, about 500 miles from Port Natal, has arrived in Sydney and is now being exhibited. ": ■■-. ■.■■•■■■■■■'

The Municipal elections passed off quietly to the end. Aide/manic honors, in fact, do not seem to be at all in demand.

A boy named Francis M'Lean has been killed at a building at the corner of George and Margaret streets, by some flagging falling upon him.. The .Coroner's, jury have severely censured the contractor for the want of proper care in the piling of these stones.

An illegitimate.infant named Lydia Goodwin has died suddenly upon the North Shore and an inquisition as to the causes of death has been opened. But as there* seems to be some grounds, for suspecting criminal neglect, the inquiry has been adjourned until Monday next.

A lecture upon Atmospheric Air was delivered by the Rev. J. Pendrill, on Wednesday evening, before the Darling Point- Mutual Improvement Association.

The third meeting of the Waverley School of Arts debating class was held on Thursday evening. Subject: "Is the Miser or the Spendthrift most injurious to society." Decision, that the spendthrift was most injurious. '•'-•■: '>■■■-■■■■■ '-■■■■ ■ •■.-■-'■■ \

A lecture on " the Chejnist^ of v was delivered pu Thursday evening, by Mr. J-. G, Crcjuch, in tb« Temperanoe Hall, Castlereagh- , *t^ei. In cdnnetetion with the N>w South Wales Alliance for the Suppression of Intemperance. The annual examinations of the National Schools are going on. /« > ■

The Sydney School of Arts debating olass had, on Friday, a spirited discussion on the Bubject of State support to religion. The decision, by .a large.majority, was in favor of voluntaryism.

On Saturday evening the residents of Ca?tlereagh-Bt^eet were thrown into a state of fe^t 'excitement by a report that [ a man named ejferan, a aaddler by trade had been shot by a; ; pferßon named John Williams, a publican residiog in the neighborhood. On making enquiries ;we found the rumour to be too trus, although it erred as to the effec^^(^he, w^und, many persons having s^te.d tbat the man was deajd. .fy-VfcaMfcl appear, that for some past \M, ha^ been bri bail 1 terms «?itn eacb. othpfi "VS(iflianißi it1 is alleged, harboring a suspicion that Helferan was, feud,eavoxjng, to, supplant b\ini in'the. auctions, of hiswiji^. Jk\ Saturday evening betv^ja^^veftancl eight o^clock Hefferan Wyt, to'WHUJßina*' house, and was standing, in the1 yard, when the latter came out and fired upon him with a pistol, the ball taking effect in Ihis .arm and passing thence into 3the cavity of tjbe chest; where it still remainsV the inedicalgentlemen who wer«f ' called upon b^vipg failed in their endeavors to it. SJiortly afttr »ha sad aißiir to^c pi^o«, gave

of the evening a man named Luke Gttniore. was taken'info custody as «n accessory before'the fact. The two will be brought before the Bench this morning, when, doubtless, the true facts of the case will be elicited, On enquiry at the central police station last evening, we learned that the wounded man had been* taken to the Infirmary in the .course of the afternoon. We forbear in justice to the accused parties, > from giving publicity to any of the wilJ rumours which are current in connection with this' melancholy affair, and content ourselves with giving what we believe to be the simple facts, so far as they are yet known., Late yesterday evening, we heard that the'medical offioers of the Infirmary entertain a rather fevorable impression of the wounded man's case'—their opinion being that he may probably recover, if the ball can be extracted.