AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

West Coast Times, Issue 9435, 29 November 1892, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

The Presbyterian. General Assembly now sitting in Melbourne, has been dia cussing the temperance question. Th< debate was only noticeable for the refresh ing plain-speaking of the Rev P. J Murdoch on total abstinence. He did noi think it rational to suppose that a whol< nation could be made total abstaiuera Doubtless total abstinence societies had done a great deal of good, but looking a1 the increasing drink bill, it could not b( said that they had coped with the evil They did a great deal of good and a greal deal of harm. Personally he always avoided total abstinence speeches made by total abstinence orators. They alwayc contained so much uncharity toward* temperate men, and of unedifying allußionj to other branches of Christian work, thai ihey set him against total abstinence more than anything elseheknew of. More ministers would be total abstainers if the total abstinence societies connected with the churches were more temperate in their ex< pressions. Many of the reaideuts of Broken Hil] are apprehensive or diatarbauceß, as there is a powerful under-current of bit ;er ness ©xiateiit that will eventually lead up to aa open rupLute between unionists and free labourers. It is not to be expected that free labourers will stand meekly by and fee subjected to vilification and abuse day After day without coning to blows with the aggressors. In fact, open hostilities «re asaertad to be quite within the region at probability. In view of tbia, pressure Is being brought to bear on the New South Wales authorities with a view to the retention of the services of at least 2200 of the police, who have been stationed there for several montha, to maintain law And order in the community. There are some 8000 or 3000 men who are unable to fetturo to the employment which they threw up to go on strike. Consequently there is likely to be much Buffering and destitution, and an appeal is being made to the Government to provide public works on wbich the men can be em ployed. Ia Melbourne, the secretary of the Trades Hall has written to the presa saking for the sympathy of the charitable in the men's extremity. So far, however, there has been no response, nor is there likely to be. The men left their work voluntarily, and if they Buffer themselves »re to blame. Misfortune has not over* taken them ; they deliberately invited It. Mr William Austin Zeal has-been elected President of the Victorian Legislative Council, in succession to Sir James Macßain. He is a civil engineer by. profession, and had a good deal to. do with railway building in the colony. (.He was Postmaster-general in the present Gfovernment. Previous to taking office he wa s a& all-round critic in politicß,-and made

his criticisms with a pepperinesa, not to say bitterness, that often aggrieved hia fellow members. Under the responsibilities of office, however, he has toned himself down greatly, and his election to the new posthasbeen wellreceived, though a couple of yeara ago the reverse would have been the case.

The Alison Smith Inquiry Board is likely to end in a fizzle. No one comes forward with any charge, and the members of the board object to being placed in the position of prosecutor as well as judge. All the evidence given so far has been rather favourable to Mr Smith than otherwise.

The financial company swindlers of Sydney continue to receive severe sentences at the hands of the Criminal Court. Last week William Edgar Harold Phillips, who was manager of the Austral Banking and Land Proprietary, was sentenced to four years' penal servitude for making false pretences in the official documents of the company, and thereby iuducingdeposits from investors. A second charge of issuing a fradulent balance sheet is still hanging over him.

A singular action against a medical man has been heard before the Chief Justice and a jury of twelve in Melbourne. George Haakings, as father of the late William Henry Haakings, sued Dr John Nicholson, of Benalla, for £50 JO on the ground that the doctor improperly, carelessly, and unskilfully caused the death of the plaintiff's son by ordering him a prescription composed of one scruple of antipyiin and one grain of morphia, the plaintiff's contention being that tae defendant did not make a proper examination of the deceased before prescribing in order to ascertain the then condition of the deceased, and, secondly, that the prescription ordered contained an excessive quantity ot morphia — so excessive as to be in itself a dangerous dose. The deceased was a plasterer by trade, and carried on business in partnership wita bid father i (the plaintiff), and at the time of his death was 27 years of age, and was a i particularly strong, athletic person, standing 6ft 4in in height and weigLing between 15st and 16st, It was while suffering from influenza that he received the dose of medicine which caused his death. The jury found that the death of the deceased was caus :d by the prescription ordered for him by the defendant, but that there had been no negligence by the defendant in so prescribing. Judg. ment was then entered for the defendaut without costs, he having Btated that he would not ask for costs. Tlte hearing of the action occupied several days and a large quantity of medical evidence waa taken.

'iwo deliberate attempts have been made lately to wreck trains ou the Newcastle railway Hue Un th"i ti^ht o£ October 28 a piece of timber 14in wi^e by 6ft long, and a piece 6m wide by 3ft lung, ■were found on the line, and were knocked, •off by the express. The i nly d mage done was the breaking of tho guard irons of the engine. Un Tuead&y n-ght last a railway sleeper, fencing rail, and sis other pieces of timber from 3i't to 6tt long wee placed across cheliie, but fortunately the engine iemoved the wood iritbout aeriouß damage bei g done. These obstructions were placed on the line on tne Syduey side of >he udamstown station, and near the spos vhere the Wsratah Coal Company's rail?, ay passes under the Sydaey line. At that point the embaokmeat is about 40ft high, and had either attempts to wreck the train been successful deplorable results must have ensued.