TASMANIA.

Colonist, Issue 19, 25 December 1857, Page 2

TASMANIA.

! By way of Sydney, we, have news from Launceston to the 2nd instant. The Hobart Town Mercury of the 30th ultimo says:—lnformation reached this, city yesterday, and has been conveyed to us through a source that may not be doubted, that a most strenuous endeavour will,be made injthe surrounding colonies, to exclude Tasmania front the Federation of the Australias.. This, is; whjrfilßighthave been expected. The mere possibility of such: an attempt being made is, of itself,' humiliating enough; but when we remember that all this degradation has been brought upon us by the reckless conduct of two or three members of the* House of Assembly* whose whole aim, from the first introduction of responsible government, has been to, fasten a xeproach upon the colony, we.lose all patience. Our only wonder and regret is, that any constituency could be fqund to countenance and support these political mendicants .in their ruinous career. The' Mercury is jto be. published daily after the Ist Jam'iary next. .' ,:■»,- Mrs. Thomas, the celebrated temperance adro* cate, was' present at a .valedictory soiree given by the Tasmanian Temperance Alliance. ■ The Cornwall Chronicle expresses its decided opinion that a payable gold-field, exists at Nine' Mile Springs. The Mercury reports favourably upon the coal produced from the mines at Fingal, and conceives it unmistakably superior for the purposes of gas and water over any hitherto discovered in Tasmania. Mr. Falconer, Manager of the Gas Company, states that the amount of gas obtained from this coal is witliia a fraction of that.obtained from the New South Wales article. At the House of Assembly, op the 27th ultimo, Mr. CrookespWentei-a, petition signed by upwards of a thousand residents of Westbury, Deloraine, Carrick, and other places in the district, in favour jof the undertaking by the Government of a public railway in the district, and in favour of iron railways throughout the colony. " The petition was withdrawn, after a discussion with respect to' its being a violation" of the standing orders, as invohing a prayer for public money. The Colonial Secretary moved the second read- , ing of the Waste Lands Bill; Mr. Walker seconded. Mr. Lowes would not oppose the measure, but he recommended' leasehold occupation. Mr. Whyte said he regarded this bill as the most importantmeasure of the session, but thought it should not be pushed forward with unnecessary haste. Mr. Button and Mr. Wedge supported the second reading, the latter gentleman also suggesting that 6s. an acre should be fixed as the minimum price for' blocks of 150 acres. The motion was carried, and the bill read and committed. ( « In the Assembly the vote for education was not . taken in detail, as proposed," but £12,000 was' voted in one sum to be expended At the discretion ■of the board. • The remaining estimates; including £520 for the introduction of salmon, were passed. The resolution was-reported to the "House and adopted, and the Committee for Ways and Means fixed for Tuesday—the budget will not then be brought forward, but simply a bill for raising money. - It is intended- in November, in 1858, to hold in Launceston, in connection with the LauncestOri Mechanics' Institute,- an Exhibition of Colonial Arts and Industry. The building is to be erected in the Horticultural Gardens, and is intended to be a* permanence; v - ' '