OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4429, 31 May 1875, Page 3

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

(from our own correspondent). Melbourne, May 20.

Matters political are still unchanged, though rumor is not idle, and so far have matters gone, that the new Ministry which is to succeed Mr. Kerferd’s is already in print and in existence imaginatively. Among the names given are those of Sir James McCulloch as Chief Secretary, Mr. Langton as Treasurer, and Mr. G. P. Smith as Attorney-General. Now, the real facts of the matter are, that Sir James McCulloch and Mr. Langton have never yet forgiven or forgotten the old quarrel when Mr. Langton advisedly and deliberately accused Sir James McCulloch and his confederates of taking advantage of their political positions to feather their nests, and net a handsome profit on sugar when the duty on this article was raised. Although in political life we are accustomed to witnessing strange combinations and wonderful coalitions, the most ardent admirers of these two gentlemen never hope or wish to see them parading the same political platform. The country will not tolerate G. P. Smith as Attorney-General. They had quite enough of this gentleman’s vagaries on a previous occasion, and in addition to this, they had evidence of his political backsliding when he was returned for South Bourko on the Erancis ticket as a supporter of the reform of the Upper House. On entering the House, the Norwegian scheme of reform having lost much of its popularity, Mr. G. P. Smith coolly took his seat upon the Opposition benches, to the disgust of all right-thinking political observers. The conservation of the Education Aet will be the principal feature of the Government policy, as appealing to the passions and strong feelings of the people, but as this, measure requires no particular props and stays at present, being firmly implanted in public affection, no one will much lament a change of its preservers, if the new guardians can improve upon the general policy of the Cabinet. Mr. Higinbotham has published a manifesto on the education question, in which he urges the necessity of further and immediate advances on the subject. He advocates making the State schools graduated step-ping-stones to tho University, so that the child of the poorest artisan may have the same chances of good, sound, high education as the child of the wealthy squatter. Mr. McDermott, the SolicitorGeneral, has also issued a letter on _ the subject, but states that healone, not the Cabinet, is responsible for its statements and views. He desires to ignore dogmatic religion, and introduce a species of universal Christianity, which however desirable as an idea, is somewhat Utopian. The Roman Catholic clergy and laity still continue to fulminate missives and agitato for a repeal of tho Act, but without producing any sensible impression on the public mind. Punch had a cartoon of them last week, kicldng against a strong brick wall inscribed “Tho Education Act.” The tiara, mitres, and croziers lay humped and broken at the foot of tho wall, and the assaulting party, who rejoiced in high cheek bones and strongly marked Hibernian features, lay overthrown among their sacred emblems, rubbing their heads and shins.

Tho Ararat election, which took place yesterday; resulted in tho return of Mr. Gaunson, who achieved his victory over three opponents by the aid of tho Catholic vote.

The indiscriminate manner in ■which police matjistrates continue to send children to the Industrial and Reformatory Schools, has attracted the attention of the Government, and a rigid scrutiny is to be instituted into the means of the parents and their ability to contribute to the support of their offspring. The Chief Secretary has issued instructions to the magistrates, who will now be in some measure restrained in their penchant for sending every waif or stray of the streets to an institution where it at once becomes a burden on the State.

The Chief Secretary has recently received instructions to have the dead bodies which are daily forwarded to the Morgue, photographed for identification. The practice of photographing has been for a long time carried out in regard to criminals sentenced to a sojourn at Pentridge, and the extension of the practice in the direction indicated has long been urged upon the authorities. The number of “ men unknown” returned by juries as “found dead” or “ found drowned,” forced the matter in a practical way upon the attention of the Government and the public. It is -with sincere x'egret that I have- to record the death of Mr. W. H. Gresham, ship chandler, of Sandridge. It appears that Mr. Gresham, in company with two experienced boatman, went down the bay in a miserably frail dingy, during the recent heavy weather, -with a view to boarding one of the incoming vessels. As nothing was heard of the party for a couple of days, search parties were fitted out, and then the truth was discovered. The dingy was washed ashore near Schnapper Point, and two of the life buoys were also picked up, pointing to the sad fate encountered by the party. The bodies have not yet been discovered.

The new picture gallery in connection with the public library is rapidly approaching completion, and the trustees announce that it will be formally opened on the 24th inst. Among the sensations of the day we find the fiasco at the' Beechworth branch of the Bank of New South Wales. It appears that the manager of that branch, in conjunction with Mr. Hughes, the accountant, has been in the habit for years of manipulating the official returns, and shifting the customers’ accounts to suit them. The discovery was made by accident, as usually happens in such cases, through a customer calling at the head office in Melbourne in regard to an overdrawn account. Inquiries being set on foot, it was found that instead of his account being overdrawn the bank books showed him to be in funds. On this being discovered, a thorough overhaul of the branch bank’s affairs took place, disclosing irregularities of a startling character. The manager, who has been in charge of the bank for nearly twenty years, and the accountant were at once dismissed and proceeded against under criminal information on four distinct charges, and they now stand committed for trial.

The next sensation is in regard to the police raids that have recently been made on a variety of houses in Melbourne and Geelong, where a mild sort of gambling has been tolerated. Xu one case the police found the owner of the shop and his wife comfortably discussing an oyster supper, and considerable was their terror at being invaded by twenty constables in so unceremonious a style at two o’clock in the morning. In the other case, which occurred at Geelong, about twenty policemen, headed by a subinspector, burst into the Corio Hotel, and there found four men playing the game known as “Yankee grab,”—“a shilling in and the ■winner shout.” Fifteen in all were captured, some were onlookers, others visitors and customers of the hotel. They were then handcuffed and marched to the look-up, where they were detained all night. As they all belong to the respectable classes, and were known to be steady, quiet, unoffending- citizens, the commotion in the town when the affair got wind was considerable. On being brought up on the following morning the landlord was fined £250, or in default six months’ imprisonment, for being the keeper of a common gaming-house. Nine of those present at the game were fined £5 each, and five were discharged with a caution. People will talk of these raids, and contrast the conduct of the police in visiting mercilessly small and paltry offenders, whilst the well-known hells and haunts of professional gamblers are left to flourish and extend their destructive influence unchecked.

There has recently been invented a novel apparatus for heating rooms, in the form of a gas stove. Mr. Hosie, the proprietor of the well-known restaurant in Bourke-street, has obtained one, which is in daily use, and forms a conspicuous ornament in the drawingroom. The stove is in the form of a pedestal, on which stands an antique figure. Near the top of the pedestal is a perforated cone of sheetiron, covered with a thick layer of asbestos. When the gas is lighted, the invention consumes one part of gas to two of atmospheric air, and the asbestos glows with a red heat which rapidly fills the room with genial warmth, I fancy this invention would he much valued in your climate. The inventor claims for the new stove the advantages over ordinary stoves of cleanliness, cheapness, and absence of all offensive odors. Mr. John Bissett, of Leunoxstreet, Richmond, is the inventor. Sporting matters partake of the general dullness that seems to enfold all businesses and all classes. The Hunt Club Steeplechase Meeting, fixed for the Queen’s Birthday, attracts little attention, but there is more animation among the coursing clubs at present than there has been for some considerable time. There are nineteen entries for the twentyguinea Handicap Challenge Cup, offered by the "Victorian Chess Club, and a fine exhibition of chess is anticipated, The tournament will commence at once, as the hnndicappers have been already elected, and all are eager for the fray. The Rev. Charles Clark returned from his New Zealand lecturing tour last week, and on last Sunday he opened his services at the Athenroura with a sermon on unsectarian Christianity. He had a large congregation, and although he neither did nor said anything startling, he is likely to keep together a large number of personal adherents. In the opinion of a large number of thoughtful persons Mr. Clark missed his vocation early in life, and the stage lost a promising actor when the rev. gentleman donned the cassock and white necktie.

I informed you in a previous letter that Colonel Anderson, who is in command of our volunteers, made the extraordinary statement, before the Royal Commission, that four thousand of our volunteers could not successfully resist a regular force of two thousand once landed on our shores. He soon experienced a storm of indignation from officers and privates of the volunteer force, and on his next appearance before the Royal Commission he complained that he had been misreported, and that in his opinion a thousand Englishmen, armed with only sticks, could beat three thousand Frenchmen. This brought the French Consul on tho scene, and a Captain Boioit, who fought in the Crimea under the French flag. The captain left his name and address, and stated that he was at the disposal of the colonel whenever he desired, with either stick or otherwise. Colonel Anderson then apologised for his hasty and ill-judged remark, and the matter was quietly laughed out. In commercial affairs I can report a steady and certain rise in breadsuffs. Holders are disinclined to quit at present prices, and nothing less than £ll per ton will be taken. Kerosene is tho only other article that shows any symptoms of an improving market. Trade is excessively dull, and tho wholesale houses are so much overstocked that no sensible relief in our dullness can bo anticipated for at least twelve months.

Theatrical matters have been brisk since my last letter. “All that Gliters is not Gold ’’ was replaced, after a most successful run, by “Not Such a Fool as ho Looks;’’ a. comedy that has not been played here since Mr. Charles Matthews’s visit. Mr. Coppin covered himself as usual with fresh laurels, and the piece is likely to run for a week more at any rate. At the Opera House, tho popular “ Princess of Trebizonde” has been running without interruption, to good houses. Wo have ventriloquists at both theatres, but Mr. Davies, at tho Royal, is so far superior in his entertainment that all other similar amusements are hardly worth mentioning at the same time.

The Kennedy Family have had fair support for their farewell peformances, and the same may be said of the Hibernica, which is about leaving for Adelaide.