OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4448, 22 June 1875, Page 3

OUR MELBOURNE LETTER.

(FEOM OUB OWN COEBE3PONDENT.) Melboubne, June 12, 1875. Mr. George Higginbotham has been fretting under a sense of repressed energy and public indifference to his revolutionary theories and aspirations. Foiled in his attempts to provoke the Government to commence hostilities against the Upper House, he resorted to an expedient which, while provoking a considerable amount of mirth, has also its serious aspect. From his known sympathies with extreme republicanism, Mr. Higginbotham has come to be regarded as the favorite and faithful exponent and mouthpiece of what are designated the laboring classes. A short time ago an association was started both in Melbourne, Geelong, and Ballarat, under the title of the Land Tax League, with a view to effecting a change in the incidence of taxation, relieving the working classes of some of their burdens, and extorting a larger contribution to the Treasury from the wealthy estate holders and absentees. To say that this association gained the approval of Mr. Higginbotham is but a faint way of expressing the enthusiasm with which lie viewed the League as an instrument with which to work out his Utopian ideas. At his suggestion, and under his guidance and inspiration, a few laborers on the Yan Yean waterworks, situated in a remote, bucolic, and sparsely populated comer, assembled together like the historic tailors of Tooley-street, and signed a petition to the Legislative Assembly which Mr. Higginbotham undertook to present to Parliament, and probably had any other member of the Assembly presented it, no discussion would have taken place, and no political rancour would have arisen, but coining from one who feels proud of the appelation "of “ Bed,” it excited the suspicion of some of the more Conservative members. A scrutiny of the document revealed the fact that the petition was neither more nor less than a direct charge of dereliction of duty on the part of the Assembly, and a reproduction of the Higginbotham programme. The petition contained the usual programme of modem reformers, and suggested, among other things, that a land tax should be imposed on large landholders, that the laboring classes should have the luxury of a free (i.e.) untaxed breakfast table, that private property should be thrown open to the adventurous goldminer, and that the Legislative Council should be brought into a state of subjection to the more popular branch of Parliament. The scene during the debate as to whether this petition should be received or rejected, was notone which would elevate deliberative assemblies in popular estimation. The truth is that, what with M>. Higginbotham’s forensic ability and the appearance of earnest sincerity which he can so well assume, carried a number of members with him, who since voting on the question have seen fit to doubt the propriety of the course taken,' a course against which the Speaker had decided, and by which the Assembly has virtually pronounced its own condemnation and voted itself unworthy of confidence. A painful sensation has been created all over the colony through the extraordinary and unprecedented conduct of Judge Dunne at Maryborough. The facts of the case are now under strict investigation, but the allegations publicly expressed in the local newspaper are that Judge Dunne took his seat on the bench when so much under the influence of intoxication as to be non compos mentis. The decisions given in several cases were simply astounding and opposite. The Judge pronounced verdicts without hearing evidence, and finally opposing solicitors consented, for their clients to be nonsuited wholesale rather than risk going to trial. In the meantime the Court was ad journed, and the Judge removed t(*a neighboring hotel for medical treatment. A Cabinet Council was hastily called, and Judge Booman was instructed to undertake the rest of Judge Dunne’s duties. The statement put forward at present is that Judge Dunne was under medical treatment, and had been ordered to take stimulants ; that the dose he took was stronger than his present health could bear, and that his subsequent eccentricities are the result of the imprudence. While the above scandal was the gossip of the town, another extremely painful affair rose to the surface. Mr. Duncan Longden, a J.P. of Geelong, and formerly a member of Parliament, was summoned for forgery, the alleged forgeries having been committed on a deceased gentleman, whose estate was sufficient to meet them, and was in the hands of the Curator of Intestate Estates. The case is not yet finished, but I fear there can be no doubt that the accused will be committed for trial. One of the most important events at present taking place here is the Conference of Mining Boards from all the gold-producing centres. A great deal of experience and knowledge is being brought to bear, with a view to reducing the mining bye-laws, which now vary in every district, to something like a uniform code. One of the members of the Conference, a delegate from Pleasant Creek, created a fiasco by moving,—“ That mining boards be abolished as being useless incumbrances on miners." The roar of dissatisfaction from the assembled delegates, was something formidable to hear. In dramatic matters the principal event has been the opening of the new Academy of Music at Ballarat. The building is a handsome one, and with the hall cost nearly £14,000. The Academy was opened with the performance of the Opera Bouffo of “ La Fille do Madame Augot,” which attracted not only a select, but an overflowing audience. The hall is one of the largest and mosfc splendidly decorated in Australia. Bed, green, and gold abound in all the decorations, and the ceiling is richly tinted and

corniced. The drop-scene, by Mr. Holmes, is very tasteful, and the scenery, which shows the experienced hand of Habbe, leaves nothing to be desired in the scenic department. In Melbourne the English Opera season commenced at the beginning of the week with “Maritana,” Miss Alice May sustaining the principal character. “Martha” and the “Bohemian Girl ” have followed, and now “ Castle Grim ” has possession of the boards.