VICTORIA AS SEEN BY A STRANGER.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2692, 3 October 1871, Page 2

VICTORIA AS SEEN BY A STRANGER.

A Mr J, G. Hey wood, a new arrival in the Colonies, supplies the Argus with his impressions of Victoria, He writes The thing that really surprised me most with regard to Victoria "was the very hollow and unstable state of society—l mean, of course, in a financial point of view ; and it appears, after all, there are very few rich men in the colony. A gentleman in the Hamilton district allowed me to have a peep into a file of circulars of the Melbourne Trade Protection Society, which I must admit astonished me not a little. Many of the men whose names are pronounced with hated breath and strong emphasis as being the men pw' excellence, who are looked upon as the pillars or supporting columns of the state, have not a shilling they can call their own. These are, 1 believe, for the most part, good and honorable men, but they have been ruined by reckless and dishonest legislation. The circulars I refer to furnish an undeniable proof of the rotten state of the affairs of the colqjjy, and as these things have only existed since tHe w iptrqductioji of responsible Government, that system, in the hjmfis of bungling, incompetent, and dishonest men, is only to blame for it. From the most extensive squatter down to the smallest farmer

(with only a few exceptions) it is one dismal tale of debt andemhanassment. They have not only pawned everything they were possessed of, but even their incomes are secured to tqeir creditors in the shape of the squatter’s growing wool and the farmers growing crops. If these things are to continue as they have been going on, a general collapse must of necessity occur sooner or later. What, then, should be done in view of such an emergency ? That it is no use looking to Parliament for relief is now an established fact, for Victoria does not appear to possess the material for making good and useful laws, and a dissolution of the House would do very little good, because the same useless elements would find their way back again, and the country would be put to an enormous cost for no possible benefit. I consider that responsible government is a most ludicrous farce as conducted by the amateurs of the Victorian Parliament. Any of your responsible governments, for the sake of popularity, can plunge the colony into debt to the tune of half a million or more, and play all sorts of fantastic pranks until they meet with serious opposition, and then they need only put on their hats, rush to the Treasury, draw their salaries, and make the colony—not themselves—responsible for their depredations. If the colony had not possessed extraordinary natural resources it must have succumbed long ago, for such unceasing and reckless drains on the public purse would soon impoverish a much larger state. On consulting your Hansard, I find that Parliament has devoted a large portion of its time during the last ten years to the subject of laud laws, and various measures have been enacted, amended, and repealed, according to the whim of caprice of the would-be legislators who were successful enough to scramble into office. And after all their crazy efforts, what an abortion they Lave produced ! How is it that so many of the laws made by the Romans 1500 years ago are valuable and workable at the present time, and the Victorians, with all their efforts, cannot make a Land Act or any other useful law ?' 1 would suggest that the whole thing be given up for a bad job. And let his Excellency the Governor, assisted by the judges and other high officers of State and a limited number of nominee advisers, constitute the Govenmenf, and abolish the so-called “responsible,” or rather irresponsible, system for the next 20 years, and 1 feel certain that a very marked and speedy change for the bettor would he the result.

i I have on several occasions got access to i the Speaker’s gallery, and attended the sit--3 tings of the ■> elbourne Parliament, but never had the pleasure of hearing anything that 3 could be dignified by the name of a debate, i The proceedings on every occasion descended ; into the most vulgar personalities and mutual i recriminations. Indeed, the scenes reminded ; me very much of the city cab stands, where I have often noticed groups of cabbies discussing politics and “ talking horse” in their own peculiar and undignified manner. And i what I noticed more particularly was, that, ! as a rule, the speakers ap?eared to be actu- . ated by selfish or unworthy motives in ! almost all they said or did. The bane and i plague spot of colonial system seem s to consist in the facility with which it i admits uneducated and unscrupulous, but restlessly ambitious men, who are bent . upon quarrelling with every Ministry which does not include themselves ; and the payment of members will tend to aggravate this . evil. If a memb|r is at issue witn a Government it should be upon questions involving principles—certainly not upon questions in- : volving more personal considerations. If i these hon, members would only consider the i great importance of the duty they were engaged upon—the exercise of the highest power than can be conferred upen as a free people they would surely speak and act with greater dignity and moderation. But per- , haps 1 was expecting too much when I looked for dignity in such an Assembly. In making these remarks, I, of course, speak of the House as a whole; but, at the same time, I have no wish to ignore the fact that there arc some few brilliant men and gentlemen in it, but they appear hitherto—or for some years past—to -have been in the minority with regard to numbers, and this, no douui, accounts for the bungling legislation which has been perpetrated, notwithstanding the efforts of the few meu of ability and patriotism who used their utmost exertions to stem the tide of recklessness and folly. The thousands of unemployed who are constantly wandering through the country are an indisputable proof of the bad state of things, aud a large portion of those who wander through. Victoria are new arrivals, and it is easy to see by a glance at tieir hands and their general exterior that they have been accustomed to hard work. Almost any of these poor footsore, hungry, and homeless wanderers will tell you that they have travelled thousands of miles in search of employment, an 1 that they cannot get a job j and. they, one ana all, bitterly deplore the unlucky fate that directed then), as emigrants to tips country. It may be argued that thepe are many loafers prowling thpdugh tfte bush who do nqt look for work, but this oply applies tp the “ old bauds the “ yew chums,” as $ rule, beiyg eager for work, and anxious to please and give satisfaction when they get the chance of employment. In all my travels I have never met with such distress ;in any country before, and I will venture to say that such a state of things does not exist in an other country under the sun where such a large number of the population are literally homeless and. destitut , and have to beg their way for weeks and ijiionths, not knowing when the evening comes on whether they will find either shelter or food. As for employment, that is out of the question and not to be expected, except for a few weeks at shearing time and during the harvest. As the new era of legislation has ushered in this unhappy state of ‘ things, and banished—apparently for ever—the good old times when work was plentiful throughout the length aud breadth of the I think it is only right and just that the English public should be undeceived in a matter which so closely affects their interests, and I shall embrace the earliest opportunity to make these realities of Australife iully and perfectly understood in every town and village of the United Kingdom.