AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5650, 21 June 1886, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

♦ [Peu Pasas Association.] (Per s.g. Hanapouri, vi&the Bluff.) VICTORIA. Melbourne, June IG. The banquet to Mr Murray-Smith, the late Victorian Agent-General, took place in the Town Hall on Monday, June 14. The Mayor occupied the chair, and among the 450 guests present were the Premier, the President of the Council, the President of the Assembly, and many members of Parliament. The toast of the evening was proposed by the Mayor, and Mr MurraySmith, on rising', received a perfect ovation. In the course of his speech he expressed regret at the absence of New South Wales from the Federal Council, but said that he felt confident ehe would not stay out permanently, and declared that some sort of federation of all the Colonies was inevitable. A knowledge of the Colonies was increasing in the Mother Country, but the want of unity that had existed amongst them was a serious obstacle to that increase, its effects being particularly apparent in connection with the question of the domination in the Jacific. The maintenance of the convict establishment in New Caledonia, so close to Australia, was a scandalous disgrace to France, but already signs had appeared, showing that the nation had awakened on the subject. Referring to the magnitude of tho sums which the Australian Coloniee had borrowed from tho Mother Country, he expressed tho hope that loons would be increased slowly and cautiously, and would be all expended on reproductive works, Tho funeral obsequies of the late Archbishop Goold were solemnised to-day, when all classes of the Catholic community were represented in the great assembly who congregated to witness the rites performed. Cardinal Moran, of Sydney, officiated. Representatives from all parts of the Colonies wero present, and the ceremony was of a most impressive character. The funeral oration was delivered by tho Rev Cahill, S.J., who delivered a glowing panegyric on the deceased prelate. The remains of the Archbishop wero buried in one of the unfinished chapels of St Patrick's Cathedral. The Church was so crowded that several ladies wero removed in a faint- ' ing condition.