VICTORIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 503, 29 August 1857, Page 3

VICTORIA.

(From the correspondent of the S.M. Herald)

Thursday Morning, July 30.—The Land Bill is fated to bring about a Ministerial crisis. It is impossible that the House of Assembly can endure much longer the incessant internal strife. The ministerial side has not met with one success to cheer it. All the victory is on the side of the Opposition. When the independent supporters of the Government propose amend* ments, with a view to secure intact the rights of the public, they are immediately converted into tools in the hands of the pure objectionists. The word has gone forth that the Bill shall not pass, and to this word ministers will have to submit.

Last night was spent in the discussion of the schedule referred to in the fourth clause of the Bill, containing the form of license to be issued to pastoral tenants. After some time spent in colloquial discussion, in which a spirit of fairness and a disposition to consider the measure practically was evinced, it was agreed on the proposition of Mr. Wood to make the licenses annual, annually renewable for five years. A new clause was then proposed by the SolicitorGeneral, 'to the effect that at the expiry of each annual license, the Board of Commissioners " shall" issue another annual license until the expiration of five years after the Ist July, 1857, after which time no license should remain in force. Mr. Wood moved the substitution of the word " may" for " shall," thus making the renewal optional with the Laud Board. On the division that the word "shall" he omitted, twentyfive voted for and nineteen against the motion; amongst the twenty-five being seven independent members who sit on the ministerial benches. An irregular discussion then touk place, which lasted through the night, and which was devoted rather to personalities than to the question at issue. Ultimately, on the motion of Mr. Sitwell, the words substituted for " shall" were " may and is hereby required to." This was was carried by a majority of five. Mr. Snodgrass then proposed that the Chairman report progress and ask leave to sit again on that day six months, and this motion was lost' by one vote only, the ayes being twenty-three and the noes twenty-four. The further consideration in committee was then, at the suggestion of the Government, postponed for a week. This is a sample of the "progress" made with the measure, and it is evident that no prospect whatever exists that the bill can be proceeded with this session.

The convention of delegates is still in session, but this body appears to be making as little pi' Ogress with its land scheme, which, when completed, will meet every difficulty real and imaginary, as the Government are with theirs. J One of the most intelligent members has resigned, because he 'thinks, the object of the convention has been gained. The Vice President,, Sir George Stephen, a member of the Bar, has been laughed at immensely, for an attempt made by him to obtain a grant of land as a " millilary" settler. His claims were

founded on the fact .that he-held the .position of deputy-lieutenant of an English county, but the home authorities, who were appealed to on the subject, held that his title to rank as a military officer had no existence out of his own county. His claims to a grant of land were therefore returned to 'him endorsed " groundless." Another member of the convention has complained to the editor of the ' Herald ' that he had been -miareported, and that gentleman has had the cruelty to publish his letter as a vindication of the reporter. It is a jumble of words without meaning.

Mr. Kaines, the Chief Secretary, has given notice of his intention to introduce a measure to regulate tlve residence of the population in Victoria. The bill has been published, and it consists of seven ■clauses. It is proposed to continue the .present capitation tax of £10 on arrival, ;and to grant monthly licenses "to reside in "Victoria," afterwards, at the rate of £1 per month. Children of Chinese parentage, although born here, are liable to this tax on their arriving at the age of twelve years. The question of the legality of the promulgation of the proclamations of her Majesty declaring the Australian sovereign to tbe a legal tender, stands adjourned in the Assembly to. this evening. Some little discussion took place in the Council last night, when Mr. Mitchell, the Postmaster-General, treated the proclamations as perfectly legal. He contended that the establishment of the "Mint was a great boon to the Australias, .and said that the inhabitants of these colonies should concentrate their efforts in impressing on the Imperial Government the necessity of declaring the issues of the branch of the Royal Mint in Sydney legal tender in Great Britain. Nothing was said •with reference to the violation of the spirit of these proclamations by those banks who have read them with no other eye than one .under the influence of the greatest selfinterest. The Queen declares that the one is equal to the other. The banks agree, and cash the cheques of the clients with the one. The Queen declares that one being ■equal to the other, the two are co-equal. The banks agree even to this, but yet if you want one hundren of the other, you must give one hundred and one of the one for them.

The notorious convict Melville has added • to his notoriety by an attempt at the life of .some of his warders in Melbourne goal. It . appears that he has lately feigned madness, • with a view to getting removed to the lunatic -..asylum, where his chances of escape would tie far greater than they are at present. •' On Tuesday morning last, he refused to allow his night tub to be taken from his < cell, and stood over it in defence, armed

■ with an iron spoon with the handle sharpened rto a point. The governor, Mr. Winkle, 1 was made acquainted with the fact, and he •:proceeded to the cell, and directed Rowley, -one of the turnkeys, and some of the warders to bring the tub out. Melville swore "that he would make a corpse of any one who attempted to remove it. Rowley entersd the cell with a small hand ladder held before him for protection, and while the prisoner's attention was directed to the ladder one of the warders rushed in and -seized him. Mr. Winkle proceeded to his assistance, and Melville was. secured, but not until several wounds had been inflicted. ."Mr. Winkle received an awkward stab on the back of the neck. This hardened ■criminal will once more be tried by a jury of his country for his life. While on this subject I may mention that a pamphlet from the pen of Mr. Edwards, entitled "What shall we do with our criminals?" has just been issued, and is exciting some attention. :It favours curative in preference to punitive Without enumerating any new j principles, the author has thrown together rniany facts illustrative of the entire failure -■of punishment as a means of lessening crime. The question is one to which public interest has been awakened by the tragedies that have recently occurred in our penal department. Mr. Champ, the new Inspector. General, has presented his first report on ;penal discipline as carried out here. He appeais to belong to the same school as the late Mr. Price, with a few variations in his views. Many of your readers will remember reading an account of a great tragedy which occurred in December last year, in this city, when a woman occupying a house of illfame in Stephen-street, named Sophia Lewis, was most mysteriously and barbarously murdered, and her house plundered of all the valuables which it contained. The circumstances which accompanied the commission -of this revolting crime were fully narrated in the pnblic journals at the period, and were shortly these; —On the morning of the first December last, one of the officers of the police f'oree noticed that the street door of the house in which Sophia Lewis

lived was standing open; and as this circumstance aroused his suspicions he entered the parlour, and subsequently the bed rocm of the occupant, where he discovered the inanimate body of Sophia stretched on the bed, her throat cut literally from ear to ear. These facts having been made known to the authorities and the public, a reward, which at the time was considered far too small, was offered for the apprehension of the perpetrators of the revolting deed, but in spite of the combined exertions of the police force, an impenetrable mystery surrounded the crime. The sequel to this story, however, can now be told, and the details, subjoined, in connection with the apprehension of the supposed murderers, indicate an amount of intelligence and persevering energy on the part of the detective officers concerned which would bear a fair comparison with any of the wondrous achievements of the justly-celebrated police force of London.

Information of the arrest of the supposed murderer at # Beechworth was received at the Melbourne Detective Office on Tuesday evening last, and the following particulars were then elicited. Sophia Lewis, although a woman of depraved habits, appears to have been neither intemperate nor extravagant, and had succeeded in amassing a considerable sum of money, which she retained in her house, and had also in her possession a few articles of jewellery. She was known to have a ring, of peculiar shape, in the form of a coiled snake, and this was missing when the murder was discovered. Tv trace this ring became the work of the Detective Force, and after months of patient watching and care, the fatal hoop was discovered on the finger of a Chinaman named A-leen, last week, by Sergeant Lawler, while the unsuspicious Celestial was engaged in some gambling transaction in a house at Maryborough Diggings. Inquiry followed fast on the heels of this important discovery, which led to the arrest of another Chinaman, at Beech worth, named Chong Sigh, who is confidently alleged by the police to be the murderer of the unhappy woman. It appears that A-leen is not considered a participator in the crime, he having bought the ring from Chong Sigh. Another link in the chain of evidence against this individual is found in the fact that Mr. Drew, a jeweller in Collins street, has identified the ring as one which he had sold to the woman Lewis some time since. There are many other circumstances, which, for obvious 'reasons* have not been made public, but which are considered of sufficient weight to show the prisoner's guilt in the clearest manner. The hunt after this Chinaman has disclosed a fact which has been publicly acknowledged in the Victorian journals, namely, that there are some respectable, law-and-order loving people existing even among so degraded and savage a race as the Chinese appear in the eyes of polished Europeans.

It is stated that the police officers have been materially assisted in their difficult work of discovery by certain Chinamen who, on various occasions, have evinced an anxiety to ferret out the criminal wnich has elicited the commendation of those strongly prejudiced against the race. There is still another man, a Chinaman, who is secreted somewhere on the Bendigo Gold-field, who is supposed to have been an accomplice of Chong Sigh, whose presence is required, and to aid in his arrest another Chinaman has volunteered his services.

The apprehension of those men, and the elucidation of what but lately appeared a profound mystery, is gratifying for many reasons. It will be recollected that the name of a relative of a deceased nobleman who occupied a high position in this colony became, by public slander, connected with the death of Sophia Lewis, and it is pleasing to know that so foul a stain cannot be attached to one who is so highly connected.

There is nothing doing in the import trade, except in Adelaide flour. Holders are asking £26 10s. cash for first town brands, and are refusing that price at two months.

Population is coming in rather rapidly by the seaboard. No less than three thousand have arrived in the last six days. This great influx is a misfortune in the present dearth of employment. It will probably have the effect of expediting the movements of the Government.