NEW SOUTH WALES.

Marlborough Press, Volume I, Issue 10, 9 March 1860, Page 4

NEW SOUTH WALES.

[From the'Empire. LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. -Mr. Forster, the present Colonial Secretary of New South Wales had infringed upon the hitherto recognised rights of the Speaker of the General Assembly (which is also backed by precedent in the English Parliament), to recommend to the Executive •the clerks of the house. The matter was discussed at great length in the Assembly, on the 24th January. It was shown that former Governments had acted on the re'commendation of the Speaker in the appointment of officers of the house, that this was also the rule in the English Parliament, although according to the literal law of both countries, the sole appointment was vested in the Executive ; and it was argued ■in favour of the rule, that it might happen that the Government for the time was not in possession of the confidence of the house, and it would be highly injurious in such a case that the officers of the house should be under the entire control of the Government ; that in Canada this had been so strongly felt that the law there specially provided for the officers of the parliamentary body being solely appointed by the speaker. Although the 'Assembly in New South Wales passed a motion approving of the speaker’s resistance to the Colonial Secretary, yet they declined to pass a vote of * censure on the Government.

On the 2nd, a motion was passed that --£365;600 be raised by the sale of debentures secured upon the Consolidated Bevenue Fund of New South Wales, and bearing interest at a rate not exceeding five per cent, per annum, to pay off debentures falliug due - in the year 1860. •After a debate, in which several members

expressed their opinion that to continue ; year after year borrowing money to meet the expenditure, whether the borrower were ■ a nation or an individual, must eventually • lead to insolvency, and that the only legitimate way to avoid debt was to raise their income so as to make it equal to the expenditure.

■ The assessment on runs that formerly ’ prevailed in New South Wales was according to the quantity of stock depastured on them. But a nuisance had sprung up of late years, in consequence of the demand - for runs, in the shape of a set of jobbers in runs, who, without any intention of ever 1 occupying the country, tendered for the possession of extensive districts, which they left partially stocked, or not stocked at all, till they could sell at a high premium to the flockowners who might be in want of ‘ fresh pasturage for their increasing flocks. The new Assessment Act which has now come in force imposes an assessment, not upon sheep and cattle actually depastured on the run, but upon the number which it shall have been estimated, upon competent authority, to be capable of carrying. A bill, providing for triennial parliaments, was negatived by 21 to 19. In debate, Mr. Windeyer thought the stirring up of the public mind by frequent elections "extremely beneficial, as leading to the education of the political mind of the people, that it would promote fidelity in the representatives, and assist to work out those democratic principles which they were endeavouring to establish in the colony. Dr. Lang said, in America, the period of congress was' biennial, while the members of ‘ the senate were elected for six years. Owing to the changes in the state of society which arc constantly going on here, if seven years was a reasonable time for the duration of parliament at home, three years WS3 a reasonable period in this colony. • Their neighbours of Victoria had passed a triennial act, which had received the royal assent.

Sir Daniel Cooper, the speaker of the Legislative Assembly resigned his office, amidst the regret of the house, and Mr. Murray has been elected as speaker instead.

In reply to an address from the house, a "message was received from hi 3 Excellency the Governor-General that, with every desire to comply with the wishes of the Assembly, he would direct that in future the speaker should be consulted with regard to all officers appointed to the house. On the Ist of February, a discussion of three or four hours duration took place on the accusation made by one' member against another that “ lie was the nominee of the Messrs. Macarthur.” The speaker ruled, “ He could not separate in his own mind, • T ’ although he admitted that very strong provocation might have been given in the present instance, that a charge of political ' partizanship was very closely connected with an imputation as to motives, and it was unparliamentary to impute anything of the kind to an honourable member. It apv"peared to him certainly unparliamentary, and perhaps the honourable member would withdraw it.”

SUBMARINE CABLE. - A fortnight ago we published the information that the steamer Bahiana, accompanied by a Dutch man-of-war, had left Singapore for the purpose of laying the submarine cable between that place and Batavia, and

that, from the reports received, there was every probability of the communication being complete within a few days.- We noAV learn that the cable was successfully submerged, throughout the whole distance, and that Singapore and Batavia are in direct communication. Thus another link is completed in the great chain that will ere long we trust, connect the Australian colonies with Europe. It is expected that Singapore and Batavia will be in electric communication with England by the month of May next. The remainder of the task falls upon Australia, and there is nothing but unanimity on the part of these colonies required to complete the great undertaking within two or three years from the present time.

The resolutions recently passed by the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales are as liberal as any company, existing, or projected, can expect. They offer a high rate of interest on capital invested in the formation of a line of telegraph from the east coast of Australia to Java, for a period of twenty-one years.— Empire.

THE PANAMA ROUTE. The Panama route has great and special claims upon the consideration of our legislators. A postal subsidy should be regarded in a higher light than a mere expenditure for the carriage of letters or passengers; it should be made the stepping-stone of our onward career as a nation ; and this the Suez service never could become ; it may be of great advantage for the speculators in tea and sugar, but connecting us with the effete indolence of the East will bring us neither immigration nor capital. The Panama route is one pointed out to us by nature; it will bring us into closer relationship with another branch of the great AngloSaxon family—it will connect us with population, with intelligence, with enterprise—in a word, it will give us rank among the people of the earth. If our sister colonies prefer the Suez route, let them have it at their own expense, and let us have a Panama service at ours. Both will be gainers, and we shall be able to reciprocate services; but the paltry temporising that has hitherto been going on, while action on our part has been suspended, seeking for the consent of others which will never be granted, is alike degrading to us as a community, and disgraceful in our Government. — Id.

RAGGED SCHOOLS. The promotion of the physical and moral health of the metropolis is an object of national interest, and no effort designed for so high an end should be unnoticed or unaided. While, therefore, the parliament and the people are discussing plans for banishing the sources of disease from the atmosphere of Sydney, and for driving ignorance, a fruitful source of crime, from the young mind of our city, we hail the commencement of any benevolent undertaking adapted to further such designs. It has come to our knowledge, within the last few days, that a number of benevolent persons have been devising steps for the establishment of “ ragged schools ” in Sydney. The design appears to have attracted attention simultaneously in different quarters ; and if those who have taken up the subject persevere in their benevolent purpose, a number of such schools may soon be established in the midst of the most neglected portion of the juvenile population. Those who have not visited the localities in til's city where the indications of want and ignorance are most apparent, will probably regard the title “ ragged” as inapplicable to any schools that can be gathered here. But those whose occupation or curiosity leads them to explore the obscure parts of the city, can point to many a group to whom the fact of a school being open to the ragged, wmuld be a most indispensable condition, and as this title has now pleasing historic associations, it is well to keep it. There are scores and hundreds of children in Sydney, for whom no parent or friend will give 6d. or Id. a week, to get them taught the elements of education. And schools conducted in the spirit of true philanthropy, with no test of admission, no fee for instruction, where kind hearted and enterprising teachers cheerfully meet and overcome ignorance and turbulence, would prove a vast blessing. The neglected children in our streets, if left still unreclaimed, will grow up as a curse to society and to themselves. Many see and deplore this state, and sad forebodings as to their future career are awakened; but who will earnestly set to work to provide a remedy ? We must say we regard the plan of “ ragged schools ” as well adapted to strike at the root of our greatest social evils; and if, on ever so small a scale, they are successful, their disinterested promoters will enjoy a reward of the purest kind in contemplating the result. A school of the kind proposed is, we learn, about to be opened in Sydney ; and by an advertisement which appears in the columns of our daily contemporary we are glad to observe that others are expected shortly to be commenced. In Melbourne two " Ragged Schools ” are in active operation, one in Walchorn-street, attended by 78 children, the other in Lower Collinsstreet, attended by 115. For the expenses

of these schools £2OO is raised by privato subscription, £2OO is voted by Parliament. The astonishing and most gratifying success which has for years past attended such schools in Britain, in the recovery of multitudes of the most unpromising youth from evil paths, to set out on a life of usefulness and credit, leaves us without excuse, if we are content to mourn over the ignorance and vice of young Sydney Arabs, without adapting similar operations for their improvement. New Gold Diggings in New South Wales. —Probably of all the various districts explored by the talented geologist the Bev. W. B. Clarke, the one in which the recently-discovered gold field is situated is most highly spoken of. Accounts have reached Sydney from Gibson’s Plains, the district in question, of a very flattering nature. The diggings are on a high table land, in a mountainous region. The climate is one of extreme severity. The sinking is shallow; the gold nuggetty and bright. The greater part is obtained by washing with tin dishes. Nuggets are often found from half an ounce to an ounce and a half weight. It is not uncommon to get several ounces of gold in one dishful of stuff. For these diggings people are leaving the other gold fields, and crowds are coming over from Victoria. The average earnings have been half an ounce a man per day for washing the river sand. A great number are now washing out the sides of the hills, sinking about live feet. For twenty miles around gold has been found, and it is considered that it will be a most extensive gold field. Favourable reports have come from so many reliable authorities that there can be no doubt that a genuine discovery has been hit on at last. An assay at the mint proves the gold to be worth £3 12s. 6d. per ounce.

Prizes of £SOO and £4OO have been offered for the two best designs of the new Houses of Parliament in Sydney. Australian Coal. —In Victoria, where for years the existence of coal fields has been reported, a company has been formed within the last twelvemonth for working the Cape Patterson mines, a square mile thereof having been leased to them by the Government. Previous to this, a trial shaft sunk near Cape Patterson to the depth of 200 feet passed through four seams of coal, having an aggregate depth of eleven feet, nine inches of thickness. There can be no doubt that in a few years the coal fields of Cape Patterson will in a great measure supply the Victorian market, the consumption of which is now estimated at about 350,000 tons annually, and that coal will form an item of export thence. Perhaps, even in New South Wales, the attention of capitalists has not been sufficiently directed to this important and reliable source of wealth. During the last year a large coal trade has been established faith Java, and the Dutch possessions in India, with China, Manilla, and parts of British India, and within the last few weeks several vessels have arrived here under the charter to load coals for China and India; and it is anticipated that during the present year 30,000 to 40,000 tons will be exported from our mines to supply the demand in the East.

Survey op Northern Coast of Australia. —Captain Derham, a name greatly associated with marine surveys in these latitudes, extending over the last forty years, has issued an abridged report of six months’ operations in the Coral sea, developing the outer route to Torres Straits. From the report it is seen that there are reefs of great danger lying precisely in the track between Port Jackson and Port Curtis. From the determining of 21. actual dangers, and the sweeping awav of six vigias, the navigation of Torres Straits will now be much more safe and expeditious. These arc services which make but little noise in the world. They, however, bear the stamp of permanence. As the relations of nations multiply, and commerce enlarges its empire, the navigator of every land turns with gratitude to the labours of those precursors who have pointed out the shallows and quicksands which lie in the path of civilisation, and lessened the perils of the deep. Great floods have been committing ravages in all parts of the southern interior, carrying away bridges, houses, sheep, hay, pigs, fencing, garden produce, and crops generally. The water, in many instances, rose perpendicularly twenty or thirty feet. At Shoalhaven, the whole of the country was under water for miles. Nearly every house on the river bank had been swept away, in some cases with loss of life; people being carried away with their dwellings, so that hundreds have lost their all. The Government had taken steps to relieve the more urgent necessities of the sufferers. The Yass Courier, speaking of the Good Hope Copper Mines, says:—We are glad to be in a position to report on the progress being made in opening these copper mines. There are now twelve men at work, who are employed in sinking two shafts. One of these shafts is down sixty feet, and the quality of the ore improves as it descends. A lode, almost on the surface, has been cut through, and the ore is described as being of a very rich description. This lode is six

feet deep, and about sixty feet across. A portion of the ore taken from it was lately sent to Carangara to be smelted, and is reported to be rich in copper, and to possess extraordinary facilities for fusing. Another sample of the ore has been sent to Adelaide to be tested, but no report has yet been received. The aim of the workmen at present is to reach the main lode, and whenever they succeed, the probability is that the proper facilities for carrying on the work, of raising and smelting the ore, will be procured.”