VICTORIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 518, 21 October 1857, Page 3

VICTORIA.

We have news from Melbourne via Sydney to the 11th September.

In the Legislative Assembly, on Sept. 3rd, Mr. Rutledge inquired into the causes of the delay in landing the Simla's mails, and Mr. M'Culloch promised that a searching investigation should take place into the circumstances. Mr. Haines read a letter from Mr. Fellows denying that he had made any pledge that the Land Bill should be recommitted. Mr. Moore then moved that the Land Bill be read a third time. Mr. O'Shanassy moved, as an amendment, that the bill be read a third time that day six months. The discussion which ensued embraced the entire range of arguments for and against the measure which have been so repeatedly addressed to the House. The motion for the third reading was carried by a majority of seven, the numbers being—for, thirty; against, twenty-three. Oh the motion that the bill do passv Mr. Ireland proposed to strike out the forty-first clause, and insert a clause reserving the power of the Legislature to resume, nt any time, the lands comprised in any run, " for any purpose calculated 'to facilitate the settlement of the colony!" This proposal was negatived by twenty-eight votes to seventeen. The House again divided on the motion that the bill do passV which was carried in the affirmative by 26 toll. •' • : " "■"■ ' "■

The Immigration Bill has been thrown out by the Legislative Council. We perceive in the Geelcng Advertiser that; Mr. Bruce, the wheelwright in Union street,; has just.turned out a carriage for transporting I timber, which unites with this power a simple; ;method of eradicating stumps of trees. For! this purpose an elevating screw is centred in the.i axle, having isuspended to it below two grapnels i which are made to clasp hold of the stump, and \ by a rotary motion' given .by the screw .and the j draft applied to the carnage at once' forces upj the most deep-se,ated sfcump. The wheels of] this machine are eight feet and a half in diame-j ,ter^-tte"naves,Tfellbes, arid spokes ' being of] equal proportibn. The carriage, v whicli' might j not improperly.be termed a root extirpator as| well as a transport carriage, has beeu made in;

Greelong to the order of Mr. Frederick Staughton, and destined for the Brisbane ranges. Its cost is about .£100; and considering its immense utility for clearing land, will, no doubt, when better known, come into general use in the colony. We understand that Mr. Bruce intends to take out a patent for the improvement, and will, it is hoped, reap the benefit of his own ingenuity. The ' Age' of September 1 says:—.Our streets are again flooded with " new chums," several emigrant ships having arrived within the past few days, and landed on our shores about 610 passengers. They seem to have already discovered the mythical character of the gold which they expected to pick up from the Melbourne mud; and their despondin» faces as they stroll through the city, make anything but an exhilarating spectacle. The arrival of these poor people, full of hope and and anxiety, gives a new and painfulinterest to the settlement of the Labour question. A most interesting occurrence took place last week at Keswick Creek. A lady, wife of a respectable digger, nam^d Barclay, presented her lord and master with no. less thitn four pledges of affection.

; We find by the ' Herald' that steps are being taken for a criminal prosecution in the matte" of the late collision between the Champion and Lady Bird steamers—the necessary informations having been sworn and filed. The nominal prosecutor is Mr. J. J. Daley, a cleric in the Crown Solicitor's Office, and the affidavit, which we understand is a sort of joint one, charges John M'Dougall, the mate of the Lady Bird, with having on the high seas, on the 24th ultimo, wholly neglected and omitted to perform his duty (as mate of a British ship), and to do certain lawful acts, proper and requisite, for preserving such ship from immediate destruction and damage, and for the preservation of the lives of persons on board. Thomas Campbell, the mate of the Champion, is charged with neglect and omission to do certain acts requisite to pteserve his ship from immediate destruction, and thereby did actually cause the loss of the same.

A meeting of the " unemployed " took place in the Market-place, on the evening of the 7th instant. Adverting to the proceedings, the 'Age' says:—The speakers seem to have devoted themselves chiefly to attacking the only public attempt yet made to provide work for the people.

We take the following mining intelligence from the ' Bendigo Advertiser' of the Bth instant:—

Eush to Kangaboo Gully.—These diggings received on Monday last an accession of at least 100 in numbers. There is abundance of room for, at a moderate computation, ten times as many more. The ground that is at present being worked is rather more than two miles up the Gully from the Castlemaine road.

The lower end of the diggings has, so far, been the most productive, and here the run of has been the widest—say two claims wide. This gradually decreases to the breadth of a claim, but the nearer it is worked towards the ranges the heavier are the pieces discovered, and there is little doubt but that in the deep hill sinking, deposits of exceeding richness will yet be alighted upon by the persevering miner. But while the shallow ground pays so well as it is doing at present, it is unlikely that recourse will be had to the ranges except for surfacing. We have been informed that thirty loads of sui'facing has yielded upwards of one pound weight of gold; another party got 12 ozs, out of a machine (number of loads not stated), and we saw and handled 13 ozs. 3 dwts. washed out of twenty loads of stuff last Honda}'. We understand that a nugget weighing four pounds and a few ounces, was found on Monday afternoon, at the new rush at Kangaroo Gully. The claim in which this specimen of the richness of this portion of the district was found, is about four feet sinking. lieferring to the obnoxious Land Bill recently passed by the Assembly, the ' Age' of the 11th says:—" The Land Bill cannot be discussed in detail by the Upper House. They must reject it or accept it in globo. We were in doubt about this when it was first mooted, but a reference to the Constitution Act left no room for a difference of opinion. The Lords cannot amend the bill. Will they reject it ? Under such circumstances they ought; but our faith in them as a whole is very weak: we however, hope the best. In the meantime the Executive of the Convention in Melbourne seem alive to the necessity of the crisis. They are making arrangements to have a great monster meeting of the citizens in the Eastern: Market on Monday evening, presided over by the honorable John Pascoe Fawkner."

The Chinese, whose property was destroyed by the Buckland rioters, are to be compensated. In reply to Mr. Aspinall, Mr. Haines stated in the Assembly that the resident warden had sent up a report of all the property destroyed; and that the Government were disposed to compensate at least all the Chinese who had taken the precaution of obtaining protection tickets. "We had occasionally read and heard (says the ' Herald' of the 9th) of punishment following quickly oh the steps of crime, but we do not recollect an instance of a prompter punishment than the following: —On Monday afternoon, one Thomas Stephens was detected in attempting to pick a lady's pocket in the..Post-1 office^ The latter had her head held close to the delivery window wheu the thief's hand was seen to operate upon her, pocket,'', but finding a j man's eye on his movements, Stephens dropped j shis hand by his side, and the lady's purse drbp-i ped at the same' moment at her feet. The light- j ifingered worthy was given in charge' at five! minutes to two, he was brought before the : Resident Magistrate at two, wheu .his guilt was

most satisfactorily established, and he was sentenced to twelve months" imprisonment with hard labour. At half-past two he was delivered fi;om the police van at the gaol, and before three o'clock he was commencing work in the stoneiyard of the prison." The Late Fobgehy on the Bank of Australasia.—Joseph Stuckey, alias Johnson, who on the 17th ultimo uttered at the Bank of Australasia a forged cheque to the amount of £2,400, has been arrested at Beechworth and brought to Melbourne. He will be brought up this morning at the City Police Court, but the case will, in all probability, be remanded. The arrest of Sfuckey completes the number of the suspected accomplices in this daring fraud. The others are Kenod Bull and his wife, and a man named Foster, who was arrested about a week ago at Adelaide.— Argus, Sept. 11.