INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 766, 15 December 1870, Page 2

INTERCOLONIAL NEWS.

The following items of late intercolonial news .are, from papers to December; 3, brought by the barque Kate Conley :—i' J

Mr.Satanions, Solicitor-General of New South; Wales, leaves fur England, immediately. ; Bishop Barker will visit Melbourne during the month, and proceed thence to England by the January mail. : ; . A .very favorable despatch: has been receiyed from Mr Todfi resDectin^ the progress of the overland teleffraph'wojrks. Everything was going on in a satisfactory

manner.""'"" ~ „r A woman riamed^Cooper, living^ at'Newmarketjhas died through a fly, which had just before been oh a pdisdh'eoV fly- paper, alighting on her nose aud communicating the poison tp the wound: " " The Secretary of State. for f the Colonies ; has; intimated to the Governor that the

Queen's exequatur, empowering M. Jules Renard.to act as Consul for Belgium at Melbourne, received Her Majesty's sig-'-nature'orilthe 22 nd of September; Ijtst. The claim, plant, and machinjjr&of the Grand Trunk Company, and were sold off by the-' -Sheriff, and realised the sum of LIOOO. It is generally supposed r to .Jnaye „been bought for the sharer nolder^ uhi<> -'- ; > :;?; - ' I

The Sydney Morhmg Herald says : that it is reportedjthpt sthe Government have sent .to_Europe for batteries of artillery :

,of sufficient power to cope with any ironclad 3hip of war which may pay a| visit to tthis port, and, ihat they. have, also : sent home orders for a large' number of the Martini- Henry rifle." The Maryborough Advertiser mentions that," Over half a ton of gold (I4,000oz) was on Tuesday taken down by escort - ; trj Castlemaine, for transmission by, rail to Melbourne. Anew coach aiid a team of :fo,ur«bay horses were specijilly, sent up by Messrs Robertson, Wagner, |md Co., for the conveyance of the treasure." • ; A despatch from Kilmore, on the 2nd, says : — "A large number of the men who have struck work on the railway came into Kilhlbre to-day. They! 'yesterday used..yiol^nc€i to the masons and bricklayers who were about to work. They entered the Sugar-loaf Hotel last eveniug, arid destroyed some of the property in the house. Some of the ringleaders have been arrested. The strikers to-day visited -the quarries,. and stopped the men work--W" I : ' ----- -' ' / - > .:. < . ... " Hard] j? a day passes," says the Gephng Advertiser^ but we hear of tremendous .'hauls .of bream being, made in Swampy Creek ; in fact, never have such a : quantity '.of fish been~;caught;there.in- so short a time, it: being .nothing unusual for one or two rods to haul out a hundredweight of: bream, varying from ,h,alf a pound to three or four pounds, in a day. It is a pity, however,- that, bream fishing should be allowed in what ought to be the close season, as 'the fish are now said to be spawning." - MrGr. P. Smith conies from Vißerwilik-upon-Tweed, while the Chiefs Secretary, like Bailie JSicol Jaiivle, i Kails from the Saut Market, Glasgow. Ever since the "good old times 'Viof;itheft-boot, blackmail, spreaghs, and gill-ravaging, ; H\M56ot.arid the borderer 'have -been at feud, arid sotriefching 1 of . 'the hereditary and traditional animosity broke out in , the Legislative Asseriibly on/ Thursday evening, when the member for Mornington and the. tn ember for 'Siuth Bourke had what is vulgarly called 'a "flare-up^ 1 , and , parted company for ever. Truth to say, the whole affair Was a sorry (burlesque upon the great scene which resulted in. the ; social anjl .political severance of Burke arid Foxl 'It J Had all the asperity and, i^Qne. of .the. dignity .of that rheinor-' able rupture ; while tlie "actors in Thursday night's peforinance were — Sir JamesM'Culloch and Mr G. P. Smith. The "former, under- circumstances pfirritation, . taunted the latter with having come |o him last Bessiori, and requested the 'Chief Secretary to allow him (Mr Q. P. Smith) to conduct, the Wines, Beer,* and Spirits Sale Bill through llie Legislative Assem : , bly* This, se^ms tp haye^be.en regarded: as a confidential communication, and its disclosure to the House stung Mr. Smith to the quick, so that, when twitted by the Chief Secretary with maintaining a show of friendship while cherishing a secret animosity tp the Government, the member for South 'Bourke crossed : the floor of ,the House, and took up his seat on the front Opposition; : bench" ' amtdsV -ironical cheers-, and hisses. 'From thence he poured a raking broadside into the Jiows of his ; fonrier colleague, iri f the course of which he. announced that on the next day he would] address a 'letter to 'the Chief Secretary,' 'in irhich, he would aqkpecniidsibti: to reyeal to "the public the circumstances 1 which, had attended the formation , - pf. ,'.'th : c . • p'res^rit \ Gbv.ernment, . : so as to enable the r>ubl|c to jform their own opinion of the political probity of its

head. He accused the Chief.; Secretary of having deceived and misled tfie the people upon whose shoulders he had rilounted' into power, and of ; having abused and sacrificed the men who had maintained him therpv , : He prophesied.the overthrow of the Administration, arid concluded by anpoii^cing that all political alliance and association between himself and the Chief Secretary was a,t an end. - This tirade was diversified I>y ejaculations of ol '* Shame!" froin.Mr ;Higinbotham^by cries of "Out with-it !''. from Sir J. M'Culloch, and bythe application $0 Mr Smith pf the enithet

'fa* dirty tnol"c by Mr Janiea M'Keanj , The scene was' brought to an |end by a characteristic speech' from Mr Blair, who I pronoriticfd Mr Smith, to be "mentally and morally insane," •'stigmatised. His language; as "the outcome, pf a slanderous „'jmin.d^'' an 4 c<^mj[>are4 V.iiini jto " thfe i" ;

.tremblingcoward who forsook his master," in; Hpriie's" Douglas." '. The fiendigo Evening News, of the 2nd k inst., says :— " We have to record another I fatal accident in our mines, which occurred ibis afternoon at the Royal Albert Freehold Company's claim, Garden Gully, near I Ironbark, by which two persons, father and son, lost their Hyps. After the dinner "hour, Samuel 4Delac6ui^^aniniei^agfflt 43 year 3, and his son, Thomas William Gordon Delacour, left' the surface* to -go down the iadder. to. ..theijuwor.k. ,.- about one o'clock, and aT minute or two afterwards, a yoiingW son of Debicpur'g, named Samuel, who had been called to by his father frdni the' top of the shaft to proceed to hia work, •w.ent. down, and at the bottom found; his "fither 1 lyin|f s'eriseless across the dead body of his brother Thomas. Help was. at once obtained, and the two were brought to the surface, when ,tlie. father was . found to breathe a few ' times j'blit in the sdn Hfe ; Was found to be extinct. A doctor, who was at once sent for, was immediately on the ground, but his. Services could be. of no avail, pr as by this time poor Delacour himself, had breathed^his last.rf'lt'is conjectured that the accident occurred through the boy's 1 Graving" slipped off the ladder mi descending, and through his father, who was lower duwn, having endeavored to save him 'by catching at him, when falling both were precipitated to the bottom."

.A number of gentlemen connected with the French Patriotic Associatwnl proceeded to the war steamer Belliqueuse on . the 2nd inst., for tHe ! purpose of offering to the commander of /that vessel the expression of the sympathy of the body ■from' Which they fbrnte'd a- deputation, with the French -people in the struggle now,. .proceeding against their powerful _ enemy. The deputation consisted o/fZ? Messrs A. De Dollon (president of the associafion), JiCM ts- (vfce-ptesidefit), G. Denis (treasurer), S. Hennelle (aldetary), with S. Thomas, G. M. Gallagher, and other members; of /the committee. As soon as the object of the visit had been made known to the officers of the vessel, deputation was. introduced into the _captainX state jcabinj where ' 'they were courteously received^y Commodore D'Arries. Ml de Dollon the% /bri:fly gaye expression ,to the. sentiments ; of sympathy and^^oodwUl felt" b J y the French inhabitAhts' of Victoria towards their f suffering fellotf-couritry^eniyiand also referred to the Irish residents aa participating- largely? in ;the .same feeling. ; Capt. D'Arries, in a tpnehingfand pithy speech, thanked the deputation most heartily for their (expressions of sympathy, and dwelt at some length on the cordial, agreement Which had so long, subsisted between the French and. Irish people. He added that the gratitude which he felt for the warm_»« and ,activ,e efforts that were being made by the Victorian colonists f df those two nations j; for the relief- ;^>f-.fhei': bounded soldiers .of the French army was greater than he could lind 'words to eipTe%3. Mr Oroftpi acknowledged f the aHuftons made by the captain to thVltisirpe ; opie. Captain D'Arries then shook hands cordially with each member of the deputation, after which he instructed one of his officers to show the visitors over the ship. A pleasant half-hour -haying.; then been spent in examining the big guns, the machinery, • the, Chassepot rifles, and the appointments of the Vessel 1 generally^ the -deputation took their, departure, apparently well pleased' with the attention aud. courtesy with which they had been treated onboard.

The federal Commission has resumed itsn sittings, ; and ; appears to,, have made silent but substantial progress" since the issue of its ifirs'trepott; i \ When the report was adopted, it was agreed that the chairman (Mr Duffy) should aeud it to a f e wpf the, leading .public men in office or in opposition in the other 'colonies, and invite their opinion upon the proposal of obtaining an" enabling or permissive bill from ; the, vlfloperjal Parliament, under which federation could, be completed at "^ pleasure. There was some difficalty in makmg.out. a; proper, list,; as the, -Apolitical intercourse between the colonies is greatly too iinfreqaent, and error ana omission must necessarily have been made, but the present and late leaders of Parliament at iteaajwer&appealed^to m-eyery instance. At.the. last, meeting, of, the Commission, ; Mr ' Ddffy read the answers receive&V which were in a hi»h ) degree encouraging and satisfactory. From New South Wales, Sir T. A. ■■' Murray, President of the Council; and Mr Henry Parkes, late Colonial Secretary, 1 -are unreservedly in favor of obtaining a permissive act. And Mr Cowper; the Premier, and/ Sir James Martin, the late Premier, havejtejlegraphed their: intention! of, sending; their opinions by an early post. In South Australia, Mr Ba'rrowy "one- of the. delegates, for that colony at the late Intercolonial Conference, cordially; approves of the, proposal in the report.' Capjbain Hart," the Treasurer (his colleague on that occasion) asks to be ex- I r eused answering till the" Parliamentary I 'recess' gives him leisure to T cahsider the I question, carefully.! Mr Strang ways, the ■ late .'Attorfley^General and Premier, says I that the acjtipii i of the Victorian delegates I "at; the : late conference alarms the smaller I colonies, and that in his opinion the qu *• ■ tion which is most urgent, and ought to I be dealt with at once/ is^o 'secure the I neutrality of the colonies in time of war on I ithe. basis suggested in, part third of the I report. He sees no legal or political dim- I culties which may r not, be. overcome by'B joint action of the colpniesl ~ l Mrßoucant, *■ the i preJen^Attornfe^txenefcai, who is en- ■ r grp33ed by.the civil sitting^ bf the Supreme ■ poiirtaty present, "wpl^riie his views I inamediai|ely wheft the s'itjtitigs ' are over. I From Tasmania,' ; ftj[r; ; W. n Wilson (one fl of the late delegates) and Mr Meredith, ■ on behalfy of the Government, promise H that the question -shall be^cboaidered and H answered without delay, , and Mr Da vies H expresses : his approval of j a permissive H bill, but considera that the power of al colony to retire must.be guarded against I mere* caprice. "A partnership requiring H mutual consent for ita formation should H require mutual consent in terminating the H connexion^" From .' Queensland, Mr H MacAlister^ formerly Chief Secretary and H now Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, ■ promises to ascertain views of leading politicians, and then reply,? IMr Palmer, H the present Chief Secretary, requires time ■ to, consider the subject carefully, and Mr Lilly, formerly Chief Seiiretaify, says the proposal to obtain a bill haa^| his entire approval ; but Jift trusts tba^| control of the question will be kept in tho^| hands of the colonies: without any "med-^B dlesome interference with the Colonial H Society 1 in England.'' We' have only to add that a permissive bill is feeing drafted^^| under the direction of the Attoniej^H General, and will accompany the seooud^H report 6f the commißsion.