THE NEW VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 192, 12 March 1868, Page 3

THE NEW VICTORIAN PARLIAMENT.

(fbom the special cobbespondent op the otago daily times.) Melbourne, 24th February. The whole of the elections for the new Parliament of Victoria are now over, those of the last " batch" having taken place on Thursday last, the 20th instant. As the Opposition party had looked forward to the proceedings of that day, with the hope that the constituencies of the chief seats of population in the colony would return such a number of members, holding what it has become the fashion to call " constitutional" views, as to make up in some measure for the preponderance of the Ministerial cause at the first and second series of elections, a great deal of interest was manifested in the struggle. Thanks, however, to the ballot, everything passed off quietly enough, so far as any disturbance of her Majesty's peace was concerned; and, although we have a tolerably large share of the Hibernian element amongst us, there was no flourishing of shillelaghs or cracking of crowns at any of the polling booths. Although I shall presently show how Ministers succeeded inobtainingalargemajorityat this as well as at the preceeding batches, the Opposition have also had their local triumphs. At St. Kilda, for instance they succeeded in returning a brace of candidates who, so far as personal weight in Parliament is concerned, woul balance many a half dozen of those returned an the other side. The members to whom I allude, are Messrs Fellows and Aspinall, who were returned over the heads of Crewn and Thompson, the two ministerial candidates for that district, by a considerable majority. For "West Melbourne too, the Oppositioncandipaths, Captain Macmahon and Mr Langton, were elected by a still larger proportion of votes. The Treasurer, Mr Verdon, was very closely run at Emerald Hill, and only obtained a majority of eight votes over his opponent, Mr Whiteman. The Attorney-G/eneral—the bete noire of the opposition—was returned for Brighton by a majority of ninety. This result proved that the Opposition, in their recent unsuccessful attempt to place 94 sham voters on the roll for that district, had made their calculations with lo'erable accuracy, and that if their manoeuvre had had not been checkmated by tho Supreme Court, they would have stood a good chance of keeping out of the new Parliament, the man whom they regard as the very head and front of the ministerial offending. At Richmond, Mr Francis, the Commissioner of Customs, although returned as one of the two representatives of the district, was only second on the poll, Mr Harcourt, the opposition candidate, being twenty votes ahead of him. On the other hand, Mr Service, who was put forward by the opposition, for the very democratic suburban constituency of Collingwood, was defeated by about a hundred votes ; the three ministerialist candidates, Reeves, Bates, and Edwards, being returned. For the district of East Melbourne, returning two members, there were four candidates, but not one of them came forward as a supporter of the ministry on the " issue" now befor the Country. Mr Edward Cohen, however, one of the successful men, although disapproving of the course adopted by ministers, in placing the Darling Grant in the Appropriation Bill at the present stage of affairs, says: that if the Legislative Council were to reject a seperate Bill for that grant, he would then sanction its incorporation in the Appropriation Bill, so that if this member cannot exactly be called a Ministerialist, neither can he be properly classed in the ranks of the Opposition. The other three candidates for this district were Mr Levi, one of the late members; Mr Walsh, a watchmaker, carrying on business in Collins-street, a clever yong man, but altogether new to politics ; and Mr L. L. Smith, the possessor of a name famous enough in its way, but whose political career has not been altogether such as to inspire much confidence in his abilities as a statesman. Singularly enough, Walsh, the new man, was returned at the head of the poll, Cohen being " a good second," Levi " a fair third," and poor L. L. quite out of the running. The net result of the day's contest was an addition to the Ministerial side of the new House of twenty-four, and to the Opposition side of thirteen members. The new Legislative Assembly is now complete, and is constituted as follows:

Opposition Side.—Messrs Burke, M'Kenna, Gillies, M'Mahon, Langton, Walsh, Cohen, Thomas, Harcourt, Fellows Aspinall, Hanna, O' Grady, Duffy, Connor, M'Donnell, Bayles, M'Bain, Kerferd, M'Lellan, Humffray —2l.

Ministerial Side—Messrs Gh P. Smith, Watkins, M'Culloch, F. L. Smyth, M'Combie, M'Caw, Balfour, J. T. Smith, J. C. Riddell, M. L. King, Cunningham, Stutt, Longmore, Macpherson, Cope, Murphy, Russell, Macgregor, Witt, M'Kean, Bowman, Frazer, Miller, Sullivan, Casey, Williams, G-. V. Smith, Davies, Grant, Byrne, Blair, Wilson, Bindon, Farrell, Baillie, Burrows, Mackay, Plummer, Butters, Dyte, Vale, Harbison, Burt, Verdon, Mason,|Reeves, Bates, Everard, Francis, Higinbotham, Cope, Richardson, Foote, Carr, Kermot, Wrixon —57. Parliament will probably be called together early next month, and then the battle between the two Houses will commence de novo. Opinion was much divided as to the result of the contest; but it seems to me that thosa who maintain that " the strongest will eventually win," and that the Assembly is stronger than the Council, have the best of the argument. I say this in view of the present phase of the struggle, and without reference to the respective merits of the two parties. I may remark, in passing, that some articles upon Victorian politics which have appeared in the leading English newspapers, have been read here with great interest, as showing both of the parties into which the Colony is divided, what their proceedings are thought of at Home. Judging from the general tone of those articles, it must be admitted that the principal English political writers are of opinion that- the Ministry of their supporters have gone tio far in endeavoring to coerce the Upper House; but, at the same time, the Times and some other of the papers to which I allude advise the Council, now that things have come to the present pass, to yield with as good a grace as may be. For my part, I believe that the majority of that body will have, sooner or later, to bow to the decision of the bulk of the electors; and the sooner they do so the better for their own d ; gnity and for the prosperity of the Colony.