QUEENSLAND.

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

QUEENSLAND.

It cannot be uninteresting to watch the progress of the new colony of Queensland. The residents appear to have recovered from their amazement at the sight of a Governor. It was a decided case of love at first sight, on both sides; but all on a sudden the ancient rivalries of Brisbane and Ipswich revived, and even Ipswich was divided against itself. The Ipswichians exhibited a considerable amount of contempt for the address of the Brisbanites to his Excellency, and resolved to have an address of their own ; but here they were very nearly foiled, for a sharp attorney, whom they employed to engross the document, wound up his labours by transmitting it to the Governor in his own name, and hugged himself for the time in the gratification of having received a complimentary reply from the Private Secretary. It was not likely that Ipswich would put up with this, and accordingly the ruse of the clever attorney was exposed in the local papers; but he defended himself stoutly, and, not to be cheated of his coveted honours, forthwith published an ode to Sir George Bowen, of the poetic beauties of which we have no desire to offer any opinion. The jealousy of Ipswich was next excited by the intention of the Governor to dine at the North Australian Club; but, as his Excellency pathetically remarked, “ Governors must dine somewhere, and the difficulty was got over by Sir George {dodging himself to dine with the other party next time—judiciously accompanying the promise with an expression of hope that there would be a proper display of emulous loyalty on the part of the opposition cook.”

According to the reading of the Queen’s Order in Council by the Chief Justice, the colony of Queensland is not to enjoy the privilege of manhood suffrage, but the electors are to fall back upon the qualifications prescribed by the Constitution Act of 1850. The ballot, however, is preserved ; and, on the whole, the colonists will not, at present, suffer much from the change. One of the announcements in the Queensland Government Gazette is worthy of note and of commendation. The Sydney Official Gazette had notified that tenders would be received for the squatting runs situated in the newly-created pastoral districts of Kennedy and Mitchell, up to the first Monday in February. With reference to this notice, the Governor of Queensland, with the advice of his Executive Council, directs it to be notified that tenders for the runs within the limits of the districts mentioned will not be entertained until the first Monday in August next; and parties submitting tenders are desired to take notice that such tenders will only be received and entertained in the event of the existing Land Regulations remaining in force up to the date mentioned

A prospectus lias been issued under the title of “ The Maryborough and Wide Bay Cotton-growing Association,” for the laudable purpose of encouraging the growth of cotton in the new colony of Queensland, for which the soil and climate are admirably adapted. The capital is fixed at £3OOO, in 600 shares of £5 each, of which 25 per cent is to be paid on commencement of operations, the remainder in equal portions at six, twelve, and eighteen months. Believing that cotton must eventually become one of, if not the most, important products of Queensland, we heartily wish the Company success. The Sorghum. Parties who have watched the sorghum in these districts during the last few days cannot fail to be astonished at its surviving the fearful heat, for while everything around us is parched up, the sorghum is green. We have seen a small patch, planted about the 25th December (midsummer); it is now about a foot high, and the plant is strong and healthy. The “ shoots,” about six inches in height, seem to have been slightly affected by the heat, and have a yellow tinge; but they may perhaps recover themselves now that we have had some rain. The second and third crops, namely, those cut twice or thrice, are rapidly growing, and it seems questionable whether we cannot have a green crop throughout the year. If this be the case, the sorghum must prove of the greatest benefit in the hot interior.