OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4430, 1 June 1875, Page 3

OUR SYDNEY LETTER.

(FROM OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Sydney, May 16.

Those of your readers who knew Sydney a few years ago, (dud then- name must be legion,) would be surprised at its altered condition, if not appearance, if they could see it now. So lately as four years back, when the MartiuEobertson Ministry went out of office, things were very bad : the Treasury was depleted, work was scarce, and there was a universal depression. Now, thanks to .the impetus given to all branches of trade through the development of mining, the increased communication on all hands by sea, the repeal of the ad valorem duties, and the steady high prices that have ruled for wool for years, we are once more a prosperous and thriving colony. We have any amount of funds, or credit ; work is plentiful ; and everybody seems satisfied, as they have reason to be. The city, owing to bad management in laying it out, will never alter much in general appearance, but the many palatial stores, banks, and offices, in course of erection, will wonderfully improve it in detail. Having premised thus much iu this my first letter, I will get on to give you the current news of the day. In the first place, you must know what has been done in the PARLIAMENT. The session was intended by the Government to be very short, as most of the work ought to have been done in 1874, and would have been so but for the change of Ministry. Already, however, it has exceeded in duration the time anticipated, and one or two important matters have yet to be dealt with. The supplies were granted very graciously by .the Assembly, the Opposition, and a few fractious members, objecting only to the grant for the Foundling Hospital, and the salary of the Under Secretary for Mines, a gentleman from Victoria, promoted to the office over the heads of all the people in the department. Many private members’ Bills have been passed, and the Stamp Duties and Land Act Amendment Bills, both Government measures, are in different stages. The former has passed its first reading, and contains little that will provoke opposition, but the latter measure will be used as a handle by all the opponents of the Ministry. It is , one of the most difficult matters iu the world, and always has been, to bring in a satisfactory Land Bill, and we have already Land Bills, Crown Lands Alienation Acts of different years Amendment Acts, and now we are to have another tinkering. The new Bill, which I belive hung on in committee for months, if it passes its second reading fixes the ago of a selecting minor at sixteen, and deals pretty effectively .with dummies and those who employ them. The selectors, however, grumble that it favors the squatters, and already there are numbers of petitions against it from those insatiable beings, while the pastoral homestead ownersdonot seem very sweet upon it. The anti-Minis-terialists vow that the Minister for Lands is not in earnest about it, and only wants time to get a firm seat for bis colleagues, but as it is debating now, it would seem as if ho would push the second reading, and get into committee at once. The area for selection, by the way, is increased to 640 acres. The Contagious Diseases Bill has passed its ing in spite of a good deal of righteous indignation. The debate on the second reading will be a very animated, if not rancorous, one. M» Famell, the late Minister for Lands, introduced it, but his late colleagues are nearly all against him. Hr. Nelson, member for Orange, has lost his famous Dog Bill, which was negatived by a large majority ; but his Naturalisation Bill, giving aliens many privileges they enjoy nowhere else, will pass into law.

A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE. The prosaic business of Legislation has been rudely interrupted by the usual cause ofmost of the scenes in the Assembly, Mr. David Buchanan, one of the most useful bht at the same time violent members in it, and the effect has been to exclude the public and the reporters from the Chamber. A feud of long standing has raged between this gentleman and Mr. Fitpatrick, the member for Mass. Mr. Buchanan styled the man of Yass a Turveydrop, and a hankeror after gubernatorial favor and condescension; and Mr. Fitzpatrick retorted by saying that the honorable member for the Goldfields West had ornamented the cutters of numerous places in the colony, and was a vile thing, so contemptible as to be beneath his notice. When the great Joachim v O’Shaiitoasy case (with which you are well acquainted) cropped up, Mr. Buchanan found out that Mr. Fitzpatrick, in his capacity as land agent, had acted for the burly knight at one stage of the contest, and ho moved the adjournment of the House, to ask whether the fact of his enemy acting as paid agent in this matter while a representative of the people was not degrading to the Parliament and the colony. The motion, of course, was negatived, and Mr. Buchanan then moved for a committee to inquire into the charges ho made ; but the Speaker ruled that the question had been dealt with and could not be reconsidered Mr.' G. W. Allan (the Speaker) is another of Mr. Buchanan’s particular antipathies, and bis impetuous opponent instantly poured out a flood of choice invective, during which some one called the Speaker’s attention to_ the-won-derful fact that a stranger was listening to the hon. member, and the galleries were cleared. On the next business paper was Mr. Buchanan s motion in another form, and upon the Speaker a"ain objecting, a similar charge of positivism.” “ incompetence,” “malice, &e., and so forth, was levelled at his devoted head, Xho

galleries were once more cleared, and a great portion of the business of the night was a**ain uureported. Mr. Buchanan has asked questions since, about the delinquencies of Mr. Fitzpatrick’s son, who, it appears, <*ot into the window of the Lands Office, and “attached” some papers he required. This the Speaker decided was a reflection upon the officer who reinstated the young gentleman after his suspension, and could not be dealt with except by a motion directly censuring him. Where the struggle will end no one can tell. Mr. Buchanan is entirely irrepressible. The Press here is of opinion that the practice of clearing the galleries at the instance of a single member is one that should not be.permitted to obtain, and, indeed, it is nearly obsolete, and should be discontinued. A division, without debate, might meet the case, or some better arrangement than the one adopted might be substituted. It is notorious, too, here, that some member who rarely speaks to a motion is the first to exercise a privilege that should not be individual. In this instance, a Mr. Phelps made his only speech of the session, and almost the only one he has delivered in the Assembly. In addition to the measures I have mentioned, a Mining Bill is to be submitted ; Mr. Hargraves’ claim to further compensation for discovering gold will be considered, and the battle of immigration must be fought. Mr. Piddington moves for the expenditure of £300,000 in assisted immigration, and the creation of a “board,” with power to spend a large sum annually for that purpose. Although many buildings and other contracts cannot be let because of the scarcity of artisans, and men for unskilled labor are much needed, the opinion of the country is against assisted immigration, after what has been decided (whether truly or not) as the failure of the plan in your colony and South Australia. The chances of a long innings for the present Government are constantly debated. Their enemies say their reign will be short, but they have had good majorities as yet. It cannot, however, be denied that Mr. Parkes, the late Premier, is a tower of strength, and went out of office by a mere fluke, for which he has to thank Mr. Gardiner, the bushranger, and his own over confidence. It is noticeable,. too, that the Ministry, upon every question not actually affecting their policy, are divided, and the team is not kept together like the last, or that of Sir James Martin. The truth of it is, they think—a bad thing for Ministers to do.

MUNIOITA6. We hear little just now of the enormous city debt, but the Cerberus has had several sops of £IO,OOO each lately. A Bill to permanently deal with the Corporation difficulty is to be presented early next session. The Council have been trying to get back the regulation of the street traffic from the Transit Commissioners, but without avail. Whether they would conduct it better, I cannot say, but it could not be done worse. Our cabmen are uncivil, extortionate, immoral, and their vehicles in the main unfit for use, and they seem to defy the inspectors. The horses too, though belonging mostly to large companies, are a disgrace to a civilised oity. The commissioners made an unexpected raid on Friday, and saw a state of things on the stands that shocked even hardened men like them. Added to this, we have no by-laws restraining drivers from crossing the intersections of crowded thoroughfares at any place they choose, which makes pedestrianism. as uncomfortable as cab or ’bus riding.