THE TASMANIAN RIOTS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 47, 24 February 1874, Page 2

THE TASMANIAN RIOTS.

Our Australian telegrams have of late contained frequent references to the riots in Launceston but have not informed us of the origin of them. The following extract from an artiole in thd ' Wellington Independent ' gives a full explanation of the cause of the disturbances : — Now that tho majesty of the law— to use a high-sounding phrase— has been vindicated, and that some hundred br more of the dwellers on the headwaters of the Tamar have been arreßted and are held to answer; for tbeir contempt of her Majesty's authority, those who have not paid particular attention to the affairs of Tasmania will be as curious to know "what it was all about," as were tbe juvenile questioners of the aged relator of "the glorious Victory " of Blenheim. What could have induced, the, quiet pepple of a colony now so orderly as Tasmania to resort to violence, defy and all but defeat the authorities, and vex the soul of . quiet and peaceful Mr Dv Canei? The answer will almost as much astonish the reader as the storm in a tea-cup itself: and will go some way towards showing what a strange idea of good faith and public duty may overtake a people so isolated and so peculiar os those of Van Dieman's Land. Tbe whole disturbance, it appears, haß arisen from tbe determination of tbe Government to enforce what is known as the railway rate. A few years ago an anxious desire was exhibited in. the North of Tasmania, to open up the country lying westward from Launceston by a railway., The locality, was comparatively well-settled, the land was rich, and Deloraine was the oentre of a. cultivated and. prosperous district,

the progress of which was restricted only by the difficulty which was found in getting the grain to a market or a shipping place, A railway known as the Launceston and Deloraine line was projected. It was ardently desired by the people of the district. The calculations of traffic, however, were not euch os to tempt speculators to take up the work. It was found tbat for some years to come, and until the lands were more settled upon, the revenue from the traffic would not meet the expense of working the line. Tbe Government were appealed to, but they declined to undertake the loss. After years of effort it was arranged that the property owners along the line, while they gave the necessary land for nothing, should also guarantee to pay, pro rata, to the Government the amount of any loss that might be sustained in working the railway. The parties to this contract, no doubt, embraced a number of the citizens of Launceston, who are largely interested in the land and the trade of I the Deloraine district. On this contract the Government gave itsgaurantee forjhe cost of the construction of the line, and for the necessary working expenses when it should be formed. The railway was built, and the original j calculations of its promoters were realised, for it bas never paid. Since that fact was ascertained, it has been the constant effort of the North to escape from its bargain, and to throw the responsibility of the annual der ficiency upon the colony at large. The South resists this somewhat selfish attempt, holding that the North alone has benefited by the construction of the line; that it would not have been built but for the bond entered into by those who have benefited, and who had hoped to be benefited still more; and that those who professed their willingness to pay for the accommodation they desired, inuat do so. Session after session, the greater number of the Northern members have resorted to every possible means to induce Parliement to take from the North its special liability. Members who took a more honest view of the case were displaced for others whose perceptions of honor and duty were less distinct. Ministry- after Ministry has been bßdgered; and When the present Government — and ibJp ChapmanrFysh Ministry has only been in power for a month or two — resolved to resist the importunities of the re'pudiators, tbe unpleasantnesses which have resulted in the tbe late riots began. When a levy was made on 'the property of one of the guarantors, for a petty amount due to his bond, Launceston solemnly agreed that the auction should b.e a farce. The public filled the auction room to prevent the sale. Bidding was all but prevented, and when a fine horse was passed under.. the hammer for a few shillings the jeers of the mob was immense, though the jectors were somewhat confounded when they discovered tbat the purchaser was an agent of the Attorney-General. These proceedings, and the course which the " Launceston Examiner "hak taken in connection with them, brought about an action by the Attorney-Gene-ra!, for damages for libel, against the journal just alluded to. The Government only succeeded in obtaining a nominal verdict ; and the trial seems to have increased the angry feeling on the

subject. It is impossible, under the circumstances, to sympathise with the rioters, orj to find a single valid argument to put forward on their behalf. They made a distinct bargain with the Government, after long and serioua deliberation. The line is essentially a local one, and with the country improved and benefited the people of the South have no business relations whatever. The South and the North of Tasmania have entirely separate interests commercially, and bat for their union "under the Tsame constitution would have nothing in common. t If tbe railway bad been* a trunk-line, ftnd if there had been no special arrangement with those who expected to benefit by it, the case wonld have been different. As it is, the Government of Tasmania is doing no more than its duty in enforcing the payment of the railway rate, and there can be no sympathy with the promoters of the, riots in Launceston.