VICTORIAN LEGISLATURE.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 243, 18 April 1866, Page 2 (Supplement)

VICTORIAN LEGISLATURE.

(From the Southland' Times, lfifch April.) Bt the favor of Professor Jacobs, we are in receipt of a. copy of the Abgus, with two days later news. The parliamentary conflict has not yet ended, but there is a probability of its soon coining to a. conclusion. A more conciliatory spirit is being adopted. The Council 'is evidently willing to mako concessions, and the tone of the Assembly is considerably mellowed. The press has also ceased the violent efforts which it has so long put. forth to widen instead of narrowing the breach between the Council and the Assembly, The Akgtts, 4th April, in a reasonable and quiet leader, says : — " To-day's proceedings in Parliament ought to be very important. The quarrel between the two Houses has bten so far narrowed down that nothing now remains iv immediate dispute which ought to prolong for a day the present disastrous interruption of public business. Aye do not allege that the essence of the quarrel has lost its importance, or that the holders of either opinion about it are called upon to yield. But there is an opportunity now for' getting public business into train again without the concession of anything that either side need be reluctant to yield, and without affecting the fighting position of either House as to their respective rights, if the hopes of peaceably-minded people should prove futile. If it should be deemed necessary to renew the battle almost immediately, we may at least hope that some very discreditable weapons wiil not be taken up again after having been once laid down, and that we shall not again see an attempt made to coerce Petee by making Paul's sufferings so great that Petee will not be able to endure the spectacle of theaa." It is to be hoped that this unseemly strife will cease. The time has come w T hen both parties can meet each other without sacrificing, a priuciple or detracting from the dignity of either party. Mr George is still in durance vile, not now, however, owing to the vindictive spirit ofthe Assembly, but from a determination on his part not to pay the costs, which must be liquidated, according to Parliamentary regulations, if he accepts the offered release before the termination ofthe session. In adopting this course he is literally punishing his antagonists. At the close of the session his discharge is a matter of right, and the responsibility of the expenses incurred on account of his imprisonment will be placed upon the shoulders of his enemies. Tin this matter, the Government and the Assembly have been checkmated, but over the Council they have gained a victory. The Council, it' would seem, is ready to yield all that was first asked. Their mouth-piece, the Argus, says : — " Everything that they have ostensibly fought for, their opponents are now willing t© grant them, and although we are well aware that a grave constitutional question underlies the specific and ostensible points of the dispute, they are now in a position to gain those points, and to leave the constitutional question to be fought out, if need be, disentangled from minor complications, and upon its own broad merits. If they so please, they can get to-day or to-morrow that remarkable tariff" which they severally describe so differently, according to their different views about free trads and protection. They can get their Appropriation" Act, and pay their debts. They can avoid the responsibility of stopping the railways and disbanding the police, and opening the gaols, and leaving the clerks in the hands of the usurers, and the contractors' men and their families in destitution. They can get that alteration in the gold duty to which they have attached so much importance. In brief, they can get all they have contended for. They can ,be restored .to the position of a Constitutional G-overnment, and they can ficcomplish all the detailed mischief upon which they have so long set their hearts, and for the sake of which they have been ho coi^lially willing that other people and tho ; reputation of the .colony should suffer so mush. " .

' THE CHATHAM ISLANDS,

We hpe been favored with the following inforination respecting these islands arid their inhabitants by a gentleman who ! has just returned in the St. Kilda, which we have much pleasure in publishing. — j ' After three days very pleasantly passed on board the good little steamer St. Kilda, Capt. Kennedy, Aye sighted the S.W. point of Wharekeuri or the Chatham Island, called Bishop's Point, from the resemblance of two peculiarly formed rocks to a Bishop* s mitre. We then coasted northward till we arrived at the roadstead of Waitangi, where we dropped anchor. This bay is beautifully formed, having on one side richly colored red cliffs, and on the other a fine hard sandy beach, which extends for some miles. The anchorage is considered safe except in gales from N.W., in which case vessels can easily run for the small port of Tongaroa; about 13 miles across the bay, where there is always good anchorage and plenty of good water.

The sttlement of Waitangi is the largest on the Island, the others being Oenga, Whangaroa, and Pitt's Island. The principal native chiefs — Toenga, Kopi, and Tungari— reside at Waitangi. I bave seen no native pah in NeAv Zealand which can compare with this one for building, cleanliness, and good order. Tbe houses, instead of beiug huddled together, as is generally the case, are built with some regard to neatness and regularity. There is also a very handsome church, which has lately been extensively repaired, and towards which Captain Thomas, E.M. — who I may here observe, appears to have Avon the respect of all about him— has Contributed a neat little bell tower. Service is conducted Avith gret regularity every morning and evening, of which the bell gives due notice. The kindly reception given us by these natives was very gratifying. The Maori population is about 380, in addition to a remnant of the original race of Morioris, amounting to 120. These latter resemble the Maori, but are, I should say, rather inferior both in appearance and intellect.

The Chatham Islands, judging ty what I have been able to see of them, are most valuable. The country is generally low but beautifully undulating, consisting partly of rich red volcanic ' soil admirably adapted for wheat ; and partly of an admixture of black peat and sand, which the* natives seem to prefer on account of the greater facility of working it. There is abundance of wood for fuel, but little or none for building purposes. The material chiefly used for building is fern tree, which grows in great abundance, and the stems ' of which — when neatly

put together, and; as in some instances, plastered with lime— form a very substantial and lasting structure. The; streams, of which there are several, arc well stocked with eels of a superior quality : and one large lake or lagoon, a fe*w miles from Waitangi, abounds in fish of various kinds. Cattle and horses are numerous, the former in some parts of the Island being quite in a Avild state, and only to be got by the rifle.

The country is well adapted for sheep, although as yet there are not many, owing probably to ' the expense and risk of shipping them. For fruit and vegetable groAving the climate is all that can be desired, with the exception of the grape, for which there is not the smallest appearance of blight, either in fruit or vegetable, and I am told that gooseberries, currants, &c, groAV to a. very large size. I should say from certain indications, that iron, and, not improbably, coal, may yet be found, but this remains to be proved.; — Wellington Independent.