VICTORIA.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 166, 24 May 1859, Page 4

VICTORIA.

(From the latest Melbourne papers.). The political events which have occurred during the last month (says the Melbourne papers) have not ** been altogether without interest. In March last Mr. Duffy resigned the office of President of the Lands and Survey Department, with a salary of £2000 at-; tached, —an announcement which took the public by surprise. The Argus thus explains what appears to have been the cause of Mr. Duffy's resignation :■—" " It is an adjunct of our present auction system that allotments which have passed under the hammer without finding purchasers in the auction-room may be subsequently taken up by the first applicant, at the upset price; and it was thought that by putting a very large quantity. into the market simultaneously, sufficient would remain unbought to afford an opportunity of practically bringing into operation the free selection system. Some rumours of the Government intentions obtained currency, and the wisdom, of the contemplated proceeding was severely criticised. The great objection to it was, that it would

lead to the alienation of nearly the whole of the agricultural lands of highest quality, before any enactment was . passed enabling the people themselves to settle on them, by giving the capitalist the power of buying them up—a power, it was urged, he -would be too ready to exercise., with a view to the enormous ultimate profit to be made by re-selling them. The land-jobber has always been a deservedly popular individual here, and a strong objection was felt to a proceeding that threatened so thoroughly to answer his purposes, and impede rather than promote the -.progress of bona fide settlement. Mr. Duffy entirely and strongly dissented from it, and- this difference of view on an important .question of policy appears, according to his statement, to have begotten a general alienation--of feeling, which made his presence in the Cabinet so disagreeable to his own feelings as to leave him no alternative but to retire." The vacancy at the head of the department of Land and Survey created by Mr. Duffy's retirement was, with very little delay, filled by the appointment of Dr. Evans, the Postmaster-General, who continues at present to hold his late office in conjunction with his new one. As Postmaster-General ■ Dr. Evans enjoyed a virtual sinecure, haying _ few duties to perform in a department the administration of which is reduced to a; systematic routine, and involves, of course, no question of general policy. In accordance ! with the provisions of our constitution, Dr. Evans had to go back. to his constituents, in consequence of his acceptunce of a new office. He was re-elected by a large majority, only, a fraction of. the constituency however polling. , The yield of gold during the last month ! has been less than the average yield of any [ equal period during the past twelve months, andless than, that of the corresponding period of 1858. This diminution may be placed to the account .] of the, new rush to Back I Creek,.Amherst i better knowniri times past jas Daisy Hill. This rush, is now; estimated to exceed 25,000 miners, and the most extraordinary accounts are given of their s|uccess.. '■■.*' ; A correspondent of'the. Bendigo Adver- ! User enumerates the following instances of ! good luck on. the testimony of veracious | persons:—-"One of the banks has. purI chased a nugget weighing 30 ounces; ; 28 dunces were obtained from a load; 34 ounces from two loads; a32 ounce nugget was picked out as the wash stuff was being knocked down; an 18 ounce nugget obtained in a like manner; 5 pounds 4 ounces from one load washed by a party of Greeks on Monday; "18 ounces from a load; 18 ounce nugget near Johnstone's store; 53 ounces 14 pennyweights from a bucket from a claim near the junction; an 80 ounce nugget now deposited atthe bank for escort; 67 ounces were washed on Saturday morning from two bucket-fulls of dirt, from a claim near the bend; from near the same spot 22 ounces were said to be \vashed from one bucket, and 7 ounces from another." 130 oz. of gold from one load of washing stuff, 108 oz. from two tubfuls: of dirt out of a claim, a share in which was valued at £10,000, and 4 lb. weight from a hatful of scrapings off the bottom, the nuggetting of as much out of a spot of ground a foot square, and other equally large yields; but these are the prizes bearing about the same proportion to the blanks as do the prizes in a common lottery. The Commissioner's Hill rush, in the Ararat district, has not excited so much attention nor attracted so large a population. Some of the claims first opened are now nearly worked out, and the returns to each man have been estimated at somewhere between £200 and £300 on the .average, for their six or eight weeks' work. The prospecting party, to whose exertions the opening up of this is due, had sometime since washed out 30 lb, of gold, and it is expected that they will take at least half a cwt. out of their extended claim before it is exhausted. Several large fields from quartz have been recorded of late, but the largest of all has been the enormous cake of amalgamated gold obtained from 45 tons of quartz out of one of the Bendigo reefs. This weighed no less than 730 oz. 16 dwt., and was sold for £2,800.- The largest nugget found lately was one of 70 oz. taken out of a claim on the Durham Liead, near Buninyong, a fortnight since. v As far as prices of grain are concerned, the prospects of the farmers have, not improved of late. They are now obliged to sell their produce at rates which a year or two since they declared to be ruinous, and there is no likelihood of prices rising. Grain of all sorts has been largely grown, and the merchants' stores are full of oats, barley, malt, and other articles of consumption. . Flour r wlll^be deficient, but this pan be sup•piied from South Australia to the full extent of our requirements. In the country markets the farmers get somewhat better prices than they do in Melbourne or Geelong; but production is, increasipg more rapidly than population. Notwithstanding the extension of public works, and the large demand supposed to be created by this means, there is still a great scarcity of occupation; not only in the large towns, but throughout the country districts, numbers of able-bodied men are seeking employment in vain, or are endeavoring to content themselves with a bare subsistence in employment for which the remuneration is miserably small. We have not, indeed, lately had large meetings of unemployed, bringing prominently before public notice their manifold grievances; but the poverty, and distress which multitudes are suffering, are no less real because it is comparatively quiet and secret. In r deed it is with some show of reason, questioned by many, whether, at the present hour, there is .not really more cause for outcry thari there was some months ago. The men who then professed to give voice to the destitution of the people, have been silenced by personal prosperity;or by other means;

but the genuine need of the unemployed is not less pressing, because unspoken and undisplayed. In the social state ofthe colony during the past month there has. been an appreciable improvement. Crimes of the graver kind have not been so frequent, particularly in the metropolis, although we regret to'say the provinces have witnessed more than one deed of violence, iri which life has been sacrificed. It is gratifying to know.that the public mind is slowly awakening to the necessity, of ameliorating our. social state. For several years past the female depravity ofthe metropolis has formed a subject for deep and.faithful consideration; in addition to a female refuge already in existence, a movement has been set on foot for the purpose of enlisting public sympathy on behalf of those unfortunates who haunt all large cities. What may be the result of this undertaking it is impossible to predicate, as it is yet only in embryo. That some remedy is required our gaols and hospitals bear melancholy testimony. During 1858 there were 44,183 persons arrived in Melbourne, and 25,882 left, making the net immigration 18,302 for the year. The following are the shipments of gold from the opening of the gold-fields in 1851 to the close of 1858 :— . «-; ■■*_. ":■ • .For the year 1851 * 145;145 ' „ „ 1852 '. 1,974,975 ~1853 2,497,723 „ ~1854 2,144,699 „ „ 1855 ...... 2,576,745 „ 1856 ...... 3,003,811 „ 1857 2,729,655 „ 1858 2,561,961 18,634:714 which, at £4 an ounce, amounts to the large sum of £74,538,856., On the gold revenue for the year ending 31st March, 1859, there has been a decrease of £12,000. ~ ' The Associated Masons of Victoria have obtained the contract to erect the panoptican at Peiitridge, for £19,400.