THE AUSTRALASIAN ON THE CRISIS IN VICTORIA.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 24, 28 January 1878, Page 4

THE AUSTRALASIAN ON THE CRISIS IN VICTORIA.

When, in one of those mements of introspective reflection which are not unfrequent in caees of mental disorder, Mr Berry reminded the Legislative Assembly that madmen ought to be coerced and confined in a lunaticBBylum, and asked " what would be thought if they caw a man walking about amid inflammable malcriaU with a .blazing- .torch," it is a pity Stia f> iouJb did not act upon the hint nn\ place him under restraint, so as to avoid the greater dilfia'iers which are likely to fall upon him. For since then he has Bet his hand to a work which could only have been planne) by a man whose mind is iv a state of frenzy, and who has lost his head by being placed in a situation, and haviug to deal with an emergency, altogether beyond his grasp; He has committed himself to the first of a eeriee. of revolutionary proceedings, of which be certaiuly cannot foresee the issue, and which ail historical precedents go to show invariably destroy tbe authors of them. " The Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has removed from tbeir repective offices each and all of the persona now. holding the offices of judges of county courts, courts of mines, and of the court oi insolvency; also chairmen of courts of general sessions of the peace, and every person now holding the ofßceof police magistrate and warden j'' as well as * * all persons holding the office of coroner or deputy coroner of Victoria respectively." Bat the judges of the Supreme Court, being only removable by an address from both Houses of Parliament, are left intact. Thus, to the utmost extent to which it has been practicable, the Qicen's representative, with the advice of his responsible Minißterß, has suspended the administration of Justice, and taken the first step towards the dissolution of the bonds of society.

And let the psopla of this colony mark well the motive and object of this scandalous proceeding. About 50 members of a legislature, numbering 116 representatives of the people of Victoria, have been prevented by legal and constitutional ineanß, from obtaining a stipend of £300 per annum each, which had been promised to them by the leader of their party, as the reward of their steady voting during the last session. This is the sole grievance, the sole pretext for a revolution, the sole pretence for abolishing the machioery by which justice is administered and crimes of secret violence are brought to light ; the sole excuse which can be truthfully put forward by the party of turbulence, lawlessness, anJ civil discord. We believe the records of ancient and modern history might be ransacked in vain for &ny parallel instance of a community having been plunged into confusion and possibly bloodshed from bo altogether base, contemptible, and sordid a motive. " Give us £300 a year," is the exclametion of the followers of the Victorian Lord George Gordon, "or we will destroy the institutions of the country, " weaken if not ruin its credit, derange all the operations of commerce and industry, shatter public confidence in the stability of everything that has baen hitherto supposed to be most stable, paralyze enterprise, drive capital out of the country, subvert the constitution, and dissolve society." For this is the plain English of the programme put forward by a member of the Assembly who is in the confidence of the Government, and who has announced that in the coming struggle the backs are to be the victims! the banks, which are the trustees and fiduciary agents of every class in the community, from the small contractor and the little tradesman up to the greatest employers of labor in the colony; the banks, which hold about fifteen millions sterling belonging to all these; and have something like twenty millions afloat, as the mainsprings aad motive power of productive industry in every one of its multifarious and ramified channels. Surely it is unnecessary to utter a single word to convince our readers that this is the language of madmen, or to point out the magnitude of the calamity wbich wouU befall all classes — but, more particularly die wage-earners — by a eud'ien restriction of the issues, end a calling in of the advances of the bsnks. However, this ia tho programme put forward: — "Money, so-called, in tbesbapo of bank notes, will not be recognisa.l (by the Government). Gold alune will be received, and th»t mint be p*il into the Natiooal Treasury. Should this pressure be insufficient, puy off the udges, the magistrate?, the heals of the departments, diechargo the volunteer^ close the post apd telegraph clliues, b:oj> the railways, and prevent (he vessels discharging or receiving cargo. If that be not enough for Ciliufc- itre-t, ihe police force must go, and the last shi lling kept to prevein the inmates of Pentridge from being let loose oo society."

The revolutionists Jo not con iaseßnd to inform us how, in the general dissolution of sociely, t c payment of taxes, in gold or otherwise, ia to be enforced ; or bow much, if there were o»y means of enforcement, the Cuatotnbouse duties would yield, in the event of vessels being prevented from dis.charging or receiving cargo. Neither is any explanation vouchsafed aa to how the many hundreds of persons employed in connection with our shipping trade are Jikely to receive the proposition that they should undergo starvation because 50 einecurists Lava been

thwarted in their efforts to help themselves to £300 a year out of the public tresßary. But it would be, of course, mere folly to expect anything rational in language or condnct from " a man walkiog about amid inflammable materials with a filming torch;"