OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 255, 10 April 1880, Page 2

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

(Fro®* Our Own Correspondent.) iIEIBOURNE, March 30. Political matters, are very quiet. Mr Service and his colleagues are pursuing the.even tenor of their Way uninterrupted by either thp .praise- arfj, fla t -iy heaped upbr them on the one hand, or the'abuse and seve ily showered upon them on the other. The Premier is earnestly trying to do his duty, and th administer equal justice to both sides. The re-appointraent of Mr Higginbotham to his old position as Ehgineer-in-Chief lias slightly ruffled the featliers'bf the extreme Liberals, and the, same may be said of .the abolition of the sinecure the Parliamentary Librarian held lately by Mr Farrell, but to those who give the matter due attention it is generally admitted, .that the Ministry have simply done their duty. Mr Service has also «iven general satisfaction by the kind aod sympathetic manner in which he received and treated a deputation of the unemployed. He shewed them that he really intended to help them in e practical man ner and not dismiss them with empty, promises as Mr Berry had done, and they' wont away, rejoicing that they were b dng dealt with by an honest gcnlleman, and not by the leader of a gang of adventurers I am glad to say that, 03 a rule, the working "mosses— at any rats, the most inbsllicent nortion of them—are pleased that a chan *0 has taken place. Of course, the l.ite Premier has many supporters still, 'vho would hear irh de'-ight of the re-es-tablishment of their lender. One of the’most popular politicians is thehon member for Booroondara (Robt. Murray Smith, Esq.) He has, somehow or other, managed tr secure the syn pa thy and respect of ultra-Conservativea and nhr-. -Liberals, and although in Ira politics he is an extreme Conservative, yet, even the other side have always a good word for him. It is said—l do riot’ know with how much truth—that he .has been offered the post of Chairman of Committees, the Speakership, and the AgentGeneraxShip, but has in each case declined. He is a straightforward politician, neither afraid nor ashamed of his creed ; and by his actions in and out of the House, has earned golden opinions all round! In, the new Parliament it is expected that ha will noi o dv be of great use, but also a power in the House, and that 'he will exert an influence for goqd ( on both Supporters and the Government' • and also those who will fyo compelled to sit ,ou the left of; the Speaker. 1 The;Easter holidaysaVo-being kept : up with all the enthusiasm that marks Victorians, when 'op pleasure bent. The weather could 1 ot.be belter. ‘ ; Some disclosures made at a recent rajsetin" of the shareholders of the defunct Australian and- European Bank, have created quite a painful sensation. One of the papers hints that swindling would! be a mild term to denote the recklessness in which the affairs <:f the Bank were managed. The Bishop of -Melbourne delivered u' course of powerful discourses during Passion Week, which were listened to by large and appreciative audiences. ft is staled that the Ministry have got their measures in a more forward state than they expected, and it is thought likely that the House will be called together earlier than was at first expected. If this be true one of the grounds of the Opposition will be removed. A yourtg man named Baker, a bootmaker by trade, met with a watery grave on Sunday. While out boating with a friend, by some "means jtho- boat capsized, and Baker (being unabll,to swim) sunk, an 1 wasn’t soon again. Although,the river has been dragged, up to "the present time his .body 1 a i not been recovered. ; Oi r new Eastern Market has r cciyed a welcome addition in the shape of a clock, the piesent of Mr Gaunt, of Bourke-street. It may truly be said to be one of the best clocks in Melbourne;'