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New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4316, 20 January 1875, Page 2

The Victorian revenue returns for the year 1874 were published in Melbourne on the day before the departure o£ the Albion. From them we see that the amount received by the Treasury was, in round numbers, £4,053,864, as compared with £3,902,024 in 1873. The increase, therefore, amounts to £151,840. These sums do not include recoups from loans. On the Inst quarter of the year, however, there was a decrease amounting to £15,575. During 187-1 the population of Victoria only increased by 17,000. The exports for 1874 were £14,669,131, or close upon a million more than in 1873, while the imports for the same period showed an increase of £1,760,550. The yield of gold declined from 968,2080z5. in 1873 to 853,805 in 1874. Alluvial gold fell from 117,923 to 44,015. The mining district in the colony which has suffered least is Bendigo, and even there the yield showed a slight and the dividends a very large decrease. The decrease in the yield of gold had been compensated for by an increase in the shipments of wool. The high price of stock had operated to prevent large shipments of preserved provisions, and there was a falling off in this item of about two millions and a quarter pounds during the year. The railway revenue had largely increased, owing to the number of new lines that had been opened. Some one blundered considerably at Adelaide on a recent occasion. The Pera, which brought the last Suez mail, also carried to South Australian shores, the Hon. W. W. Cairns (the Governor of Queensland), Mr. I". A. Weld (the Governor of Tasmania), and Sir William Stawell, the Chief-Justice of Victoria, who. was on his way to Melbourne to be sworn in as Acting-Governor until the return of Sir George Bowen from England. The illustrious trio' landed at Glenelg, with the intention of visiting' the Governor of South Auatralia, but on landing at the pier of Glenelg they found neither his Excellency Anthony Mulgrave, Esq., nor any one representing him or the Government, to receive and welcome them. The three Governois, under those circumstances, at once re-embarked in the captain's gig, returned on board ship, and shook the dust of the inhospitable soil of South Australia from their shoes. There is now no lack of steam competition on the part of British shipowners for the Australian trade, and, through that competition, some of the Melbourne journals congratulate themselves that the problem of a forty-five day passage between England and Victoria will very Bpeedily be solved without assistance in the shape of a subsidy from any of the Governments. The arrival of the St; Osyth at Melbourne in forty-seven arid a-half days from Plymouth, has already been noted, and the London telegrams of a few days ago reported the departure of the new steamer Whampoa for Sydney. The St. Osyth belongs to tho Orient line, which hitherto has not done much business with the colonies ; and the Whampoa is the pioneer ship of a new line j is of 3835 tons register, and 500 h.p., and possesses the highest class at Lloyds. She is expected to make the passage from Plymouth to Sydney in forty-eight days, and will probably be successful in doing so. A third vessel, called the Victoria, is to follow, and belongs to owners who; have no interest in either the St. Osyth or the Whampoa. While it will be proved, and that speedily, we have no doubt, that tho long voyage can be accomplished under forty-five days, it is obvious that something has still to be done to enable the vessels to do it at a profit. The St. Osyth consumes forty tons of coal; per day, or 3600 tons for the double voyage—a very serious item in tho purser's accounts, and making a tremendous demand on the carrying capacity of the steamer. Tho new vessels are lightly rigged. " Their screws do not lift, and .they are, therefore, entirely dependent upon their steaming powers. The liberation of the "Wild Scotchman" by tho Queensland Government, does not appear to be open to the same objections that have been taken in New South Wales to the liberation of Gardiner. His sentence, passed some eight years ago, was one of penal servitude for twenty-five years, and his etory is not without interest. In prison he has conducted himself in a most praiseworthy manner, and the Rockhampton Bulletin states that when he was convicted ho was a mere lad, and never manifested any vicious propensities until he began to read sensational novels recording the exploits of highwaymen in the mother country. This literature poisoned tho young fellow's

mind, and he deserted his parents, who have lived for many years in the Moreton Bay; district, to lead the life of the " jolly freebooter." He committed many robberies under arms during his short criminal career, but, fortunately for himself, never happened to take life. The judge, in passing sentence, stated that it was intended to have a deterrent effect, and was therefore heavier than the circumstances of the crime proved might seem to warrant. The sentence had its effect, for we believe that bushranging has not Bince been heard of. His father and mother, now becoming old and helpless, and a large number of their neighbors, were among the petitioners for " the Wild Scotchman's " release.